A TEXT-BOOK OF HISTORY. THE DEMOCRATIC AND OTHER PARTIES; MEN AND MEASURES. BY GEORGE FITCH. FITCH. BALTIMORE: No. 174 WEST BALTIMORE STREET. 1883. PREFACE. As the diffusion of intelligence is the most certain means of insuring the perpetuity of our present desirable form of government, so also the spirit of inquiry and the thirst for knowledge, now universally prevalent, indicate that the information is surely being acquired which will accomplish that end. 66 The constitutions of most of our States contain the declaration that a frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil government, is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty." To this proposition every reflecting mind will readily. assent. For how can any people be prepared to defend their rights unless they know them. The era of the discovery of printing, with the consequent general diffusion of knowledge, was also the birthtime of liberty. For it is an established fact that Error cannot survive the conflict with enlightened Truth. The art of printing has likewise made easy the task of the historian. No longer compelled to grope in darkness, he is now able to appeal to written records in support of facts, and to satisfy the inquiries of his readers without resorting to the aids of fiction or the imagination. The following pages have been compiled for the purpose of giving, in compact form, full information on the subjects treated, at a price within the reach of all, -a compendium of facts which have been hitherto accessible to those only within the reach of large libraries. Though written by a Democrat, and from a Democratic |