PREFACE 



^r^HIS book is the greatly reduced version of an autobiography 

 JL which I wrote as a family record for my children. It seemed 

 worth while to prepare an abbreviated story for publication, as record- 

 ing a side of American life which is systematically ignored by our 

 younger writers and of which Europeans seem to be entirely ignorant. 

 Some one has said that autobiography is necessarily fiction, but I repudi- 

 ate that judgement for myself. It is, of course, necessary to make a selec- 

 tion of facts out of an immense store of memories and records, but I 

 have honestly endeavoured to make the selection with perfect fairness. 

 The story is but a sketch, but an undistorted one. I have a good memory, 

 nothing phenomenal, but still trustworthy, and there is before me a 

 very long series of letters, written to my Wife, both before and after our 

 marriage. These letters, supplemented by diaries, have enabled me to 

 make out an unusually complete narrative, in which the dates are but 

 rarely uncertain. Whatever error of fact or opinion these chapters may 

 contain, they are not fiction in any sense. 



I count myself to have had a fortunate and interesting life; the griefs 

 and sorrows, of which I have had a full share, have been due to the loss 

 of those dear to me. I have no grievances to exploit, or enemies to 

 belabour; nevertheless, if I have succeeded in fairly transcribing my 

 story, it can hardly fail to be an interesting one, because of the people 

 that I have known and the places which I have visited. 



