if i am asked why i add one to the numerous lives of our dead president, i answer, in the words of hon. chauncey m. depew, because "our annals afford no such incentive to youth as does his life, and it will become one of the republic's household stories."

i have conceived, therefore, that a biography, written with a view to interest young people in the facts of his great career, would be a praiseworthy undertaking. the biography of general garfield, however imperfectly executed, can not but be profitable to the reader. in this story, which i have made as attractive as i am able, i make no claim to originality. i have made free use of such materials as came within my reach, including incidents and reminiscences made public during the last summer, and i trust i have succeeded, in a measure, in conveying a correct idea of a character whose nobility we have only learned to appreciate since death has snatched our leader from us.

i take pleasure in acknowledging my obligations to two lives of garfield, one by edmund kirke, the other by major j.m. bundy. such of my readers as desire a more extended account of the later life of gen. garfield, i refer to these well-written and instructive works.

horatio alger, jr.

new york, oct. 8, 1881.