who, having had access to the original letters, had made faithful and
loving copies of each one,--accurate even to the old-world spelling.
These labours had been followed up by much patient research, the fruits
of which were now to be generously offered to the present Editor on
condition that he would prepare the letters for the press. The owner of
the letters having courteously expressed his acquiescence, nothing
remained but to give to the task that patient care that it is easy to
give to a labour of love.

A few words of explanation as to the arrangement of the letters.
Although few of them were dated, it was found possible, by minute
analysis of their contents, to place them in approximately correct
order; and if one could not date each letter, one could at least assign
groups of letters to specific months or seasons of the year. The fact
that New Year's day was at this period March 25--a fact sometimes
ignored by antiquarians of high repute--adds greatly to the difficulty
of ascertaining exact dates, and as an instance of this we find in
different chronicles of authority Sir Peter Osborne's death correctly,
yet differently, given as happening in March 1653 and March 1654.
Throughout this volume the ordinary New Year's day has been retained.
The further revision and preparation that the letters have undergone is
shortly this. The spelling has been modernized, the letters punctuated
and arranged in paragraphs, and names indicated by initials have been,
wherever it was possible, written in full. A note has been prefixed to
each letter, printed in a more condensed form than the letter itself,
and dealing with all the allusions contained in it. This system is very
fit to be applied to Dorothy's letters, because, by its use, Dorothy is
left to tell her own story without the constant and irritating
references to footnotes or Appendix notes that other arrangements
necessitate. The Editor has a holy horror of the footnote, and would