184 A WORD AT PARTING. 



pointed. There are doubtless passages which to 

 a novice will appear at first obscure, for we do 

 not imagine that we have escaped the common 

 difficulty of communicating what we wish so 

 clearly, in all cases, as to be 'perfectly intelligible 

 at once and immediately to every comprehension. 

 Whenever our pupils, therefore, stumble upon 

 passages of this sort, we trust that they will not 

 too hastily pass them over. We venture to hope 

 that careful reading and re-reading, both sepa- 

 rately and in the context, will soon make clear 

 what at first seemed difficult or incomprehensible. 

 At all events, we have done our best, and our 

 readers, we hope, will pardon all they may con- 

 sider imperfect. 



We have written this book from an ardent love 

 of the art on which it treats, and from the desire 

 of enabling others to partake of its manifold en- 

 joyments. In this work-a-day world it is some- 

 thing to find an innocent amusement for oneself, 

 and to contribute to the amusement of others. It 

 is contrary to the mental and physical conforma- 

 tion of mankind to labour or to study incessantly 

 to be perpetually engaged in any of the ordi- 

 nary every-day aifairs of life, without paying the 

 penalty in the shape of shattered health of body 



