Wales or as separate plantations. Facts connected with their growth have been daily under my notice. To distinguish those which are momentous from those which are insignificant in principle, may be as easy for a distant investigator as for one who lives on the spot. To know how men's minds were disturbed by events which might seem trivial to strangers abroad, is given only to those who have moved upon the scene. As a resident in various rural districts, as a holder of public office, as a magistrate, as mayor of a borough, and in other ways, I have had ample opportunities of becoming acquainted with the course of events. Copious materials in the shape of official reports and blue-books are at the command of all. As to facts they convey authentic information. The opinions they contain require to be balanced with a knowledge of the characters of the writers, and such knowledge is greatly promoted by perusal of those confidential letters which show the inner workings of the mind. Of such manuscripts I have been able to make large use, and the following pages show what valuable treasures have hitherto been neglected or unknown, and how in their absence false notions have been entertained. When it has been needful to controvert often-repeated mis-statements minute precision has been necessary; because in such a case it is not enough to make mere assertions. It is incumbent to fortify each position by cumulating circumstantial proofs. The world, moreover, exacts, in modern days, details which greatly lengthen books, and such a process has the approval of one of the most sagacious of men.[1]
- ↑ Dean Swift (to Bolingbroke, 1719): "I must beg two things; first, that you will not omit any passage because you think it of little moment; And secondly, that you will write to an ignorant world, and not suppose
