when she saw that the whole was an abuse of history, reason, and morality."
That Mrs. Martin fully understood the import of the bold step she had taken, in thus fearlessly avowing her unpopular but earnest convictions, may be seen from the following part of her reply to a clerical friend who had sent her a religious tract, entitled "The Sinner’s Friend," as an earnest of his interest in her spiritual welfare:
"I have, sir, children whose happiness is dearer to me than my own, for they have, I hope, a longer term of existence before them than I can look for; the possession, therefore, of principles which, if they are false, would be so detrimental to their interests, must have been to me a matter of deep solicitude, not only because they must necessarily share in any odium which attaches to the name of their mother, but also because their education must be erroneous, and eternal happiness be risked by unbelief. Allow me, then, to ask you whether I, who became an Infidel after twelve years of
