The Indian Crow: His Book #270154

Of prefaces there are two species - the preface apologetic and the preface defiant. The former displays two well-marked varieties - the only-at-the-instigation-of-friends preface, and the this-book-is-full-of-faults-and-no-one-is-more-conscious-of-them-than-the-author preface.<br><br>It is obviously not open to me to adopt the former of these varieties, for, like the worthy George Washington, I cannot tell a lie, especially when there is no chance of its obtaining credence.<br><br>Nor am I going to fall back upon the second variety of the preface apologetic. It seems to me that it is intended only for hypocrites and simpletons.