THE PIC NIC PAPERS. BY VARIOUS HANDS. EDITED BY CHARLES DICKENS, ESQ. AUTHOR OF THE PICKWICK PAPERS," With Illustrations by George Cruikshank, Phiz, &c. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. MDCCCXLI. INTRODUCTION. THE history of the following pages is told in very few words. The premature death of a young publisher in the prime and vigour of his years, before he had had time or opportunity to make any provision for his wife and infant children, and at the moment when his prospects were brightest and the difficulties of his enterprise were nearly overcome, inspired some of those who had known him personally, or had been connected with him in business, with an earnest desire to render some assistance to his widow and orphans. As a mark of their respect for his memory, and as a means towards the education of his children, |