\lll PREFACE. 



from a want of efficiency on my part in carry- 

 ing it out. 



It was at first contemplated to put the present 

 work into the hands of one, whose pen I know 

 would have done it far more justice than mine, 

 and whose profession, with the right-minded 

 part of the communit)^ would have commanded 

 an attention and respect that I cannot pretend 

 to ; but subsequent thought brought on the im- 

 pression that those to whom the profession of that 

 gentleman would have been a passport to such 

 respectful attention, are not persons to whom a 

 Treatise like the present is wanted ; and it was 

 feared that those to whom its circulation may be 

 useful and desirable,would be deterred from read- 

 ing it, by the very circumstance that ought to be 

 the strongest incentive to do so ; and it is to be 

 feared, though not complimentary to the morality 

 of society at large, that such would probably have 

 been the case. 



It was then suggested, that to render the work 



