To the Lady Abney

Madam,

Your Esteem and Friendship for the amiable Person who is the Subject of the following Poem, together with the many Obligations I am under to your Ladyship’s Favour, leave me no Room to doubt to whom it ought to be inscrib’d.

Strangers may possibly be apt to pronounce that the Character I have drawn has rather the false Glare of Fiction upon it, than the genuine Lustre of Truth; but, when it seeks your Ladyship’s Patronage, it appeals to the Light for its Sentence, as you had the best Opportunities of knowing the real Worth of the Person describ’d, and detest Flattery in every Appearance of it.

Though the Removal of such valuable Friends is a severe Affliction, and opens the Springs of Sorrow deep in our Breasts; yet we have Assurances in the Divine Word of a State of Blessedness beyond the Grave for the immediate and everlasting Reception of departed Saints; and with every Loss of this Nature, we are freed from another Tie to Earth, and have a new Accession of Motive to excite our warmest Tendencies towards Heaven.

That you, Madam, amidst all the Vicissitudes of Time may have an unclouded Prospect of the future Glory, feel a growing Meetness for, and at length obtain an abundant Entrance into the heavenly Kingdom, is the earnest Desire of your Ladyship’s

Most Obliged,

and Obedient Servant,

Thomas Gibbons.

CrossReach Publications