IV 
PREFACE. 
plaint has often been made to the author of 
the present work, of the want of a manual, in 
which the necessary information should be con¬ 
veyed in a plain, familiar manner; and it has 
been his endeavor to supply the desideratum 
in the following pages. How far he has suc¬ 
ceeded, it is the province of others to decide. 
It is his first appearance before the public in 
print, and he therefore deprecates any very 
severe criticism. It is to his matter that he 
invites attention, and that, he does not hesitate 
to say, he fearlessly submits to the perusal of 
every candid reader, as he has stated nothing 
that is not based on experience. The censure 
of the uninformed, or superficial, will not dis¬ 
turb his peace, because he feels persuaded that 
at the hands of the judicious, he shall receive 
whatever credit he may be entitled to, and this 
is all he desires. 
