Excerpt from Sketches of North Carolina I have the usual to offer for the publication of this little volume. It will sufficiently appear, by both the matter and the style, that it was not originally intended to assume this shape. When my friend Mr. Hope first solicited me to write something for his journal, I consented only on condition that he would accept such papers as I might be able to prepare in the midst of the wearisome and unending duties which devolve upon a country lawyer. He was pleased to say that he preferred such spontaneous productions to more studied and elaborate essays, as being better adapted to the columns of a daily newspaper. Thus encouraged I began the task, selecting, naturally and almost instinctively, North Carolina as my theme. The sketches were written under most unfavorable circumstances; many were penciled off at night after a fatiguing day of labor in the court-house, and others whilst on the circuit, without books of reference, and sent immediately off to the editor. My professional brethren, at least, will appreciate the tread-mill existence from which they sprang. After a few numbers were published, Mr. Hope surprised me very much by copyrighting the series, and informing me of his wish to publish in book form. To this I yielded reluctantly. I was conscious of their defects, of their careless manner of preparation, of their scattered and disconnected order; and yet worse, I did not have leisure to rewrite, correct, or add to them. Still I yielded to Mr. Hopes wish, and although the success of the enterprise is of course entirely problematical, I do not, and shall not regret the attempt. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.