Book Description

Excerpt from Autobiographical Notes, Letters and Reflections The memoranda from which this volume has been compiled were collected by Dr. Smyth in three bulky volumes with the evident intention of some day writing the full story of his eventful and unusual life. The greater part of the early recollections was written apparently in the Summer of 1839, but was largely added to by notes and interpolations when the work was resumed in the Summer of 1859. The early work ends abruptly and a note shows the change of date. It has been impossible from the nature of the material to construct an orderly narrative, and great difficulty has been experienced in making the necessary omissions. Numbers of letters dealing with Dr. Smyth's many religious publications, with the history of the Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston and of different religious Societies and organizations, have of necessity been omitted, as the desire of such of Dr. Smyth's family as have been engaged in this work, has been to present as far as possible a picture of the man for the better understanding of his descendants. His literary work received the seal of approval from his contemporaries and requires no comment here, his work as a Minister of the Presbyterian Church is told by his successful ministration of more than forty years in the old Second Church of Charleston. The influence of his life is Scill strong and his memory still green in the hearts of men. This brief prefatory note cannot close without a word of heart-felt regret that this work could not have been done as originally planned by Mrs. Smyth, by the Reverend John William Flinn, D. D. Although he had never known Dr. Smyth he was so completely in sympathy with the older man's thought and work, and had from much talk with Mrs. Smyth and her daughter, his wife, so filled himself with the spirit of this Autobiography, that it became the great but unfulfilled desire of his later years to make a real book of the scattered notes and letters. We owe to him the careful revision of Dr. Smyths most important religious publications - it is an irreparable loss to all concerned in the work that he should not have lived to complete the "Life." To him is affectionately derlicated what little share the editor has in this book. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.