This volume, relating to the history and antiquities of the oldest settlement in the United States, has grown out of a lecture delivered by the author, and which he was desired to embody in a more permanent form.
The large amount of interesting material in my possession has made my work rather one of laborious condensation than expansion.
I have endeavored to preserve as fully as possible the style and quaintness of the old writers from whom I have drawn, rather than to transform or embellish the narrative with the supposed graces of modern diction: and, as much of the work consisted in translations from foreign idioms, this peculiarly un-English style, if I may so call it will he more noticeably observed. I have mainly sought to give it a permanent value, as founded on the most reliable ancient authorities, and thus, to the extent of the ground which it covers, to make it a valuable addition to the history of our country.
In that portion of the work devoted to the destruction of the Huguenot colony and the forces of Ribault, I have in the main followed the Spanish accounts, desiring to divest the narrative of all suspicion of prejudice or unfairness: Bureau, the principal authority, as is well known, professing the same faith as Menendez, and studiously endeavoring, throughout his work, to exalt the character of the Adelantado.
I am under great obligations to my friend Buckingham Smith. Esq., for repeated favors in the course of its preparation.
