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Thither he accordingly took his family, Sunday after Sunday; and deserted, of course, the old parish church, the venerable building in which he and his had received the holy rite of Baptism, in which, as each of them in turn outgrew their infancy, they had heard for the first time the solemn sound of congregational prayer, and in which those who had arrived at a proper age, had frequently received, from Christ's authorized Ministers, the symbols of His sacred Body and Blood.
It will be seen from what follows, that in making this change upon such grounds as have been described, John Evans did not understand that he was disobeying the God whom he was trying to serve, and putting a slight upon that Saviour, whose disciple he not only professed himself, but in good earnest desired to be. Yet though he did not enter into this view of the matter; though he knew not that he had shown disrespect to Christ in His Minister; still he felt as though he had not been behaving with perfect respect to the Doctor, whom he loved on his own account, as he had indeed every reason to do. So what with his fear of a rebuke on this ground; (a rebuke which he dreaded the more from the mildness of the language in which he knew that it would be clothed;) what with the irksomeness of having to avow opinions which must be disagreeable to one whom he so highly respected; and moreover, the suspicion which he could not help feeling, that in these new ways of his, so different from what he had been used to revere, and so suddenly taken up, he might possibly be wrong; for all these various reasons, he met his Pastor with a downcast and half-guilty look, very different from the open, honest smile with which he had till then ever greeted the good Clergyman.
Dr. Spencer, however, took no notice of the difference. "Well, John," said he, "I am glad to see you. I was on my way to have a little conversation with you, and should have been sorry to have missed you."
John thought it best to be bold, and come out at once with his defence of himself. "I believe, Sir," said he, "that I can guess what it is you were wishing to talk with me about. I have taken a step which I fear,…I know,…must be displeasing to you. Sir. I trust however, that in exercising my Christian Liberty in the choice of my spiritual teacher, and joining the meeting instead of going to Church, I shall not seem to have acted from dis-
