P2 1864 ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER, STEREOTYPER, AND ELECTROTYPER, 46, 48, & 50 Greene St., New York. PREFACE. Ir is not considered polite to ask people their age, after the bloom of youth has departed. I would not willingly violate the rules of decorum, or tempt any one to hide the foot-prints of Time, as the Indian warrior covers his track with leaves. Making no invidious inquiry, let me simply whisper in the ear of those who have achieved more than half life's journey, that this book is for them. It is their own exclusive property. It is devoted heart and hand to their interest. Whoever is found reading it may be suspected to have attained the same ripe age. It is, therefore, a kind of confidential affair between me and my compeers-we, whose faces are towards the setting sun. To all such, I offer the right hand of fellowship. We are in the same category-a joint-stock concern that admits no young partners. Every camp has its watch-word. Every state its history. Every profession its policy. Have not we ours? Aye, and our rights too? And shall we not stand for them? Come, let us see. L. H. S. HARTFORD, CONN. |