[1] Lest our readers should suppose this curious narrative to be
merely an invention of some desperate romancer, it may be proper to
state, that the facts are literally true. The hero of the adventure,
when a young man, about the close of the last century, was driven
abroad by political persecution, and not only realised a fortune, but
acquired most of the continental languages. On returning to England,
where he became acquainted with our contributor, he devoted himself
for the rest of his life to acts of private beneficence, keeping up at
the same time a correspondence in Latin with the learned men of other
countries.--_Ed. C. E. J._