The author does not consider that the following pages require any apology for their appearance. They are given to the world with a two-fold object-the first being that of gratifying an increasing and perfectly legitimate anxiety on the part of the public to know more of the antecedents-the struggles, and the triumphs-of the men whom they recognize as leaders; and the other, that of reminding a younger generation, from a contemplation of the lives of great men, that they too, may leave behind them