Excerpt from Poems and Sketches IN bringing this little volume to the light, the writer has little apology to offer, further than that owing to having published a lesser work fully twenty years ago, he has often felt the truth of the opinion of some of his reviewers at that period, that he had gone before the world with his Wares at a time of life which might be regarded as premature. For many years back he has desired to publish in a collective form a selection from the pieces composed from time to time within the last twenty years. In this he has been encouraged by many friends both at home and abroad; but while hopeful it may contribute to the enjoyment of such, he has no desire to avoid the fair and honest criticism of the press. Had this work appeared two years ago, the writer would in its preparation have been assisted by his esteemed and intimate friend James Smith, whose lamented death took place last year. He has, however, been assisted by other friends whose services he values very highly and to them and to all interested, he tenders his sincere thanks, cherish ing as he does the hope that the collection as a whole will justify the lively interest they have taken in it. 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.