ed to clearer and correcter views on the subject. It
led to the conviction that instinct and natural affection are divine
inspirations,--that the beliefs and practices to which they constrain us
are the perfection of wisdom and goodness,--that to set them aside is
inevitable ruin,--that whenever reason says one thing, and our religious
and moral affections and instincts say another, we ought to turn a deaf
ear to reason, and follow implicitly the dictates of our moral and
religious faculties. And to this conviction, resulting in a great
measure from the remarks of my faithful and devoted friend, I owe, in
part, my present unspeakable happiness as a believer in Christ.

5. I encountered two Christian men in public discussion who left a
favorable impression on my mind. One was the Rev. Andrew Loose, of
Winchester, Indiana. The subject of discussion between me and Mr. Loose
was the divine authority of the Bible. He went through the whole debate,
which lasted several days, without uttering one uncharitable, scornful,
or angry word, with the exception of a single phrase in his last speech;
and even that he meekly and generously recalled, after I had satisfied
him of its impropriety. I never forgot the conduct of that dear good
man, and his Christian meekness and forbearance had a good effect on my
heart.

6. The other gentleman whose conduct left the most favorable impression
of all on my mind, was Colonel Shaw, of Bourtree Park, Ayr, Scotland, of
whose gentlemanly behavior and great Christian kindness I have already
spoken.

7. There were some other persons who, without assailing me with
argument, did me considerable good. After lecturing at Burnley once, a
person rose to oppose me, and a great disturbance followed. I was thrown
from the platform, and fell backward on the floor, and a crowd of
persons fell upon me, and I had a narrow escape from death by violence
and suffocation. I was rescued however alive. In the tumult my overcoat,
my hat, and my watch disappeared, and my body was somewhat bruised. Next
day a gentleman who had heard of the way in which I had been treated,
came to my lodgings to see me. He seemed very much distressed on my
account, and anxious, if possible, to do something which might minister
comfort to my mind. His name was Philips. He was a Methodist, and the
son of a Methodist preacher. His kindness and sympathy were so genuine
and so earnest, that they made a deep impression on my mind, and they
n