The doctor, &c., vol. 6 (of 7)

There is a kind of physiognomy in the titles of books no less than in the faces of men, by which a skilful observer will as well know what to expect from the one as the other.
BUTLER'S REMAINS.
LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 1847.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. NICOL, PALL-MALL.
INVENIAS ETIAM DISJECTI MEMBRA POETÆ.
In the distribution of the lamented Southey's literary property, the History of the Brazils, his much treasured MS. History of Portugal, the Doctor, &c. and the MS. materials for its completion, fell to the share of Edith May Warter, his eldest child, and, as he used to call her, his right hand,—to whom he addressed the Dedication of the Tale of Paraguay, and to whom he commenced a little Poem of which the lines following are almost the last, if not the very last, he ever wrote in verse.
O daughter dear, who bear'st no longer now Thy Father's name, and for the chalky flats Of Sussex hast exchanged thy native land Of lakes and mountains,—neither change of place Condition, and all circumstantial things, Nor new relations, and access of cares Unfelt before, have alienated thee Nor wean'd thy heart from this beloved spot, Thy birth place, and so long thy happy home!
The present Volume is drawn up from the MS. materials alluded to, as nearly as possible in the order the Author had intended, and the seventh and concluding volume is in the press and will shortly be published.
The whole of the MS. sheets, previous to being sent to the press, were cautiously examined by his no less amiable and excellent, than highly gifted Widow, who, at the time, was staying with us on a visit at West-Tarring. Had the lamented Southey continued the work, it was his intention, in this volume, to have advanced a step in the story,—and the Interchapters, no doubt, would have been enlarged, according to custom. His habit was, as he said, “to lay the timbers of them, and to jot down, from time to time, remarks serious or jocose, as they occurred to him.” Full readily would this holy and humble man of heart have acceded to the truth conveyed in these lines from Martin Tupper's Proverbial philosophy,—and none the less for their dactylic cadence.