PREFACE.
It was the express wish of Lady Huntingdon, 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 Memoir of the Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.
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 venerable Countess of Huntingdon. Above all her celebrated contemporaries, she was honoured with a life of continued usefulness, protracted to the utmost period of mortal existence; with extraordinary talents, ample means, and a head and heart alike devoted to promote the “glory of God in the highest, and on earth peace and good-will towards man.”
Her body has long been committed to the earth from which it sprang, and her soul has returned to God who gave it, but she has left on earth a testimony which will outlive monuments of brass and stone—a reputation which has spread to the corners of the world—and a name which is reverenced by all whose approbation is praise.
The curiosity that has been as generally expressed as universally felt, to know more of the life and character of this, in the best sense of the word, illustrious woman, is a feeling which ought to be respected; and it has at length become a duty to make every effort in order to save from destruction those invaluable records of her heart and feeling, those delightful traits of her distinguished friends, those heart-stirring pictures of her private and every-day life, and those important records of her public services to religion and humanity, which are contained in these volumes, and which, but for the present publication, might have expired with their compiler, or have left but a vague memory of her excellence, except in those instances where the sacrifice of her fortune has raised imperishable monuments to her piety.
The object of the present work has been to afford a view of the “life and times” of this distinguished woman, so clear and ample as to render superfluous all future or collateral efforts at illustration. Every fact and incident of her long life is here recorded—every triumph of the cross under her vigorous and well-directed leading—every place of worship opened 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 Whitefield, Wesley, Venn, and the works and letters of Fletcher, Berridge, Romaine, Watts, Hill, 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 God, 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 departing hours. To Him, therefore, and Him alone, whose influence I implore, I commit these Memoirs, such as they are, in the hope that He will vouchsafe His blessing on a work which originated in an ardent desire to promote His glory; and that He will render it an instrument to extend the knowledge and experience of the glorious Gospel of God our Saviour.”
With these glowing words of the pious author, the conductors commit his work to the candid judgment of the enlightened reader; remarking merely, as they are in justice bound to do, that the religious institution now known as “The Connexion of the late Countess of Huntingdon” does not incur the slightest responsibility with regard to this work; and that the reverend author of the Introduction to the present volume has undertaken to resume his pen for a similar introductory paper to the second volume of these Memoirs.