Excerpt from The Eccentric Preacher

To those who, on seeing a life of Lorenzo Dow, will complain of the absence of my particular account of his travels after 1816, we simply answer: No authentic records are extant excepting his journals; and these could not be procured on any terms favorable to their publication. Many stories of Mr. Dow are in the public mind, which might have been collected but it was thought best not to attempt their collection, as amidst such a traditionary chaos it would be utterly impossible to find the truth. Here the work is confined to an abridge ment of what is known.