OUT of the olde fieldes, as men saithe, And out of olde bookes, in goode faithe, Cometh all this newe science that men lere. CHAUCER. "We will venture to assert, that there is in any one of the prose folios of JEREMY TAYLOR, more fine fancy and original imagery - more brilliant conceptions and glowing expressions- more new figures, and new applications of old figures-more, in short, of the body and the soul of poetry, than in all the odes and the epics that have since been produced in Europe." EDINBURGH REVIEW. "This great prelate had the good humor of a gentleman, the eloquence of an orator, the fancy of a poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profoundness of a philosopher, the wisdom of a chancellor, the sagacity of a prophet, the reason of an angel, the piety of a saint; he had devotion enough for a cloister, learning enough for a university, and wit enough for a college of virtuosi; and had his parts and endowments been parcelled out among his poor clergy, that he left behind him, it would perhaps have made one of the best dioceses in Europe." DR. RUST. "His style is unmeasured poetry." EDITOR'S PREFACE. A Library of Old English Prose Writers would be signally incomplete that did not contain some portion of the writings of "the golden-mouthed father," Jeremy Taylor. To admit, however, any considerable part of his huge folios into our series, was of course utterly impracticable; whilst at the same time it was found very difficult to fix upon any one of his prominent works that could be compressed into a single volume. The Editor therefore had no alternative left but to cull out what appeared to him the most beautiful and striking passages of this delightful author. He is fully aware of the objections that exist to all selections of this sort; and he would be one of the last to encourage a fragmentary perusal of the old writers. But it should be born in mind that the great object of this Library is, by revealing to the uninitiated the treasures of our ancient lit erature, to cherish and diffuse a taste for the works of those mighty masters of thought and language, This little volume may chance to fall into the hands of some who hitherto have known Jeremy Taylor only by name, or have been repulsed from his writings by their ungainly forms and unpromising titles. The specimens of golden ore here exhibited may show them what a rich mine yet remains to be explored. If any such should be led, by perusing these Selections, to look further into the works of this richest and sweetest prose writer in our language, the labors of the Editor will not have been in vain. It is his hope that this volume may confirm the truth of the assertion made by another, that "from the various works of Jeremy Taylor may be extracted passages of a magnificence unequalled in the wide extent of English literature." The next volume will contain Sir Thomas More's Utopia" and his "History of King Richard the Third." BOSTON, MARCH 4, 1833. ALEXANDER YOUNG. |