liberty to do so, even though his heart aches and his body is

full of pain.

Some may inquire if the things here narrated are true, and the characters real. Such questions are frequently addressed to an author; but it is doubtful whether they should be, for his book may contain much truth beneath a "thin veil of fiction," and yet he may not choose to say so. Whether the personages in my book are fictitious or otherwise, they seem real to me. So long have I been on familiar terms with them, that it is difficult to persuade myself that they are only the shadowy creations of the mind.

In the construction of my work I may have used matter which was not my own; but I trust my sins in this respect are few and far between. Fine figures and beautiful thoughts, which others may rightly claim, may be used unconsciously. The trees of light and knowledge are full of golden leaves, and the winds waft them to us, and, with gratitude in our hearts, we gather them up with care, and drink in their beauty; and it would not be strange if we sometimes felt and used it as though it were our own. For all the materials I have used which belong to other authors, I offer, it being the very best I can do, my most unfeigned thanks. And, as the author of "Richard Edney" has said, "If those from whom I have borrowed dislike anything of theirs in this connection, they will withdraw it; should they chance to like anything of ours, they have full permission to use it."

I have written this book with the very best intentions, hoping that it might do good, and receive a welcome in many homes. The character of the mother of Henri may

be considered as overdrawn and unnatural, but I know that it is not an impossible character. Some may wish that the scenes of strife and contention had been left out. I highly respect the motives of such, and would have done so if I had deemed it consistent with my plan, and with the characters described. No one disapproves of such scenes more than the author of this book; and if anything here described should lead to quarrelling and discord, it would be a source of lasting regret.

I designed the work to be reformatory in its character; and so I have advanced ideas which are unpopular, and by some considered Utopian, and by others in advance of the age. But it mattered not with me what others might say or think; for I cared more for the good that might be wrought than for the approving smiles of those who ever walk with their backs to the sun, and their faces to the past.

So much by way of preface; and here I will stop, for it is not needful that I say more. Let the book be read, and

dealt with according to its merits.