OR The Sister's Vow. A TALE. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET. 1857. 249.2.273. PREFACE. IN offering the following unpretending tale to the public, at a period when so many talented authors present fiction in its best, most instructive, and yet attractive forms, I feel some explanation to be necessary. The simple, unvarnished truth will, I think and hope, be my best apology. The special object for which I am now anxious to raise funds is one which, from childhood, has been my favourite project. Having seen and visited the poor in sickness, poverty, and distress, I have witnessed the bitter sorrow when, after a long life of honest |