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DISTRICT OF VERMONT, To Wit: (L. S.) BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twentieth day of May, in the fifty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America, HOLBROOK & FESSENDEN, of said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:

"A History of Vermont, from its first settlement to the present time; with a Geographical account of the Country, and a view of its Original Inhabitants. For the use of Schools. By F. S. EASTMAN.”

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."

JESSE GOVE,

Clerk of the District of Vermont. A true copy of record, examined and sealed by me.

J. GOVE, Clerk.

Publishers' Advertisement.

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THE advantages to be derived from the use of Histories in schools are manifestly so great that they must be generally acknowledged and appreciated by the citizens of this State.

History sets before the youthful mind striking instances of virtue, enterprise, generosity and patriotism, and incites to copy such noble examples; it also presents pictures of the vicious overtaken by misery, and solemnly warns against vice. To use the words of Prof. Tytler, "History is the school of politicks; it opens the hidden springs of human affairs; the causes of the rise, grandeur, and fall of empires, and points out the influence, which the manners of the people have upon governments. It chastens the imagination, furnishes matter for reflection, enlarges the range of thought, and strengthens and disciplines the mind."

In a free country, especially, where every man may be called upon to discharge important duties, it is the business of all to be acquainted with the science of politicks and the pages of history. And what history can be more proper than that of our own country? Many persons who have been through a course of common education, as it is taught in our schools, when called upon to exercise it, have found themselves very deficient in a knowledge of the history of our own country. Whereas, had a work like the present been used, a correct and competent knowledge of our History, Constitution and Government would have been obtained.

In remarking on Goodrich's History of the United States, the Journal of Education says-"We believe cheap and brief compends of American history to be important * * * Strike out of existence these books, and thousands of pupils

who annually obtain a very good knowledge of our history would know little or nothing of it. Banish these compends, and you carry back the world to an age when knowledge and science were locked up in the libraries of professed scholars."

With respect to the plan of this work, it is materially the same as that of Goodrich's United States; and the unparalleled success of that work, proves the superiority of the plan over any other. It has been adopted in treating of English history, and the work is one of the most popular in England. The Journal of Education says of it-"If any other circumstance is necessary to explain the fact, that it has run through more than twenty editions, it may be found in its better adaption to the real wants and actual state of our schools than other works.”

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How much better is such a work even for a reading book, than the thousand ephemeral productions which are constantly appearing under the name of Readers; for here is every advantage of variety and interest, combined with much information and profit.

The work is published as an experiment; and as it must necessarily be a local one, it remains for the citizens of Vermont to decide whether it shall succeed.

May, 1828.

C

TO THE CITIZENS OF VERMONT :

THE importance of early obtaining a correct knowledge of the History of our own country, and more especially of the events which have distinguished, and the fortunes which have attended the State to which we belong, is universally felt and acknowledged.

It has long been a matter of regret, that the means of acquiring this knowledge, with regard to Vermont, have been very imperfect. The fact, that no work of this kind adapted to the use of schools has been previously laid before the publick, will be a sufficient apology for the present publication.

In obtaining materials for this work, the most respectable authorities have been carefully consulted. Much assistance has been derived from the Vermont Gazetteer, and from Dr. Williams' History of Vermont.

To an enlightened community, who are ever ready to encourage an attempt at improvement in the means of education, this work is respectfully submittted,

By their humble servant,

F. S. EASTMAN.

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