The Token and Atlantic Souvenir: A Christmas and New Year's Present

PREFACE.

THE "TOKEN" appears for the first time, this year, under the direction of its present publisher. It has been his aim to produce an Annual every way worthy of the public patronage, and equal, to say the least, to any thing of the kind which has issued from the press of our country; and to accomplish this end, he has spared neither time nor expense.

The embellishments speak for themselves, and are believed to be, in every respect, highly creditable to the state of the arts in our country. In regard to the literary department, the work has laboured under some peculiar disadvantages, incident to the circumstance of its having passed into new hands, which will be avoided, we trust, in case the favour of the public should induce the publisher to continue his enterprise another year. The plan of the publication was not formed until so late a moment, as to make it necessary to collect the literary matter in some haste, and from not

being able to secure the services, as editor, of any one who combined the proper literary qualifications, and that leisure, which would have permitted him to devote his whole time to his duty, a considerable portion of the editorial labour has fallen upon the publisher, the engagements of the editor not permitting him to assume the responsibility of collecting the articles, but only of sitting in judgment upon them, when collected. The great defect of the literary department, is, as we are ready to admit, its sober tone, and the want of sparkle, airiness, and vivacity. But this, too, is an unavoidable evil. We are a grave and sober people, and not having a class of writers by profession, and our articles being mostly written by men engaged in other avocations, they bear the serious impress of their common habits of thought and daily duties. Humour is not a plant which has yet grown in any abundance upon the soil of New England. They, who have ever undertaken an editorial enterprise of this kind, and know by experience how almost invariably the attempts at humour submitted to them, have fallen into coarseness or vapidness, or both, will understand why we have chosen the less of two evils, and preferred to run the risk of having our book pronounced dull, rather than in bad taste.

As the literary materials of this work have been obtained at considerable expense, the publisher gives notice, that a copy-right has been secured for the entire contents of the work, and that he shall deem it his duty to protect himself against any wholesale appropriation of its contents.

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