4. In lieu of the sameness which is found in any large quantity of this writer's familiar hymns, to make him take larger scope, and discuss a range of differing subjects. For this the works of no other hymnist, and of but few poets, afford such opportunity. He has been accused of having "little variety of manner, and less variety of matter." The former charge is in some measure true; the last the following pages will abundantly disprove. 5. To attain a good degree of historic and biographic interest. This was not difficult to do; for Charles Wesley was perpetually putting himself into his verses, and much of the matter included here will be found to form a rhyming commentary on his character, opinions, fortunes, labors; nor less on the time in which he lived, and the system of faith and practice which he bore no weak or idle hand in establishing. 6. While the book is characteristic, and shows the man as he was, to make it comparatively pure, to restrain as far as possible those extravagances of expression, and that wildness of emotion, in which it was his nature and his habit not seldom to indulge. As far as possible we say; for to preserve entire soundness of sentiment and propriety of language is a thing incompatible with honestly displaying this author as poet and as man. We have omitted, for the cause stated, two poems, warmly commended by so respectable an authority as James Montgomery; but in some pieces which we could not exclude there are lines and verses that only our rule of the whole or none could win place for. With the one exception just indicated, these various aims have not been so hard to harmonize as it might appear. We should like the Methodist poet, as it is attempted to present him here: fairly, yet at his best; with appreciation, but discrimination; not allowing sympathy and admiration to run into blind worship, nor difference of creed to hide from us his merits and his uses. There does not exist in America or England that Christian Church, sect, or man, that can afford to forget his obligations to Charles Wesley; and we can acknowledge those obligations best by increasing them, as this book aims to do. This Preface would be incomplete, did the Editor not make grateful mention of his friend, David Creamer, Esq., of Baltimore, the pioneer of "Methodist Hymnology" in this land, and the owner of what is no doubt the only almost complete collection of the Wesleyan poetry in America. To him belong half of the scarce volumes from which the contents of this were gathered; and it is by the use of his valuable library that the Editor has been enabled to consult every poetical work published by the Wesleys, except one or two rare tracts of small size, not known to exist this side the ocean. Whenever it was possible, the original title has been kept over each poem, and printed in italics. FREDERIC M. BIRD. VALATIE, New York, November, 1866. |