THE fair and just fulfilment of the promise made to the public, in
the previous announcement of this work, would require that it should
contain, simply, “a distinct, plain, historical narrative of the
life of each of the apostles, illustrated by such aids as could be
drawn from the works of various authors, of former ages, and of other
countries, which hitherto, in the inaccessible forms of a dead or
foreign tongue, have been too long covered from the eyes of thousands,
who might be profited by their more open communication;――from these
sources, as well as from the sacred record, to draw the materials
of the narrative,――to throw occasionally the lights of historical,
topographical, and scientific, as well as exegetical illustrations
on the word of truth,――and from all, to learn how we may live, labor,
and die, as did these first champions of Christ crucified.” A hope
was also expressed by the author, that the facilities of his situation
would enable him, by research among the long-hidden treasures of large
and costly libraries, to bring forth, in direct illustration of this
narrative, much of those treasures of scriptural knowledge, which, by
their size and rarity, are beyond the reach and the means of a vast
number of Biblical students, who would derive great advantage and
pleasure from their perusal; and that even clergymen and students
of theology, might find in this work many things, drawn from these
valuable materials, that would make this a desirable book for them.
Yet far from promising the combined results of _all_ the labors of the
learned on these subjects, the author then distinctly professed his
main object to be, the collection and combination of such facts and
illustrations as would make the work acceptable and interesting to
readers of _all classes_,――to _popular_, as well as to learned readers;
and he accordingly engaged to present all the contents of the book,
clear and plain, even to those whose minds have not been accustomed
to deep research in Biblical study.
With these objects constantly in view, the author has long been
steadily and laboriously devoted to the preparation and composition of
this book. In presenting this result of his labors, he is not conscious
of having actually failed to comply with the general terms of his
published engagement; yet the critical eyes of many among his readers
will doubtless light upon parts of the work, which have been materially
affected in their character by the very peculiar circumstances under
which the labor has been undertaken and prosecuted; circumstances
so _very_ peculiar, that, in accordance with the universal custom
of those who have completed such tasks, he is justified in referring
to some important details of the history of the writing. The first
summons to the task found him engrossed in pursuits as foreign to the
investigations necessary for this work, as any department of knowledge
that can be conceived; and though the study of critical and exegetical
theology had, at a former period, been to him an object of regular
attention, the invitation to this work seemed so uncongenial to his
adopted pursuits, that he rejected it decidedly; nor was it until after
repeated and urgent solicitations, that he consented to undertake it.
But even then, so little aware was he of the inexhaustible richness of
his noble subject, that he commenced his researches with oft-expressed
doubts, whether it would admit of such ample disquisition as was hoped
by the original proposer. How just those doubts were, may be best
learned from the hurried and brief notice which many important points
in this great theme have necessarily received within such narrow limits.
Begun under these unfavorable auspices, the work was an object
of pursuit with him through a long period of time; nor did his
investigations proceed far, before he was fully assured that it
was vast, beyond his highest expectations; and from that time the
difficulty has been, not to meet the expectation of a large book, but
to bring these immense materials within this limited space. Growing
thus in his hands, through months and years, his subject soon increased
also in its interest to him, till in the progress of time and various
other contemporaneous ♦occupations, it rose from the character of a
task to that of a delightful, a dignified, and dignifying pursuit; and
he was soon disposed to look on it not as a labor, but as a recreation
from avocations less congenial to his taste. It called him first from
the study of a profession, sickening and disgusting in many of its
particulars; and was his frequent resource for enjoyment in many a
season of repose. His attention was often distracted from it, by calls
to diverse and opposite pursuits; by turns to the public labors and
responsibilities of an editor and an instructor,――but in the midst of
these it was his solace and refreshment, till at last it wholly drew
him away from everything besides itself, and became for months his sole,
constant, absorbing and exhausting occupation. Too often, indeed, were
the pursuits with which it was at first varied and interchanged, the
occasion of disturbances and anxieties that did anything but fit him
for the comfortable pursuit of his noble task; yet these evils
themselves became the means of inspiring him with a higher and purer
regard for it, because they drove him to this as an only consolation.
As was most eloquently and beautifully said by the evangelical George
Horne, at the conclusion of a similar task,――“And now, could the author
flatter himself, that anyone would take half the pleasure in reading
the work, which he hath taken in writing it, he would not fear the loss
of his labor.” Well would it be, both for the writer and his work, if
he could truly add in the melodious sentence which Horne subjoins, that
“the employment detached him from the bustle and hurry of life, and the
noise of folly;”――that “vanity and vexation flew away for a season,
――care and disquietude came not nigh his dwelling.”
♦ “occcupations” replaced with “occupations”