beyond my
most sanguine expectations. I would willingly attribute this to their
intrinsic merits; but, in spite of the vanity of authorship, I cannot
but be sensible that their success has, in a great measure, been owing
to a less flattering cause. It has been a matter of marvel, to my
European readers, that a man from the wilds of America should express
himself in tolerable English. I was looked upon as something new and
strange in literature; a kind of demi-savage, with a feather in his
hand, instead of on his head; and there was a curiosity to hear what
such a being had to say about civilized society.

This novelty is now at an end, and of course the feeling of indulgence
which it produced. I must now expect to bear the scrutiny of sterner
criticism, and to be measured by the same standard with contemporary
writers; and the very favor which has been shown to my previous
writings, will cause these to be treated with the greater rigour; as
there is nothing for which the world is apt to punish a man more
severely, than for having been over-praised. On this head, therefore,
I wish to forestall the censoriousness of the reader; and I entreat he
will not think the worse of me for the many injudicious things that
may have been said in my commendation.

I am aware that I often travel over beaten ground, and treat of
subjects that have already been discussed by abler pens. Indeed,
various authors have been mentioned as my models, to whom I should
feel flattered if I thought I bore the slightest resemblance; but in
truth I write after no model that I am conscious of, and I write with
no idea of imitation or competition. In venturing occasionally on
topics that have already been almost exhausted by English authors, I
do it, not with the presumption of challenging a comparison, but with
the hope that some new interest may be given to such topics, when
discussed by the pen of a stranger.

If, therefore, I should sometimes be found dwelling with fondness on
subjects that are trite and commonplace with the reader, I beg that
the circumstances under which I write may be kept in recollection.
Having been born and brought up in a new country, yet educated from
infancy in the literature of an old one, my mind was early filled with
historical and poetical associations, connected with places, and
manners, and customs of Europe; but which could rarely be applied to
those of my own country. To a mind thus peculiarly prepared, the most