THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN FOSTER, AUTHOR OF "DECISION OF CHARACTER," BY J. E. RYLAND. With Notices of Mr. Foster as a Preacher and a Companion, by JOHN SHEPARD, author of "Thoughts on Devotion," etc. 2 Vols. in one. Third Edition, 12mo. cloth, $1,25. "In simplicity of language, in majesty of conception, in the eloquence of that conciseness which conveys in a short sentence more meaning than the mind dares at once admit,—his writings are unmatched."- North British Review. "It is with no ordinary expectations and gratification and delight that we have taken up the Biography and Correspondence of the author of the Essays on Decision of Character,' etc. The memoir of such a man as John Foster, must, of necessity, possess very peculiar attractions. It is certainly natural, and, we think not unpraiseworthy, to wish to become more nearly acquainted with a man whose writings have been perused with admiration wherever the English language is spoken or understood; whose calm, transparent and impressive thoughts have, in their acquaintance and contact, cut out new channels of thought in ten thousand other minds whose dignified and sober views of life, religion, and immortality are adapted to shed so hallowed a spirit over all who become familiar with them; and whose style and vocabulary, showing him a perfect master of our mother tongue, taken in connection with his other noble characteristics as an author, well entitle him to the quaint description of his contemporary Robert Hall, a great, lumbering wagon, loaded with gold.' These volumes happily introduce us to such a view of his life and labors as it is most satisfactory for us to obtain. Mr. Ryland, the editor of the memorials, is already favorably known on both sides of the water by his literary offerings; and in the compilation of these volumes he has exercised a discriminating judgment, a blameless taste, and sound discretion. "We are glad to find ourselves in possession of so much additional matter from the well-nigh inspired pen of this great master in English composition."- Christian Review. "A book rich in every way-in good sense, vivacity, suggestiveness, liberality, and piety."-Mirror. "The letters which principally compose this volume, bear strongly the impress of his own original mind, and are often characterized by a depth and power of thought rarely met with even in professedly elaborate disquisitions."—Albany Argus. "This work, from the character of its subject, must constitute the choice book of the season, in the department of correspondence and biography. Disseminating trains of thought into which the mind of Foster has led us, who has not desired to know more of the man, of his interior and domestic life; of the experience and strugglings of one to whom there had been given so profound an intuition; so deep an insight into the mysteries of truth? We all wish to know what he was as a friend, a husband, a father, and as a practical exponent of what is enshrined in the immortal productions of his pen. All who appreciate the subject of which these volumes treat will rejoice in the opportunity of adding this treasure to their libraries." Christian Reflector. "John Foster was one of the strongest writers of his age." -- Christian Register. "This collection of letters will sustain and perhaps raise the reputation of John Foster. We see in it every where the strong common sense, vigor of conception, acuteness in distinguishing the real from the ostensible motives of human action, and the remarkable insight into character, which mark all his other works. He was the anatomist rather than the physiologist of the human soul. He was a metaphysician also, but one who delighted rather to develop truth in the concrete than in the abstract. His skill in the morbid anatomy of the human soul was unsurpassed. He winds himself into all the sinuosities of character, and brings to light weakness and meanness that make us ashamed of our race while we read. We start at seeing our own secret, sinful thoughts laid bare with unmerciful distinctness, and all their deformities increased tenfold by the terrible exactness of delineation. Their hideous outlines are daguerreotyped before us; and such is the power of the picture, that we cannot look away from it if we would."- Christian Watchman. GOULD & LINCOLN, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON. LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN FOSTER: EDITED BY J. E. RYLAND. WITH NOTICES OF MR. FOSTER AS A PREACHER AND A COMPANION, BY JOHN SHEPPARD, AUTHOR OF "THOUGHTS ON DEVOTION," ETC., ETC IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. BOSTON: GOULD AND LINCOLN, 59 WASHINGTON STREET. 1850. PREFACE. Ir will gratify the readers of these volumes to find that the Memoir is chiefly compiled from Mr. Foster's Letters; so numerous, happily, are the references to himself and the subjects in which he took the deepest interest, that little more than a proper selection and arrangement has been requisite, in order to form them into a continuous narrative. A biography drawn from such sources will be found, probably, to present a more vivid and truthful exhibition of character, than even a record, by a self-observer, however faithfully intended, if composed after the lapse of years, when the events, and the emotions they called forth, have begun to fade upon the memory. The sentiments of affectionate veneration cherished from early years towards the subject of this Memoir, would preclude on the part of the Editor, even were his abilities equal to the task, any attempt at a critical analysis of character. What he has aimed at accomplishing has been, to select from the materials placed at his disposal, whatever would best illustrate the intellectual and moral qualities, the principles and opinions, of so distinguished a man. He has not consciously allowed the representation to be moulded into a conformity to his own views or convictions, either by omission on the one hand, or on the other by giving greater prominence to any class of sentiments than the place they occupied in Mr. Foster's estimation would justify. In a life so retired, and for the most part devoid of incident, a recurrence of similar trains of thought might be expected. For this reason many passages in the correspondence have been omitted which individually would have been as worthy of preservation as those that are retained; if still something like reiteration should be found, the Editor trusts that it is not to an immoderate extent, not to say that, within certain limits, it will serve to show more distinctly the writer's mental habits,-what were his most accustomed channels of thought. For the particulars relating to Mr. Foster's youth, the Editor is indebted to his only surviving friend of that period, Mr. Horsfall, and to the descendants of his tutor, Dr. Fawcett. Use also has been made of a paper in Mr. Foster's handwritting "Hints and Questions respecting my early History: "— unfortunately it is very brief, and breaks off abruptly. In two instances the Editor has deviated from his first intention of inserting nothing in these volumes which had been already published by the Author, namely, the Letters on the Church, and those on the Ballot; he was led to do so from the consideration, that these productions having only appeared in a public journal upwards of ten years ago, must be new to many readers that they contain Mr. Foster's deliberate sentiments on subjects of great social interest—and that the miscellaneous character of the correspondence seemed to render their insertion in it more suitable than a republication with any of his other works. * On one point only of dogmatic theology Mr. Foster dissented from the religious community with which he was most intimately connected. Allusions to this subject (the Duration of Future Punishment) occur in two or three passages of his * It may here be mentioned that the Reflections on Death (vol. i., p. 52), and the Letters to Mr. Hughes (ii., 155), Dr. Carpenter (ii, 157), Dr. Liefchild (ii., 161), and Mrs. H. More (ii, 191), are reprinted from the publications in which they first appeared. The Letter to an Unknown Lady (i., 78) had also been previously printed for private circulation; while this sheet was passing through the press, the Editor received information that her name was Carpenter. |