Excerpt from The Metropolitan, 1856, Vol. 4: A Monthly Magazine, Devoted to Religion, Education, Literature, and General Information When we closed our editorial labors upon the third volume of the Metropolitan, we instinctively threw ourselves back in our arm chair, drew a long breath as if the labor of a life-time was over, and prepared to take a respite from our toils. But no: another editorial year comes upon the past, just as one month follows another, and we find our selves again upon t.he beaten track. We are once morant the helm of the Metropolitan, and with cheerful heart and firm resolve, determined to do our part towards realizing the high and important objects for which the work was undertaken, and rendering it a periodical worthy of its widespread and increasing patronage. It may be due from us to say to our numerous readers, that for the coming year we will introduce some marked improvements in the arrangement and diversity of our materials; we do claim for the past, that we have given an amount of substantial and valuable reading matter equal to any to be found collected in the same compass, and at a price which places it within the reach of all classes. At the same time, however, we have thought an advantageous change might be made by introducing more light reading, which will amuse while it instructs the young minds around the domestic fireside. We shall devote, for this purpose, a certain number of pages of each number to excerpts from general history, to historical and other anecdotes, and as far as practicable, to short and pointed paragraphs upon all suitable subjects likely to prove interesting. Particular attention will be paid to the introduction of Illustrations, of such a character, as will be both pleasing and instructive. 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.