things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise," inducing men to "think on these things." We do not say that we have accomplished this in any very successful degree; but such has been the aim and such the spirit with which we have arranged and prepared this little volume. We feel a conviction, indeed, that in many of the articles here presented, there is a brightness, and a purity, and a beauty, that renders them worthy of the title of Dew-Drops. It is not necessary for us to speak of them in detail, for we cannot but think they will speak for themselves. There is one, however, to which we feel constrained to refer, that we may pay a humble, but deserved tribute to its author. It is the article entitled "The Wife," by Mrs. Lucy K. Wells. This lady was the daughter of a respectable and worthy clergyman in the state of Maine, who deceased many years ago. She grew up to become a lovely and beloved wife, and the mother of several children. But adversity and severe afflictions fell to her lot, with which she struggled for a few years with heroic and Christian patience, till she was at last borne down by their weight, and sunk like "the traveller in the midst of his journey." She was a woman of high intellectual endowments and the purest moral culture. Under favorable circumstances she would have become one of the best and worthiest writers in the country. But her pathway was "hedged up," and opportunity was never allowed her to enter the fields of literature. She did, indeed, now and then in a momentary respite from toil, or in hours stolen from sleep, throw off an occasional article, and circumstances had recently placed two or three of her manuscripts in our hands. But while we were looking about for means of using them to her advantage, the silver cord was loosed, the pitcher was broken at the fountain, and her gentle and tried spirit was exhaled, like a dew-drop, to Heaven. New York, Dec., 1845. EDITOR. CONTENTS. THE Field of the World-James Montgomery,. ........ 9 11 ....... The Water-Elizabeth Oakes Smith,.... The Pool of Bethesda Seba Smith,...... The Witch of Endor-Elizabeth Oakes Smith,.... The Wife-Mrs. Lucy K. Wells,...... Lament of the Irish Emigrant-Mrs. Price Black- wood,...... ......... St. Paul and Thecla-Ancient Fragment, The Three little Graves-Seba Smith, .... ......... 116 |