these transgressions I make willing
confession. I have striven to present these sketches in the most lucid
and concise form compatible with readableness; to compress the
greatest possible amount of useful information into the smallest
compass. Indeed, had I been competent, I doubt that I would have
attempted a more elaborate rendition, or drawn more freely upon the
language and the coloring of poetry and the imagination. I have
therefore to apprehend that the average reader will find them too
statistical and laconic, too much abbreviated and void of detail.

However, a disinterested historian I have not been, and should such a
charge be preferred I shall look for speedy exculpation from the
discerning mass of my readers.

In this connection and before proceeding further I desire to say that
my right to prosecute this work can not fairly be questioned; that a
familiar treatment of the subject I have regarded as my inalienable
prerogative. I was born in Loudoun County, of parents who in turn
could boast the same distinction, and, if not all, certainly the
happiest days of my life were passed within those sacred precincts. I
have viewed her housetops from every crowning eminence, her acres of
unmatched grain, her Arcadian pastures and browsing herds, her
sun-kissed hills and silvery, serpentine streams. I have known the
broad, ample playgrounds of her stately old Academy, and shared in the
wholesome, health-giving sports their breadth permitted. I have known
certain of her astute schoolmasters and felt the full rigor of their
discipline. Stern tutors they were, at times seemingly cruel, but what
retrospective mind will not now accord them unstinted praise and
gratitude? Something more than the mere awakening and development of
slumbering intellects was their province: raw, untamed spirits were
given into their hands for a brief spell--brief when measured in after
years--and were then sent forth to combat Life's problems with clean
hearts, healthy minds, robust bodies, and characters that might remain
unsullied though beset with every hellish device known to a sordid
world. God bless the dominies of our boyhood--the veteran
schoolmasters of old Loudoun!

But to return to my theme. I have a distinct foresight of the views
which some will entertain and express in reference to this work,
though my least fears of criticism are from those whose experience and
ability best qualify them to judge.

However, to the end that cr