FIRST LOVES; WITH SKETCHES OF THE POETS. "Here there is much matter for all feeling."-Byron. Edited by S. M. Kennedy, CHICAGO: S. M. KENNEDY, PUBLISHER. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, By S. M. KENNEDY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Northern District of Illinois. CHICAGO TYPE FOUNDRY: PREFACE. IN presenting this work to the public, our object is two-fold. First. To set before the reader the various phases of human character. And, second. To teach the eternal truth, that Right is rewarded, and that Wrong is punished, even in this life. Did we not believe that, while our book will amuse, it will also teach these moral principles, it would never have seen the light. We have no fears but that it will be read; but we have fears that it will not be read aright. A man may "smile, and smile, and be a villain;" but every villain does not smile, and every man who smiles is not a villain. So, in this volume, many characters are brought into contact, but in such a manner that none need mistake the bad for the good. But we wish our readers would believe what we are pretty sure they will not: that persons are held as innocent until proven guilty. Readers are critics, and critics are like jurors; critics consider they have done their duty when they have convicted their author. A bad author, however, deserves better usage than a bad critic; for the author at least endeavors to please his readers, while the critic endeavors only to please himself. Such a critic comes with a bad temper, and leaves us worse than he finds us. The fate of an author is a dangerous one. To serve the world he must have the spirit of a martyr, with the heroism to suffer, and has often his labor for his pains. But we do not beg for mercy; we only demand justice. THE EDITOR. |