PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH VOLUME

Summary

The Completion of another Volume furnishes us with the customary opportunity of rendering our thanks to those who have contributed to the support of this Work by their patronage, or to the embellishment of it by their talents. It is in Literature, as it is in life, a duty which every man should impose upon himself, occasionally to review the task which he has undertaken, to apologize for the errors which he may have committed, and to acknowledge the assistance which he has received. In discharging this duty, as far as relates to himself, the Editor is neither inclined to deprecate severity, nor to court applause. As a Biographer, he has uniformly endeavoured to be accurate in his Memoirs of the eminent Characters of whom he has had occasion to treat, and seeks for no higher praise than the merit of having related with fidelity whatever has come within the limits of his knowledge. Though he has often to complain of the paucity of his information, if this merit be allowed him, the Lives of those illustrious Commanders, Lord Anson, Lord Mulgrave, Sir Charles Saunders, and Sir George Pocock, now no more; of Lord Gardner, and Sir Thomas Graves, names dear to their Country, which appear in the present Volume, must excite interest, and, it is to be hoped, will gratify curiosity.