TO THE REV. ROBERT PHELPS, D.D., MASTER OF SIDNEY SUSSEX COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. I MY DEAR FRIEND, DEDICATE this book to you, because it is based upon "The Conquerors of the New World and their Bondsmen," which I dedicated to you several years ago. Finding that, for the completeness of the work, it required to be more developed, I have been obliged to extend its plan and to enlarge its form. I need hardly dwell upon the difficulty of my enterprize, and the labour which, for many a weary year, it has entailed upon me. I feel, however, that the more it has cost me, with the greater confidence I can dedicate it to you, who will not look so much upon the result, whether successful or unsuccessful, as upon the expense of life and energy which it represents. |