Excerpt from Studies and Memories This country has to thank you and a friend of yours for a phrase which, conceived in merriment, has the ring of a very vital truth. If you had given it to the world before some of these papers were printed, perhaps I, in spite of my impetuous instincts, would have so far profited by it as to make this volume too small to find a publisher. As, however, you are chief instigator of their reappearance, I have a lingering hope that you are acting up to the life maxim which you formulated in the words, Wisdom while you wait.' As one of my oldest friends, I am sure that you have not advised me in the Biblical Spirit, which desires that the book should be the handiwork of an enemy. If you turn out wrong in your estimate of its value, I can only hope that it will be a lesson to you that (without your gracious permission) you are saddled, willy-nilly, with its dedication. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.