The Scarlet Letter - The Custom-House - Introductory

In which a humble narrator recounts his service at the Salem Custom-House, depicting the decayed yet dignified setting and the venerable characters who inhabit it with a mixture of affection and gentle irony. Amidst reflections on ancestral ties and a fading mercantile town, he offers a quietly observant portrayal of the customs and mannerisms that govern this peculiar office and its inhabitants.