SERMONS, BY THE LATE REV. EDWARD PAYSON, D.D. PASTOR OF THE SECOND CHURCH IN PORTLAND, IN THE UNITED STATES. LONDON: HOLDSWORTH AND BALL, 18, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. MDCCCXXXI. ADVERTISEMENT. THE history of this volume is quickly told. On the death of its lamented author, an extensive and urgent desire was expressed for the publication of some of those pulpit addresses, the delivery of which had been so greatly blessed. This desire, though perfectly natural and reasonable, would have been unavailing, but for the confident belief, that the publication would subserve the cause of religion. The thought, that his labours should be lost to the rest of the world, was so irreconcileable with the feelings of some of Dr. Payson's most judicious hearers, that, long before his last sickness, they solicited him to prepare a selection of his Sermons for the press; but his strong and uniform aversion to printing his own productions, prevented his compliance, till a few days before his decease. He then, from his general recollection of their contents, directed a number to be separated from the mass, out of which he was willing a selection should be made, and to which it must be confined. It is not known, that his restriction has been violated; though, from causes which need not be mentioned, it became impossible to identify every one, thus separated, with absolute certainty. Should any glance at the volume, and inquire, Are these the Sermons, which procured for their author such astonishing popularity, and wrought with such power upon his numerous audience?-it must be conceded, that many things accompanied their delivery, and contributed to their effect, which do not appear in print. There was an unaffected earnestness, a glowing intensity of feeling, a peculiarity of expression and utterance, a manner wholly original and indescribable, which will not attend their perusal, except in the minds of those, who were accustomed to hear him. The reader will not feel the immediate influence of those prayers, which disarmed criticism, which awed the most thoughtless, which brought them directly before Infinite Majesty, and made them feel that they had business of greater importance, than to criticise or cavil. It should also be stated, that, in several instances, the manuscripts ended in the midst of a sentence, or near the commencement of a paragraph ;— leaving the editor this only alternative, either to pause, before coming to the defective portion, or else to supply the defect himself,—the latter he has rarely had the presumption to attempt. These absent portions, as supplied by the preacher, were probably the most impressive parts of these discourses. It was Dr. Payson's practice to preach, at least, half the time without writing. His unwritten Sermons were as regularly planned, and as faithfully studied, as those which he penned; and his quick perception, ready memory, power of illustration, and the fervour excited by the very exercise of (RECAP) JUN 26 1901 150005 |