THE HALF CENTURY: ITS HISTORY, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. BY WASHINGTON WILKS. "HISTORY MAY BE DEFINED AS THE BIOGRAPHY OF NATIONS."-Dr. Arnold SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED LONDON: W. AND F. G. CASH, (SUCCESSORS TO CHARLES GILPIN), AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. MDCCCLIII. PREFACE. THERE is a mechanical art and mystery in Author-craft, as in every other craft, which can only be learned by apprenticeship, or an experience tantamount thereto. Whatever a man's fitness for his vocation, whatever the general training he has undergone, the absence of this special knowledge will betray itself. In Authorcraft, this secret is-the proportioning of material to space; of the task to the time for its performance. The writer of this volume is "free to confess" what some might otherwise take an ill-natured pleasure in discovering and proclaiming —that the size of this book scarcely permitted the fulfilment of the design expounded in its introductory pages; and that the Social bears but a small proportion to the Political in the conduct of the narrative. Others may complain, that so small a book should have been so long in preparation. In apology for the former, the Writer would acknowledge, that though not unaccustomed to literary labour, he is new to the art of book-making; and that he did hope, in his inexperience, to have found room for all he had to say within twenty-three sheets of bourgeois leaded. |
