Thrilling Adventures by Land and Sea

According to the Preface: "There is a large class of readers who seek books for the sake of the amusement they afford. Many are not very fastidious as to the character of those they select, and consequently the press of the present day teems with works which are not only valueless, so far as impartinginformation is concerned, but actually deleterious in their moral tendency, and calculated to vitiate and enervate the mind. Such publications as pander to a prurient taste find a large circulation with a portion of society who read them for the same reason that the inebriate seeks his bowl, or the gambler the instruments of his vocation--for the excitement they produce. The influence of works of this description is all bad--there is not a single redeeming feature to commend them to the favor or toleration of the virtuous or intelligent..."