AUTHOR\'S PREFACE
IN writing this ponderous tome, the author\'s desire has been to
describe the eminent characters and remarkable events of our annals in
such a form and style that the YOUNG may make acquaintance with them
of their own accord. For this purpose, while ostensibly relating the
adventures of a chair, he has endeavored to keep a distinct and unbroken
thread of authentic history. The chair is made to pass from one to another
of those personages of whom he thought it most desirable for the young
reader to have vivid and familiar ideas, and whose lives and actions would
best enable him to give picturesque sketches of the times. On its sturdy
oaken legs it trudges diligently from one scene to another, and seems
always to thrust itself in the way, with most benign complacency。。。。。