Excerpt from American Biography, Vol. 1 of 3 No apology is necessary for the appearance of this work, if its utility be admitted. My first intention was to place the names in alpha betical order; but, on farther consideration, it was found to be impracticable, unless the whole work were before me at one view. 'a chronological ar rangement appeared, on the whole, equally proper, and more in my power. Should any deviation from the exact' order take place, it must be ascribed to a. Deficiency of materials; which, however, it is hoped. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.