[figure description] Dedication.[end figure description]

TO
WILLIAM JAY.
OF
BEDFORD, WEST-CHESTER,
ESQUIRE.
MY DEAR JAY,

An unbroken intimacy of four-andtwenty
years may justify the present
use of your name. A man of readier
wit than myself, might, on such a subject,
find an opportunity of saying something
clever, concerning the exalted services
of your father. No weak testimony
of mine, however, can add to a fame
that belongs already to posterity—And
one like myself, who has so long known
the merits, and has so often experienced
the friendship of the son, can find even
better reasons for offering these Legends
to your notice.