PREFATORY NOTE. 



"It is as prayte a town," said a Royal 

 Commissioner sent here some three centuries 

 ago, who ought to have been a Royal Courtier 

 "It is as prayte a town as I knowe any 

 where on the sea costes ; and as thriftie and 

 honest people in the same ; for, in my opinion 

 it is the prosperest towne, the best bylded, 

 with most substancyall howses, that I knowe 

 so near the sea in all your Majestie's realme ! " 



" As prayte a town " was safe ground for a 

 Commissioner three centuries ago, when the 

 modern annual exodus of England to the sea 

 was an unknown luxury, and dozens of "de- 

 lightful localities" had never been heard of 

 in the busy, and not busy, world of English 

 society. "As prayte a town" might arouse 

 considerable difference of opinion now ; but if 

 I say " praytier than it was three centuries 

 ago," without making any further comparison, 

 I shall doubtless satisfy my Yarmouth friends, 

 and spare my postbag a heavy burden of in- 

 dignant remonstrances from disinterested 

 perhaps interested inhabitants. 



