TO
JAMES AITCHISON.
Although we are natives of different
countries, I feel that I can safely offer to
your notice a work, which has been chiefly
written with a view to induce love to my
own. Attachment to the land of our nativity,
is a sentiment so intimately blended
with our best feelings, that should I have
discovered any weakness in the exhibition of
this national partiality, I feel confident, that
you, at least, will not judge me harshly;
for your liberality to this country is untainted
with any irreverence for the institutions
of your own. If I find reasons, in your
candor, to believe you will do justice to my
merited eulogiums, I can equally hope for
your lenity, where habit has blinded me to
defects.
We have spent many pleasant hours together,
and I hope, while perusing these
pages, you may experience some portion of
that satisfaction, which has, I trust, hitherto
attended our association. With the best
wishes for your welfare,
I remain,
Dear Sir,
Your assured friend,
_____ _____
