ve such men might have saved Sodom and Gomorrah,
and all the cities of the plain. He was as guileless as a little child,
and as honest as the light, and about as pure, and good, and kind as a
regenerated human soul could be. This, at least, was the impression
which his looks, and conversation, and behaviour, made on my mind. He
not only commanded my respect, but called forth my veneration; and he
made me love him, as I never did love more than two or three good men in
all my life.

Well, an arrangement was made for a public discussion on the divine
authority of the Bible between this good and godly man and me.

The discussion took place in the City Hall, Glasgow. The Colonel was so
kind and gentlemanly, that I found my task exceedingly difficult. It was
very unpleasant to speak lightly of the faith of so good and true a man;
or to say anything calculated to hurt the feelings of one so guileless
and so affectionate. And many a time I wished myself employed about some
other business, or engaged in a contest with some other man. At the end
of the second night's debate we were to rest two days, and the Colonel
was so kind as to invite me, and even to press me, to spend those days
with him at his residence near Ayr. The Colonel had given his good lady
so favorable an account of my behaviour in the debate, that she wrote to
me enforcing her good husband's invitation. I went. I could do no other.
The Colonel and his venerable father met me at the station with a
carriage, and I was soon in the midst of the Colonel's truly Christian
and happy family. Neither the Colonel nor any of his household attempted
to draw me into controversy. Not a word was spoken that was calculated
to make me feel uneasy. There seemed no effort on the part of any one,
yet every thing was said and done in such a way as to make me feel
myself perfectly at home. Love, true Christian love, under the guidance
of the highest culture, was the moving spirit in the Colonel's family
circle. A visit to the birthplace of Burns, and to the banks of Bonny
Doon, was proposed, and a most delightful stroll we had, made all the
more pleasant by the Colonel's remarks on the various objects of
interest that came in view, and his apt quotation of passages from the
works of the poet, referring to the scenery amidst which we were moving.

On our return home I was made to feel at ease again with regard to every
thing but myself. I felt sorry that I should be at variance with