Excerpt from The Path I Took, and Where It Led Me: An Autobiography and Argument Born on December 25th, 1814, I have had the privilege of living through the greater part of this most eventful century, and have had therefore considerable opportunity of observing the important progressive changes that have taken place during this long period. My father and his. Family were Church people of the formal and conventional type, whilst my mother was a descendant of a long line of Congregationalists, of whose Church she was an earnest member. My father died when I was eight years old, leaving my mother with four children, one son and three daughters, to rear and educate, which she did after a very motherly fashion; and her widowhood extended for the long period of thirty eight years. Our school education in those days was scant and inferior in quality. I got so far as to read and spell fairly well, and to write a very indifierent hand. Part of this instruction I obtained in a Church Sunday-school, so had an early opportunity of being informed as to the theories, doctrines, ceremonies, Observances, and practices connected with the Church of England, which, I may here add, failed as time went on to yield me satisfaction. My connection with the Church continued for several years; first as a scholar, and then as a member of the church choir. But 'my first serious difficulty with, and estrangement from, the Church arose from my observation of the inconsistent, unseemly, and, I may add, flagrantly immoral conduct of the clergy of my acquaintance, which for several reasons I cannot pass over in silence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.