Page:Poems Taggart.djvu/17

 comfortable subsistence. The publication of this volume, undertaken at the suggestion of her friends, will be the means,—not of ministering to the love of fame, but of affording to the afflicted daughter, in the way most grateful to her fine feelings, and, through her, to the other portion of the family, a very needful relief from the pressure of adverse fortune.—Let those who believe that the national obligations to the Men of '76 have been but imperfectly fulfilled, avail themselves of every opportunity to discharge their portions of the accumulated debt of public gratitude, to such of the descendants of these Men, as are the worthy inheritors of their good name.—Had the author been favored with but a common share of that most essential blessing, health, she would not now need a preface to commend her to the public attention; but would in all probability be enjoying that homage of consideration and esteem for eminent talent and personal excellence, which we delight to manifest towards the distinguished female writers of our country.

As has already been stated, the author of these Poems dictated them (or the greater part of them) to her friends. They have never had her revision for publication, her health not permitting any exertion of this kind; and some of those who wrote them down, evidently have an imperfect acquaintance with the construction of verse. It has therefore been found necessary to make occasional corrections of style and language; not, however, such as to impair the author's originality of thought or expression. It is a matter of surprise, considering her defective education, and the impossibility of improvement, from the very na-