notice) in which the
Author remarks that much that he has written appears to him to be
extremely dull, and that to avoid dullness the manuscript should
be carefully revised before it is made public. I have not the
same dread of dullness which affected Mr. Greville. A passage may
be found to contain something of interest hereafter, though it is
not amusing, and at the worst the reader can pass it by. Nor do I
attach importance to the amusement the public may derive from
this work. The volumes now published may be less attractive to
some readers than those which preceded them, for they relate to
less dissipated and distracted times; but they are, I think, more
instructive because they are marked by a deeper insight into
political history.

In conclusion, I may remark that the present publication embraces
a period of fourteen years, extending from the accession of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria in 1837 to the _coup d'etat_ of Napoleon
III. in 1851. The latest events recorded in these pages are
separated from us by an interval of about thirty-four years. The
occurrences which took place after the close of 1851, the
subsequent establishment of the Imperial power in France, the
formation of the Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen, followed in 1853 by
the Crimean War, mark an important epoch in the history of this
country and of Europe. I have therefore thought that this date is
the appropriate conclusion of this portion of the work. Mr.
Greville continued his Journal for nine years more, until the
close of 1860, though in his later years he was less conversant
with public affairs than he had been in the more active period of
his life. Should life and health be vouchsafed to me, I shall
endeavour to complete the task he confided to my care by the
publication of one or two concluding volumes at no distant
period.
HENRY REEVE.

.'. The notes in brackets are by the Editor, those without
brackets by the Author.

CORRECTIONS

The following inaccuracies have been remarked whilst these sheets
were passing through the press:--

Vol. ii, p. 37, the Duke of Wellington sate in Sir
Robert Peel's Cabinet of 1841 without
office. Sir E. Knatchbull was
Paymaster-General with a seat in the
Cabinet.

Vol. ii, p. 60, line 18, for _Emerson Tenn