"
My spiritual pride being greatly elevated by this address, I began
to assume the preceptor, and questioned this extraordinary youth
with regard to his religious principles, telling him plainly, if he
was one who expected acceptance with God at all, on account of
good works, that I would hold no communion with him. He
renounced these at once, with the greatest vehemence, and
declared his acquiescence in my faith. I asked if he believed in
the eternal and irrevocable decrees of God, regarding the
salvation and condemnation of all mankind? He answered that he
did so: aye, what would signify all things else that he believed, if
he did not believe in that? We then went on to commune about all
our points of belief; and in everything that I suggested he
acquiesced, and, as I thought that day, often carried them to
extremes, so that I had a secret dread he was advancing
blasphemies. He had such a way with him, and paid such a
deference to all my opinions, that I was quite captivated, and, at
the same time, I stood in a sort of awe of him, which I could not
account for, and several times was seized with an involuntary
inclination to escape from his presence by making a sudden
retreat.
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