introductory

THE SCARLET LETTERby Nathaniel HawthorneINTRODUCTORYTHE CUSTOM-HOUSE.INTRODUCTORY TO "THE SCARLET LETTER".IT is a little remarkable, that- though disinclined to talk overmuchof myself and my affairs at the fireside, and to my personalfriends- an autobiographical impulse should twice in my life havetaken possession of me, in addressing the public. The first time wasthree or four years since, when I favoured the reader- inexcusably,and for no earthly reason, that either the indulgent reader or theintrusive author could imagine- with a description of my way of life...