AUTHOR'S PREFACECHAPTER I. EARLY DAYS. Birth and Parentage—Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the 'Forties—A Visit to St. Andrews—The Scottish Sabbath—First Acquaintance with a Printing Office—Tyneside in the Mid-Century—In Peril of Housebreakers—At Dr. Collingwood Bruce's School—A Plague of Flies—Cholera—Fire.CONTENTS.