most of the essays brought together in the present volume have been published in the spectator, and are here reproduced by the kind permission of the proprietors of that journal, for which i offer them my hearty thanks. it may perhaps not be out of place to mention, for the benefit of any who may wish to know why these articles have been published in book form, that the action has been taken in deference to the wishes of a very large number of friends who, having read the sketches in the spectator, desired to have them collected in a permanent and handy shape.