To render the history more complete and useful, the outline of events has been brought down to the present day; but a particular notice of living characters has been avoided, except in cases where gratitude demanded a tribute to the bounty or extraordinary services of individuals; and in such cases it is confined to the language of records or public documents. A similar course has been pursued in respect to the narrative of contemporaneous events, which has been restricted to facts deemed necessary or important to be known.
A History of Harvard University, written by the President of the institution, and published with the sanction of the Corporation, may be regarded by the public as rendering the College or the Corporation responsible for the views and sentiments it contains. The Author of this work, therefore, deems it his duty explicitly to state, that the narrative of facts and circumstances here given is exclusively the result of his own research and selection, and that, for the views and opinions it expresses, he is alone responsible.
In collecting materials for this work, and particularly those relating to the lives of benefactors and patrons of the institution, the obligations of the Author to individuals have been too numerous to be specially acknowledged. His thanks, however, are particularly due to the following gentlemen, for important docu-
