Page:The Story of the Cheeryble Grants.djvu/29

Rh that point of generous goodwill to men which lies enveloped in the ampler sphere of gratitude to God.

A few pages in Chapters VI. and VII. of this volume appeared in “The Country and Church of the Cheeryble Brothers,” which has long been out of print.

W.H.E.

Ramsbottom, Manchester.

The above preface was written some eight or nine years ago when the manuscript of this volume was completed. But in the Spring of the present year I gave a lecture by their request to the Dickens Fellowship in Manchester, on the Cheeryble Brothers. At its close an interesting discussion was raised by the Hon. Secretary, Mr. A. Humphreys, on the point: Did Charles Dickens personally meet William and Daniel Grant when he visited Manchester in 1838—1839? That discussion left the problem still unsolved. On March 6th, the following appeared in the miscellany column of the Manchester Guardian:—

“At the Dickens Fellowship meeting on Friday, the lecturer, Mr. Elliot, expressed the belief that Dickens never met the originals of the Cheeryble Brothers. The opinion that the meeting did actually take place has been so long cherished by many Manchester people (writes a correspondent)