land, the contemplation of "things unseen which are eternal" might not be
unwelcome; that, when the foundations of human confidence are shaken, and
the trust in man proves vain, there might be glad listeners to a voice
calling from the outward and the temporal to the inward and the
spiritual; from the troubles and perplexities of time, to the eternal
quietness which God giveth. I cannot but believe that, in the heat and
glare through which we are passing, this book will not invite in vain to
the calm, sweet shadows of holy meditation, grateful as the green wings
of the bird to Thalaba in the desert; and thus afford something of
consolation to the bereaved, and of strength to the weary. For surely
never was the Patience of Hope more needed; never was the inner sanctuary
of prayer more desirable; never was a steadfast faith in the Divine
goodness more indispensable, nor lessons of self-sacrifice and
renunciation, and that cheerful acceptance of known duty which shifts not
its proper responsibility upon others, nor asks for "peace in its day" at
the expense of purity and justice, more timely than now, when the solemn
words of ancient prophecy are as applicable to our own country as to that
of the degenerate Jew,--"Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy
backsliding reprove thee; know, therefore, it is an evil thing, and
bitter, that thou bast forsaken the Lord, and that my fear is not in
thee,"--when "His way is in the deep, in clouds, and in thick darkness,"
and the hand heavy upon us which shall "turn and overturn until he whose
right it is shall reign,"--until, not without rending agony, the evil
plant which our Heavenly Father hath not planted, whose roots have wound
themselves about altar and hearth-stone, and whose branches, like the
tree Al-Accoub in Moslem fable, bear the accursed fruit of oppression,
rebellion, and all imaginable crime, shall be torn up and destroyed
forever.

AMESBURY, 1st 6th mo., 1862.