The earlier chapters of this collection are so much in the nature
of an autobiography that the author has long shrunk from the idea of
allowing them to see the light during his lifetime. His repugnance
has been overcome by very warm expressions on the subject uttered
by valued friends to whom they were shown, and by a desire that
some at least who knew him in youth should be able to read what he
has written.
The author trusts that neither critic nor reader will object
because he has, in some cases, strayed outside the limits of his
purely personal experience, in order to give a more complete view
of a situation, or to bring out matters that might be of historic
interest. If some of the chapters are scrappy, it is because he
has tried to collect those experiences which have afforded him most
food for thought, have been most influential in shaping his views,
or are recalled with most pleasure.