THE COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. A COPIOUS DICTIONARY OF MEMORABLE PERSONS, EVENTS, PLACES, AND THINGS, ! TH NOTICES OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES AND NATIONS OF THE KNOWN WORLD, AND A CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF AMERICAN HISTORY. BY ED. M. PIERCE. PUBLISHED BY CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD, HARTFORD, CONN. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by CASE, LOCKWOOD AND COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. PREFACE. EVERY reader of a book, a magazine, or a newspaper, is sometimes at loss for a date or fact, and meets with frequent references to historical and biographical subjects which he knows nothing about, or obscurely remembers, or only partially understands. If he has at hand a volume which will readily answer any inquiries that arise in his mind, he will turn to it, and thus remove his ignorance, or clear away the doubt and obscurity that rest upon his understanding. If he has no such work at easy command, he will in most cases let the matter pass, and the need for knowledge goes unsatisfied. Such extensive works as the Encyclopædia Britannica and the American Cyclopedia are costly, and are therefore in the hands of comparatively few persons; besides, they are too cumbrous for easy and frequent · reference. The value of a volume like THE COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, to lie familiarly upon the table or the shelf, ready at call to answer the thousand questions that arise, is too piain to require discussion. It will prove a great convenience even to those who possess ample libraries, and whose minds are stored with historical. data. But it is more especially designed for family use, and for the young. THE COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA is intended to supply to every general reader such a book of reference as that of which the need has been shown. It is particularly commended to the attention of parents: let them place |