ment of any such conception as that specimen of genius materialized, the Belvidere Apollo, "at the aspect of which," says Winckelmann, "I forget all the universe: I involuntarily assume the most noble attribute of my being in order to be worthy of its presence." I shall not inquire into the causes of the denial that this fine instinct exists among us. The earlier speculations upon the subject, by Depaw and others, were deemed of sufficient importance to be answered by the two of our presidents who have been most distinguished in literature and philosophy: but they have been repeated, in substance, by De Tocqueville, who had seen, or might have seen, the works of Dana, Bryant, Halleck, Longfellow, and Whittier; of Irving, Cooper, Kennedy, Hawthorne, and Willis; of Webster, Channing, Prescott, Bancroft, and Legaré; of Allston, Leslie, Leutze, Huntington, and Cole; of Powers, Greenough, Crawford, Clevenger, and Brown. Such prejudices, which could not be dispelled by the creations of these men, will be little affected by anything that could be offered here: yet to an understanding guided by candor, the additional display of a body of literature like the present, exhibiting so pervading an aspiration after the beautiful-under circumstances, in many cases, so little propitious to its action-and in a sex which in earlier ages has contributed so sparingly to high art-will come with the weight of cumulative testimony. Several persons are mentioned in this volume whose lives have been no holydays of leisure those, indeed, who have not in some way been active in practical duties, are exceptions to the common rule. One was a slave—one a domestic servant-one a factory girl: and there are many in the list who had no other time to give to the pursuits of literature but such as was stolen from a frugal and industrious housewifery, from the exhausting cares of teaching, or the fitful repose of sickness. These illustrations of the truth, that the muse is no respecter of conditions, are especially interesting in a country where, though equality is an axiom, it is not a reality, and where prejudice reverses in the application all that theory has affirmed in words. The propriety of bringing before the world compositions produced amid humble and laborious occupations, has been vindicated by Bishop Potter, with so much force and elegance, in his introduction to the Poems of Maria James, that I regret that the limits of this preface forbid my copying what I should wish every reader of this book to be acquainted with.

When I completed "The Poets and Poetry of America," a work of which the public approval has been illustrated in the sale of ten large editions, I determined upon the preparation of the present volume, the appearance of

which has been delayed by my interrupted health. I must be permitted, how ever, to congratulate with the public, that since my intention was announced and known, others have relieved me from the responsibility of singly executing that which I had been hardy enough singly to plan and propose. Their merits may compensate for my deficiencies. The first volume of this nature which appeared in this country, was printed in Philadelphia in 1844, under the title of "Gems from American Female Poets, with brief biographies, by Rufus W. Griswold." As Mr. T. B. Read, in his "Female Poets of America," (it is Mr. Read's publisher who declares, in the advertisement to this work, that "the biographical notices which it contains have been prepared in every instance from facts either within his personal knowledge, or communicated to him directly by the authors or their friends,") and Miss C. May, in her "American Female Poets," (in the preface to which she acknowledges a resort to "printed authorities,") have done me the honor to copy that slight performance with only a too faithful closeness, I owe them apologies for having led them into some errors of fact. Both of them, transcribing from the "Gems," speak of Mrs. Mowatt as the daughter of "the late" Mr. Samuel Gouverneur Ogden: I am happy to contradict the record, by stating that Mr. Ogden still enjoys in health and vigor the honors of living excellence. Mr. Read, reproducing my early mistake, has given Mrs. Hall the Christian name of Elizabeth, and the birthplace of Boston. Nothing but the extraordinary haste with which the trifling volume of 1844 was put together, could excuse my ignorance that the name of the authoress of "Miriam" was Louisa Jane, and that she was a native of Newburyport. In one or the other of these volumes are many more errors, for which I confess myself solely responsible: but it would be tedious to point them out, while it would be scarcely necessary to do so, as they will undoubtedly be corrected, from the present work, should the volumes referred to attain to second editions.

It is proper to state that a large number of the poems in this volume are now for the first time printed. Many authors, with a confidence and kindness which are justly appreciated, not only placed at my disposal their entire printed works, but gave me permission to examine and make use of their literary MSS. without limitation.

NEW YORK, December, 1848.

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