PREFACE.

THI

HIS volume is sent forth dedicated to a noble Society and a good cause. Its contents have been rapidly composed to suit occasions at longer or shorter intervals within the last twenty years. Whether they attain in any degree to the "accents of high seriousness or not, unlike the "cities of the plain," they have only been saved from destruction on account of the portions of good which are in them, and by the solicitations of others. If they succeed in affording pleasure, however little, that circumstance may perhaps help to mitigate their numerous deficiencies.

It is intended that the profits (if any) arising from the sale of these pages shall be equally divided between the Benevolent Fund of the Manchester St. Andrew's Society and a Dinner Fund for Street Children.

Ravenslea, Whalley Range,

Manchester, October, 1881.