Dedication
To
Frank Leslie, Esq.,
One of the Best-tried and Most Valued Friends I Have,
THIS VOLUME,
THE LIGHT AMUSEMENT OF MY LEISURE HOURS,
IS
Respectfully Dedicated.
Preface
Thistle down, thistle down, cast to the wind
So lightly and wildly, you scarcely can find
A glimpse of it here, or a gleam of it there,
As it trembles, a silvery mist, on the air.
Like the wide thorny leaves whence the mother root threw
Up its crown of rich purple, bejewelled with dew,
These feathery nothings, barbed, sparsely, with seeds,
Must struggle for life with the brambles and weeds.