When it is remembered that Mr. Ballou's belief was that salvation is _the process_ of making people happy, the point of the following anecdote will be appreciated. It happened, on one of his short excursions in the neighboring country, that he stopped at a public house, where he had occasion to pass through a room which a woman was about to engage in cleaning. She had heard that he was at the house, and, being of a different faith, she determined to ask him, if an opportunity offered, just one single question, which, in her simplicity, she conceived to be perfectly unanswerable by those who believed in the doctrine Mr. Ballou advocated. As he came in, she began:--"Your name is Ballou, I believe, sir?"--"Yes, madam," said he, "my name is Ballou."--"I'm told that you preach," said the woman, "that all mankind are going to be saved."--"Yes," replied he, "I do."--"Well, Mr. Ballou," continued she, "do you believe they will be saved without first becoming perfectly holy? Do you believe they will be saved _just as they are_?" He looked at her mop. "What are you going to do with that mop?" he asked.--"Why, sir," replied she, "I'm going to mop up the floor."--"Are you going to mop up the floor," he asked, "before it becomes perfectly clean? Are you going to mop it up _just as it is_?" Could a more happily conceived answer have been given to the woman, if hours had been consumed in its preparation? We opine not; and herein the reader will observe the instantaneous and lightning-like operation of Mr. Ballou's mind. His conversational powers were most remarkable,--remarkable because ever tempered with such a fund of logical clear-sightedness, such profound acumen, and such convincing argument upon the topic under discussion; then we have to add to this the effect of his speech, so distinct and impressive. Hazlitt's remark of Coleridge, that he was an "excellent talker,--very,--if you let him start from no premises and come to no conclusion," would in no way apply to the subject of these memoirs; for, at the outset of Mr. Ballou's conversation, you would at once divine the end he aimed at, and would only be surprised at the velocity with which you found him leading you to the desired result, always established in his own mind, though he addressed you with the calm and collected expression that was a second nature to him. No mountain of error seemed too lofty for him to surmount, with giant strides and unbroken strength; and you would find his white flag of truth waving from its summit, and yourself breathing freer and deeper at the consummation of the rough ascent, before you had fairly found time to realize the power of reason necessary to surmount the rugged obstacles of the path. And once elevated above the murky haze of error, his descent with you again to the lowlands and plains of every-day life was as easy and graceful as his ascent had been majestic and lofty.