LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. LIMBIRD, 143, STRAND,

(_NEAR SOMERSET HOUSE._)

1831.

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PREFACE.

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Each of our semi-anniversaries calls for a variation in our thankful
expressions to the public for their continued patronage. Yet we are
prone to confess ourselves puzzled to ring the changes even on so
pleasurable a theme as gratitude--although it is equally delightful
to the donor and receiver. We will, however, persevere, to keep
our friendship with the public in constant repair, and to gain new
friends; for it is in the course of a periodical work as elsewhere
in the world: "if a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances
through life, he will soon find himself left alone." There is,
moreover, something agreeable in writing a preface: it yields a second
crop of pleasurable associations: and the brief retrospect of six
months breaks up the _tedium_ which may at some time or other be