University of Virginia Library

It is, I believe, customary to dedicate one's work to a patron. I suppose one's friend might with as much grave bear the burden. When I remember the enthusiasm with which my friend always espouses my cause, and how tenaciously she clings to the few virtues I have, and how blind she is to my innumerable faults, I have no forbodings of evil when I approach her. To her, Aurelia W. Beadle, the wife of my youth, this poor memento of my faith is sincerely inscribed by