THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A PHAETON. BY WILLIAM BLACK, AUTHOR OF "A PRINCESS OF THULE," ETC. ETC. SEVENTH AND CHEAPER EDITION. London: MACMILLAN AND CO. 1874. [The Right of Translation and Axproduction is reserved.] OXFORD To E. W. S. What can I look back on a journey which was made pleasant by the fancy that you might have been with me; I look forward to another and longer journey rendered beautiful by the hope that you may be with me; and I find this book between. I do with it but lay it at your feet, and ask you, as you look over its pages, and smile at the distorted vision of yourself you may find there, to forgive the rude and graceless outlines that were meant to portray one of the most innocent, tender, and beautiful souls God has ever given to the world? The blind man, who has neve een the stars, dreams of them, and is happy. And if he should be cured of his blindness, and get to know the stars and become familiar with all the majesty and wonder of them, will he look with much contempt on those imperfect pictures of them he had formed in the time of his loneliness and ignorance? I think not; and that is the excuse I have for offering to you this book, knowing that you will look charitably on these gropings in the dark, for the sake of the love and admiration that prompted them. |