"This was written immediately after my return from France to London, when
I could not but be struck, as here described, with the vanity and parade
of our own country, especially in great towns and cities, as contrasted
with the quiet, I may say the desolation, that the Revolution had
produced in France. This must be borne in mind, or else the Reader may
think that in this and the succeeding Sonnets I have exaggerated the
mischief engendered and fostered among us by undisturbed wealth."