By the great interest that attaches to our presidents, on account of their personal worth as well as high position, it is hoped to win the attention of the young, first to the fine likenesses presented, and then to the sketches of the lives of our rulers.

As the lives of the presidents so overlap each other, and so many lived contemporaneously, there must be not a little repetition, which the author has accepted without scruple as necessary to a fair presentation of each life.

The difficulty of reducing the great amount of material in the personal lives and historical relations of the presidents to the narrow limits of a moderate-sized book cannot be realized by any one till he undertakes a similar task.

The difficulty of reconciling the conflicting statements of different biographers and the differences of historians, and of supplying the deficiencies of their information, is greater than can be apprehended till one has had the experience of an effort of this kind.

The author's hope is to so win attention to the history and biography of the country that his readers will get a thirst for the larger works, and will so acquaint themselves with them as to become alive to the principles involved in our government and its history. Few things would be more beneficial than a general re-study of our national history. Patriotism is waning for want of it.