8 PREFACE. 



no little credit for the intelligence and zeal with which 

 he has urged this interesting and important measure ; 

 and it is earnestly to be hoped, that the national legisla- 

 ture will not refuse any further appropriation necessary 

 to give a full and fair trial to a project which promises 

 so valuable results. 



I may be thought perhaps to have unnecessarily 

 crowded my volume with details and citations, but I 

 have intended to take a purely practical view of my 

 subject, and I have therefore sought to condense into 

 the limits I have prescribed to myself the greatest pos- 

 sible amount of information, and to fortify my state- 

 ments by the most reliable authorities. The theme, 

 if not unimportant, is humble, and I claim no merit but 

 that of fidelity in presenting the conclusions at which I 

 have arrived. 



THE AUTHOR. 



Burlington, Vennont, June 1, 1856. 



