it would be sheer presumption on my part to attempt to retell it. The literary side of his career, I have taken some pains to illustrate, and I hope that I have succeeded in bringing out some obscure but interesting facts.
How far my book falls short of that ideally perfect biography which the world may some day hope to see, no one is more painfully conscious than myself, but I put it forth in the hope that it may help to clear away some misapprehensions, and some few of the miserable misrepresentations which have resulted from them. Half a century of untiring devotion to the interests of the English people demands some recognition, and such recognition can hardly fail to be accorded when the truth is known. That truth I have endeavoured to tell-it is for the reader to say with what effect.
As regards myself, I need only say that this work has been with me a labour of love: that the illustrious subject of my book has been in no way consulted or concerned in its preparation, and that my personal relations with him have been confined to a formal presentation some six years ago. For the benefit of the critics, I may perhaps be allowed to add that whatever the faults of the book may be, they are not those which arise from haste. It was begun rather more than two years ago, and it has occupied every spare hour since that time.
I cannot allow these sheets to leave my hands without grateful mention of my deep obligations to the officials of the British Museum and especially to the accomplished superintendent of the Reading Room-Mr. Richard Garnett-a gentleman whose encyclopædic knowledge is only equalled by the generous courtesy with which he places it at the disposal of every applicant for information.