The Humors of Falconbridge / A Collection of Humorous and Every Day Scenes

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by T. B. PETERSON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
TO ISAAC S. CLOUGH, ESQ., OF MASSACHUSETTS,
AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF MY REGARDS FOR YOUR JUST APPRECIATION OF A GOOD THING,
AS WELL AS FOR YOUR RARE GOOD SOCIAL WIT AND AGREEABLE QUALITIES; AND MORE THAN ALL, FOR YOUR GENEROUS SPIRIT AND WELL-TESTED FRIENDSHIP, I DO WITH SINCERE PLEASURE, Dedicate unto you this Volume of my Sketches. FRATERNALLY YOURS,
FALCONBRIDGE.
This etext differs from the original in the following ways. First, the work used somehow and some how about equally; these all have been changed to somehow. Second, a number of minor typographical errors have been corrected. Corrected words are indicated by a dotted gray underline. Hover the cursor over them to see the original spelling (to find them all, search the source file for the string <ins ). Finally, a table of illustrations has been added.
The life of a literary man offers but few points upon which even the pens of his professional brethren can dwell, with the hope of exciting interest among that large and constantly increasing class who have a taste for books. The career of the soldier may be colored by the hues of romantic adventure; the politician may leave a legacy to history, which it would be ingratitude not to notice; but what triumphs or matters of exciting moment can reasonably be hoped for in the short existence of one who has merely been a writer for the press? After death has stilled the pulses of a generous man such as Mr. Kelly was, it is with small anticipation of rendering a satisfactory return, that any one can undertake to sketch the principal events of his life.
It is, perhaps, a matter for felicitation that Mr. Kelly has been his own autobiographer. His narratives and recitals are nearly all personal. They are mostly the results of his own observation and experience; and those who, in accordance with a practice we fear now too little attended to, read the Preface before the body of the work, will, we trust, understand that the stories in which Falconbridge claims to have been an actor, are to be received with as much confidence as truthful accounts, as if some Boswell treasured them up with care, and minutely detailed them for the admiration of those who should follow after him.