THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LEIGH HUNT. "Most men, when drawn to speak about themselves, Than they first dreamt; until at last they blush, In the self-knowledge of their auditors." WALTER SCOTT's Old Play. A NEW EDITION, REVISED BY THE AUTHOR; WITH FURTHER REVISION, AND AN INTRODUCTION, BY HIS ELDEST SON. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. M.DCCC.LX. INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR'S ELDEST SON. THIS edition of the Autobiography was revised by Mr. Leigh Hunt, and brought down to the present year by his own hand. He had almost completed the passages which he intended to add; but he had left some portions which were marked for omission in a state of doubt. From the manner in which the work was written, points of interest here and there were passed over indistinctly or omitted altogether, and some inaccuracies were overlooked in the re-perusal. In a further revision by the writer's eldest son, several obscurities have been cleared away, inaccuracies have been corrected, and omissions have been supplied. The interpolated passages, whether in the text or in notes, are distinguished by being included in brackets. In the Preface to the earlier edition, the Author avowed that he felt a difficulty in having to retrace a life which was marked by comparatively little incident, and was necessarily, therefore, mainly a retrospect of his own writings. Another difficulty, of which he was evidently conscious only through its effect in cramping his pen, lay in an excess of scruple when he approached personal matters. In the revisal of this second edition, however, the lapse of time had in some degree freed him from restraint; and while |