SIR THOMAS BROWNE gave his son an admirable piece
of literary advice. The young son had been travelling
in Hungary and proposed to write an account of what he
had seen. His father approved the project, but urged him
strongly not to trouble himself about the methods of ex-
tracting iron and copper from the ores, or with a multitude
of facts and statistics. These were matters in which there
was no need to be particular. But, he added, his son must
on no account forget to give a full description of the
"Roman alabaster tomb in the barber's shop at Pesth."

In writing my recollections I mean to keep always before
me the alabaster tomb in the barber's shop rather than a
view of life which is based on high politics, or even high
literature. At first sight it may seem as if the life of an
editor is not likely to contain very much of the alabaster
tomb element. In truth, however, every life is an adven-
ture, and if a sense of this adventure cannot be com-
municated to the reader, one may feel sure that it is the
fault of the writer, not of the facts. A dull man might
make a dull thing of his autobiography even if he had
lived through the French Revolution; whereas a country

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