direction, will be surprised at the number and wealth of the quotations herein contained. He trusts his book will be useful to many classes: the Advocates of a World's Salvation will find it a vade mecum of quotations; the believers therein will be renewedly encouraged as they see that the capacious heart and large brain of inspired genius are with them; adherents to error will discover that the Gospel in its fulness is not confined to a modern sect alone; literary men will learn that their exalted brethren have transcended the narrow boundaries of partial systems of error; and all will see how sure are the children of genius to accord in sentiment with the children of a higher inspiration, when they give the voices within free utterance; and thus, that the highest notes of such as COLERIDGE, SOUTHEY, BYRON, THOMSON, and BARBAULD, are in harmony with those of ISAIAH JOHN, DAVID, PAUL, and that OTHER, "who spake as man never spake." Extracts are not made from authors professedly Universalist, nor from theologians in other sects who have proclaimed the doctrine, unless they have possessed a literary character outside of their theological circle. It would be easy to fill volumes of most eloquent poe try and prose written by such, among whom our own writers would not be least. Such, however, do not come within the scope of this work. The prose of WINCHESTER, MURRAY, BALLOU, BAlfour, STREETER, KING, CHAPIN, THAYER, SAWYER, WILLIAMSON, MAYO, and others quite their equals, and the poetry of Mrs. MAYO, JERAULD, Sawyer, LivERMORE, or of THOMAS, GREENWOOD, LEE, BALLOU, and others,-the prose and poetry inspired by our belief in the hearts of its receivers,—would fill volumes with eloquence resembling the burning songs of ISAIAH, and the rapt rhetoric of PAUL. The object is, to quote from literary persons only, and to give what may be called the language of genius. The compiler has been referred to CHAUNCEY HARE TOWNShend, Herder, Mrs. L. M. CHILD, HENRY GILES, MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI, and others, for further extracts. He has not yet found more authors than he here presents. He would be under obligations to any for further references, and meanwhile he would confess his indebtedness for some of the contents of this volume to Revs. VARNUM LINCOLN, GILES BAILEY, T. B. THAYER, H. C. LEONARD, and ROBERT BLACKER, and to the Ladies' Repository, Trumpet, Universalist Union, and Gospel Banner. |