I am a member of the middle class of society, and I have passed through life without encountering any very extraordinary adventures. I was born in the year 1800, and am consequently forty-six years of age. I was educated at a grammar school, and afterwards became a clerk in a mercantile firm of considerable standing in the city of London. My salary was never large, but sufficient to enable me to live respectably, and to lay by a small annual surplus. I have never married, and am not inclined to think of matrimony. I am of a cheerful disposition, and fond of innocent amusements. I have passed some portion of my time in travelling, and have visited France, Switzerland, and Holland. I am not a profound scholar, but have read enough to enable me to form a
