PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



THE compilation of a book of this kind reveals in 

 the author a refreshing optimism which does not 

 always survive the ordeal of publication, and it is, 

 perhaps, out of sympathy with the misgivings that 

 assail him as he approaches the bar of public and 

 critical opinion, that convention cedes to him the 

 privilege of making some apology for the faith 

 that is in him. In his preface he is permitted to 

 explain himself, and this apologia or justification, 

 call it which you will, stands as the last word in 

 his own defence. But the demand for a further 

 edition is the outcome of an amiable conspiracy 

 on the part of the public, and it is not required 

 of the author to explain, justify, or excuse an issue 

 for which he is not directly responsible. Any 

 revision or amplification, however, which is to be 

 found in a second impression, may be briefly 

 referred to, and at the same time tradition allows 

 him to express the feelings of gratitude and 

 gratification that the occasion inspires. 



It has been my ambition to acknowledge the 



