21 1361

Cs 71 2612 1873

PREFACE.

It is well-known that the occurrences of yesterday become but the uncertain tradition of to-day when left unrecorded, and facts, once as familiar as household words, are forgotten in the great whirl of events. To rescue from any such contingency the little knowledge that has been obtained of the generations that have preceded us, and to preserve that knowledge for the benefit of the generations yet to come, has been the object of this sketch.

NEW YORK CITY, July, 1875.