PREFACE 



A PREFACE must to a certain extent partake of 

 the nature of an autobiography, and I fear that 

 the majority of readers regard autobiographies with 

 suspicion. Moreover, there are few books which 

 require a preface to the first edition, though in 

 subsequent editions it is only fair that the author 

 should have an opportunity of making explanations 

 in cases where he has been misunderstood. Nor, 

 beyond acknowledging the kind help which I have 

 received from friends and acquaintances, should I 

 have made any prefatory remarks to the following 

 pages, if it were not that I have been urgently 

 persuaded to do so by those whose literary expe- 

 rience is far greater than my own. I have often 

 heard it stated that the character of a book reflects 

 the character of the author, and such undoubtedly 

 must be the case when the book has any claim for 

 originality. But in a work which only pretends to 

 a moderate degree of research there can be little 

 if any index to the character of the author, who 

 accordingly should not be accused of personal vanity 

 for writing a preface. For my own part, I can only 



