I believe that the reader of Messrs.

Methuen & Company was not disposed to publish the book, but Mr.Methuen himself (or Mr.Stedman as he was then called) was impressed by it and gave it his friendly confidence.

He was certain that it would arrest the attention of the critics and of the public, whether it became popular or not.

I have not a set of those original three volumes.

I wish I had, because they won for me an almost unhoped-for pleasure.