7.6.71 PREFACE. THE purpose of this book is to make known some of the most remarkable discoveries which have been achieved by the successors and countrymen of Jacob Grimm, and to indicate, in a manner not too abstruse for the general reader, the method and line of research which they have pursued, with a success in some instances surpassing all expectation. The labours of their great master have received due honour in this country: they have gladdened the hearts of our children, enriched the minds of our studious men, and nurtured a spirit of inquiry which has done not a little towards rescuing from oblivion the perishing remains of the old ways of life and thought of our forefathers. Learned and unlearned, we have all been delighted to sit as listeners at the feet of Jacob Grimm, but I am not aware that any attempt has yet been made to naturalize amongst us the admirable fruits secured within the last few years by German explorers of |