THE PREFACE. THE fuccefs the former part of this WORK has met with in the world, has yet been no other than is acknowledged to be due to the surprising variety of the subject, and to the agreeable manner of the performance. All the endeavours of envious people to reproach it with being a romance, to fearch it for errors in geography, inconfiftency in the relation, and contradictions in the fact, have proved abortive, and as impotent as mali cious. The juft application of every incident, the religious and useful inferences drawn from every part, are so many teftimonies to the good defign of making it public, and muft legitimate all the part that may be called invention or parable in the ftory. VOL. II. A The The Second Part, if the Editor's opinion may pass, is (contrary to the ufage of Second Parts) every way as entertaining as the First; contains as ftrange and furprising incidents, and as great a variety of them; nor is the application less serious or fuitable; and doubtlefs will, to the fober, as well as the ingenious READER, be every way as profitable and diverting; and this makes the abridging this WORK as fcandalous, as it is knavish and ridiculous. Seeing, to fhorten the Book, that they may feem to reduce the value, they strip it of all thofe reflections, as well religious as moral, which are not only the greatest beauties of the WORK, but are calculated for the infinite advantage of the READER. By this, they leave the WORK naked of its brightest ornaments; and yet they would (at the fame time they pretend that the Author has fupplied his ftory out of his invention) take from it the improvement, which alone recommends that invention to wife and good men. The injury thefe men do to the PROPRIETORS OF WORKS, is a practice all honeft men abhor; and they believe they may challenge them to fhew the difference between that and robbing on the highway, or breaking open a house. If they cannot fhew any difference in the crime, they will find it hard to fhew why there should be any difference in the punish ment. |