AT the urgent request of members of the Stanley family in New Britain, Conn., I was persuaded to undertake the preparation of this volume. It is true that researches of the kind were not alto gether uncongenial to my taste, and I had from time to time gathered a good many materials suitable to a place in such a work. But occupied as I was by an absorbing profession, which demanded all my resources of time and strength, I really was unable to give to this that patient, protracted, I may add, expensive course of investigation which the nature of the under taking required. Those who have had experience in such labors will know full well what I mean; those who have not, will scarcely appreciate them, however fully described.