For some time I have been in a state of doubt as to which course to pursue — whether to follow the usual custom, and address the reader in a Preface, or to combine my prefatory remarks with a Dedication. It will be seen that I have chosen the latter method. I am aware that inscriptions in connection with books are no longer in vogue; the necessity for them has happily long since passed away. In these free press days, though the writer of a book be the most obscure individual in the paths of literature, yet his pages will not lack readers, always providing they are worth perusal.