We went to Chelsea, for the summer, and boarded with the Baptist minister, the Rev.John Wesley Olmstead, afterward editor of _The Watchman and Reflector_.

He had married my cousin, Mary Livingston, one of the most lovely, unselfish characters I ever knew.

There I had the opportunity of meeting several of the leading Baptist ministers in New England, and, as I was thoroughly imbued with Parker's ideas, we had many heated discussions on theology.

There, too, I met Orestes Bronson, a remarkably well-read man, who had gone through every phase of religious experience from blank atheism to the bosom of the Catholic Church, where I believe he found repose at the end of his days.

He was so arbitrary and dogmatic that most people did not like him; but I appreciated his acquaintance, as he was a liberal thinker and had a world of information which he readily imparted to those of a teachable spirit.