I was nurtured among Calvinists. To their Sunday School I am indebted
for almost all the education my youthful years were blessed with. Towards
some of them I was taught in infancy to look up with reverence and
esteem; and the recollection of their Christian virtues proves to me that
whatever tendency Calvinism may have to relax the ties of moral
obligation, the argument cannot be drawn from the lives of many of its
professors. With many Clergymen who take Calvinism for their creed, I
have still the happiness to live in bonds of Christian friendship; but my
respect for the men does not blind me to their opinions. I am no
Calvinist, and ever since I have been capable of forming a judgment upon
theological subjects, I have not been a Calvinist. The sincerity of my
attachment to our national Church cannot, I trust, be doubted. I was
made a member of her by Baptism, and ever since I have attained to years
of discretion, my public devotions have been offered up within her pale.
For many a dark year--long before the idea of my being elevated to the
clerical function had received a shadow of existence, I had resolved to
live and die an humble worshipper at her altar.