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iv Imagination was bestowed upon us, that we might place ourselves in the situation of others, and be excited by it to a congenial sympathy. This is, at least, one of the highest moral purposes of that noble faculty. When allied with benevolence and truth, it brings within our view a wider range of human interests than reason alone can apprehend. Why is it so seldom consecrated either to the sacred charities of life, or to the anticipation of the untold glories of heaven!

From the Christian who has held intimate communion with the spirit of his crucified Master, and whose tenderness is kept alive by the highest motives and the most touching remembrances, we may expect a just appreciation of the productions in this little volume. He solemnly realizes that every human being is placed under the government of God; and he views with deep interest the dispensations of his Providence toward individuals, as well as toward nations. To him, an immortal being, striving for submission to the will of God, in the midst of calamity and accumulated suffering, is an object of sublime interest. The pathos and the poetry of truth, as exhibited in these productions, will be felt by the Christian. To the medical man and the philosopher, desirous of contemplating the human intellect and character under every variety of circumstance, productions indicating so much thought, imagination, and feeling, and composed under the weight of the most oppressive disease, may furnish an interesting subject of reflection and inquiry. We cannot expect that those who are too much en- grossed by their own personal welfare, and with the conveniences and pleasures which surround