2
HE SCHOOL
VILLAGE POLITICIAN
THE ROOKERY
MAY-DAY
THE MANUSCRIPT
ANNETTE DELARBRE
TRAVELLING
THE CULPRIT
FAMILY MISFORTUNES
LOVER'S TROUBLES
THE HISTORIAN
THE HAUNTED HOUSE
DOLPH HEYLIGER
THE STORM-SHIP
THE WEDDING
THE AUTHOR'S FAREWELL
BRACEBRIDGE HALL;
OR,
THE HUMOURISTS.
A MEDLEY.
BY GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT.
Under this cloud I walk, Gentlemen; pardon my rude assault. I am a traveller who, having surveyed most of the terrestrial angles of this globe, am hither arrived, to peruse this little spot.
--CHRISTMAS ORDINARY.
THE AUTHOR.
WORTHY READER!
On again taking pen in hand, I would fain make a few observations at the outset, by way of bespeaking a right understanding. The volumes which I have already published have met with a reception far beyond my most sanguine expectations. I would willingly attribute this to their intrinsic merits; but, in spite of the vanity of authorship, I cannot but be sensible that their success has, in a great measure, been owing to a less flattering cause. It has been a matter of marvel, to my European readers, that a man from the wilds of America should express himself in tolerable English. I was looked upon as something new and strange in literature; a kind of demi-savage, with a feather in his hand, instead of on his head; and there was a curiosity to hear what such a being had to say about civilized society.
This novelty is now at an end, and of course the feeling of indulgence which it produced. I must now expect to bear the scrutiny of sterner criticism, and to be measured by the same standard with contemporary writers; and the very favor which has been shown to my previous writings, will cause these to be treated with the greater rigour; as there is nothing for which the world is apt to punish a man more severely, than for having been over-praised. On this head, therefore, I wish to forestall the censori