THE MONUMENT OF BANISH'D MINDES. Sir W. D' Avenant. BOSTON: c. & J. M. SPEAR, 40 LONDON: CORNHILL. JOHN CHAPMAN, 121 NEWGATE ST, 11425.35 Gior Rev. C. Shear, Rer. May 5, 1847, Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by C. & J. M. SPEAR. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THOSE WOMEN, WHO NOELY VOLUNTEERED THEIR AID IN THE FIRST AMERICAN FAIR FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE Prisoner's Friend. PREFACE. The object of this work is to present a volume of Poetry written within the prison. During the labor of conducting a periodical, several valuable pieces came into our possession, written by the inmates of our penitentiary, some few of which have hitherto appeared. In looking over the pages of history we soon discovered that a volume could be prepared for the press. Undoubtedly a much larger work could in time be prepared. The collection will give the reader a view of the workings of the human soul when the outward world is shut out. Some minds become inactive when deprived of liberty. On the Poet the effect is widely different. He becomes tender and imaginative in his confinement. His very loneliness gives a livelier activity to his soul. It is well described by Roger L'Estrange : Have you not seen the nightingale, A pilgrim coop'd into a cage, In that her lonely hermitage! Even there her charming melody doth prove, |
