There are three drafts of the manuscript of Sir Walter Ralegh, each one differing in certain respects from the other two, and all of which have been used in the preparation of this volume. The third, and final, draft, in its careful elaboration, and the skilful weaving together of its parts, is a distinct improvement over the first; and there are some indications, even in this last draft, that the author may have had a still further revision in contemplation.
We are so wont only to associate Thoreau with his own immediate world of Nature, that a work like this in which he ventures so far afield, and in which he deals with so much that is stirring, presents him to us in an entirely new light. Perhaps, at first, we may wonder what there was in common between the retiring, home-loving citizen of Concord, and this adventurous knight of "the spacious days of great Elizabeth," which should make Sir Walter Ralegh his favorite character in English history. But we have only to study the career of this sturdy Devonshire worthy to come under the spell of his enduring charm and real manliness; to
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