"
There is an intimate connection between loose religious views and the
non-observance of the Sabbath. Skeptics are not friendly to the
Sabbath as a class. It is an institution they inveigh against with
much spirit. No doubt the change going on in Benjamin's opinions had
much to do with his ceasing to attend public worship.
Fifteen years afterwards, when Benjamin was fully established in
business in Philadelphia, his parents became very anxious about his
skeptical ideas, and wrote to him about it. Their letter is not
preserved, but we have his in reply, which, while it confirms the
fact, shows him to be more reverent and thoughtful than they feared.
It is, also, evidence of a filial regard for his father and mother
that is always as beautiful as it is honorable. We furnish the letter
below:
"PHILADELPHIA, April 13, 1738.
"_Honored Father_,--I have your favors of the 21st of March, in
which you both seem concerned lest I have imbibed some erroneous
opinions. Doubtless I have my share, and when the natural weakness
and imperfection of human understanding is considered, the
unavoidable influence of education, custom, books, and company,
upon our ways of thinking, I imagine a man must have a good deal of
vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that
all the doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false.
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