CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Prefatory Letter BOOK FIRST. CHAP. I. Jeremy enters the world with the proper escort of phenomena, CHAP. II. The importance of a name fully proved, in the very teeth of Shakspeare and Juliet, CHAP. III. The mystery of rearing children laid open to the profane eyes of the uninitiated, CHAP. IV. Jeremy enters school—and departs therefrom with undue celerity, first giving a striking example of honesty by paying off all debts of his contracting, BOOK SECOND. CHAP. I. An experiment in Hydrostaticks, CHAP. II. A much-ado-about-nothing,—with a dis CHAP. III. Portrait of Jeremy, CHAP. IV. Jeremy becomes a man-gets into hot water-is scalded-and, in order to avoid such accidents for the future, determines on a bold step, CHAP. V. Filial piety. The Blessings of Friendship.-Jeremy leaves his father's house-and is knocked down, and robbed by his companion.A friend in need, PAGE 1X 13 17 30 37 45 47 50 51 61 CHAP. XXVIII. The Serenade, 376 CHAP. XXIX. The Declaration. A slip between the cup and the lip, 379 CHAP. XXX. The accident, that removes Jeremy from the circle in which he was making himself so happy, brings him once more into union with his earliest, truest, yet least known friend, 385 CHAP. XXXI. A brief sketch of the character, etc. of Edward Clayton, 388 CHAP. XXXII. The execution, 395 CHAP. XXXIII. Jeremy learns kind old uncle and his aunt. A still deeper ca- the death of his 399 JEREMY LEVIS TO THE READER. INDULGENT READER: BEFORE thou beginnest the history of a life which God hath seen fit to visit with much vicissitude, I would have thee lend thy most diligent attention to the following simple caution.— Bear then well in mind, through the whole course of this work, that thou art not reading a book of adven tures, contrived merely for thy amusement and the author's profit--but the life of a being, neither above nor below the common line of mortality, whose misfortunes, brought upon him chiefly by his own folly, may prove to thee an instructive, while not uninteresting lesson. And be not offended that his most serious moods are often traversed by a strange vein o levity; for such, dear Reader, is the faithful transcrpt of his feelings. It would seem that some men core into this world merely to weep, and others-merey to laugh. The same waves, that sink the former, but wash the latter with their spray. Of these latter am I: judge. then accordingly -Liberius si Dixero quid, si forte jocosius; hoc mihi juris Cum venia dabis A word more.-Thou rememberest, doubtless, the preliminary story which Gil Blas tells his reader of the two scholars and the soul of the licentiate Pedro Garcias:-thou wilt apply his conclusion to the work before thee Qui que tu sois, ami lecteur, tu vas ressembler à l'un ou à l'autre de ces deux écoliers. Si tu lis mes aventures sans prendre garde aux instructions morales qu'elles renferment, tu ne retireras aucun fruit de cet ouvrage; mais si tu le lis avec attention, tu y trouveras, suivant le précepte d'Horace, l'utile mêlé avec l'agréable. Of what complexion soever thou mayest be, friendly reader, thou wilt certainly resemble one of those two scholars: for, if tlou perusest my adventures, without perceiving the moral intructions they contain, thou wilt reap no harvest from thy labour; but, if thou readest with attention, thou wilt find in then, according to the precept of Horace, profit mingled with pleasure. Smollet's Translation. |