Of the character of Mr. Williams, as a writer, those who have read the letters and extracts from his books, contained in this volume, can form a judgment. His style is very original and characteristic. It is the outpouring of a full and ardent mind, too intent on the thought, to be very careful of the expression. It is, consequently, not always correct; but it is always clear and forcible. He exhibits ample learning, and quotations from the classics are scattered through his writings, in an easy and natural manner. He was very familiar with the Scriptures, which he read in the original languages; though he, like most theological writers of that time, was imperfectly acquainted with the laws of interpretation. He had a very active imagination, and his style is full of figures, always striking, and often happy, but not uniformly selected and applied, with a pure taste. This liveliness of his fancy made him fond of puns and quaint expressions, which he used, however, with no design to amuse the reader, but to illustrate and enforce his meaning. He had, indeed, a poetical mind, and some passages of his works remind us of the magnificent periods of Milton and Taylor. The specimens of his verses in his Key, though superior to much of the contemporary rhyme contained in Morton’s Memorial and Mather’s Magnalia, are inferior, in real poetic feeling and expression, to some paragraphs of his prose works. He was one of those poets mentioned by Wordsworth, “That are sown By nature; men endowed with highest gifts, The vision and the faculty divine, Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse.” His writings, in short, like those of all great minds, are a reflection of his own character, and are marked with his excellencies and his faults. We must now close this book with a few observations concerning his character. It is unnecessary to dwell minutely on this point, for no man was ever more transparent; and those who have traced his history, have had ample means of forming their own judgment.