PREFACE

IN sending the present volume into the world, it seems proper to mention, not only that it has been undertaken at the call of many personal friends, but that its primary motive has been the feeling expressed more widely, that some history of the life and work of Bishop McDougall ought to be left on record.

As the narrative fell into shape, it became more and more apparent how greatly the finer qualities of the man had been influenced and enhanced by those of his wife, who on her part had been no less animated by him. The two lives were, in fact, inseparable, each one the complement of the other, while of the materials of the story the greater part had proceeded from her facile pen. Hence the book has taken the form of a memorial of them both. Beauty of character or saintly virtues in an Englishwoman may not alone justify a biography, or our shelves could scarce contain the books that might be written; but when they find their expression in a history that calls for relation, they consecrate its pages, as in countless homes they raise our lives to a higher standard.

KENSINGTON: 1889.