# Read the first page of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom by Tobias George Smollett Read the opening of The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom by Tobias George Smollett free, no signup. An amoral con man preys on the trusting across eighteenth-century Europe. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/the-adventures-of-ferdinand-count-fathom-tobias-george-smollett - Genre: Gothic fiction - Year: 1753 - ISBN: 9780820346014 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9780820346014&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9780820346014 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9780820346014 ## The opening Cardinal de Retz very judiciously observes, that all historians must of necessity, be subject to mistakes, in explaining the motives of those actions they record, unless they derive their intelligence from the candid confession of the person whose character they represent; and that, of consequence, every man of importance ought to write his own memoirs, provided he has honesty enough to tell the truth, without suppressing any circumstance, that may tend to the information of the reader. This, however, is a requisite, that, I am afraid, would be very rarely found among the number of those who exhibit their own portraits to the public: indeed, I will venture to say, that how upright soever a man's intentions may be, he will, in the performance of such a task, be sometimes misled by his own phantasy, and represent objects, as they appeared to him, through the mists of prejudice and passion. An unconcerned reader, when he peruses the history of two competitors, who lived two thousand years ago, or who, perhaps, never had existence, except in the imagination of the author, cannot help interesting himself in the dispute, and espousing one side of the contest, with all the zeal of a warm adherent. What wonder then, that we should be heated in our own concerns, review our actions with the same self-approbation that they had formerly acquired, and recommend them to the world with all the enthusiasm of paternal affection? Supposing this to be the case, it was lucky for the cause of historical truth, that so many pens have been drawn by writers, who could not be suspected of such partiality; and that many great personages, among the ancients as well as moderns, either would not, or could not entertain the public with their own memoirs. From this want of inclination or capacity to write, in our hero himself, the undertaking is now left to me, of transmitting to posterity, the remarkable adventures of FERDINAND Count FATHOM; and by that time the reader shall have glanced over the subsequent sheets, I doubt not, but he will bless God, that the adventurer was not his own historian. This mirrour of modern chivalry was none of those who owe their dignity to the circumstances of their birth, and are consecrated from the cradle for the purposes of greatness, meerly because they are the accidental children of wealth. He was heir to no visible patrimony, unless we reckon a robust constitution, a tolerable appearance, and an uncommon capacity, as the advantages of inheritance: if the comparison obtains in this point of consideration, he was as much as any man, indebted to his parents; and pity it was, that in the sequel of his fortune, he never had an opportunity of manifesting his filial gratitude and regard. From this agreeable act of duty to his sire, and all those tendernesses that are reciprocally enjoyed betwixt the father and the son, he was unhappily excluded by a small circumstance; at which, however, he was never heard to repine. In short, had he been brought forth in the fabulous ages of the world, the nature of his origin might have turned to his account; he might, like other heroes of antiquity, have laid claim to divine extraction, without running the risque of being claimed by any earthly father; not that his parents had any reason to disown or renounce their offspring, or that there was any thing preternatural in the circumstances of his generation and birth; on the contrary, he was from the beginning, a child of promising parts, and in due course of nature, ushered into the world, amidst a whole cloud of witnesses: but, that he was acknowledged by no mortal sire, solely proceeded from the uncertainty of his mother, whose affections were so dissipated among a number of admirers, that she could never pitch upon the person from whose loins our hero sprung. Over and above this important doubt, under which he was begotten, other particularities attended his birth, and seemed to mark him out as something uncommon among the sons of men. ## Books with a similar feel - [The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-oscar-wilde.md) - [Dragonwyck by Anya Seton](https://uncovered.ink/read/dragonwyck-anya-seton.md) - [The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-woman-in-white-wilkie-collins.md) - [Dracula by Bram Stoker](https://uncovered.ink/read/dracula-bram-stoker.md) - [Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews](https://uncovered.ink/read/flowers-in-the-attic-v-c-andrews.md) - [Her Wicked Roots by Tanya Pell](https://uncovered.ink/read/her-wicked-roots-tanya-pell.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.