PREFACE.

PEARLS of thought are often lost among the sands of common-place, or by their costly setting rendered unat tainable by many who would prize them. To collect in one volume a few treasures from the ocean of mind, and arrange them in a manner that will both instruct and entertain, has been the object of the editors of the present work. In the "Mirror of Fortune," the lover may see the reflection of the visions that haunt his dreams, and make his waking hours but another form of dreaming; the philanthropist, the delineation of characters akin to his own. in the nobleness of their nature; the misanthrope, that there is still abounding in humanity much to love; the deep reader of the heart, that others, too, have looked beneath the surface, and found many a hidden spring of action; and while the undue hopefulness of inexperience is admonished that there are clouds and shadows for the brightest sky, the weary and desponding may gather new courage from the records of souls made wise in the lore that teaches to "suffer and be strong." All phases of human existence are here represented; not the fanciful imaginings of the visionary, but the mingled scenes of joy

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