PREFACE. 



XV 



play, what we conceive to be their foibles and 

 faults. What people more sensitive than we, 

 to the slanders of such men as Weld or Ashe, 

 and yet we sometimes venture sneers and il- 

 natured taunts against people who believe they 

 are following our glorious example! These are 

 regarded by them as "the unkindest cuts of all." 

 They are keenly, and deeply, felt by the patriots 

 of the South, and I fear they have produced dis- 

 gust that will not easily be removed; but I will 

 venture to say to them, in the name of my coun- 

 try, and the government of my country, that 



SUCH SENTIMENTS ARE DISCLAIMED BY BOTH. 



To the many inaccuracies, and inelegancies of 

 composition, I plead guilty, and submit to the 

 sentence of the public, alleging in mitigation, 

 that authorship in this country is not a profes- 

 sion, that it has been engaged in by me at the ex- 

 pense of the occupation by which I must earn 

 my bread. I have had no time to polish and 

 correct; having been obliged^ in general, to keep 

 pace with the printer. 



