baptized, though he was afterward confirmed by a bishop, through the
influence of an aunt. But the outward acts of omission or commission, by
priest or parent, counted nothing in the life of the child; for he had
thoughts of his own as soon as old enough to reflect, and he had great
gifts of inspiration, for there came to him thoughts "which would bolt
into the mind of their own accord." Of this intuition or inspiration he
says: "I have always made it a rule to treat those voluntary visitors
with civility, taking care to examine, as well as I was able, if they
were worth entertaining, and it is from them I have acquired almost all
the knowledge that I have." Here those inherited principles, the result
of previous ages of thought, concentrated within the child's mind, began
to teach him, and he listened to their instruction at an early age. "I
well remember, when about seven or eight years of age," says he,
"hearing a sermon read by a relation of mine, who was a great devotee of
the _church_ [not of the Quaker meeting], upon the subject of what is
called _redemption by the death of the son of God_. After the sermon was
ended, I went into the garden, and as I was going down the garden steps,
for I perfectly recollect the spot, I revolted at the recollection of
what I had heard, and thought to myself that it was making God Almighty
act like a passionate man, that killed his son when he could not revenge
himself in any other way; and, as I was sure a man would be hanged that
did such a thing, I could not see for what purpose they preached such
sermons." Here the young child's mind was shocked, and the "voice of
God" within taught him much wisdom--more than he could get in all the
sermons of the bishops.

His father, from Quaker principles, gave him moral instruction which
never left him in after life. He sent him also, to a grammar school,
where he learned some Latin and became acquainted with the subject
matter of all the Latin books used in school; but this was clandestinely
done, as the Quakers were opposed to the books in which the language was
taught. He says he did not study Latin for the above reason, and because
he had no taste for it. But at school and at home he gained a useful
stock of learning, "the bent of his mind being to science."

But when the lad was thirteen he was taken from school, as it had long
been too heavy a tax upon his father, and he was put to work in the shop
as stay-maker. He enters into ful