INTRODUCTION 



As the shadows lengthen, the man becomes more and 

 more garrulous. 'La jeunesse k lui reparalt,' quoth 

 Alexandre Dumas, ■ apportant tons ces souvenirs suaves, 

 qui sont plutot des parfums que des pens^es.' Courtesy 

 and forbearance on the part of his friends provide 

 him with an audience, nor does he spare them, spin- 

 ning interminable yarns, sometimes of very indifferent 

 texture. 



But he who commits his memories to print cannot 

 reckon on similar indulgence. Good manners may 

 compel attention to an old fellow from his company, but 

 nobody is under any obligation to read what he chooses 

 to write, wherefore nobody has any right to complain if 

 he chooses that silent mode of monologue. What has 

 tempted me to indulge in it again is the agreeable recep- 

 tion accorded to two former series of these ' Memories.' 

 I can but hope that the present volume, filled with what 

 are plutSt des parfv/ms que des pensees, may be found in 

 some degree redolent of the greenwood, the hillside and 

 its falling floods, and refresh those who have learned to 



