E 459 .DR8 1868 21014 DEDICATION. To the brave men, who, unmoved by the violence of party; unseduced by the temptations of wealth, and unawed by the cruelty of war, defended the priceless treasures of Constitutional Liberty; endured banishment, tortures, and death, rather than surrender their birthright, transmitted by the Fathers of 1776 To those upright soldiers, who, through five years of carnage, corruption, plunder, rapine, and desolation preserved their hands unstained with innocent blood, their souls unpolluted with plunder, and maintained their manhood inviolate To the laboring poor, whose subsistence is devoured by the combinations of Monopoly, Bankruptcy, Usury, Extortion, Standing Armies, Tax-gatherers and Usurpation To the immortal dead, who surrendered their lives in defence of the honor and safety of their homes, and poured out their blood in rich libations to the God of Liberty-is this book dedicated by Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by WILLIAM T. SMITHSON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Maryland, Stereotyped by RYAN & RICKETTS. THE AUTHOR, 1 PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. "THE CRIMES OF THE CIVIL WAR AND CURSE OF THE FUNDING SYSTEM," which is now presented to the American people, is a most remarkable book. It is a plain rehearsal of thrilling incidents which have occurred in this country within the past few years; it is a record of some of the basest crimes ever inflicted upon man by his fellow; it graphically depicts many heartrending outrages perpetrated upon humanity, in the name of liberty, by the unbridled passions of a fanatical despotism; it is a faithful chronicle of passing events and contemplates the character of men as photographed by themselves in the sun-light of heaven — it views things as they really exist - fairly, honestly and openly; it withdraws the veil of mystery which conceals the hideous form of a ruined government and an oppressed people. History is made to repeat itself, although upon a grander scale than the world ever before contemplated. Every page has been. subjected to an unscrupulous inquisition; facts and figures are made to speak the untrammelled truth, and the entire testimony is unquestionable. The style is terse and the diction uncompromising, and every sentence is clothed in a strong lucid language which has the impress of the masterly hand and spirit. of the distinguished author. The work is gotten up in a plain, neat form, sufficiently cheap to be in reach of the general reader; typographical errors have been avoided as far as possible, and we trust it will find its way to the offices, shops and firesides of the great masses of the laboring and over-taxed people of the United States. It is the champion of truth and justice, and we send it forth on its mission, with full confidence in its power, to defend the right and maintain its principles. WM. T. SMITHSON, Publisher. |