this work should not be confined to male pupils. It has
long been considered a striking defect in our system of education, that
females are not more generally instructed in the principles of civil
government, and in matters of business. Although they take no active
part in public affairs, the knowledge here commended would enable them
to exert a far more powerful and salutary influence upon our national
character and destiny. As wives, mothers, teachers, and especially as
counselors of the other sex, they could apply this knowledge to valuable
purposes. And the question is submitted, whether it would not contribute
more to their usefulness than some of those accomplishments which form
so large a part of a modern female education, and which are usually lost
amidst the cares of married life.

To preserve and transmit the blessings of constitutional liberty, we
need a healthful patriotism. But a genuine love of country is hardly to
be expected where there is not a proper appreciation of our political
institutions, which give it its preeminence among nations. And how can
they be duly appreciated if they are not understood? It has been one of
the objects of the writer to bring to view the chief excellencies of our
system of government, and thus to lay, in the minds of youth, the basis
of an enlightened and conservative patriotism.

That this work, as an elementary treatise on civil government, is not
susceptible of improvement, is not pretended. Such as it is, it is
submitted to the judgment of a candid public. If it shall prove in any
considerable degree useful, the author's highest expectations will have
been realized.

To Teachers.

To the meritorious, though often undervalued labors of the instructors
of American youth, is our country greatly indebted for the successful
working of its system of free government; and upon the labors of their
successors rest, in an equal degree, all well-founded hopes of its
future political prosperity.

The general introduction and profitable study of this work, depend much
upon a hearty and active cooeperation of teachers in the enterprise which
it is intended to promote. From all who desire to make themselves in the
highest degree useful in their profession, such cooeperation is
confidently anticipated.

The advantage of instructing a class in civil government, is not
confined to the pupils. The teacher will find the exercise both
interesting and profitable to himself. Alth