The introduction of vulgar wit may serve to amuse some, but it is not a passport to men’s good sense; and, although it may sometimes make a book sell, it is not, in my opinion, the best way to convince of the truth. And the only excuse for indulging in it is, that the subjects of remark, and the slang frequent in Wall-street, are not of that character which cultivate the delicate sensibilities—nor can they be pourtrayed to the life, by such language or figures, as should grace the conversation and writings of a gentleman. The practice of making a book personal, is, and ought to be condemned; and, if it is objected that, in this, I have called persons by their right names, or pointed too clearly at individuals, the answer is, that, except in the case of one martial spirit, the notable Major Downing,[1] whom I have shorn of a little of his patriotism and courage, I have in “no instance made allusions which have not been directly applied, and treated with much greater asperity, by all the newspapers of the day.” And this fact, I conceive, has given me licence, since it would be folly to wing a shaft of invective or ridicule, if it aimed at no object. The major, I must suppose, will not consider himself aggrieved, because, from his position, he was the only person whom I could conveniently make tributary to the information I wish to give; and, since he has so often asserted his courage, without fairly acknowledging his identity, he has no cause to complain at being assailed on that point. The remark will generally hold true, that whatever requires to be explained, or excused, is always wrong; but, in this case, I think it will not apply. I would therefore be understood as excusing only the faults of the book, and not the object at which it is aimed. And, lastly, the writer cannot help saying that, in the face of the trite remark that, “those who live in glass houses should not throw stones,” he will not deny, that, in the expressive language of Wall-street, he has himself been “flunked;” and, with this candid acknowledgement, which will, perhaps, satisfactorily account for the production of the book, in the minds of those who may please to consider it an effusion of spleen,—he subscribes himself— Respectfully, THE AUTHOR. FOOTNOTE: [1] We intend to refer to Major 2nd., the bosom friend of General Jackson, not the original major, down east.