Excerpt from Parley's Cabinet Library, Vol. 20 IN the following pages, the author has attempted to give the lives of several great men of modern times; men or power - those who still live among us by their writings, their fame, their examples, and thus continue to exert an influence upon society. It is desirable that the means of forming just opinions respecting those of whom we often think and speak, with whose minds we hold frequent and sympathetic communion, - should be in our hands, so that we may be fully and fairly apprized of the nature of that influence which is around us, and modifying or moulding our thoughts and feelings. This, at least, is desirable in respect to the young; and if those of more mature minds may not stand in need of such aids, those of less experience may be benefited thereby. It is mainly for such that this volume is designed. 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.