It may be that that book was published in a propitious season. I
am told that nothing coming from the press will now be welcomed,
unless it presents itself in the express form of amusement. He
who shall propose to himself for his principal end, to draw aside
in one particular or another the veil from the majesty of
intellectual or moral truth, must lay his account in being
received with little attention.

I have not been willing to believe this: and I publish my
speculations accordingly. I have aimed at a popular, and (if I
could reach it) an interesting style; and, if I am thrust aside
and disregarded, I shall console myself with believing that I
have not neglected what it was in my power to achieve.

One characteristic of the present publication will not fail to
offer itself to the most superficial reader. I know many men who
are misanthropes, and profess to look down with disdain on their
species. My creed is of an opposite character. All that we
observe that is best and most excellent in the intellectual
world, is man: and it is easy to perceive in many cases, that
the believer in mysteries does little more, than dress up his
deity in the choicest of human attributes and qualifications. I
have lived among, and I feel an ardent interest in and love for,
my brethren of mankind. This sentiment, which I regard with
complacency in my own breast, I would gladly cherish in others.
In such a cause I am well pleased to enrol myself a missionary.

February 15, 1831.