Excerpt from Hero Tales From American History After we had chosen our subjects we decided to prefix a motto, a fitting quotation, to each one of them. We were not unmindful of Addison's delightful essay on Mottoes and Signatures, which was itself prefaced by the familiar words Of Horace Ab ovo usque ad mala, or of the fact that a quotation from some Greek or Latin poet was at the beginning of each one of the Tatlers and Spectators. We were inclined to agree with Addison when he remarks: It was a saying of an ancient philosopher, that a good face is a letter of recommendation. It naturally makes the beholders inquisitive into the person who is the owner Of it, and generally prepossesses them in his favor. A handsome motto has the same effect. What influenced us still more I think was the fact that we were both habitual readers and genuine lovers of Scott and re joiced in the mottoes which he usually placed at the be ginning Of each chapter in his novels. In this exercise Scott had a peculiar charm, for apart from the ready fruits Of his wide reading, not only in accepted literature but in odd and out-of-the-way literary corners and by ways, whenever he was at a loss for an apt quotation he made one himself, attributing it to Old Play. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.