passed away while his work was still in the hands of the printer, it is indeed invested with peculiar interest.
When it is remembered that after his death urgent efforts were made—and from high sources too—to suppress his work; that the powerful Duke of Bedford, backed by Lord John Russell himself, tried to buy up the entire edition issued; it is enough to make every sympathetic and enquiring person anxious to read the results of his labor of years.
If some of the advanced thinkers of the day find that Viscount Amberly—as evinced in some of the later chapters of this volume—had not in all respects evolved in the line of Free-*thought so far as they have done they should remember that he had at least made rapid progress for the time he had devoted to the pursuit of truth. He was still a young man at the time of his death, and had it been his lot to have scored a greater number of years, with the advantage of the experience which they give, it is very possible his views might have undergone other modifications.
The London edition was issued in two volumes, 8vo and was necessarily sold at a large price. This American edition contains the entire work in one volume and is presented to the public at about one-fifth the price at which the English edition was sold. It is hoped this feature will be duly appreciated by the American public.
D. M. B.
New York, March 20th, 1877.
