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THE task, that, near twenty years since, was assumed by
me, is now ended; and no regret is felt for the time devoted to
it. Pleasure and duty have been equally combined. In the
result some exultation might be felt, if suceess rewarded diligence,
and proficiency had always followed patience; but in
parts of so wide a range around genealogy, as this of New England,
frequent failures ought to be anticipated, since the triumphs
even within the narrow space traversed, in their long
campaigns, by Bond or Shattuck, Judd or Goodwin, proved
imperfect. Gleaners may find reward in following even their
footsteps.
For a partial indication of the ample assistance from modern
copious correspondence, a reference to my preface in Vol. I.
may seem sufficient; yet it appears requisite, in this valedictory
obeisance to subscribers, to desire their forgiveness for the awkwardness
they may discover, that among the ten or twelve
thousand items of improvement in or increase upon the first
text, as herein set forth, not a few hundred additions to additions
with a score or two of corrections for corrections are interspersed.
Of such materials the History of Watertown has
subjoined 303 pages to its first 672; and parallel to such overflow
might always be expected in a larger work, though not in
exact proportion to its size. To exhauust the vocabulary of a
civilized nation in a living tongue would appear impossible, for
we all know, that new streams are constantly flowing into it
from sources before unknown; and similar sypplies, by analogy,
in a dictionary to set forth the origin of our families subsisting
one hundred and seventy years ago, may naturally arise.
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