The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Illustrated by Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes

The following Preface to the Life of Columbus will explain the plan of the series, of which this is the third volume:— "There is no kind of reading more attractive than biography, and, if properly treated, there is none more instructive. It appe ... Read more

The following Preface to the Life of Columbus will explain the plan of the series, of which this is the third volume:— "There is no kind of reading more attractive than biography, and, if properly treated, there is none more instructive. It appears, therefore, to be peculiarly fitted to the purposes of education; it readily excites the curiosity and awakens the interest of the pupil, and, while it stores his mind with facts, dates and events, displays to his view the workings of the human heart, and makes him better acquainted with himself and mankind. "In the selection of subjects for a biographical series of works for youth, the editor has been led, by two considerations, to prefer those which belong to our own country. In the first place, it is more particularly necessary that our youth should be made acquainted with the lives of those men who were associated with the history of their native land; and, in the second place, no country can afford happier subjects for biography than this. There are few such lives as those of Columbus, Washington, and Franklin, in the annals of any nation. Less