第1章 INTRODUCTION(1)

By R.A.Streatfeild Since Butler's death in 1902his fame has spread so rapidly and the world of letters now takes so keen in interest in the man and his writings that no apology is necessary for the republication of even his least significant works.I had long desired to bring out a new edition of his earliest book A FIRST YEAR IN CANTERBURY SETTLEMENT,together with the other pieces that he wrote during his residence in New Zealand,and,that wish being now realised,I have added a supplementary group of pieces written during his undergraduate days at Cambridge,so that the present volume forms a tolerably complete record of Butler's literary activity up to the days of EREWHON,the only omission of any importance being that of his pamphlet,published anonymously in 1865,THE EVIDENCEFOR THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST AS CONTAINED IN THE FOUREVANGELISTS CRITICALLY EXAMINED.I have not reprinted this,because practically the whole of it was incorporated into THE FAIR HAVEN.