M. N. W, ΤΟ Patriots in all Lands, WHO LOVE JUSTICE AND FREEDOM, AND REVERENCE THE RIGHTS OF MAN, These Volumes, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THEIR GREAT EXEMPLAR, PREFACE. THIS Biography of WASHINGTON was projected by the late Rufus Wilmot Griswold, D.D. He had entered upon the labor of preparing it for the press, with zeal and ability, when brain and hand were prostrated by disease which, for years, had been lurking in his system. He had then written about two hundred pages of the work, and the publishers had commenced issuing it in monthly parts. Ever hopeful, and anxious to make this the crowning act of his literary life, he hesitated long before he would consent to abandon the enterprise and leave its execution to another. He had arranged the plan with care; he had selected the subjects for a greater portion of the illustrations; and he had given minute instructions concerning many of the designs. For several weeks he lay upon his bed, contemplating the performance of this task, so congenial to his tastes and feelings, and hourly hoping for a favorable change in his malady, that should permit him to resume it with renewed vigor. Four monthly parts had been issued, and several thousands of dollars had been spent by the publishers in the preparation of the engravings, when Doctor Griswold was compelled to lay aside his pen. They waited patiently for its resumption; but, finally, influenced by a natural desire to proceed with the work, and fulfil their engagements with the public, they insisted that he should relinquish the enterprise. They then solicited the present writer to undertake the completion of the Biography. He consented with reluctance, chiefly because the Life of Washington, by Mr. Irving, was then in course of preparation and publication, and he was unwilling to be engaged in a similar labor that might, in the least degree, interfere with that of his friend. This objection was overruled by the consideration that the work was already commenced, and would be continued; and he undertook the completion of it with a determination to give to the pleasant task all the advantages of his experience in similar labors for several years before, and such abilities as he possessed. He had just entered upon the duties he had assumed, when Doctor Griswold died. With the exception of the first two hundred pages of the first volume, it is entirely from the pen of the present writer. Justice to all parties seemed to require the foregoing explanatory history of these volumes. The same consideration makes it necessary for the writer to observe that whatever praise may be due for judgment and taste in the selection and execution of the illustrations, belongs chiefly to the original projector, and to the publishers. With these he had little to do. POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, September, 1860. B. J. L. |