self owe
a debt of gratitude to those child-friends of his, without whose
ever-ready help this book could never have been written.

From very early college days began to emerge that beautiful side of
Lewis Carroll's character which afterwards was to be, next to his fame
as an author, the one for which he was best known--his attitude
towards children, and the strong attraction they had for him. I shall
attempt to point out the various influences which led him in this
direction; but if I were asked for one comprehensive word wide
enough to explain this tendency of his nature, I would answer
unhesitatingly--Love. My readers will remember a beautiful verse in
"Sylvie and Bruno"; trite though it is, I cannot forbear to quote it--

Say, whose is the skill that paints valley and hill,
Like a picture so fair to the sight?
That flecks the green meadow with sunshine and shadow,
Till the little lambs leap with delight?
'Tis a secret untold to hearts cruel and cold,
Though 'tis sung by the angels above,
In notes that ring clear for the ears that can hear,
And the name of the secret is Love!

That "secret"--an open secret for him--explains this side of his
character. As _he_ read everything in its light, so it is only in
its light that _we_ can properly understand _him_. I think
that the following quotation from a letter to the Rev. F. H. Atkinson,
accompanying a copy of "Alice" for his little daughter Gertrude,
sufficiently proves the truth of what I have just stated:--

Many thanks to Mrs. Atkinson and to you for the sight of the
tinted photograph of your Gertrude. As you say, the picture
speaks for itself, and I can see exactly what sort of a
child she is, in proof of which I send her my love and a
kiss herewith. It is possible I may be the first (unseen)
gentleman from whom she has had so ridiculous a message; but
I can't say she is the first unseen child to whom I have
sent one! I think the most precious message of the kind I
ever got from a child I never saw (and never shall see in
this world) was to the effect that she liked me when she
read about Alice, "but please tell him, whenever I read that
Easter letter he sent me I _do_ love him!" She was in a
hospital, and a lady friend who visited there had asked me
to send the letter to her and some other sick children.

And now as to the secondary causes which attracted him to c