THIS Memoir was written for, and at the request of, the near relatives, and intimate friends, of the home-loving country gentleman, whose unlooked-for death had made them all mourners indeed. Had it been meant originally for publication, it would have taken a very different form. In compiling it, my whole thoughts were fixed on my own sons and nephews, and not on the public. It tells of a life with which indeed the public has no concern in one sense; for my brother, with all his ability and power of different kinds, was one of the humblest and most retiring of men; who just did his own duty, and held his own tongue, without the slightest effort or wish for fame or notoriety of any kind. In another sense, however, I do see that it has a meaning and interest for Englishmen in general, and have therefore consented to its publication in the usual way, though not without a sense of discomfort and annoyance at having the veil even partially lifted from the intimacies of a private family circle. For, in a noisy and confused time like ours, it does seem to me that most of us have need to be reminded of, and will be the better for bearing in mind, the reserve of strength and power which lies quietly at the nation's call, outside the whirl and din of public and fashionable life, and entirely ignored in the columns of the daily press. The subject of this memoir was only a good specimen of thousands of Englishmen of high culture, high courage, high principle, who are living their own quiet lives in every corner of the kingdom, from John o' Groat's to the Land's-End, bringing up their families in the love of God and their neighbour. Memoir of a Brother is a work of non-fiction, detailing the affection Thomas Hughes felt for his brother, as well as giving insight into life in the Victorian period. In this Cameron Collectible edition, those footnotes which are not part of Hughes' original manuscript have been prefaced with the words 'Editor's note.' Wherever possible, Victorian syntax and spelling have been retained. Cameron Collectibles are re-published literary works which are now out of print or hard-to-obtain, due to low public demand. While some publishers reprint out-of-date works by making facsimile copies, or by using optical recognition equipment, a 'Cameron Collectible' is individually typed and carefully checked, so that the finished article is a first-class product. The aim is to ensure that no volume in the Cameron Collectible range contains a typographical error, and that the original work is faithfully replicated - with an attractive cover and clear type-setting. For more details, see our website: www.cameron-collectibles.blogspot.co.uk
About the Author: Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown's Schooldays, wrote this memoir after the unexpected death of his older brother, George Hughes. Thomas Hughes later went on to write other works of fiction and non-fiction, and for some time was a Member of Parliament at Westminster.