OR, BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND EDUCATION. A NOVEL. BY THE EARL OF BELFAST. Etatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores. HORACE. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1851. 249. V. 251 PREFACE. "Si cette lettre est trop longue pour une lettre, tirez en une préface ;—cela ne se lit pas.”—LAMARTINE. LAMARTINE judged well of the fate of prefaces when he thus wrote. Nine out of ten of those who may favour the author by a perusal of this tale, will turn over these introductory pages, and plunge headlong into the story. Yet, with this truth before my eyes, I cannot refrain from saying one word in behalf of these little creatures of my brain, who now leave their native place to "sail the sea of life." |