Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by

WILLIAM ARCHER COCKE,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Dedication of the First Volume.

TO KATE.

MY DEARLY BELOVED WIFE:—

I dedicate this volume to you as a feeble return for the happiness you have conferred by your constant kindness and affection. Your anxious solicitude has been among the great incentives to the laborious task. The favor with which it may be received by the public will be as highly cherished by you as by myself; and your smile of approbation will be regarded far higher than the plaudits of the world.

WILLIAM ARCHER COCKE.

RICHMOND, July, 1858.