the first edition I allowed my zeal to exceed my discretion in respect of some names and details, I trust I have sufficiently atoned for the mistake by erasing them altogether from the present issue. I should have liked to have mentioned our notable cricketers. But the domain of athletics has not been entered. In view of fleeting popularity, and for fear of invidious distinctions, I have refrained from singling out any of our champions of sport.
The value of the book has been enhanced by the expansion of numerous notices and the inclusion of many entirely new ones, particularly of men in commerce and industry, the professions, and the arts and sciences. Special attention has been devoted to our great pastoralists, men who pioneered and opened up tracts of country and are still connected with the development of a national industry which contributes so largely to the wealth of this Continent. Some of these may not be so prominent in the public eye as are a number of professional politicians. But their service is at least deemed to be of value to the community, and they are worthy of permanent record. Some legislators come for a season and then disappear, and are not even remembered by their former constituents. Why elevate them to the distinction of notables?
The first edition lifted many Australians into prominence on the other side of the world. I trust these—shall I say lesser lights in the firmament of Australian notability—are not unmindful of the source whence they really derived the public notice which has since been given them.
Press and public alike have accorded Notable Australians a gratifying reception. I am obliged to all who have written in commendation of the work, especially my literary friends and critics in Australasia, from whom I have received many genuine expressions of appreciation and much practical assistance. My thanks are hereby given to leading men of the Commonwealth and New Zealand for the personal interest they have exhibited in the production. I also appreciate the courteous recognition accorded by influential newspapers and magazines, and am indebted to the Australasian Press for the extensive quotations made from my book and the fitting acknowledgment given from
