ated to
ladies, the other to gentlemen; and the door of entrance reserved
for the ladies was carefully guarded by persons appointed to
prevent any crowding or difficulty from impeding their approach.
I suspect that the ladies were indebted to Mr. Owen for this
attention; the arrangements respecting them on this occasion were
by no means American.

When Mr. Owen rose, the building was thronged in every part; the
audience, or congregation, (I hardly know which to call them)
were of the highest rank of citizens, and as large a proportion
of best bonnets fluttered there, as the "two horned church"
itself could boast.

It was in the profoundest silence, and apparently with the
deepest attention, that Mr. Owen's opening address was received;
and surely it was the most singular one that ever Christian men
and women sat to listen to.

When I recollect its object, and the uncompromising manner in
which the orator stated his mature conviction that the whole
history of the Christian mission was a fraud, and its sacred
origin a fable, I cannot but wonder that it was so listened to;
yet at the time I felt no such wonder. Never did any one
practise the _suaviter in modo_ with more powerful effect than
Mr. Owen. The gentle tone of his voice; his mild, sometimes
playful, but never ironical manner; the absence of every
vehement or harsh expression; the affectionate interest
expressed for "the whole human family," the air of candour
with which he expressed his wish to be convinced he was wrong,
if he indeed were so--his kind smile--the mild expression of
his eyes--in short, his whole manner, disarmed zeal, and
produced a degree of tolerance that those who did not hear
him would hardly believe possible.

Half an hour was the time allotted for each haranguer; when this
was expired, the moderators were seen to look at their watches.
Mr. Owen, too, looked at his (without pausing) smiled, shook his
head, and said in a parenthesis "a moment's patience," and
continued for nearly another half hour.

Mr. Campbell then arose; his person, voice, and manner all
greatly in his favour. In his first attack he used the arms,
which in general have been considered as belonging to the other
side of the question. He quizzed Mr. Owen most unmercifully;
pinched him here for his parallelograms; hit him there for his
human perfectibility, and kept the whole audience in a roar of
laughter. Mr. Owen joined in it most heartily himself, and
listened