"Holiness makes the soul like a field or garden of GOD, with all manner of pleasant flowers; all pleasant, delightful, and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm, and the gently vivifying beams of the sun. The soul of a true Christian, as I then wrote my meditations, appeared like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the year, low and humble, on the ground; opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture; diffusing around a sweet fragrancy; standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about; all, in like manner, opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the sun." JONATHAN EDWARDS. PRELIMINARY NOTE. The size of this little volume will readily suggest an apology for the succeeding appendix. The number of leaves, occupied by the Poetical Remains of our departed brother, and by the brief notice of his life and character, being so small, would have been adapted rather to a pamphlet, than a bound book: while it is desirable that these Remains should be brought forward in a form more suitable for their preservation. It was deemed advisable, therefore, to add a few pages; and propriety dictated that these should be of poetry. The following humble verses have been copied, for the occasion, out of a Note Book of the Editor. A friend, who saw some of them, a short time since, and in whose judgment confidence is entertained, was kind enough to intimate, that they would bear publication. They have been written, in leisure hours, at different times, and, as such pieces are usually composed, rapidly, and upon very little premeditation. With an exception in the case of three or four of the shorter pieces, there has been no intention, or remote thought, of their being ever made public; and, in preparing them now for the press, their revision has been cursory and far from complete. The Editor trusts, that, although they may not be entitled to notice upon their own merits, they will be at least tolerated in their present connexion. Better compositions might have been selected from standard authors; but most persons prefer to read, in a new book, original matter, even if poor, rather than selected matter, however excellent, which may be elsewhere obtained. He must be allowed to say, moreover, that there is, to his mind, a sad pleasure in thus associating himself with the deceased. And he will be pardoned, he is sure, for adding a few buds, however homely may be their genus, to a bouquet otherwise beautiful, yet too small for the vase without them. Leaving this allusion, he would adopt in part the sentiment of Richard Steele, in some lines prefixed to Addison's "Tragedy of Cato." "Forgive the fond ambition of a friend, Who seeks himself, not you, to recommend: Soon would that die, which adds thy name to mine; Let me then live joined to a work of thine." But he sincerely deprecates the severity of criticism in this, as in the former, part of the little volume. He knows nothing of poetry as an art; and perhaps he hazards too much upon the kindness of the public. He recollects, indeed, to have seen in a treatise on the Poetic Art, "Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci, Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo." And he has the satisfaction of believing, that, in the case of the forbearing, if he does not please by presenting what is agreeable, he may at least instruct, by presenting what is useful. The tendency of the preceding Remains is to recommend and confirm a religious character: the tendency of the following collection, it is hoped, is similar. It may happen, that, from their connexion with the previous portion of the book, these Addenda will obtain more readers than they would without such support; still, in this event, the Editor will be the gainer, while his companion can lose nothing by the contrast. May the book not only gratify curiosity, if indeed it be allowed to elicit any attention, but, also, through the blessing of God, be a mean of holiness to the reader. ΤΟ THE REVEREND BIRD WILSON, D. D. AND TO THE REVEREND SAMUEL H. TURNER, D. D., PROFESSORS IN THE GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES, WHO WERE FRIENDS OF THE LAMENTED LYDE; FOR WHOSE GENEROUS HOSPITALITIES, AND PATIENT INSTRUCTION, AND CHRISTIAN COUNSEL, THE EDITOR ALSO IS VERY LARGELY INDEBTED, THESE ADDENDA ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF THE GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION OF T. H. V. |