MY OLD PORTFOLIO;

OR

TALES AND SKETCHES.

BY

HENRY GLASSFORD BELL.

"I will weep for nothing, like Diana in the fountain; I will
laugh like a hyen, and that when thou art inclined to sleep."

SHAKESPEARE.

LONDON:

SMITH, ELDER, AND CO., 65, CORNHILL.

1832.

BOD

SOMETHING INTRODUCTORY,

BUT NOT A PREFACE.

NOBODY reads Prefaces. Nobody should. They are always the dullest parts of dull books. To any author who asks with Ro

meo,

66

What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse?
Or shall we on without apology?"

The answer of Benvolio is conclusive

"The date is out of such prolixity."

The reader likes to get into the heart of the mystery without loss of time. It only provokes him to see a fellow scraping and