Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by

FIELDS, OSGOOD, & Co.,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

PREFACE.

THIS
HIS narrative was prepared and published

as a contribution to the "North American Review" for July, 1869. In its original form it far exceeded the usual limit of articles in that periodical, although many matters of interest had been greatly compressed, or were altogether omitted, with a view to producing a degree of brevity. The edition of the number of the Review in which it appeared was soon exhausted, and I have taken the occasion of a republication to include some recent events, to omit a few passages, and to enlarge or remodel many. Above all, I have introduced into the notes some extracts from the sworn evidence in the case which seemed to me peculiarly illustrative of the manners of the time, and of the modus operandi of certain of its courts, legislatures, and exchanges. If this volume should ever be opened by any curious being of the next century, it is not unreasonable to hope that these passages at least will then excite as much interest as they now do, and a good deal more surprise.