The Rhode Island American, And General Advertiser

The following act, for the authenticity of which we can personally vouch, will shew what important consequences may follow from the conduct of a child. A man who lived in habits of regular and notorious neglect of God and of sacred things, was blest with a child, on whom his heart doated with all the fondness of a parent. It is unnecessary, we presume, to add, that the boy was educated in the habits of the father, that is, with an entire indifference to sacred things. At length the boy was put to school, where his proficiency was so rapid, that he soon was taught to read with propriety, and to comprehend what he read. In a short time, the boy became thoughtful and pensive, to the utter astonishment of his parents. At length the mystery of this pensive cast of character was explained. The boy had by some accident obtained the possession of a solitary leaf of the New Testament, which he perused with great attention, and on which he was accustomed to meditate. This incident struck so forcibly on the mind of the parents, that they have now become converts to that religion, which was formerly the subject of their banter and scorn. It may not be amiss to mention, that the father had expressly forbidden his children to read the Bible, and to prevent it would not suffer the sacred volume to be brought into his house. Thus was this little boy in the hand of Divine Providence made an instrument for the conversion of his parents.