deration of the great events in which they were suddenly called to act. They had no ends to subserve but those which would promote the liberty and happiness, and vindicate the invaded rights of a country, where their station was no higher than that of the poorest of their fellow-citizens, and where they had to lose and gain equally with all around them. In such times, and by such men, pure, manly, and patriotic principles will be laid down for the conduct of public affairs; to such times and such men therefore we should always revert, and it becomes a delightful and honourable task, nay almost a duty, to save whatever we can from oblivion that relates to them or their actions. Though there were undoubtedly others whose course was not less noble, and whose actions are not less worthy of imitation and remembrance, yet those who affixed their names to the Declaration of Independence, seem by that very act to have marked themselves out as a distinct band, worthy of primary and of joint notice. They were destined too, not merely to perform a great part in the opening scenes of American history, but to receive from the gratitude of their countrymen, and their own merits, prominent consideration in future times. They were truly our conscript fathers, for at the earlier periods, when the colonies were disjointed, and principles of conduct unsettled, they became the aru sociorum, and the templum publici consilii, and at a later period they have served us as guides and counsellors, during the operation of those events which were happily brought about by their energy and wisdom. To collect therefore all that we can with regard to them, is not merely an office of affection or gratitude, but we may consider it an important political duty, devolving upon us who have yet the means of performing it. It is only to be regretted, and it is so sincerely by those who have compiled these volumes, that the task cannot be performed with all the correctness and fulness which are due to names so illustrious, and events so important, yet perhaps the labour and difficulty of collecting and embodying such a mass of facts will be appreciated by the reader, and he will acknowledge that something has been done, that may prove useful to subsequent historians, and afford valuable lessons to all future times. Such a work as this is not formed by the silent labours of a student, who has to compare and arrange the testimonies of previous writers, and to turn to public libraries and authentic records; but its materials must be procured by patience, by research, and by labour; family records are dispersed with the various changes of fortune and residence so frequent in our country; and above all, there exists too often a reluctance or negligence in communicating those incidents, which can only be preserved in the recollections of domestic life, but which, when they relate to such men, become a fair portion of general history. It is believed that all the material facts in these volumes are authentic, certainly every effort has been used to make them so; public documents, where necessary, have been carefully referred to, and much, indeed some entire lives, have been derived from those private sources, that may be considered as the most accurate. Some of the sketches are necessarily less perfect than was desirable, and occasional repetitions of historical events were not to be avoided. It was proposed indeed to offer as a preliminary article, a view of the principal events in the colonies which preceded and brought about the Revolution, but as it seemed to be going too far beyond the boundaries of biography, and much relative to such events was necessarily detailed in recording the lives of some who had been actors in early scenes, it was deemed more con sistent with the character of this work, to refer its readers to the civil and political histories of America which have been already published, and to which such facts more properly belong. The compilers of these volumes claim for themselves a less extended sphere, but they do not think it is one in which they are of less service to the age, and they scarcely feel themselves too confident when they state, that in no work hitherto presented to their fellow-citizens, is there a more various and interesting mass of information, public and private, relating to events which form a prominent portion of our annals, and the distinguished men by whom those annals are adorned. |