statesman; but, apart from the prestige and romance which his
eloquence has thrown about his memory, he furnished the best opportunity
for drawing a picture of the South in the period preceding the
Revolution, and for showing why and how the southern colonies, among
whom Virginia was easily the leader, became sharers in the strife.

Benton might possibly have been included upon his own merits. But if
there were any doubt upon this point, or if including him would seem to
have rendered it proper to include others equally eminent and yet
omitted, the reply is that Benton serves the important purpose of giving
the best available opportunity to sketch the character of the Southwest,
and the political feeling and development in that section of the
country.

In like manner, Cass was hardly a great statesman, although very active
and prominent for a long period. But the Northwest--or what used to be
the Northwest not so very long ago--comes out of the wilderness and into
the domain of civilization in the life of Cass.

John Randolph, erratic and bizarre, was not justly entitled to rank
among great statesmen. But the characteristics of Congress, as a body,
can be brought into better relief in the narrative of his life than in
that of any other person of his day. These characteristics were so
striking, so essential to an understanding of the history of those
times, and so utterly different from the habits and ways of our own era,
that an opportunity to present them must have been forced if Randolph
had not fortunately offered it.

These four volumes are mentioned by way of illustration of the plan of
the series in some of its less obvious purposes. By the light of the
suggestions thus afforded, readers will probably see for themselves the
motives which have led to the presence of other volumes. But one further
statement should be made. It has been the editor's intention to deal
with the advancement of the country. When the people have moved steadily
along any road, the men who have led them on that road have been
selected as subjects. When the people have refused to enter upon a road,
or, having entered, have soon turned back from it, the leaders upon such
inchoate or abandoned excursions have for the most part been rejected.
Those who have been exponents of ideas and principles which have entered
into the progress and have developed in a positive way the history of
the nation have been chosen; those who have unfortunately li