MEMOIRS

WITH A PREFACE AND A CONTINUATION OF THE MEMOIRS,

PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WOOD AND SONS, RICHARD WOOD, COLLINS AND

HANNAY, COLLINS AND CO., MAHLON DAY, G. AND C. CARVILL,

W. B. GILLEY, E. BLISS AND E. WHITE, AND A. T. GOODRICH:

Philadelphia, B. AND T. KITE, AND TOWAR AND HOGAN:

Boston, RICHARDSON AND LORD.

PREFACE.

In presenting this little volume to the public, I am solicitous to state the reasons which led to its publication; and I flatter myself they will prove satisfactory.

The celebrity which the subject of these Memoirs had obtained, and the interest which he had excited, by his arduous and successful endeavours to promote the literary, moral, and religious improvement of youth, often induced me to think that, after his decease, a short and authentic account of his life and character, would be acceptable to the public. To that part of the public more immediately benefited by his labours, the work would, I apprehended, prove peculiarly pleasing.

Under these impressions, I made, at different periods, some notes and observations, preparatory to an undertaking of this nature. I was, however, sensible that, from various circumstances, particularly from my not having been acquainted with Mr. Murray till he was considerably advanced in life, I was not qualified to execute the task as I could wish. I was convinced too, that no person, except himself, possessed that accurate knowledge of the events of his life, and the formation of his character, which would render the work truly interesting and instructive. His friends in America had had but little intercourse with him, except by letter, since the fortieth year of his age: his friends in England had, of course, known him only since that period, when his character and principles were formed; and from the ill state of his health, his subsequent life was spent in retirement. I had heard various reports respecting him, and I had also seen a printed account, which, though apparently not originating in any ill will, or in any ill design, were utterly void of foundation.* I was apprehensive,

*I do not, by any means, allude to a short biographical sketch, inserted in the European Magazine, 1803; and thence copied into various periodical publications: that account, as far as it goes, is perfectly authentic; and, in every particular, strictly consistent with the tenour of these Memoirs.

that, after his death, some of these accounts, or others of a similar nature, might obtain currency, and even find their way into respectable publications, if not prevented by a true and well authenticated statement of facts.

These circumstances induced me earnestly to wish that he might become his own biographer. But I knew that the delicacy of his mind would, at least in the first instance, revolt at the proposal. I therefore contented myself with hinting to him my intention of writing, if I should survive him, a short account of his life; and I requested his assistance only in supplying me with a few materials, relative to the period preceding my acquaintance with him. It was not without many arguments, and much solicitation, that I could induce him to acknowledge the propriety of my proposal, and to promise compliance. The work, however, was not begun till long afterwards; and it was frequently suspended, on account of his numerous literary avocations, and the weak state of his health. At length, after many interruptions, and demurs respecting its propriety, it was completed in a series of letters addressed to myself. I was so well pleased with the performance; and I believed that it would be so much more agreeable and interesting in the author's own words and manner, than in any I could devise, that I relinquished my original idea. I could not be satisfied to receive what he had written, as materials only: but I strongly urged him to continue the work to the time of his writing; and to allow me, (if circumstances should seem to require the measure,) to publish it, after his decease, in the form in which he had written it. To this, after much consideration, he consented; continuing to express an apprehension, that neither the subject, nor the manner in which it is treated, is worthy of public notice and approbation: an opinion in which, I believe, few readers will concur.

As some persons may be inclined to think, that I acted improperly in inducing him to write these Memoirs, and afterwards to consent to their publication, I must, in justice to myself, be allowed to make a few observations on the subject. Many pious persons have written memoirs of their own lives,