VOLUME I. OF THE HISTORIC SKETCHES.

DESIGNED FOR THE INSTRUCTION AND AMUSEMENT OF OLD AND YOUNG.

BY G. L. STRAUSS, PH.D.

In magnis voluisse sat est.

LONDON: JOHN WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. 1854.

LONDON: BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

PREFACE.

“Story! bless you--I have none to tell.”--_Canning’s Knifegrinder._

It is an old and trite saying: “Good wine needs no bush,” and even the finest and most flourishing bush will fail to put either body or flavor into the growth of a bad vintage. It is left to the reader of this little volume to decide whether or not the author has succeeded in producing an acceptable and readable book.

_July 1, 1854._

CONTENTS.