The next source of information is his journal. He began to keep a journal in 1818, when he first went to Cambridge, and continued it uninterruptedly down to 1829, a short time before his conversion. We have found nothing in the shape of a diary among his papers, from that time until the year 1846, a few months before he became a Passionist, except a journal of a tour he made on the Continent in 1844, and that is given entire in the third book. The journal from 1846, until a few days before his death, is a mere record of dates and places in which he has been and persons he spoke to. It is so closely written that it is scarcely readable by the naked eye, and he gives in one page the incidents of six months. This journal was of great use to him. It helped his memory and prevented his making mistakes in the multitude of scenes through {xx} which, he passed. It is also a valuable contribution to the annals of our Order. Besides these two sources of information regarding his life, we have had access to a multitude of letters, running over the space of upwards of forty years. He preserved a great many of the important letters he received; and several of his friends, who preserved letters received from him as treasures, kindly lent us their stock for the preparation of this volume. His Eminence the late Cardinal Wiseman gave us what letters he possessed, and promised to contribute some recollections of his friend, but was prevented by death from fulfilling his promise. Our thanks are due to their Lordships, the Right Rev. Dr. Ullathorne, the Right Rev. Dr. Wareing, the Right Rev. Dr. Turner, the Right Rev. Dr. Grant, the Right Rev. Dr. Amherst, and to several clergymen and lay persons, for their kindness in sending us letters and furnishing us with anecdotes and pleasing recollections of Father Ignatius. Among the latter we are under special obligations to Mr. De Lisle and Mr. Monteith. In truth we have found all the friends of Father Ignatius most willing to assist us in our undertaking. Nor must we forget several religious who have helped us in every possible way. The information gathered from the correspondence has been the most valuable. His letters were written to dear friends to whom he laid the very inmost of his soul open,--fervent souls, who sympathized {xxi} with his zealous exertions and profited by his advice in advancing themselves and others in the way of virtue. The Dowager Lady Lyttelton has kindly furnished us with dates and accurate information about the members of the Spencer family, and as she is the only survivor of the children of John George, Earl Spencer, we hope the memory of her dear brother will serve to alleviate the weight of her advancing years, and prolong them considerably to her children and grandchildren. We beg to express our sincere thanks for her ladyship's kindness.