THE present publication has been undertaken by two of the friends of the lamented author, not simply with a view of preserving some memorial of a man singularly beloved, but yet more with the hope of advancing the cause of virtue and religion by a volume calculated to aid and instruct serious inquirers after duty and God. At a period like the present, when the taste for what is stirring and exciting has become so prevalent, it is not improbable that the tone of this volume may appear to many too calm and unimpassioned; but it is not doubted that there are also many, who will give it the heartier welcome because it breathes only of "the gentleness of Christ," and is so far removed from the violent and exaggerated language, which has too much crept into the theology as well as the literature of the day. At any rate, the Editor cannot persuade himself, that such a volume as this can be otherwise than most acceptable to those who are engaged in the cultivation of the religious character, and solicitous for the means of advancing themselves in the peculiar temper of the gospel. It is not offered to critical readers, who are seeking an intellectual refreshment, but to those who will keep it in their closets as the companion of their holier hours, and the aid of their devout aspirations. It will be perceived, that only a portion of the volume is constituted of complete discourses, and that the remainder consists of select passages from sermons of which it was not advisable to print the whole. By this means a greater variety of topics has been introduced, and the volume, it is thought, rendered more valuable. The Memoir was originally written for the Christian Disciple, and is now republished with additions. These are principally extracts from letters, and from a journal kept at Havana. BOSTON, MARCH 10, 1829. |