Joseph Blanco White

"Mysterious night, when the first man but knew Thee by report, unseen, and heard they name, Did he not tremble for this lovely frame, This glorious canopy of light and blue? Yet ’neath a curtain of translucent dew Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame, Hesperus, with the host of heaven, came, And lo! creation widened on his view! Who could have thought what darkness lay concealed Within thy beams, oh Sun? Or who could find, Whil’st fly, and leaf, and insect stood revealed, That to such endless orbs thou mad’st us blind? Weak man! Why to shun death, this anxious strife? If light can thus deceive, wherefore not life?"

"I wish to record the continuance, or rather the increase, of my delight in the Unitarian Service. For a long time did I avoid going to Church, except to the Lord's Supper, because the service had grown intolerable to me. I now rejoice at the approach of Sunday. This very morning while at Chapel, I had the strongest and deepest conviction that I had never witnessed anything so really sublime as the whole worship in which I was joining. I can also attest the admirable behaviour of the Congregation. There is a marked attention on all sides. In a word, the whole service is a reality. I heartily thank God for having been made acquainted with the Unitarian Worship. I have seen nothing superior, nor even equal to it."

"No common soul dwelt within that lifeless form: a vast knowledge, a rare wisdom, a rich experience, a devout trust, are plunged into the unfathomable night, and hidden from our eyes."