Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851 / 2008-07-11 00:00:00

EBOOK, NED MYERS ***


E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders



NED MYERS
or, A Life Before the Mast
By James Fenimore Cooper.



Thou unrelenting Past!
Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain,
And fetters sure and fast
Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign.
BRYANT

Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by
J. Fenimore Cooper,
in the clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the
Northern district of New York.

Preface

It is an old remark, that the life of any man, could the incidents be
faithfully told, would possess interest and instruction for the general
reader. The conviction of the perfect truth of this saying, has induced
the writer to commit to paper, the vicissitudes, escapes, and opinions of
one of his old shipmates, as a sure means of giving the public some just
notions of the career of a common sailor. In connection with the amusement
that many will find in following a foremast Jack in his perils and
voyages, however, it is hoped that the experience and moral change of
Myers may have a salutary influence on the minds of some of those whose
fortunes have been, or are likely to be, cast in a mould similar to that
of this old salt.
As the reader will feel a natural desire to understand how far the editor
can vouch for the truth of that which he has here written, and to be
informed on the subject of the circumstances that have brought him
acquainted with the individual whose adventures form the subject of this
little work, as much shall be told as may be necessary to a proper
understanding of these two points.
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