Page:The West Indies, and Other Poems.djvu/10

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

ii

which afforded no opportunity to awaken, suspend, and delight curiosity, by a subtle and surprising developement of plot; and concerning which public feeling had been wearied into insensibility, by the agony of interest which the question excited, during three-and-twenty years of almost incessant discussion. That trade is at length abolished. May its memory be immortal, that henceforth it may be known only by its memory!—This extract from the preface to the former edition of 'The West Indies' will probably be a sufficient introduction to the present.

Of the lesser pieces that follow, it is unnecessary to say more than that they are offered as humble candidates for the same public favour (if they be deemed worthy of it) which their predecessors, accompanying 'The Wanderer of Switzerland,' have most liberally obtained.

Sheffield, May 17, 1810.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.