THE first intention of the writer of this book was to prepare an abstract of some one of the larger histories of the American Revolution, in a more compact form than any which he had met with in his own reading. The obiect was to present a convenient volume, which should ERRATUM.-Some typographical errors will be found in the work. It has not been thought worth while to give a table of them, as they will be readily corrected by the reader. One singular error, of haste, is to be found on the 103d page, which requires to be pointed out. The First Congress, is said to have been composed of the representatives of "thirteen" colonies. The context will shew that it should have been "twelve,”-Georgia not being included. The names of the Delegates from South Carolina, were, by some oversight, omitted. They were five-Henry Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, John Rutledge, and Edward Rutledge.
important for the understanding of the issue, were to ve avoided. After examining several of the principal authorities, the design of following any particular author was abandoned, and the present plan adopted, of re-writing and re-arranging the whole, without regard to the order or language of previous histories. These are the claims of the work to originality. Its merits are submitted to the judgment of the public. The writer has diligently compared the received authorities, and exercised his judgment freely in selecting and arranging the essential facts; and he thinks he has brought within the compass of a volume convenient for popular use, a connected narrative of the revolution, embracing all the principal events-foreign and domestic. Those portions which relate to the foreign negotiations, are more full in proportion, than the other divisions of the subject. They will be found, it is believed, correct and valuable.