it is not because this work was conceived and partly executed amid the glades and galleries of the deepdene that i have inscribed it with your name. nor merely because i was desirous to avail myself of the most graceful privilege of an author, and dedicate my work to the friend whose talents i have always appreciated, and whose virtues i have ever admired.

but because in these pages i have endeavoured to picture something of that development of the new and, as i believe, better mind of england, that has often been the subject of our converse and speculation.

in this volume you will find many a thought illustrated and many a principle attempted to be established that we have often together partially discussed and canvassed.

doubtless you may encounter some opinions with which you may not agree, and some conclusions the accuracy of which you may find cause to question. but if i have generally succeeded in my object, to scatter some suggestions that may tend to elevate the tone of public life, ascertain the true character of political parties, and induce us for the future more carefully to distinguish between facts and phrases, realities and phantoms, i believe that i shall gain your sympathy, for i shall find a reflex to their efforts in your own generous spirit and enlightened mind.

grosvenor gate: may day 1844.