That gentleman left them to his adopted daughter, Miss Mills, and the portrait of Mrs. Scurlock subsequently came into the possession of Mr. Rae, the coexecutor, while Kneller's painting was sold to Mr. Rees, from whom it passed to Mrs. Thomas. The present owners of these pictures all very kindly allowed me to have them photographed for the purpose of this work, and Miss Mills gave me access to some interesting documents, which will be noticed in their place. I shall have opportunities of thanking others from whom I have received assistance and sympathy, including some, personal strangers to me, who have shown their interest in the subject by writing from many parts of the world. I have noted where the original, if it exists, of every letter printed is deposited, and I have given the authority for each statement made to an extent which may seem unnecessary; but every student who wishes to examine for himself knows how much labour is wasted through the habit, which is too common even among writers of a high class, of alluding only vaguely to the sources of their information. The rules of spelling were to an unusual degree unsettled at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and in reprinting passages from Steele's works I have adopted modern conventions. To preserve the spelling of the early-printed copies would serve no useful purpose, for the spelling is not Steele's, but the printer's, and the peculiarities of the printers of that time, which include a great superabundance of capital letters, and commas where there should be an "e" in verbs, are trying to the eye of the reader. But where we have Steele's own manuscript the case is different, and I have printed all the letters and other papers which I have been able to collate with the originals exactly as they were written. I have also given notes showing in all cases of any importance the words cancelled while writing; in this way, especially in the case of draft letters, we are able to follow the writer as he is composing, and obtain glimpses of the ideas which passed through his mind, but which were rejected in favour of others. I have endeavoured to show Steele as he was; the work has been one of love, but I have aimed at setting everything forth impartially. I have at any rate not knowingly withheld or misrepresented any facts, and I am confident that the result of the fuller study of his life which is now rendered practicable will be the conviction that, in spite of weaknesses which are among the most apparent of all those to which mortals are liable, Steele's character is more attractive and essentially nobler than, perhaps, that of any of the greatest of his contemporaries in the world of letters. G. A. A. |