First drafted as a novel called Oyster Point when the author was only eighteen, The Cassique of Kiawah was finally published thirty-five years later, in 1859, at the height of William Gilmore Simms's career. It is a history through fiction of early Charleston, South Carolina, and completed Simms's series of Revolutionary War novels. Through satire and realism he portrays the charm and the corruption of late seventeenth-century Charleston society, and he contrasts the quiet majesty of the wilderness with the violence of man. The book was widely reviewed and highly praised, and it confirmed Simms's position as the nation's best-known novelist.
Excerpt from The Cassique of Kiawah: A Colonial Romance Away away! Once more his eyes shall hail the welcome day; Once more the happy shores without a law. - byron. Suppose the day to be a fine one - calm, placid, and without a cloud - even such a day as frequently comes to cheer us in the benign and bud-compelling month of April; - suppose the seas to be smooth at rest, and slumbering without emotion; with a fair bosom gently heaving, and sending up only happy murmurs, like an infant's after a late passion of tears; suppose the hour to be a little after the turn of noon, when, in April, the sun, only gently soliciting, forbears all ardency; sweetly smiles and softly embraces; and, though loving enough for comfort, is not so Op pressive in his. Attachments as to prompt the prayer for an iceberg upon which to couch ourselves for his future communion; sup posing all these supposes, dear reader, then the voyager, running close in for the land - whose fortune it is to traverse that portion of the Atlantic which breaks along the shores of Georgia and the Carolinas - beholds a scene of beauty in repose, such as will be very apt to make him forgetful of all the dangers he has passed' 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.
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
