There is a gradually increasing interest among the young of this people for reading and study. It is now the ambition of nearly every son and daughter of the Saints to become well educated. Parents, also, are more deeply interested in the intellectual growth of the youth. Thus we are gradually ascending to a higher plane, and our influence is being felt in a more extended sphere.

The desire, however, to place matter in the hands of the young for reading and study, should not cause parents to be less careful in the selection of books. Truth expands the mind and quickens the understanding, while fiction dulls the perceptions and impairs the memory. The acquisition of the one is a source of joy to the possessor, while the constant perusal of the other unfits a person for the study of that which endures.

That truth is the foundation of all righteousness, and that righteousness is what we desire, no person among this people will deny. Hence our anxiety to teach the child from its earliest infancy the principle of the gospel. In order to assist in this great work of teaching the gospel principles, we have been led to publish the SERIES of which this book forms a part. Whether or not our endeavors have met with any success, we leave for others to say, but we can safely state that all who have read these little works cannot but realize the fact that "Truth is stranger than fiction."

That these "SCRAPS OF BIOGRAPHY" may help to instil the great principle of faith in the minds of the rising generation is the earnest desire of

THE PUBLISHER.