Excerpt from Sketches and Fragments When The Magic Lantern was laid before the public, it was deemed too trifling to require a preface. The present little volume might for the same reason appear without one, did not the animadversions to which that bagatelle has given rise, render it ne cessary to disclaim the personal satire attributed to the sketches it contains. 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.