The first edition of this volume appeared
in England in 1855, where it was printed for private
circulation only. Many expressions of the interest
that has been felt in its perusal, and of the value
that has been attached to the record it contains,
have reached the editor and the family of the departed.
Several applications to allow its publication in America
have also been received; and, after serious consideration,
the editor feels that he ought not to withhold his
consent.
In order that it may be more interesting
and worthy of the largely-extended circulation that
it is now likely to obtain, additions have been made,
and particulars inserted, which a greater lapse of
time from the occurrence of the events narrated, seems
now to permit. A slight thread of biographical
notice has also been introduced.
But it is not to this part, which
merely serves to render the volume more complete,
by enabling the reader to understand the circumstances
by which the writer of the Diary was surrounded, but
to the Diary itself, that the editor desires to commend
attention, believing that those who enjoy to trace
the operations and effects of Divine grace on the
heart will find much that is interesting and valuable
therein, and that the young may reap instruction and
encouragement from the spiritual history of one who
early and earnestly sought the Lord.
William Southall, Jr.
EDGBASTON, Birmingham, 2d mo 12th, 1861.