DEDICATED

TO

INSPECTOR WILLIAM WILLIAMS

PARK ROW

CWMAVON

A MAN OF ABILITY AND CONVICTION

A CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN

FRIEND OF MY BOYHOOD AND COMPANION OF

LATER YEARS

WHO HAS KNOWN MY BEST AND MY WORST

AND

WHO, IN ALL THE VICISSITUDES OF MY LIFE

HAS BEEN HONEST IN HIS FRIENDSHIP, WISE

IN HIS COUNSEL, AND LOYAL IN HIS AFFECTIONS

“A BLESSED thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly and who loves us in spite of all our faults, who will speak the honest truth to us while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our backs, who will give us counsel and reproof in the day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in the day of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can. If we have had the good fortune to win such a friend, let us do anything rather than lose him. We must give and forgive, live and let live. If our friend has faults, we must bear with them. We must hope all things, believe all things, endure all things, rather than lose that most precious of all earthly possessions, a trusty friend. And a friend, once won, need never be lost if we will only be trusty and true ourselves. “—CHARLES KINGSLEY.