She had
herself been an unbeliever, but had been cured of her skepticism by
spiritualism. She was then a Catholic. She gave me a medal of the Virgin
Mary, and entreated me to wear it round my neck. To please her I
promised to do so. But the medal disappeared before long, and what
became of it I never could tell; but my friend had the satisfaction to
see her prophecy fulfilled in my happy return to Christianity.
11. An acquaintance which I formed with the Rev. W. Newton, of
Newcastle-on-Tyne, must also be reckoned among the things which exerted
an influence on my mind favorable to Christianity. Mr. Newton had been a
Baptist in his earlier days, but getting into perplexity with regard to
certain doctrines, he became a Unitarian. He came to feel however, in
course of time, that something more than Unitarianism was necessary to
the satisfaction of his soul, and to the salvation of the world; and at
the time that I became acquainted with him, he had made up his mind to
leave the Unitarians. On my way to the far-off regions of unbelief, I
had passed through the Unitarian territory; and I passed through the
same territory, or near to its border, on my return to Christianity; and
had it not been for my interviews with Mr. Newton, and a somewhat
startling event or two that occurred about that period, I might have
lingered for a time in that cold and hungry land.
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