ing part in
the discussions which, after the lapse of many years, are still
remembered by me as truly admirable and instructive.

I did indeed hear at these meetings much that pained and even irritated
me. The disposition to seek outside the limits of Christianity for all
that is noble and inspiring in religious culture, and to recognize
especially within these limits the superstition and intolerance which
have been the bane of all religions--this disposition, which was
frequently manifested both in the essays presented and in their
discussion, offended not only my affections, but also my sense of
justice. I had indeed been led to transcend the limits of the old
tradition; I had also devoted much time to studies of philosophy, and
had become conversant with the works of Auguste Comte, Hegel, Spinoza,
Kant, and Swedenborg. Nothing of what I had heard or read had shaken my
faith in the leadership of Christ in the religion which makes each man
the brother of all, and God the beneficent father of each and all,--the
religion of humanity. Neither did this my conviction suffer any
disturbance through the views presented by speakers at the Radical Club.

Setting this one point aside, I can but speak of the club as a high
congress of souls, in which many noble thoughts were uttered. Nobler
than any special view or presentation was the general sense of the
dignity of human character and of its affinity with things divine, which
always gave the master tone to the discussions.

The first essay read before the Radical Club of which I have any
distinct recollection was by Rev. John Weiss, and had for its title,
"The Immanence of God." It was highly speculative in character, and
appeared to me to suggest many insoluble questions, among others, that
of the origin of the sensible world.

Lord and Lady Amberley, who were present, expressed to me great
admiration of the essay. The occasion was rendered memorable by the
beautiful presence of Lucretia Mott.

Other discourses of John Weiss I remember with greater pleasure, notably
one on the legend of Prometheus, in which his love for Greece had full
scope, while his vivid imagination, like a blazing torch, illuminated
for us the deep significance of that ancient myth.

I remember, at one of these meetings, a rather sharp passage at arms
between Mr. Weiss and James Freeman Clarke. Mr. Weiss had been
declaiming against the insincerity which he recognized in ministers who
continue to us