H.O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY




_A NEW PREFACE._


Twelve years ago, this autumn, when I had finished the concluding
chapters of this little book, I wrote a letter of Dedication to
Washington Irving, and, forwarding it by mail to Sunnyside, begged his
permission to print it. I think I shall gratify a rational curiosity of
my readers (however much they may condemn my vanity) if I give his reply
in full.

"My dear Sir,--

"Though I have a great disinclination in general to be the object
of literary oblations and compliments, yet in the present instance
I have enjoyed your writings with such peculiar relish, and been so
drawn toward the author by the qualities of head and heart evinced
in them, that I confess I feel gratified by a dedication,
over-flattering as I may deem it, which may serve as an outward
sign that we are cordially linked together in sympathies and
friendship.

"I would only suggest that in your dedication you would omit the
LL.D., a learned dignity urged upon me very much 'against the
stomach of my sense,' and to which I have never laid claim.