no ordinary care and discrimination to separate the grain from the chaff. Official records do not, of course, fall within this category; but such repertories supply little beyond the dry husks of biography; and after all has been gleaned that can be collected from them, much is still indispensable that can only be derived from private records. In many instances, indeed, we have had to rely altogether on such resources; for had it not been for the assistance which has thus been afforded to us in the prosecution of our task by a numerous body of private correspondents, who have either supplied us with facts themselves or have enabled us to verify those which we have obtained elsewhere, these pages could never have approached the form they have here assumed.

The present edition of "Men of the Time" will, we trust, be regarded as an earnest of the desire of its publisher to respond adequately to the favour with which its predecessors, in spite of omissions and imperfections inseparable from first appearances of so ambitious a character, were received. It is, in fact, to all intents and purposes, a new book; for not only have many hundred additional memoirs been prepared expressly for its pages, but of those which were included in former editions some have been entirely recast, and the rest more or less revised and augmented.

A feature has also been superadded which will, it is hoped, be found to have increased in no slight degree the interest and completeness of the work. We allude to the introduction of a series of biographical sketches of notable "Women of the Time," the materials for which have been derived, for the most part, from private sources. Here as elsewhere some omissions may be discovered, which have arisen, not from any indisposition to recognise the claims of the absentees; but from causes which it has not been in our power to control; whilst in some few cases the difficulty of obtaining reliable information has been the means of restricting the notice to narrower limits than could have been wished: but such exceptions have been few, and comparatively unimportant.

The plan and objects of this work are so clearly indicated in its announcement, that it becomes unnecessary to dwell upon it. It is intended to fill a place hitherto unoccupied by any of the multifarious Books of Reference which the industry and enterprise of the age have provided for almost every class of the community. We have numerous records of the aristocracy of birth, and even of wealth; we have Peerages, and Histories of the Landed and Commercial Gentry of the United Kingdom; we have Red Books, Court and Imperial Calendars, Parliamentary Guides, and PostOffice Directories, which leave no official dignity, no civil service, unchronicled; we have lists also of military and naval officers, and of the clergy, which set forth with laudable exactness the heroic deeds, rank, or emoluments of the members of these most important professions; lawyers and politicians have also their respective muster-rolls; but the aristocracy of genius has been left, hitherto, without any special record of its deserts. The aim of the present volume is to furnish, in as compact a form as possible, a series of biographical sketches of eminent living persons in all parts of the civilised world; one which, limited to no particular class, addresses itself to all: thus presenting the largest body of contemporary biography which has hitherto appeared in this or any other country. Among the difficulties of such an undertaking, which it has not been possible to obviate altogether, has been that of establishing such a standard of selection as would have enabled us to allocate the amount of space allotted to the respective names in more strict accordance with their relative claims. In some instances, in which more minute details would have been desirable, the means of obtaining them were not within our reach. In others the value of the materials may have tempted the respective writers to exceed their prescribed limits, whilst on more than one occasion the discrepancy has been caused by circumstances purely accidental.

In the memoirs which have been introduced of crowned heads and their ministers, an attempt has been made to

describe the policy peculiar to each court and government; and in those of men of letters and of science, of artists, philosophers, etc., analyses have been included of their respective works and discoveries, which will enable the reader to form some notion of their real claims upon public notice: thus rendering the work a compendious Handbook of Contemporary History.

It ought, perhaps, to be mentioned, that no attempt has been made to reduce the political opinions conveyed by the respective writers of these sketches to any uniform standard. Men of all politics, whose general claims upon public attention have entitled them to honourable mention in its pages, have received their due meed of praise, without reference to their political bias. Even political acts of questionable prudence, which appear to have been dictated by conscientious and patriotic motives, have been duly respected.

As it is intended to publish, from time to time, editions of this work, with such changes and additions as the progress of events may render requisite, the Publisher will be grateful for any corrections or information that may seem likely to increase the value and interest of its pages. Such communications addressed to the Editor, to the care of Mr. David Bogue, Fleet Street, will be thankfully received, and carefully attended to.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTENTS.