PREFACE 



The present volumes would not have been written had not the 

 representatives of my English and American publishers assured 

 me that they would probably interest a large number of readers. 



I had indeed promised to write some account of my early 

 life for the information of my son and daughter, but this 

 would have been of very limited scope, and would probably 

 not have been printed. 



Having never kept a diary, except when abroad, nor pre- 

 served any of the earlier letters of my friends, I at first thought 

 that I had no materials for any full record of my life and expe- 

 riences. But when I set to work in earnest to get together 

 whatever scattered memoranda I could find, the numerous 

 letters I possessed from men of considerable eminence, dating 

 from my return home in 1862, together with a few of my own 

 returned to me by some of my correspondents, I began to see 

 that I had a fair amount of material, though I was very doubt- 

 ful how far it would interest any considerable number of 

 readers. 



As several of my friends have assured me that a true record 

 of a life, especially if sufficiently full as to illustrate develop- 

 ment of character so far as that is due to environment, would 

 be extremely interesting, I have kept this in mind, perhaps 

 unduly, though I am not at all sure that my own conclusions 

 on this point are correct. 



It is difficult to write such a record as mine (extending to 

 the memories of nearly eighty years) without subjecting one- 

 self to the charge of diffuseness or egotism, and I cannot 

 hope to escape this altogether. But as my experiences have 

 been certainly varied, if not exciting, I trust that the frequent 



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