It is conceived to be necessary, for the satisfaction of the Public, to prefix to this work some account of the Manuscripts from which it has been printed, and of the manner in which they came into the hands of the Editor; which we shall accordingly do, interweaving therewith such subsequent information as we have been able to collect respecting the families and descendents of Colonel and Mrs. Hutchinson.

The Memoirs of the Life of Col. Hutchinson had been seen by many persons, as well as the editor, in the possession of the late Thomas Hutchinson, Esq. of Owthorpe, in Nottinghamshire, and of Hatfield Woodhall, in Hertfordshire; and he had been frequently solicited to permit them to be published, particularly by the late Mrs. Catharine Maccaulay, but had uniformly refused. This gentleman dying without issue, the editor, his nephew, inherited some part of his estates which were left unsold, including his mansionhouse of Hatfield Woodhall. In the library he found the following books, written by Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson. 1st. The Life of Col. Hutchinson. 2d. A book without a title, but which appears to have been a kind of diary made use of when she came to write the Life of Col. Hutchinson. 3d. A Fragment, giving an account of the early part of her own life. This book clearly appears to have been Mrs. Hutchinson's first essay at composition, and contains, besides the story of her life and family, several short copies of verses, some finished, some unfinished, many of which are above mediocrity.