Excerpt from The Bystander: Or Leaves for the Lazy Week in the columns of T he Graphic an enormous, audience at home and abroad. Judging from the many unknown friends I have thus made, wherever the English language is spoken, and the countless pleasant letters I receive from all quarters of the globe, from unknown correspondents, I fancy it is just possible there may be some who will be inclined to welcome an old friend in a new character that those who are from time to time amused with the light, ephemeral pen-and-ink sketches alluded to, may find some enjoyment in a collection Of more finished pictures by the same hand. And so I venture to accord these Leaves for the Lazy similar treatment to that bestowed on the petals Of the rose. I boldly launch them in the book stream Of the hour, let them drift away, like bubbles on the vast river of literature, and wonder what will become of them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.