TO 



HERBERT SPENCER. 



My dear Spencer : 



It was thirty years ago this month that our personal ac- 

 quaintance began, in so far as the exchange of letters could 

 make such a beginning. It was at the time of my first visit 

 to Youmans, in this very street and within a stone's throw from 

 where I now sit writing ; and as the last of this memorial 

 volume goes hence to the press, recollections of days that can 

 ncrer come again crowd thickly upon me. Our friend ex- 

 pressed a wish that, if his biography were to be written, I 

 should be the one to do it ; no sign from him is needed to assure 

 me that he would have been glad to have me dedicate it to you. 

 Pray accept the book, my dear Spencer, with all its imperfec- 

 tions, in token of the long friendship we have shared with each 

 other and with him who has gone from us ; and believe me, 

 as always, 



Faithfully yours, 



JOHN FISKE. 



Irving Place, New York, February 12, 1894. 



