The Author of the following sheets is well aware of the objections which
may be made to the performance but hopes the candour of the public will
excuse those defects, which the nature of the undertaking rendered it
almost impossible to avoid. The pointed satire of ridicule, which would
perhaps have given a zest to those scenes in which the subject of these
pages was engaged, was not, in the opinion of the writer, at all proper
for those readers for whom it was solely designed: to exhibit their
superiors in a ridiculous view, is not the proper method to engage the
youthful mind to respect: to represent their equals as the objects of
contemptuous mirth, is by no means favourable to the interest of
good-nature: and to treat the characters of their inferiors with levity,
the Author thought was inconsistent with the sacred rights of humanity.
Circumscribed therefore to the narrow boundaries of simple narrative, it
has been the design of the following pages, carefully to avoid exciting
any wrong impression, and, by sometimes blending _instruction_ and
_amusement_, to make it the more easily retained.
To multiply incidents in these circumstances, was a very difficult task,
especially, as it was wished to make them arise naturally from the
subject; and not obtrude unnecessarily without any seeming cause to
produce them. The avidity with which children peruse books of
entertainment, is a proof how much publications proper for their
attention are required. Though the sentiments should be suited to their
simplicity, they ought to be expressed with propriety; since a taste for
elegance may be insensibly acquired; and we should always _endeavour_ to
present them with proper models of imitation. Conscious of the
difficulty of the undertaking, the Author of these adventures will
gladly have declined the task, in the expectation of such a work’s
engaging the attention of those, whose genius were more equal to its
accomplishment. With the hope, therefore, of inspiring others to excel
the example, it is now submitted to the world “with all its
imperfections on its head,” trusting for a candid reception to the
motive which first suggested the idea: _That of presenting the juvenile
reader with a a few pages which should be innocent of corrupting, if
they did not amuse_.
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