Youth and Education. 31 



Vincent Youmans could see that the clergy as a body 

 were culpable in this respect, but his wife could not 

 see it. To admit any faults or shortcomings in the 

 Church seemed to her to be undermining the founda- 

 tions of religion. As the children grew up the urgency 

 of friends and relatives concerning the condition of 

 their souls was constant. Edward especially was " la- 

 boured with," but apparently to little purpose. At one 

 time, when eleven or twelve years old, he was suffi- 

 ciently excited with the goings on at a Baptist pro- 

 tracted meeting to go forward to the "anxious seat." 

 But there was evidently nothing in this act beyond 

 momentary excitement, for a few days afterward, as 

 Edward caught a glimpse of the Baptist minister in 

 the unwonted act of coming in at the Youmans farm- 

 stead, he guessed his errand and carefully kept out of 

 sight. It is clear that from early youth Edward's mind 

 was inhospitably disposed, not indeed to religion or to 

 Christianity, but to the form of it that was offered him 

 for acceptance. He was wont to bring forward Qua- 

 ker arguments with regard to Sunday observances 

 and Calvinistic symbolism generally. Upon doctrinal 

 questions he was familiar with the positions of many 

 different sects, and had a way of setting off one against 

 another that was sometimes comical. Even at that 

 early time he had learned something about the attitude 

 of scientific thought with reference to the origin of the 

 earth, and used to urge geological objections to the 

 so-called Mosaic account of the creation. He also ex- 

 pressed skepticism about miracles, as infractions of 

 the order of nature requiring much more evidence to 

 make them credible than has ever been produced. 

 Such ideas seemed to the mother unspeakably dread- 

 ful, and, womanlike, she was disposed to attribute 



