Book Description

Excerpt from Life and Times of William Lowndes of South Carolina, 1782-1822 A word of explanation - perhaps of apology - is necessary in presenting this book to the public. Of apology that the life of a statesman should be attempted by one who has no skill in statecraft, of explanation why it has been so attempted. Mrs. William Lowndes during her long widowhood carefully collected all letters and papers which might be useful for a life of her husband. She died in 1857, bequeathing these letters to her daughter, Mrs. Rutledge, to be used whenever a competent writer should be found. Early in 1860 the Honorable William J. Grayson, than whom none could be more competent, offered to undertake the work, and by the help of these papers prepared a memoir. But for two curious accidents this present book need never have been written. Mr. Grayson died during the war between the States, and his MS. passed into the possession of the late Major Rawlins Lowndes, of New York, and was carried by him to New York with a view to its publication. Before completing the arrangements Major Lowndes also died, and in some unexplained manner the MS. was lost. No trace of it has ever been found. 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.