The Adventures of a Marmotte / Sold for the Distressed Irish

SOLD FOR THE DISTRESSED IRISH.
LONDON: PUBLISHED BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONERS’ HALL COURT; AND SPINK, LEEDS.
MDCCCXXXI.
PRICE ONE SHILLING.
In presenting this little Work to the Public, I can solicit for it no better protection than the generosity of an English heart; and I must beg my little readers will make allowances for the faults it may contain, in consideration of the cause in which it was written.
ELIZA GREY.
June, 1831.
My dear little friends, you have, I dare say, never before heard of a Marmotte writing its history; I know it is great boldness on my part, but I undertake it in the hope of amusing you, and perhaps procuring a few shillings for the poor starving Irish, who so much need your kind and generous compassion.
The first recollection I have of myself, was my lying curled up like a little ball, with two or three brothers and sisters, in a nook in one of the rugged Alps, near the pretty village of Courmayeur, situated in the valley of Aosta, in Switzerland. This valley extends from the pass of St. Martin, near the frontiers of Yoree, to St. Bernard; it is very fertile, and abounds in pastures and all sorts of fruit.
One day, when about six weeks old, contrary to the express commands of my parents, I quitted the little crevice where we lived, and wandered to a short distance, to amuse myself by jumping from rock to rock; when, Oh! fatal effect of disobedience! I was perceived by a little boy, who, uttering a cry of delight, threw down the crystals he had been gathering, and seized me by the hind legs, before I could succeed in scrambling back to my hiding place. Conceive my horror—my despair, at this unexpected and frightful event. To revenge my capture, I bit the little boy’s fingers most severely, but he only held me still tighter: this was the fruit of my disobedience, which I have since so often regretted. I hope my little readers never do any thing they are bid not; for, as I have felt, naughtiness is always punished sooner or later.