I believe I have succeeded in portraying things as they are, in the religious world. If I have deviated from the truth in the most trivial point I hope the reader will attribute it rather to ignorance than to wilful misrepresentation. My object is, as far as in my power lies, to diffuse useful knowledge; to promote the general happiness of mankind; to do good to the souls of my fellowmen; to take the veil from the eyes of prejudice; to soften the rancour of party spirit; and to advance the unity of Christians. In my attempt to further these things, I have availed myself of all the means of information within my reach, and have quoted largely from the best authors who have written on the same subject; to which, I have subjoined much information, obtained by personal research and investigation. And, as I have no sectarian dogmas or peculiarities to support, I am persuaded that I shall not be charged with either bigotry, or undue partiality. And my humble hope is, that my labours may prove a benefit and a blessing to my fellow men. As there may appear to be a discrepancy between the size of this work, and my "proposals," it is due to myself to state, that when I issued my prospectus for publishing, the printer calculated that the manuscript contained as much matter as would fill between four and five hundred pages 8vo, if printed in the common mode; and relying upon this calculation as correct, I accordingly stated it in my prospectus. The reason why it does not contain the number of pages contemplated, is, that owing to a scarcity of paper of this quality, at the time the work was commen ced, the Printer found it necessary, in order to finish the printing in a reasonable time, to increase the size of the page, and to crowd the lines closer than usual. The volume contains as much matter, as is commonly embraced in a work of 400 pages 8vo, and is at the same time, more portable. He has informed me since the printing was nearly completed, that if it had been printed in the style contemplated, it would have contained at least 400 pages, and perhaps more. B. W. CARR. |