I beg to assure your Royal Highness, that it will ever be the proudest feeling of my heart, that my very humble production should have been ushered into public notice, under the auspices of a Patroness, whose exalted virtues have secured her universal esteem and respect, and made her the admiration of that sex, of which she is the distinguished and presiding ornament.
With every sentiment of devotion, I am,
Madam,
Your Royal Highness’s
Much obliged and very obedient Servant,
JAMES HOLMAN.
PREFACE.
The very peculiar circumstances under which the Author professes to obtrude the present volume upon public notice, appear to require some explanation, were it only to obviate suspicions which might arise, that the general detail of circumstances which it comprises, has been the production of an active imagination, rather than a relation of the occurrences of real life; for he is fully aware, that such a construction might be put upon the apparent anomaly of the travels of one, whose loss of sight, a source of information naturally considered indispensable in such an undertaking, must greatly limit his power of acquiring the legitimate materials, necessary to give his work body and consistency.