Personal sketches of his own times, Vol. 1 (of 3)

A collection of memoiristic sketches and selected papers assembled from the author’s private notebooks and correspondence, offering anecdotal portraits of public life, politics, social customs, and professional circles encountered over decades. The pieces range from brief vignettes and letters to longer, discursive reminiscences, arranged without strict chronology. The tone shifts between wry self-examination and pointed observation, combining humorous episodes with frank opinions on religion, governance, and manners, and aiming to capture the personalities, controversies, and everyday scenes of the author’s contemporary milieu.