author's preface. Ixxvii 



off. Indeed, said I to my self, there's sucli a one, and such 

 a one (I can scarce forbear naming fifteen or twenty), such a 

 one, and such a one, have had the Impudence to impose on 

 the Publick, and their ridiculous Falsities have been very 

 well receiv'd. Why therefore is it not lawful for an honest 

 Man to tell things which are true, and of which some use 

 may be made. Wretched Eomauces, and ill-contriv'd Fables, 

 find a Vent; why may not my true Eomance have as favour- 

 able a fate ? 



I expect the Critical Eeader shou'd say here, " there's a 

 manner of expressing things": A Story well told, is read 

 with Pleasure, tho' 'tis even a little Eomantick or Trivial in 

 its self. People are now more earnest than ever for perfec- 

 tion of Language. As for Example, the little Nothings of 

 the Abbot of Choisy^ in the Voyage to Siam, have an incom- 

 parable Grace in them, and please much more than many 

 other things made of more precious Materials. " We cast 

 Anchor." " We made ready to Sail." " The Wind took 

 Courage." " Bohin is dead." " We said Mass." " We 

 Vomited." Tho' they are poor Words any where else, yet 

 in his Book, which is half compos'd of them, they are 

 Sentences, and the worth of them is not to be told. His 

 Phrases are so fine, so pretty, that we should be more in 

 love with them, than with Discoveries. And what then can 

 you hope for, you a Country Gentleman who relate your 

 Affairs grosso modo, and speak plainly without gloss or dis- 

 guise, what you have seen, or what you have heard: You 

 are in the wrong to imagine your History, tho' true, singular, 

 nay even moral, and as political as you please, can enter 

 into Comparison with a Book that is well Written. 



1 Journal dii Voyage de Siam fait en 1685-86 {M. VAhhe Choisy), par 

 M. L, D. C. 4to. Paris, 1687. Leguat here writes ironically, but his 

 sarcasm is not undeserved ; for instance, the " Robin '' here referred to 

 is a sheep — " un mouton fameux entre les moutons" — and more than a 

 page is occupied in telling how he was cooked, eaten, and discussed at 

 table. 



