Page:The Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon Vol. 1.djvu/9



It was the express wish of Lady, that, at least for some years after her decease, her memory should be suffered to rest, and her actions to make their own impression on the minds of men. In deference to this wish, all attempts at the publication of her Correspondence have been resisted by her Noble Relatives; and it is only at the present day that a Cadet of her illustrious Family, after long years employed in the collection and examination of the Documents and Papers to which he alone, perhaps, was in a condition to have easy and continued access, has been induced to arrange his materials into the form of a Circumstances having prevented the Author from personally superintending the publication of this Work, a large share of responsibility has been thrown on those to whose hands it was committed; but the task was a labour of love, and the publication has been conducted with all possible regard to the public demand for ample information, to the feelings of the living, and the memory of the dead.

Among the illustrious characters of the eighteenth century, no one has shone more conspicuously in the religious world, or enjoyed a greater share of heartfelt esteem and love, than the