A PREFATORY LETTER. 



MY DEAR TYNDALL, 



I should have liked to provide this collection of 

 &quot; Lay Sermons, Addresses, and Reviews,&quot; with a Dedication 

 and a Preface. In the former I should have asked you to 

 allow me to associate your name with the book, chiefly on 

 the ground that the oldest of the papers in it is a good deal 

 younger than our friendship. In the latter, I intended to 

 comment upon certain criticisms with which some of these 

 Essays have been met. 



But, on turning the matter over in my mind, I began to 

 fear that a formal dedication at the beginning of such a volume 

 would look like a grand lodge in front of a set of cottages ; 

 while a complete defence of any of my old papers would simply 

 amount to writing a new one a labour for which I am, at 

 present, by no means fit. 



The book must go forth, therefore, without any better sub 

 stitute for either Dedication, or Preface, than this letter ; before 



I 



