Publisher's Synopsis
From the PREFATORY NOTE.
A WRITER has always on his table, or concealed in one or more of its drawers, literary material that has failed of finding a place in any of his books. As time passes the material increases in quantity; and sometimes, because of occasional revisions, it improves in character and becomes more worthy of preservation. What shall he do with it? He may be moved by some inward impulse to cast it all into the fire. Yet not a few of those pages have cost him labor; and some of them may possess a modicum of interest for the general reader. Why should not the author, after winnowing from the grain so much of the chaff as it may be possible thus to separate from the ripe grain, gather what remains of the corn into some such granary as a book like this provides? The author has expressed his opinions with freedom and frankness, and he believes there are in this world many candid men and women who will welcome his frankness even though they may, in some cases, dissent from the conclusions arrived at. Only to such readers is this book addressed.
