And in this, if it could not pretend to influence or guide the temper of the times, it was at least a foresign of a coming change.

Between the literature of imagination, and the practical interests of a people, there is a harmony as complete as it is mysterious.

The heart of an author is the mirror of his age.

The shadow of the sun is cast on the still surface of literature long before the light penetrates to law; but it is ever from the sun that the shadow falls, and the moment we see the shadow we may be certain of the light.
Since this work was written, society has been busy with the evils in which it was then silently acquiescent.

The true movement of the last fifteen years has been the progress of one idea,--Social Reform.