Poems by the late John Bethune; with a sketch of the author's life

Front matter

Glass

Book_

POEMS

Preface To The First Edition

[abridged.]

On the merits of the following Poems — when the near relationship in which I stood to their humble Author is considered — it would ill become me to offer an opinion. This much, however, I may say — without influential assistance the literary efforts of individuals in humble life rarely draw the attention of the busy world ; and thus, though their merits were greater than they can possibly be, their chances of success are but small. In the absence of such recommendations, I would simply beg the reader of taste to compare them with the productions of others, and judge for himself. As their Author considered very few of them in a finished state, the measure, in some instances, may be found unequal. Where this defect could be remedied without altering the sentiment, it has been done ; but when such alterations would have affected the sense, as well as the sound of the verses, they have not been attempted. Whatever opinion may be entertained as to the poetry, the unimpeachable morality of the whole, and the natural piety of most of the pieces, will, I trust, be at once acknowledged by all who take an interest in these things.

If an excuse for offering to the public a sketch of the Author's life should be deemed necessary, something of the kind might, perhaps, be found in the following circumstance. From such of his writings as have been already published, it is at least possible that " some kindred spirit" might be led to " inquire his fate ; " and if the present writer were gone, there lives not a swain, " hoary - headed " or otherwise, who could tell aught concerning him, save that he lived poor, toiled hard, and died early, which is but scanty information. The reader will very probably think that I have been too minute, and detailed too much ; and yet a great deal of what to me would have been interesting has been passed over in silence. For no inconsiderable share of what has been noticed, however, I can only expect to be

O PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

pardoned ; and when it is known that our feelings and pursuits were almost the very same — that we never knew what it was to have separate interests for a single moment — that we had buffetted, or rather been buffetted, by Fortune together from boyhood — that we had supped from the same table, sat by the same fire, and slept in the same bed, with very few interruptions, from the period of infancy— and that we were nearly the last of the name and the race to which we belonged — the reader may, perhaps, be inclined to extend that pardon to one who has now so much of deep and melancholy interest, connected with the past, to ponder over. At all events, the wish to " make a book" formed no part of my motives for giving these details, as may be easily believed when it is further known that from his own MSS. materials could have been furnished for three volumes instead of one, and that more than a third part of what was actually prepared for the press has been rejected almost indiscriminately to keep the book within the limits originally contemplated. Such as it is, I would hope that his unadorned story may perhaps be of some use in assisting to form habits of self-denial, industry, perseverance, and virtuous independence in the minds of others. With all its imperfections, it is at least free from that vitiating tendency which has been occasionally complained of, as attaching to the " Lives" of some individuals who, from considering themselves men of great genius, believed that they were at liberty to be still greater profligates. Such as he was, I have endeavoured to represent him, without any attempt to colour more highly his humble virtues. Though I have tried to keep myself as much in the back ground as possible, on some occasions our concerns were so intricately blended, that it was impossible to do justice to his character separately. Much has been told which, but for his early death, would have remained for ever a secret ; but without which, his little history would have been incomplete.

A. BETHUNE.

Mountpleasant, Newburgh, August, 1840.

Preface To The Second Edition

Before the first edition of the present work was out of the press, the author s mother was seized with palsy, which, by repeated shocks, left her speechless and almost motionless. In this state, the editor, as the last friend who could render her any assistance, was called upon to abandon those pursuits by which he had formerly earned her subsistence and his own, that he might watch over her helplessness, and be ready to supply those wants which she could no longer express. For nearly five months, night and day, such was his occupation. During the early part of this period, the first impression, which was a limited one, had been disposed of; and this circumstance, together with the delusive hope that the downward progress of the disease might be arrested by care and unremitting attention, made him anxious to try if he could not obtain a trifle by a second edition, to assist in eking out the slender means which he already possessed of supporting himself and his debilitated parent. The wish to give a still more extensive circulation to these pages had also its share in producing this result : and arrangements were accordingly made for reprinting the work. It only remains to be stated that the individual for whose benefit a second edition was projected is now no more, her mortal remains having been deposited beside those of her husband and son, on the 23d of December last — little more than two years and ten months having elapsed between the whole of their deaths.

The individual who now writes, and who is the last solitary remnant of the family, is thus left with no domestic ties to fetter his exertions, no filial duties to

8 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

perform, and no one for whose wants he can provide ; so that the work can have no claim to attention beyond what it may derive from its own merits, of which it becomes not me to speak ; and if offering it again to the public should be deemed an intrusion, it is to be hoped that the generous reader will at least excuse the motives which prompted to this course.

To make the work as deserving as possible of that patronage which it received upon its first appearance, a part of what were considered its least interesting details have been withdrawn from the Life, and seven or eight pages of new matter substituted. To the poetical department a number of short pieces have also been added.

