Excerpt from The American Biographical Sketch Book Andrew fuller once remarked that he would rather be like the moon, which, although full of spots and imperfections, lends a useful light to men, than a meteor, with its dazzling but transient glare, exciting only the wonder of mankind. It was in the spirit of this sentiment that we compiled the following pages, embracing brief sketches, for the most part, of the lives of men who, by unwearied perseverance, have triumphed over difficulties. Born in an humble sphere, which precluded the advantages of a liberal education, we resolved, that although unable to write a learned work, we would attempt to produce a useful one. Hence, the fastidious critic who shall search for faults, will be rewarded with an abundant harvest. If, however, this volume shall serve as a hint to those so well able to write a better, a valuable end will have been attained. But, in the absence of such, we flatter ourself that the biographical sketch Boox, with all its defects, will not be entirely unacceptable to a discerning public. The needle, although unpolished, may yet serve to point the way to the pole 5 and if the examples set forth shall cheer but one sufferer, and enable him to wait with patience for the bright dawning of to-morrow, the labor will not have been in vain. 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.