Page:The Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon Vol. 1.djvu/11

Rh under her auspices—and every mark of divine favour and encouraging grace bestowed upon her labours.

Conscious of the purity of his motive, and having for all his incentive the desire to pay just tribute to the memory of the departed Saint whose name he honours, the Author has spoken truth from his heart, resolved to flatter no one—to know no fear in the discharge of his duty. He has sought, with candid zeal, to avoid every evidence of a sectarian or party spirit in his statements. Bigotry, on both sides, may censure; but the just and generous, on all sides, will approve his course. Narrow prejudices are already vanishing; and good men, of all denominations, are ready to embrace the truth and each other. The good Countess was, in this respect, before her age; and it is her Catholic and Christian spirit which appears to have inspired her kinsman in the composition of this Memoir: read in the same spirit, it will serve to accelerate the benevolent current of true godliness, and to sweep away the narrow and contracted dispositions which would check its overflow or turn aside its course.

With this feeling, the Author has drawn, without hesitation, from all accessible sources, the illustrative matter of his Memoir. The Biographies of, and the Works and Letters of , and other eminently pious individuals, have supplied invaluable contributions to the Work; but its more valuable portion consists in the Original Letters and Anecdotes with which it teems, and in the straightforward integrity of purpose in its Author. Of himself and of his Work, he says :—

"To, only wise, the Author of every good and perfect gift, my humble acknowledgments are paid. His grace rendered the subject of this Memoir what she was—His wisdom directed her pious and benevolent efforts for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom—and His Spirit supported her in her