The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Among the scenes of peculiar interest the Americantraveller is, as it were, under a patriotic obligation tovisit while abroad, may be mentioned the birth-place ofColumbus near Genoa, Cave Castle, the mansion of theWashington family in the Wolds of Yorkshire, and theabode at Edinburgh of the venerable authoress of“Letters from the Mountains.” In acknowledgmentof what we all owe to her, and as a heartfelt tribute ofadmiration, and affection for her talents, and virtues, thepresent work being out of print, the opportunity of republishingwhat so much identifies Mrs. Grant of Laghanwith our country, is gladly seized upon by one whosince one of those pilgrimages has long enjoyed the benigninfluence of her society and correspondence. Thesimple circumstances she relates of herself, and the gentlespirit of the whole work render it unnecessary todeprecate criticism; and the praise of Southey whopronounced the “description of the breaking up of theice in the Hudson,” as “quite Homeric,” must bespeakfor it a favourable perusal. As a picture, taken at thedawning of the Revolution, of the clouds which thenpassed along to have vanished otherwise forever, and asone in a series of works shedding light upon that momentousperiod of which the “Pioneers” is its naturalsuccessor, its reappearance must be a welcome event inthe marshalling of American literature now in progress.
SIR,
It is very probable that the friends, by whose solicitationsI was induced to arrange in the following pages myearly recollections, studied more the amusement I shouldderive from executing this task, than any pleasure theycould expect from its completion.
The principal object of this work is to record the fewincidents, and the many virtues which diversified anddistinguished the life of a most valued friend. Thoughno manners could be more simple, no notions more primitivethan those which prevailed among her associates,the stamp of originality with which they were marked,and the peculiar circumstances in which they stood, bothwith regard to my friend, and the infant society to whichthey belonged, will, I flatter myself, give an interest withreflecting minds, even to this desult