In conclusion, my warmest acknowledgments are due to the conductors of the newspaper press, for the very favourable reception which they have already bestowed on the work. So far as I have seen, the whole of the notices of the first edition have been recommendatory, while some of them have been flattering in no ordinary degree; and I hope their authors will be pleased to accept of the thanks and gratitude of one to whom they were particularly gratifying, as the means of giving a more extensive publicity to the name and the talents of an only brother, who was cut down by death at the very time when his mind might be said to be only beginning to expand.

A. BETHUNE.

Mountpleasant, Newburgh, May, 1841.

Introduction To The Second Edition

The Publishers of the present edition of the Memoir and Poems of John Bethune, were desirous of obtaining an Introduction to the volume from the pen of James Montgomery, Esq. They regret that other engagements prevented his complying with this request; but they have the high gratification of presenting the reader with an extract from his reply to their application, which, in the hope of benefiting the family, he has kindly given them permission to publish.

" Even were I perfectly at leisure, I should hesitate to meddle with a subject little needing factitious aid to attract public attention, so far as that can be obtained by unpretending excellence in the noblest but least-regarded species of literature, at a time when physics, mechanics, politics, and polemics carry all before them except poetry, which they leave hopelessly behind. In fact, I think that such a prefatory flourish as you desire would derogate from the modest yet manly dignity with which the volume comes forth as the beautiful product of two fraternal minds, lovely in life while they laboured and suffered together, and yet lovelier in death, when one being taken and the other

10 INTRODUCTION.

left, the survivor, in the short and simple annals of the deceased, has constructed a memorial to the honour of both so graceful and appropriate, that it must be a bolder and a finer hand than mine, that would dare to disturb or hope to improve its effect by the intrusion of foreign ornament. If the deeds of many a hero have been forgotten because he wanted a poet to consecrate them, of many a poet it may be said, that, except in his works, he has left but a name, because he had no biographer to record his personal history. John Bethune has been more fortunate, since the permanence (whether it prove long or short) which his verse of itself might not have gained, the pious Memoir by his brother of his worth and his trials has secured for it. Those who happen to fall in with some of the choicer specimens of his poetry, will eagerly read the narrative of the Author's life when they meet with it ; while those who first become acquainted with his name and his genius through the narrative, will, with equal prepossession in its favour, turn to the pages of his poetry.

" Among the numerous publications of the works in this line, of what are called ' uneducated poets' few excel in compass or sweetness those of John Bethune, as selected from multifarious compositions for this small volume ; yet none have been produced under greater disadvantages or more disheartening circumstances. The light that

INTRODUCTION. 11

could shine in such darkness, and shine out of it too in broad day, must have been that ' light from heaven* which poor Burns complains, rather unjustly, had led him astray — for passion and frailty were his betrayers. In the case of Bethune, however, it kept the spirit which it illumined in the right path, and solaced the patient sufferer amidst adversity, heart-sickness, and corporal endurance, even beyond the common lot of the multitude in the humble rank of society to which he belonged. That rank he adorned more by never rising above it than if he had struggled out of it into notoriety, and won an inferior place in a higher station ; since, in that wherein he lived and died, he exemplified more perfectly than I can recollect in any similar instance, the animating fact, that no pressure of poverty, hardship of labour, or lack of education, can quench the spirit of poetry when it is inborn, — for, if inborn, it will break out in some degree through every external obstruction or annoyance.

" But, as in him, it must be of no mean order to achieve this with a power to command admiration rather than wonder that such talents should be developed under such circumstances. We have heard of the miseries and misfortunes of poets in all ages, till we almost habitually associate want, wretchedness, and disaster with the profession, even when its adepts are companions of the great,

INTRODUCTION, and favorites of princes ; but the calamities of this class of Authors, it must be acknowledged, maybe too frequently traced to themselves, and have been brought upon them by their own improvidence, not to name any worse besetting sin.

" Here, however, industry, uprightness, self-denial, self-sacrifice, with contentment and resignation to the Divine Will mark the character from the beginning to the end of life in John Bethune. Nothing can be more touching, true, and clear than the evidence of these virtues, — rare in combination at all times, and rarest in alliance with the poetic temperament, — as they are manifested in this faithful record, by his affectionate biographer. The perusal of the narrative as illustrating the poems, and the perusal of the poems as illustrating the narrative, has awakened in my mind more and deeper sympathy of a peculiar kind than the memoir of any other poet of the class in which Bethune flourished, — for flourished I will say ; and far and wide may his song and history be read for the benefit of "all sorts and conditions of men," that pride in the highest places may be humbled, and humility in the lowest exalted. * * * Let the volume go forth in its own integrity ; it needs no further voucher of the Author's merits."

Contents

The Pieces marked * are now first published.

PAGE.

Sketch of the Life of John Bethune,