I hope, now, that Robert and Matilda will say, in their posthumous works, that I made the _amende honorable_, as I always strive to do when friends feel they have not been fairly treated.
In May, 1881, the first volume of our History appeared; it was an octavo, containing 871 pages, with good paper, good print, handsome engravings, and nicely bound.

I welcomed it with the same feeling of love and tenderness as I did my firstborn.

I took the same pleasure in hearing it praised and felt the same mortification in hearing it criticised.

The most hearty welcome it received was from Rev.William Henry Channing.

He wrote us that it was as interesting and fascinating as a novel.