PREFACE
Sixteen of these Letters, which were written at the suggestion of the
Editor of the "St. James\'s Gazette," appeared in that journal, from which
they are now reprinted, by the Editor\'s kind permission. They have been
somewhat emended, and a few additions have been made. The Letters to
Horace, Byron, Isaak Walton, Chapelain, Ronsard, and Theocritus have
not been published before.
The gem on the title-page, now engraved for the first time, is a red
cornelian in the British Museum, probably Graeco-Roman, and treated in
an archaistic style. It represents Hermes Psychagogos, with a Soul, and
has some likeness to the Baptism of Our Lord, as usually shown in art.
Perhaps it may be post-Christian. The gem was selected by Mr. A. S.
Murray.