66 AUTHOR OF "PETER THE WHALER," MARK SEAWORTH," "TRUE BLUE," LONDON: SUCCESSORS TO NEWBERY AND HARRIS, CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. MDCCCLXX. 250. C. 225. PREFACE. OHN DEANE was a real person, and I hope that the readers of this my book about him will be as much pleased with it as I was with the history of his adventures, placed in my hands by a friend who long resided at Nottingham. He was born at that town A.D. 1679. Though of gentle parentage, in his early days he followed the occupation of a drover. He then went to sea, and became a Captain in the Navy; after that he was a Merchant Adventurer. He next took service under Peter the Great, and commanded a Russian ship-of-war. On leaving Russia, he obtained the post of British Consul at Ostend, held by him for many years. Returning home, he was made a Burgess of his |