PREFACE.
a misnomer as any of the grandiloquent titles of the Great Mogul, Emperor of the World—which means a league round Delhi.
Prefaces want reform quite as much as Parliament: so I beg to retrench the gratitude, modesty, &c. usual on such occasions. Piron used to observe, that the introductory speeches made when a member was elected to the French Institute, were quite superfluous, and that the new Academician needed only to say, "Messieurs, grand merci;" while the Directeur should answer, "Il n'y a pas de quoi." I am sure that when the author begins his "grand merci" to the public, that public may very well reply, "Il n'y a pas de quoi."
