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PREFACE.

THE nature of the contents of these volumes is so distinctly described in the title-page, that a preface may be thought rather superfluous than needful. It is not my purpose to forestall objection, to deprecate criticism, or to offer apology for defect.

Some of the "specimens," here exhibited, were preserved during an apprenticeship from 1795 to 1800; others, occasionally, in subsequent years. When solicited by my friends, the publishers, to write a book of reminiscences, I bethought me of my juvenile repository; and, on looking it through, it occurred to me that some of its materials, with an accompaniment of memoirs, anecdotes, and scraps of history, to point out their origin, and, when practicable, identify their authors, might meet with a degree of favor, sufficient to indemnify the expense of publication. "On this hint" I went to work, and here is the product of my labor.

To the History of Printing, by the late Isaiah Thomas, Esq. I am indebted for many though not all—the items of personal history of the earliest printers. I know not that those facts can be obtained from any other source. Mr. Thomas's work is not now to be found in the literary

market; it is entirely out of print. In what I have drawn from it, his own language has been freely preserved; but seldom, if ever, without some kind of reference acknowledging the obligation.

For most of that, which relates to the history of Thomas Fleet and his descendants, my acknowledgement is due to John F. Eliot, of Boston, a branch of that stock by the maternal line, and, like his venerable father, the late Dr. Ephraim Eliot, a studious preserver of interesting and curious morsels of antiquity.

The relatives of the late Benjamin Russell politely favored me with the examination of all the manuscript papers he left at his decease. But from these little could be extracted to aid in the composition of a memoir, worthy of the subject. They were chiefly letters on business affairs, that possessed no interest for general readers. From the papers of one, who had, for many years, been intimately connected with some of the most celebrated statesmen and politicians of Massachusetts, it was expected that there would remain some tokens of correspondence on matters of public concern; but nothing of this description was discovered. A short memorandum, on a piece of paper not larger than one of these pages, stating the name and occupation of his father, the time of his own birth, and the number and names of his brothers and sisters, is all the information derived from these papers. I am indebted to Henry Farnum, Esq. of Boston,-long the familiar friend of Mr. Russell,- for suggestions that have been useful in compiling the memoir; and to the Rev. Dr. Jenks of Boston, for his courteous criticism and kind approbation of my performance. My acquaintance with Mr. Russell began in 1802,

and most of the anecdotes related of him I have heard repeatedly from his own lips. It is regretted that he did not occupy some of the latter years of his life in writing a history of himself and his times. He was frequently requested to do this, as frequently resolved that he would do it, but died and left no record, but what is contained in the Centinel. THAT is his auto-biography - a mirror, in which, only, a reflection of his character should be sought, and in which, only, it will be found.

To the Librarians of the Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Athenæum, and of Harvard College, my thanks are due for the privilege of examining the files of newspapers in the libraries of those institutions respectively. These have been referred to, chiefly, to verify dates and to confirm impressions on the tablet of memory.

A large portion of this work consists of extracts, which required but little exertion to select and arrange in their present connection, an employment more pleasant than irksome. But the personal notices, meagre and imperfect as they are, have not been compiled without labor and vexation. This portion has been tedious and discouraging. Many fruitless inquiries have been made many letters have been written, which produced no satisfactory answers. I have been anxious to present more particulars of the lives and actions of several persons than I have been able to obtain. In respect to some, who have deceased within a few years, and who are still remembered, I have not been successful in learning, even from their nearest relatives, any more of their history than the places and times of their respective births and deaths.

I like the plan of this work, and I make no apology, nor ask pardon, for the conceitedness of the declaration. If it could be extended so as to embrace sketches and specimens of all the prominent newspapers, printers, and editors, that have put in their claim to public favor in these United States, and which are entitled to such a memorial, I cannot resist the belief that it would be "instructive, useful, and entertaining." But such a field of labor would require an industrious and patient gleaner, elastic of nerve, redolent of ambition, instinct

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with courage, and confident of coming years. Such a work would fill more volumes than would be read. world itself would hardly contain the books.

The limits, to which, by an arrangement with the publisher, the contents of these volumes were circumscribed, have necessarily confined the selections of specimens to New-England (except in one or two instances) and chiefly to Massachusetts, and precluded all notices of publications that have had their origin since the commencement of the present century. Materials for a third volume, embracing matters of more recent date, and which excited some interest at the time of their occurrence, are on hand; but it is not desirable that the public should be burdened with uncalled-for details. And even if the publication should be demanded, a willing compliance with the call may be defeated by an event, to which all are subject, an event which may happen TO-MORROW, must happen soon.

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These volumes make no pretensions to a high literary character. They are the production of one, who had no advantages of education, but such as were supplied by the district schools in Connecticut, more than sixty years