Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/22

xiv ing no ground for any hope of this kind, he has thought it better to hazard even these crude sketches, than to suffer the materials which he had accumulated with so much toil, and for an object which he thought so laudable, to perish on his hands.

These remarks are not made with the view of deprecating the censures of critics by profession: but merely to bespeak the candour of that larger portion of readers who are willing to be pleased with the best efforts that can be reasonably expected, from the circumstances of the case. The author however, is well satisfied, that the most indulgent reader (although benevolently disposed to overlook defects of execution) will be certainly disappointed in the matter itself, of this work; for notwithstanding all his exertions, he is entirely conscious that the materials which he has been able to collect are scanty and meagre, and utterly disproportionate to the great fame of Mr. Henry. It is probable, that much of what was once known of him, had perished before the author commenced his researches; and it is very possible that much may still be known, which he has not been able to discover; because it lies in unsuspected sources, or with persons unwilling for some reason or other, to communicate their information. It is the conviction that he has not been able to inform himself of the whole