criminating judgment regarding the treasures more golden than gold," irrespective of their lowly source, let it be attributed to an early study of Mr. Francis Turner Palgrave's Golden Treasury, which I regret to say some ill-equipped editor has attempted to gild with modern alloy. If the pleasure I have taken in collecting my scraps here, there, and everywhere, and the labor I have bestowed in bringing them within the compass of this volume, the doubting judgment respecting some and the regret of rejecting others, - if this shall be the means of preserving many of the better fugitive verses of the period; if to any man or woman, youth or maiden, it shall give a worthy book to take from the shelf when the tasks for the day are all done; if any shall find herein some familiar but mislaid verse; if its pages shall recall forgotten scenes to some and whisper in the ear of "uneventful toil" some strains of the music that is everywhere; if its leaves shall bring a balm of hope, encouragement, and sweet content to some despondent heart; if its final moral shall teach some frail and weary wight that love, truth, and mirth are unfailing comforters, comrades, friends, I shall be satisfied. CHICAGO, October, 1885. S. T. |