vored to state facts truly as they are presented to us in the printed records of the period. It is for the reader to judge whether those facts warrant and justify the reflections, which I have freely introduced into my narrative, as opportunity invited. Occasional reference will be found, in the text or notes, to such authors, as have afforded me valuable aid. Something I may have derived from personal knowledge of men and things in Europe. In writing cotemporaneous history, especially at the present day, exact citation of specific authorities for each fact is hardly practicable. A vast number of journals, of every description, furnish intelligence, not always to be trusted implicitly, but yet frequently of the most authentic quality, as in the case of legislative debates, public documents, letters of responsible individuals, and the like. Pamphlets and reviews, if they do not greatly increase the amount of original informa tion, serve to analyze, correct, and explain that, which is obtained from other sources. It is, in fact, the current historical and political knowledge of the day, which I have endeavored to seize and embody in the most unpretending form, after attentive perusal of the state-papers, imperfect histories, and periodical publications, which bear upon my subject. It is proper to add that a portion of the work was originally written for and published in the American Annual Register. |