INTRODUCTION.
An Editor’s task is something of an agricultural process—the garden of literature lies before him, and there he has to introduce some new shrub or flower.
Dahlias were unknown in England till within the last few years, when they were brought over, we believe, by the late Queen Charlotte. We can well imagine the interest which the gardener to whose care they were intrusted would take in the stranger root, and with what mingled pride and pleasure he would see the rich leaves expand, and the autumn bright with beauty unknown before. A similar interest belongs to the literary flower; nature has done her part, and the gardener and the editor have alike; to watch the unfolding, and then to draw attention to the fulfilled promise.
The novel which it is my pleasant task thus to introduce belongs to a class peculiarly English. From the days of the romances of chivalry down
