The author in a great measure had to rely upon his own resources for all the postal information incorporated in this work. The department at Washington and post-offices throughout the country seem to consider the records of the institution not of sufficient importance to be preserved in such a manner as to make a reference to them an easy matter. To M. Hall Stanton, Esq., and Thomas H. Shoemaker, Esq., the author feels highly indebted, not only for the interest they have taken in the work, but for placing at his disposal their valuable libraries and the loan of old and rare works. For the valuable statistical tables so carefully and so well arranged, giving at a glance the _Ledger_ account of the financial postal department, the author is indebted to William V. McKean, Esq., the able and talented editor of “The National Almanac and Annual Record,”—a work, to use the language of a distinguished public character, “which is a little library in itself, and one which answers nearly all questions on public affairs in a most satisfactory manner.” To “the press” of our country, which has become its historian, is the author indebted for much valuable matter connected with the subject of the post. If from these sources he has compiled a work calculated to place the postal department in its proper light and render it in the least instructive or interesting, he will be fully repaid for the labor bestowed upon it. DEDICATION. The custom of dedicating works to individuals is of some antiquity, or, at least, as far as the antiquity of book-making extends. At one period it served the double purpose of creating a patron and enlarging the sale of the book. Again, dedications became popular when great men condescended to notice authors and placed their extensive libraries at their disposal. Books published in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries afford the curious reader rich specimens of this species of literary composition. Others, again, dedicated their works to men whose opinions assimilated with their own. Thus, the philosopher dedicated his work to one who was considered versed in the mysteries of science; the poet dedicated his effusions to an admirer of rhyme; the dramatist, to a well-known patron of the stage and of the drama; the painter dedicated his work on art to a connoisseur,—one whose skill and judgment in the arts had secured him a “world-renowned reputation.” In our day and country the sale of a book depends altogether upon its own merits and the _honest_ criticism of the press. Dedications, therefore, are looked upon as one of those liberties an author can take with a friend, and thus bring his name before the public in connection with the work without being accused of selfish or interested motives. Just such a liberty the author of this work takes with one whom he is proud to call friend,—one whose many amiable qualities endear him to all. It is, therefore, with much pleasure he dedicates this work to