"For many years Mr. Choate's family and friends had begged him to write his reminiscences. He invariably refused to entertain the idea on the ground that, in his opinion, such sketches could be of no value to any one. To the many requests of publishers, editors, and biographers, he likewise - with a characteristic lack of vanity - turned a deaf ear. In the spring of 1914, however, - when he was in his eighty-third year - the convalescence and inaction consequent upon the first severe illness of his life, prompted him to begin the dictation of these papers. They were casually and intermittently composed, with no idea of publication in mind, and only intended for the eyes of his immediate family. On occasions weeks and even months passed by without his giving them a thought. The papers are here printed literally, just as he dictated them to his secretary. Mr. Choate made no use of notes in preparing them ; he consulted no books, and he never even corrected the manuscript. Had he done so, he would undoubtedly have made many verbal alterations - and perhaps excisions - in the text. He began the sketches with slight interest, but, as they developed, he became more absorbed in the task and looked forward with a good deal of pleasure to going on with it. After the celebrations incident to his eighty-fifth birthday, he went back to the work with renewed zest and had started on the chapter entitled "Marriage" when there came a break in our diplomatic relations with Germany. From that moment - February 3, 1917 - nothing could induce him to continue his task. His mind seemed to harbor but one thought, the thought of the Great Cause and of the part which he longed to have his country play in it. Caroline Sterling Choate. Naumkeag, Stockbridge, Mass., October 16, 1917." -- prefatory note, pages v-vi.