SPIRIT "The Book,"-Any Person having in their possession a Cer- PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY BRADFORD & INSKEEP, & INSEEE! 1812. X THE PREFACE. FOR the literal and other errors occurring in this work, the Editor presumes he may confidently rest his justification in the assurance, that it has been committed to the press with more than common anxiety, and from thence presented to the public, with more than ordinary exertion and toil. To enter into a detail of the circumstances in which the subject matter of these volumes has originated, would be idle and superfluous: they have, directly or indirectly, transpired throughout this kingdom, and throughout every portion of the globe, where the name of Britain has ever been heard;but unfortunately for the illustrious Persons connected with this history, those circumstances have been so imperfectly understood, so treacherously exaggerated, so basely with-held, or so disingenuously communicated, that the lively, sensible, and enthusiastic minds of the British people, have hitherto been left wholly to conjecture; and conjecture has, from appearances, misrepresentation, and a superficial view of disguised facts, conjured up a scene so atrocious, monstrous, and iniquitous, that censure and Leprobation have been heaped upon the innocent, while sentiments of pity and commiseration, have, to this day, been entertained for those, who alone merit public indignation and disgrace. The Editor of "The Spirit of The Book,' or Memoirs of Caroline Princess of Hasburgh," fondly indulges the hope, that a fair, candid, and impartial perusal of these volumes will be accorded him: and that, until the work has been sifted to its last page, no harsh or unjust interpretation, no unwarrantable anticipation, nor angracious prejudice, will bias the minds of those who Honor his pages with their leisure:-he entreats them to bear in remembrance that it is as unwise as it is illiberal to draw premature conclusions on the nature and tendency of this Work, merely because it professes to embrace the matter of the abominable and slanderous volume known by the name of "The Delicate Investigation." He deprecates, as every honest Englishman must, that unnatural, guilty, and malignant volume! lie contems, in common with the rest of his countrymen, the ungenerous sentiment that could actuate to the publication of so gross a libel, and the mercinary principle that could compromise for its suppression. The subsequent Letters are compiled from the purest motives-from a patriotic feeling,-and with all the affectionate devotion of a subject;-to establish the innocence of the persecuted,-to do justice to the injured, and to substantiate the virtues of, and to wipe off the calumnious stain from, those illustrious Personages, which public error and misconception have attach ed to them. |