TO THE EEADEE, 



Another half-year has very quickly passed away. Again are we called 

 upon to offer a few brief observations whilst issuing this our Fifth Volume. 



Since our last Preface was penned, th<; whole aspect of affairs has undergone a 

 change. Magic itself could not have worked a greater change. War has usurped 

 the place of Peace. The world is universally disturbed. Very many of our 

 excellent friends have been called away by ' ' duty " to a Foreign land. The 

 inhabitants of the earth are running hither and thither in a state of restlessness. 



Literature, too, has quite altered its healthy tone. The better class of our 

 Cheap Periodicals is, we are told, fast dwindling down in sale to zero. Two of 

 them, in self-defence, have actually been compelled to commence a New Novel 

 in their columns. These, " written to order," are doled out in weekly installments ! 



There is no denying the fact, that public taste now inclines towards the vilest 

 and cheapest trash. Countless Shilling Volumes, tricked out in grotesque green 

 covers to attract the eye, are the order of the day, — their contents, for the most part, 

 injurious in the highest degree. These are devoured by young and old ; master 

 and mistress, man-servant and maid-servant. All swallow greedily the mental 

 poison prepared for them. Wholesome food for " the mind " is not wanted. It 

 is out of fashion. 



At this peculiar crisis, prudence bids us (for the present) back out of the field. 

 The race is too " fast " a one for our breath to keep up with. The " odds " 

 being against us, we regard our mission as ended. We retire from the course with 

 an empty pocket. Thai might be expected (for we have fought bravely to the 



