Prefaces, generally speaking, are pleadings, in which authors,
anticipating public censure, and well knowing how richly they deserve
it, adduce sundry reasons why their books are not shorter or longer, and
altogether different from the volumes which then and there they bring
into the market.
I need not make any such excuses, for I did not write for an English
public, nor did I ever pretend to popularity in England. The
"SAUNTERINGS" were intended for the profit and amusement of my German
countrymen; and I must say I was not a little pleased and surprised
with the very flattering reception which my book experienced at the
hands of the English critics. Their favourable opinion, which they so
emphatically and--I am selfish enough to go the whole length of the
word--so _ably_ expressed, has probably caused the production of the
book in an English dress. The critics, therefore, must bear the
responsibility, if the general public should happen to condemn these
"Saunterings," as "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable," and shelve
them accordingly.