to second edition.
the first edition of this little work was published during its author's absence in the department of the gulf, and fought its own way into public favor. the second edition is now published for the exclusive benefit of disabled soldiers, and in the expectation of opening for them a profitable field of employment. as the first edition was soon exhausted, and no work has been offered to the public that fulfils the designs of this, it is hoped that this edition may find an approval beyond the humane object which calls it forth.
written for readers whom i had been accustomed to address familiarly, and among whom the most usefully happy moments of my life had passed; and composed for the most part amid the scenes which they describe, these letters to the north moore street school were never intended for adult readers, nor to assume the shape and substance of a book. in composing them i carefully avoided that "baby-talk" which some people think simplicity, and that paltriness of subject which by many is[pg viii] thought to be alone within the grasp and comprehension of a child. the greatest of children's stories are those which were written for men. "robinson crusoe" and "gulliver's travels," amid the annual wreck of a thousand "juvenile publications," survive, and pass from generation to generation, known to us best as the attractive reading of our early life. this enviable lot is secured to them by the severe purity of their english composition—the simplicity of their style—the natural minuteness of their description, but above all by the real greatness of their authors, who in striving to be simple, never condescend to be little. the "goody two shoes" of goldsmith, which was written for children, is hardly rescued by his charming style; but the "vicar of wakefield," which was written for men, has ascended to be a story-book for childhood, and is speedily becoming the exclusive property of the young.
therefore while i sought to instruct a few of the children of the united states by carrying them unconsciously through the details of military life, and unfolding to them some of the better scenes in their country's great struggle, still i selected just such incidents and topics as i would have chosen for their fathers and mothers, only endeavoring, with greater strictness, to blend in the narration simplicity with elegance.
