It is on the sure ground of official documents that I have mainly relied, but they have been fortified by the contemporary literature, which is both varied and abundant. A large number of private letters and diaries have been placed at my disposal, and it has been my anxious care to draw from them useful material by separating facts and just inferences from matters and opinions honestly given as testified by the senses of the writer, but in truth founded on the current statements and warped feelings of the hour. Besides the printed matter and the manuscript documents, I have had the advantage of conversa tion with many who witnessed the transactions.