Preface

There is "some pleasure," Johnson reminds us, in reflecting that those who have only "trifled till diligence was necessary" might still congratulate themselves upon the "superiority to multitudes who have trifled till diligence is vain." Months are spent selecting and editing the essays before sending them off to the press in November. The necessity of producing a preface did not concentrate my mind won­ derfully then, and I now find myself in danger of joining the multi­ tudes. The decreasing size of the volume has made it difficult for the editor to attempt to relate the essays to each other in a meaningful way. But what can be said, and with considerable pleasure, is that these essays are representative of the best scholarship in the eigh­ teenth century. O M Brack, Jr. Arizona State University June 27, 1985 xi ...