Excerpt from An Historical Discourse on the Civil and Religious Affairs of the Colony of Rhode-Island Biography, as well as history, is too frequently employed in eulogizing men who have distinguished themselves merely as crafty statesmen or as ambitious warriors. The historian and the biographer say little of those characters who are actuated by christian principle, and who seek not the praise of men, but of God. Moral excellence, however, is the most beneficial to mankind; and it is but justice to allow it to participate in those honors which are more usually appropriated to men of great depravity of heart, and who employ their fellow men only as tools for advancing their own ambition. The biography of a person of unostentatious piety and goodness, may afford more useful instruction to the majority of readers, than the dazzling exploits of an Alexander the Great, a Julius Caesar, or a Buonaparte. 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."