appeals to him with a voice that is echoed from the depths of his intellectual being. "The desire of fame is laudable under certain moral limitations; but our motives of action should ascend to a far higher source.-And, would that a deeper view of what forms the true greatness and glory of the mind, more thoroughly pervaded our literature! How much that is low would then be exalted, how much that is servile made free; and, where now envy and malice strut their miserable hour, how soon would magnanimity and genius, hand in hand, complete their bright career! But in the war of emulation the noble aims of mental exertion soon evaporate; the noise and not the power of reputation alone is prized; and under a mania for literary prominence on the public stage, ambition darkens into envy, and disappointment is soured into rivalrous contempt. the eye 66 Yet may of the contemplatist repose on a more attractive scene; and behold in the varied ranks of learning, science, and taste, men who stand apart from the arrogant littleness around them, silently building their monument of fame; and from time to time sending forth streams of thought that refresh and invigorate the world of truth. And yet to those who estimate fame by the talk of the tongue rather than by the homage of the mind, the works of such men seem to languish in unappreciated excellence; but it is far otherwise : the noble thought, the wise reflection, or the beautiful idea, each has its hour and scene of influence; though often, like a trackless angel on some errand of love,-acting silent, secret, and unobserved. “Let it never be forgotten, that as good and evil are the two antagonistic influences at war in the world, so every writer, whatever his intellectual rank, ranges himself on one side or the other :-it is a glorious reflection that he co-operates, however humbly, with the former; and infinitely awful, to be found, however triumphantly, with the latter!" Care has been taken to select such passages as could best be detached from the body of each Work, without impairing the sense; but no classification of the extracts has been attempted. It was thought that by giving to each an appropriate title, and printing the whole in alphabetical order, the diversity of the subjects, aided by their metrical variety, would give the SELECTIONS an air of novelty and interest, independent of their value in a moral or poetical sense; and that, by so doing, every useful purpose would be answered. In the full expectation, therefore, that this volume, presenting, as it does, a fair specimen of Mr. R. Montgomery's Works, will afford general satisfaction, and be the means of giving increased value and popularity to the whole, the Selector respectfully takes his leave;-being convinced that, wherever the dignity and pathos of true poetry are hallowed by the sublimity of the subject, the perusal of such works must tend to purify and exalt the minds of all who have a taste for the one, or a reverence for the other. FROM "DEATH; WITH OTHER POEMS." Page Ambitious Hopes and Disappointments of Genius 39 Approach of Death 52 Time's all-destroying Power, felt in the Death of |