Early crowned: a memoir of Mary E. North

Front matter

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MEMOIR OF MARY E. NORTH.

Preface To The Third Edition

Ox a quiet hill-side in " Sleepy Hollow Cemetery," the neighborhood of which is made famous by the classic pen of Washington Irving, and not far from the spot where he is buried, now lie the remains of Mary and Adolphus Xorth. There may be no such necessary connection between Irving's grave and the graves of these two young Christians as to prompt the mention of them together, yet to one who has read the life of each, and who has become familiar with the enchanting scenery where they sleep, it is but natural that they should suggest associations not wholly disconnected. Irving's fame was already commensurate with the English tongue when he died. His best monument is his books. But in the " Early Crowned " is seen the power of goodness to lift itself out of the comparatively narrow sphere of its creation and action, and to place itself in a position where it shall be widely and permanently felt. As in the case of the Dairyman's Daughter, a character was formed in domestic seclusion whose intensity could not be confined to the brief years and the limited locality of its formation, but must spread itself wherever moral beauty can be recognized and loved.

There is a deep interest attaching to every true life. The faithful delineation of the transitions through which an earnest soul passes, must always possess a charm so long as the feeling of a common

14 PKEFACE TO THE THIttD EDITION.

nature binds all hearts in one. What we wish most in our reading, what does us most good, is to have reality so presented in its relation to the great principles which affect us as that we may see ourselves reflected in what we read. A biography which accomplishes this, though it embodies no startling facts, no novel opinions, and discloses no heart-rending crises, yet will never lose its freshness and usefulness. Nature perpetually sees itself in the mirror which a pure art holds to it.

Such has been the impression which the perusal of " Early Crowned " has produced upon its readers. In its first conception and issue it was hardly expected that it would attract attention much beyond the circle of the personal friends of its subjects ; but it has been read far and near, and from all directions testimonies have been received both as to the pleasure it has awakened and the spiritual benefit it has conferred. Young souls have been converted, young Christians have been strengthened, and loving parents have been inspired by its pages. God has thus honored it so that the question of its continued publication is no longer one of gratification, but of religious duty. A third edition is called for, and is now sent forth w T ith the prayer that wherever the simple portraiture of these young followers of Jesus may be read devout yearnings for the purest Christian discipleship may be begotten and nourished.

New York, Jan., 1869. H. B. RlDGAWAY.

EARLY CROWNED.