原文 (英語)

PREFACE It is with great diffidence that I lay this memoir before the public; it is my first experience in such work, but my reasons for so doing appear to me unanswerable. It was to my care and judgment that my father, by his will, committed his letters and journals, and my heart confirms the judgment of my mind, that his active and interesting life, so varied in the many different positions he was called upon to fill, and the considerable part he played in the affairs of his time, des