I 4 INTRODUCTION. 



and proprietors of the Spectator I should 

 have liked to ask the leave of the various 

 writers before republishing their letters. 

 Physical difficulties have, however rendered 

 this impossible. In the case of nearly half 

 the letters the names and addresses have not 

 been preserved. In many instances, again, 

 only the names remain. Lastly, a large 

 number of the letters are ten or twelve, or 

 even twenty years old, and the writers may 

 therefore be dead or out of England. Under 

 these circumstances I have not made any 

 effort to enter into communication with the 

 writers before including their letters in this 

 book. That their permission would have been 

 given, had it been asked, I do not doubt. The 

 original communication of the letters to the 

 Spectator is proof that the writers wished a 

 public use to be made of the anecdotes they 

 relate. As long, then, as the letters are not 

 altered or edited, but produced verbatim, 

 I may, I think, feel assured that I am doing 

 nothing which is even remotely discourteous 

 to the writers. 



