INTRODUCTION 3 



but wonder how much they may also perhaps convey 

 of Lord Lilford's character and personality to those who 

 did not know him. One cannot tell ; he was too little 

 self-conscious ever to pose, ever to attempt self-portraiture. 

 There were no mannerisms, conceits, or eccentricities to 

 seize upon for ' genius ' ; he was a sane, single-hearted, 

 keen, accomplished English gentleman. In all the letters 

 we have had before us he writes but one thing of himself, 

 and with that one thing we will end : — 



" My life-history is soon summed up. I have, I fear, 

 been an idler, devoted more to my own amusement than 

 anything else, till I have learned, by physical suffering, 

 the lesson that the real value of existence here below 

 consists in the good that we may be able to do for 

 others." ^ 



^ To Mrs. Owen Visger. 



