To my Friend
OLIVER ARMSTONG FRY
First among Editors
To accept my attempts at writing
And who has been mad enough to
Encourage my present enterprise
This volume is
Affectionately Inscribed.

It has been said of the Elder Matthews that a friend once enquired of him how he secured such a hold upon his audience, and the reply was :

“Directly I come upon the stage, I look for some good-natured fellow in the pit : I then play to him and in doing so generally succeed in entertaining the entire company.”

27, Hornsey Rise Gardens,
N.