9 

held with them in London, were among the most 

agreeable hours which he had spent in England; 

the religious opportunity which he had with them 

had made a very serious impression upon his mind, 

such an one indeed that he believed he should never 

forget, and he could not but have a high regard for the Society

     to which three such good men belonged; with respect 

to the Society itself it seem'd to him as if its members (consider-

ing the plainness of their dress and appearance and the 

simplicity and yet independance of their manners) approached 

nearer the primitive Christians than any other People, 

he might say the same of their doctrines.  The first great doctrine 

of the influence of the Holy Spirit was the very corner stone of 

Religion, there he abruptly asked me if I was a Quaker.  

I replied not in name but I hoped in Spirit, I was nine parts 

out of ten of their way of thinking, they had been fellow-

labourers with me in our great cause, the more I had known 

them the more I had loved them.  The Emperor said (putting his 

hand to his breast) I embrace them more than any other People 

I consider myself as one of them.

     The Emperor asked if Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Allen

			

Thomas Clarkson Papers

Account of an Interview with Emperor Alexander I of Russia