This wide field for the display of taste, talent, and general
acquaintance with the history of man in his social character, has
been occupied by Mr. Davenport, a veteran in elegant literature;
and the popularity which his selections from the children of sorrow
has acquired, is equal to that of his most successful labours. In
collecting so many tales of woe and of enterprise, the author disclaims
the mere vanity of having produced a work of amusement; he seeks
to inculcate the salutary lesson, “that there are few things that
may not be accomplished by perseverance and courage, accompanied by
self-command and presence of mind.”