Author’s Preface
The title Miscellaneous Papers might seem to deny this book a certain unity, leading the reader to believe that the author has gathered together various writings of a diverse nature simply in order not to lose them. This is indeed the truth, but not quite the truth. Miscellaneous they are, but they did not come to this place like travelers who just happen to find themselves staying at the same inn. They are persons drawn from the same family, obliged by their father to sit at the same table.
As for their genre, I do not know what I can say that would be of any use. The book is in the hands of the reader. I will only say that if there are any pages which seem to be mere stories and others that do not, I defend myself from the latter by saying that the reader may find something of interest in the other pages, and I defend myself from the former with the words of Saint John and of Diderot. Describing the infamous beast of the apocalypse, the Evangelist added (17:9): “And here is the mind which hath wisdom.” Minus the wisdom, those words should just about cover me. As for Diderot, everyone knows that he not only wrote stories, some of them delightful, but even advised a friend to write them too. And in this, the encyclopedist was entirely right, for when someone tells a story, our spirits lift, time races by, and the story of life ends, without any of us noticing.
Thus, from wherever the reproach may come, I hope that absolution will also come from that same place.