My Dear Sir

If anything had been needed to convince me that I have not been wasting my time and energies in devoting myself to the sometimes decried branch of literature known as Family History, your very kind letter of yesterday would have supplied the want.¹ The pleasure it gives me is twofold: it is most gratifying to know that my labours are appreciated, but infinitely more so to know that I have been the means of affording you a pleasure which you had despaired of ever enjoying.

When I entered upon this pursuit, twenty years ago, in order that I might have some occupation, I started with the theory that the history of individuals is the history of the nation. It is not a nation which makes history, but rather the individuals who compose that nation. I have never yet pursued the history of any family, or even of any person, without finding something of interest or importance in it. Sometimes a single fact in the life of one person has been the turning point of events that have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world.

I venture to send you, as one of the results of my labours, a volume which occupied me upwards of ten years, and which is my legacy to the nation which has treated me so kindly during the twenty one years it has accepted me as a voluntary resident. It is not, of course, a book to sit down to & read through, but you may perhaps deem it worthy a place in your library, & occasionally find it convenient to consult.²

Believe me, with the highest respect & sincerest regard | Yours faithfully | Jos: L. Chester