PREFACE 



Illustrated Magazine, Good Words, and 

 The Graphic. 



I have found great difficulty in making 

 extracts from ' The Story of my Heart ' ; 

 in its extreme beauty and depth of 

 thought it should be taken as a whole, 

 nevertheless I have chosen a few, for I 

 think it is Jefferies' masterpiece. 

 It may be noticed that I have made no 

 selections from many of Jefferies' best 

 known books. It is from no lack of 

 appreciation, for I think they should 

 find a place in every library, but being 

 more especially natural and social 

 histories than nature thoughts they 

 seem less suited to a small volume of 

 this kind. 



My first idea in making a selection of 

 'Jefferies' Thoughts' was to put them 

 together in a small notebook for my 

 own use, but it occurred to me that what 

 gave me pleasure might give pleasure 

 to others, and I therefore obtained leave 



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