When urged by friends to make a collection of poems for publication; he found, (in 1866), that many had been lost beyond recovery, his hope of writing something more worthy of preservation made him careless of that which had been published; there is, however, considerable variety in the collection, ranging from "grave to gay." These are some of the titles; "Lines," written on opening a mound on the bank of Whitewater near Richmond, Ind. containing a human skeleton. "What is Life," "What is Faith," "A Prayer," "My Loves and Hates." This was the first poem written for publication. "Valedictory, on closing my term as Clerk of the Wayne County Courts." In lighter vein are, "Advertisment for a Wife," "The Last of the Family," "To My Old Coat," and "The Miller." Mr. Finley was not a church member but his creed is embraced in the following sentence--"The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man." An unpublished fragment, found after death in the pocket-book he carried, shows his truly devotional spirit:-- "My Heav'nly Father! deign to hear The supplications of a child, Who would before thy throne appear, With spirit meek, and undefiled. Let not the vanities of earth Forbid that I should come to Thee, Of such as I, (by Heav'nly birth) Thy Kingdom, Thou hast said, shall be." TO JOHN FINLEY. By Benjamin S. Parker. "Hail thou poet occidental, First in Indiana's Clime-- Whose true passions sentimental, Outward flowed in living rhyme. Let no more thy harp, forsaken, Hang upon the willow tree, But again its chords awaken To thy songs blithe melody, As thou didst in time now olden, When our Hoosier state was young, 'Ere the praises of these golden Days of progress yet were sung." Strickland W. Gillilan, wrote a "Versified Tribute." "He nursed the Infant Hoosier muse When she could scarcely lisp her name; Forerunner of the world's great lights That since have added to her fame, He blazed the way to greater things, With "Hoosier's Nest," and "Bachelor's Hall;" And, while the grand world-chorus rings With songs our Hoosier choir sings, Let not the stream forget the springs,-- Let Finley's name before them all." Footnotes: [1] "The Hoosiers," pp. 20-30. [2] History of Indianapolis and Marion County, p. 72. [3] "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches," p. 211. [4] Coggeshall's "The Poets and Poetry of the West," and Finley's "The Hoosier's Nest and Other Poems" published in 1860. [5] Indiana Democrat, Jan. 12, 1833. [6] "A Winter in the West," p. 226. [7] Indianapolis Journal, January 20, 1860. [8] Sketches, p. 45. [9] Salem Democrat, October 25, 1899; March 28, 1900. [10] Published in 1835, Vol. 1, Page 210. [11] Georgia Scenes, page 73. [12] Pages 188-9. [13] Pages 182-5. Transcriber's Notes: