TO 



JOHN DICKINSON, ESQ. LL. D. 



LATE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, 



AND 



PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 



or THE 



COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

 DEAR SIR, 



J N finding your name prefixed to the follow- 

 ing pages, without permission, I trust you 

 will feel no emotion more unfavourable than 

 that of surprise. I know not, indeed, to 

 w^hom I could dedicate such a w^ork as this 

 with more propriety than to an elegant 

 scholar, a comprehensive observer of a large 

 portion of the century attempted to be re- 

 viewed, a master of so many of its literary 

 and scientific improvements, a conspicuous 

 actor in some of its most memorable and im- 

 portant transactions, an able and eloquent 

 defender of his country's rights, a munificent 

 patron of American literature, and (if pei^onal 

 or local feelings may be allowed to intrude) a 

 uniform and affectionate friend of my ho- 



A 2 • ■ \ 



