Mary must have communicated to her father my real name, I did
not hesitate, as I ought to have done in my actual dress and in my
assumed character, about following them, in order to inquire if I could
be of any service. I never saw distress more strongly painted in any
man's countenance than it was in that of Mr. Warren, when I approached.
So very obvious, indeed, was his emotion, that I did not venture to
obtrude myself on him, but followed in silence; and he and Mary slowly
walked, side by side, across the street to the stoop of a house, of
which all the usual inmates had probably gone in the other direction.
Here, Mr. Warren took a seat, Mary still at his side, while I drew near,
standing before him.

"I thank you, Mr. Littlepage," the divine at length said, with a smile
so painful it was almost haggard, "for, so Mary tells me you should be
called--I thank you for this attention, sir--but, it will be over in
another minute--I feel better now, and shall be able to command myself."

No more was then said, concerning the reason of this distress; but Mary
has since explained to me its cause. When her father went into the
meeting-house, he had not the smallest idea that anything like a
religious service would be dragged into the ceremonies of such a day.
The two ministers on the stage first gave him the alarm; when a most
painful struggle occurred in his mind, whether or not he should remain,
and be a party to the mockery of addressing God in prayer, in an
assembly collected to set at naught one of the plainest of his
laws--nay, with banded felons drawn up around the building, as principal
actors in the whole mummery. The alternative was for him, a minister, of
the altar, to seem to quit those who were about to join in prayer, and
to do this moreover under circumstances which might appear to others as
if he rejected all worship but that which was in accordance with his own
views of right, a notion that would be certain to spread far and near,
greatly to the prejudice of his own people. But the first, as he viewed
the matter, involved a species of blasphemy; and yielding to his
feelings, he took the decided step he had, intending to remain out of
the building, until the more regular business of the day commenced.

It is certain Mr. Warren, who acted under the best impulse of christian
feeling, a reverence for God, and a profound wish not to be a party in
offending him with the mockery of worship under such circumstances,