, *f 



PREFACE 



IT is with unaffected diffidence that I offer a fourth series 

 of these ' Memories.' One is justly suspicious of a writer 

 who describes himself as yielding to the solicitation of 

 friends in publishing a book; but it is the plain truth 

 that I should not have trespassed again on the indulg- 

 ence of my readers, but for the frequency of the inquiry, 

 ' When are we to have some more Memories ? ' 



More serious is the ground for distrust of an amateur 

 who trenches, however tentatively, on the domain of 

 exact science. There is an ominous passage in one of 

 Cardinal Newman's letters to Wetherell: 'No single 

 writer, be he who he may, could possibly write on 

 Scripture, history, and physical science with more than a 

 shallow versatility.' I can but plead that I have not 

 written the following pages with the reckless audacity 

 of a sciolist. Finding my chief delight in the open 

 field, the woodland, and the riverside, I fell into the 

 habit of acquiring from the surest authority explanation 

 of the nature of beasts and birds, fishes and insects, trees 

 and herbs, which came under my random observation; 

 and whereas manuscript is a cumbrous and tedious 

 source of reference, these notes originally began to find 

 their way into print solely for my own convenience. 



738269 



