gentleman, who heard from several officers of the Topaz an account of the manners, the virtues, and the happiness, which she has attempted to pourtray. The Author is well aware that age and sex have no right to be urged at the critical bar in extenuation of literary errors; yet there may be some gentle readers, who will not refuse to a young and timid female the indulgence, which they would withhold from an older and more practised offender; to their mercy she appeals. She cannot conclude without expressing her grateful acknowledgements to Captain Burney, for the friendly assistance which he has rendered her in arranging and revising her notes; an office which none would have performed so readily, and none could have performed so well. The scene of the Poem is laid in Pitcairn's Island (said to be la Encarnacion of Quiros) in the South Seas. The time occupied by the action is four nights and four days. |