AND OTHER TALES, FOUNDED ON AMERICAN INCIDENTS AND CHARACTER. BY SAMUEL L. KNAPP. "There's some peculiar in each leaf and grain- That each from others differs, first confess; Next, that he varies from himself no less: Add nature's, custom's, reason's, passion's strife, And all opinion's colours cast on life." "How? turn again to tales long since forgot? Æsop-and Phædrus-and the rest? Why not?-Cowper. NEW-YORK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. AND W. SANDFORD, 29 ANN-STREET. MDCCCXXXVI, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1836, BY IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ΤΟ GEORGE C. SHATTICK, M.D., PRESIDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY. DEAR SIR I have taken the liberty to dedicate this small volume to you, as a slight token of my grateful recollections of the many instances of friendship and professional skill I have to acknowledge as flowing from your kindness; and in addition to these, I am indebted to you for many deep and clear readings of the motives and actions of men, communicated in the course of our acquaintance. These Tales are founded on incidents gathered in the common pathway of life, and intended to exhibit some of the lights and shades as we see them daily. The profession you have chosen, and so honorably pursued to distinction, has been favorable for the study of human nature; but it seldom happens, in this busy age, among this mercurial people, that one who has happily caught the lineaments of the physiognomy of the minds about him, can command the requisite time to portray them. I ask you to cast your eyes upon these sketches, in some breathing interval between professional labors-for leisure you have none and see if they have in them any features of nature, or faithfulness to the relations of society. With ardent wishes for your health and happi ness, I am Your Obliged Friend, and Hum. Ser., SAMUEL L. KNAPP. |