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history of the life of every individual who has, for any
reason, attracted extensively the attention of mankind, has
been written in a great variety of ways by a multitude of
authors, and persons sometimes wonder why we should have so
many different accounts of the same thing. The reason is,
that each one of these accounts is intended for a different
set of readers, who read with ideas and purposes widely
dissimilar from each other. Among the twenty millions of
people in the United States, there are perhaps two millions,
between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, who wish to
become acquainted, in general, with the leading events in
the history of the Old World, and of ancient times, but who,
coming upon the stage in this land and at this period, have
ideas and conceptions so widely different from those of
other nations and of other times, that a mere republication
of existing accounts is not what they require. The story
must be told expressly to them. The things that are to be
explained, the points that are to be brought out, the
comparative degree of prominence to be given to the various
particulars, will all be different, on account of the
difference in the situation, the ideas, and the objects of
these new readers, compared with those of the various other
classes of readers which former authors have had in view.
It is for this reason, and with this view, that the present
series of historical narratives is presented to the public.
The author, having had some opportunity to become acquainted
with the position, the ideas, and the intellectual wants of
those whom he addresses, presents the result of his labors
to them, with the hope that it may be found successful in
accomplishing its design.
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