Excerpt from Poems, Descriptive: And Moral The literary memorial is, in modern times, a favorite resort against earthly oblivion and forgetfulness. It is one of the least expensive of the monuments to departed ability or worth, and mat be most popular, enduring, and useful. The statuary or tablet may fix the attention of friendship or curiosity, - the pyramid, looming above the desert sands, may attract the traveller from a distance; - but marble and granite nave but a narrow sphere, a vague and fleeting story, compared with the volume of letter-press. The latter, to some extent, perpetuates the spirit of the departed. It furnishes precept, while it embodies warning or example; - it lies on may a cottage window-sill, - bears its more ample record to other generations. Subjects deemed appropriate for memoir, however, are comparatively few. Generally speaking, only to those who stood somewhat apart in life, - and who in character or achievement, attained or deserved, a conspicuous position, are such remembrances usually accorded. A new country has but few memorials of the past of human history; - but few who are distinguished in any of the more select pursuit of life, - and it is apt to be neglectful of interesting records, until due materials for them pass beyond reach.

About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.