With the object of not wearying the general reader, I have refrained from clouding my pages with minute references to authorities,--except when some special reason seemed to occur for doing so. I trust this will not be considered a defect, when I state that, for some of the lives which follow, the lists of authorities consulted would have occupied nearly one fourth of the space allotted to the lives themselves. As an instance, the number of entries given in the 'Bibliotheca Cornubiensis' for the Killigrews is 450; and one of these entries alone comprises nearly fifty items. A most pleasing task remains to be discharged; namely, to record my heartfelt obligations to my friends, the Rev. F. C. Hingeston-Randolph, M.A., and Mr. H. Michell Whitley, C.E., for their very valuable assistance in seeing the following pages through the press. I will only add, in the words of that delightful biographer, Izaak Walton, in his 'Life of George Herbert': 'I have used very great diligence to inform myself, that I might inform my reader of the truth of what follows; and, though I cannot adorn it with eloquence, yet I will do it with sincerity.' W. H. T. MORLAH LODGE, 16, TREGUNTER ROAD, LONDON, S. W. [Illustration: (end of chapter vignette.)] FOOTNOTES: [1] Let me say here, once for all, that had that monument of accurate research, and labour of love, the work of Mr. W. P. Courtney and Mr. G. C. Boase, not appeared, the following essays could never have been attempted by me, in the midst of many other and harassing occupations; the 'Bibliotheca,' however, not only rendered such a task comparatively easy, but positively invited the pen, even of one who is no ready scribe. In fact I feel, as Oliver Wendell Holmes well puts it, 'that I have ascended the stream whilst others have tugged at the oar.' [2] His works are among the earliest printed books in the British Museum: one of them (his translation of 'Bartholomeus de Proprietatibus Rerum') is believed to be the first book printed on paper of English manufacture. [3] I am informed by Mr. J. Langdon Bonython, of Adelaide, South Australia, that Longfellow, the American poet, was descended from a member of this family--Captain Richard Bonython. _RALPH ALLEN_, THE MAN OF BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPIST. [Illustration: (beginning of chapter vignette.)] _RALPH ALLEN_, THE MAN OF BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPIST. 'Let humble[4] Allen, with an awkward shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.' POPE: _Epilogue to the Satires of Horace_. St. Blazey Highway has a clear title to being the birthplace of Ralph Allen; but his parentage is doubtful, owing to his name not appearing in the baptismal register, and to the obscurity caused by the two following entries in the Register of Marriages: 1686. William All----, and Grace ----, was mar---- 24th August (entry imperfect).