The Project Gutenberg EBook of Arthur O'Leary, by Charles James Lever

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Title: Arthur O'Leary
His Wanderings And Ponderings In Many Lands

Author: Charles James Lever

Illustrator: George Cruikshank

Release Date: May 19, 2010 [EBook #32424]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARTHUR O'LEARY ***

Produced by David Widger

ARTHUR O'LEARY

HIS WANDERINGS AND PONDERINGS IN MANY LANDS

By Charles James Lever

Edited By

His Friend, Harry Lorrequer,

And

Illustrated By George Cruikshank.

New Edition.

London: Henry Colburn, Publisher,

Great Marlborough Street.

1845.

ARTHUR O'LEARY

NOTICE, PRELIMINARY AND EXPLANATORY,

BY THE EDITOR.

When some years ago we took the liberty, in a volume of our so-called
"Confessions," to introduce to our reader's acquaintance the gentleman
whose name figures in the title page, we subjoined a brief notice, by
himself, intimating the intention he entertained of one day giving to
the world a farther insight into his life and opinions, under the title
of "Loiterings of Arthur O'Leary."

It is more than probable that the garbled statement and incorrect
expression of which we ourselves were guilty respecting our friend had
piqued him into this declaration, which, on mature consideration, he
thought fit to abandon. For, from that hour to the present one, nothing
of the kind ever transpired, nor could we ascertain, by the strictest
inquiry, that such a proposition of publication had ever been
entertained in the West-End, or heard of in the "Row."

The worthy traveller had wandered away to "pastures new," heaven knows
where! and, notwithstanding repeated little paragraphs in the second
advertizing column of the "Times" newspaper, assuring, "A. O'L. that
if he would inform his friends where a letter would reach, all would be
forgiven," &c. the mystery of his whereabouts remained unsolved, save
by the chance mention of a north-west passage traveller, who speaks of
a Mr. O'Leary as having presided at a grand bottle-nosed whale dinner in
Behring's Straits, some time in the autumn of 1840; and an allusion,
in the second volume of