Manchester Memoirs, Vol. liv. {igio), No. \}. 5 



made several alterations in the preface. Amongst these 

 was the omission of some of Mr. Nicholson's poetry. 

 " Your beautiful lines in the preface," writes Mrs. Browne, 

 "are justly entitled to high admiration, and have my 

 warmest thanks ; but my little votary of the muse has so 

 great an objection to any poetry in this part of the work, 

 that I hope your liberality will forgive my not adopting 

 them — she says it might be imagined that they were her 

 own production." 



Several letters passed between Mrs. Browne and the 

 anonymous subscriber while the preface was being 

 drafted, and agreement as to details seemed to be 

 unattainable. One of Mrs. Browne's anxieties was that 

 the preface should bear witness to Lady Kirkwall's 

 interest in the publication. Her Ladyship was to have 

 honoured it by accepting the dedication, but an even 

 more exalted personage had expressed his willingness 

 to do so. To us George IV. may seem a strange patron 

 for a young girl's first book of poems, but in his own day 

 the following passage in the preface probably sounded 

 quite appropriate : " The distinguished and gratifying 

 patronage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, 

 and the favours of the highly dignified and very respect- 

 able subscribers in the annexed list, will naturally excite 

 gratitude and rouse to new exertion in the pursuits of 

 literature and virtue." Mrs. Browne was also desirous of 

 adding to the name of Mrs. Barbauld, who alone was 

 mentioned as having influenced the young writer, the 

 names of Mrs. Trimmer and Hannah More, "as I am a 

 great lover of their works, and as they have all been 

 equally in the hands of my girls." The correspondents 

 were still far from agreement as to the exact wording of 

 the preface when a way out was found. William Roscoe 

 undertook to write the preface. In favour of so great a 



