ore eminent than I can ever hope to become, I have been actuated by
reasons, which, in order to relieve myself from the possible charge of
presumption, I will state briefly.

It has long been my opinion, then, that there lay a vast field, rich with
a harvest of material almost virgin, for the romancer's use, in the
history of classic ages. And this at a period when the annals of every
century and nation since the Christian era have been ransacked, and
reproduced, in endless variety, for the entertainment of the hourly
increasing reading world, is no small advantage.

Again, I have fancied that I could discover a cause for the imperfect
success of great writers when dealing with classic fiction, in the fact of
their endeavoring to be too learned, of their aiming too much at
portraying Greeks and Romans, and too little at depicting men, forgetful
that under all changes of custom, and costume, in all countries, ages, and
conditions, the human heart is still the human heart, convulsed by the
same passions, chilled by the same griefs, burning with the same joys,
and, in the main, actuated by the same hopes and fears.

With these views, I many years ago deliberately selected this subject, for
a novel, which has advanced by slow steps to such a degree of completeness
as it has now attained.

Having determined on trying my success in classical fiction, the
conspiracy of Cataline appeared to me, a theme particularly well adapted
for the purpose, as being an actual event of vast importance, and in many
respects unparalleled in history; as being partially familiar to every
one, thoroughly understood perhaps by no one, so slender are the authentic
documents concerning it which have come down to us, and so dark and
mysterious the motives of the actors.

It possessed, therefore, among other qualifications, as the ground-work of
a historical Romance, one almost indispensable--that of indistinctness,
which gives scope to the exercise of imagination, without the necessity of
falsifying either the truths or the probabilities of history.

Of the execution, I have, of course, nothing to say; but that I have
sedulously avoided being overlearned; that few Latin words will be found
in the work--none whatsoever in the conversational parts, and none but the
names of articles which have no direct English appellation; and that it is
sufficiently simple and direct for the most unclassical reader.

I hope that the costume, the manners of the