Mr Cophagus walked home discomforted.  He sat down on his easy chair, and found it excessively uneasy—­he sat down to his solitary meal, and found that his own company was unbearable—­he went to bed, but found that it was impossible to go to sleep.  The next morning, therefore, Mr Cophagus returned to Mr Temple, and stated his wish to be made acquainted with the difference between the tenets of the Quaker persuasion and those of the Established Church.  Mr Temple gave him an outline, which appeared to Mr Cophagus to be very satisfactory, and then referred him to his niece for fuller particulars.  When a man enters into an argument with a full desire to be convinced, and with his future happiness perhaps depending upon that conviction; and when, further, those arguments are brought forward by one of the prettiest voices, and backed by the sweetest of smiles, it is not to be wondered at his soon becoming a proselyte.  Thus it was with Mr Cophagus, who in a week, discovered that the peace, humility, and good-will, upon which the Quaker tenets are founded, were much more congenial to the true spirit of the Christian revelation than the Athanasian Creed, to be sung or said in our Established Churches; and with this conviction, Mr Cophagus requested admission into the fraternity, and shortly after his admission, it was thought advisable by the Friends that his faith should be confirmed and strengthened by his espousal of Miss Judith Temple, with whom, at her request—­and he could refuse her nothing—­he had repaired to the town of Reading, in which her relations all resided; and Phineas Cophagus, of the Society of Friends, declared himself to be as happy as a man could be.  “Good people, Japhet—­um—­honest people, Japhet—­don’t fight—­little stiff—­spirit moves—­and so on,” said Mr Cophagus, as he concluded his narrative, and then shaking me by the hand, retired to shave and dress.

Chapter LXII

     I fall in love with religion when preached by one who has the
     form of an angel.

In half an hour afterwards Ephraim came in with a draught, which I was desired to take by Mr Cophagus, and then to try and sleep.  This was good advice, and I followed it.  I awoke after a long, refreshing sleep, and found Mr and Mrs Cophagus sitting in the room, she at work and he occupied with a book.  When I opened my eyes, and perceived a female, I looked to ascertain if it was the young person whom Ephraim had stated to be Susannah Temple; not that I recollected her features exactly, but I did the contour of her person.  Mrs Cophagus was taller, and I had a fair scrutiny of her before they perceived that I was awake.  Her face was very pleasing, features small and regular.  She appeared to be about thirty years of age, and was studiously neat and clean in her person.  Her Quaker’s dress was not without some little departure from the strict fashion and form, sufficient to assist, without deviating from, its simplicity.  If I might use the term, it was a little coquettish, and evinced that the wearer, had she not belonged to that sect, would have shown great taste in the adornment of her person.