I hope the mentioning her name in conjunction
with my own, will give no offence to any of her numerous
friends, as it was her own express pleasure
that I should employ the manuscripts, which she
did me the honour to bequeath me, in the manner
in which I have now used them. It must be added,
however, that in most cases I have disguised names,
and in some have added shading and colouring to
bring out the narrative.
Much of my materials, besides these, are derived
from friends, living or dead. The accuracy of some
of these may be doubtful, in which case I shall be
happy to receive, from sufficient authority, the correction
of the errors which must creep into traditional
documents. The object of the whole publication
is, to throw some light on the manners of
Scotland as they were, and to contrast them, occasionally,
with those of the present day. My own
opinions are in favour of our own times in many
respects, but not in so far as affords means for
exercising the imagination, or exciting the interest
which attaches to other times. I am glad to be a
writer or a reader in 1826, but I would be most
interested in reading or relating what happened
from half a century to a century before.
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