Note 24 — Chapter VII

'Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk'—the name was, of course, borrowed from Scott's 'Paul's Letters' (see vol. ii. for Abbotsford)—is seldom read nowadays, and there has been no new edition for years. Still, it is a faithful, if pungent, picture of the period, and, notwithstanding a certain ill odour, really contains far more good than evil. There was no first edition, the first actual publication being called the second edition. Why, would be difficult to say.