Excerpt from Sixty Years Gleanings From Life's Harvest: A Genuine Autobiography It has been my lot to figure in curious and stirring scenes, and to acquire practical experience of various phases in human existence. But it is only within the last few years that I have been permitted to enjoy occasional hours of unalloyed leisure. Thus, although the idea had often occurred to me that sundry passages of my life might be so embodied in a pen-and-ink sketch, as to be presentable to the public, - it was not until lately that I attempted to realise my thought Neither was I, even then, so enamoured of my own conceptions as to have prosecuted the task seriously, - had I not received unexpected encouragement to do so. I refer to the kind approbation bestowed upon my earliest efforts, by several friends - far more accustomed than myself to judging of such matters, - to whom certain portions of my MS. were from time to time submitted. Their opinion confirmed my own belief that many of the incidents I should have to relate, possessed a natural and inherent interest, - which the narrator's shortcomings could not altogether neutralise. But to affect the style and title of a 'contributor to literature' would be, indeed, a foolish ambition in me; for these memoirs will sufficiently indicate that all regular instruction ceased, in my case, at ten years old. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.