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PREFACE iii

to draw from the fountain-head; that
my curiosity, as well as a sense of duty,
has always urged me to study the
originals; and that, if they have sometimes
eluded my search, I have carefully
marked the secondary evidence, on
whole faith a passage or a fact were
reduced to depend.

I shall soon revisit the banks of the
lake of Lausanne, a country which I
have known and loved from my early
youth. Under a mild government,
amidst a beauteous landskip, in a lofe
of leisure and independence, and among
a people of easy and elegant manners,
I have enjoyed, and may again hope
to enjoy, the varied pleasures of retirement
and society. But I shall every glory
in the name and character of an Englishman:
I am proud of my birth in a free
and enlightened country; and the
approbation of that country is the best
and most honourable reward of my
labours. Were I ambitious of any other

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