The pleasing task of writing an introduction to the life of my noble friend, Rev. A. J. Newgent, has fallen upon me. The intimate association which I have had with him for many years gives me a peculiar pleasure in seeing the record of his splendid life placed before the Church. Biography is one of the most important departments of literature, and Mr. Newgent is eminently worthy of the permanent place in history which this volume accords him. I feel that fitting tributes in historic sketches should not only be paid the men of God who have planted the Church in this nation, but posterity should come and say over their graves, as Pericles did over the bodies of his fallen fellow soldiers: “You are like the divinities above us: you are known only by the benefits you have conferred.” It is of such a man, though still living among us, that Dr. W. E. Snyder gives the accurately drawn portraiture in the chapters of this well-written biography. The work has been prepared with good judgment and much skill. The incidents of his life are given in sufficient detail, and make the volume exceedingly interesting and instructive. Such a publication is of great value, not only to those who enter the ministry, but to the whole Church, and especially to the young. To study the career of one, who, by fortitude and zeal, has carved his way from humble surroundings to a high place of honor among his fellow-men—passing through varied and striking vicissitudes in the struggle—can but inspire and ennoble other lives. Entering the ministry before our pioneer style of life had passed away in the west, Mr. Newgent adapted himself to the humblest conditions of society. The fields of labor which he occupied in those early years of his pastorate were sufficient to remind him of the privation and hardships of those who had preceded him; but no condition was humble enough or severe enough to deter him from the work to which his young life had been consecrated. He could lodge in the loft of the lowliest cabin and subsist upon the cheapest fare. In quest of souls he thought little of anything else. Living among the people, a very small salary would suffice for him. He knew what it was to live on a moiety of one hundred dollars and less. There have been no dangers or hardships, no toils or privations, no suffering or sorrow sufficient to daunt his heroic spirit. Fortunately, Mr. Newgent is so constructed as to see the bright side of every difficulty, and his inimitable humor has made his family and friends laugh in the darkest hours of his ministerial life.