Q4 BIOGRAPHY OF
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ut, sir, look here, on this page of your book. Here _is a good citizen, a good husband, a good father, ac- ~ knowledged such by all; yet his whole life is full of |suffering, pain, and want. Here also isa bad citizen, |a bad husband, a bad father, acknowledged such byall;‘yet he is free from pain, and wallows in wealth. How | can you reconcile this with the infinite justice of God, =the great governor of the universe? Mr. Burns’s lips i”| quivered ; the whole congregation intensely listening. = =_Q, says he, just rewards will be given in another world. 1 4 _ But, Mr. Burns, your book nowhere teaches this doc-trine; you have stolen it from our Bible. Sir, said he, | / I will see you at another time, and retired in confusion, 7. the congregation smiling approbation at his defeat. " My colleague, J. Anderson, having preached through the settlements of West Tennessee, determined to visit — |Kentucky. We had our last appointment in father =|Thomas Craighead’s congregation, in which neighbor- —hood we had often preached. As we expected a largeand intelligent audience, we endeavored to prepare dis-courses suitable to the occasion. My companion, An-derson, first rose to preach from these words: ‘* With-out holiness no man shall see the Lord.”’ I shall neverforget his exordium, which, in fact, was also his pero- |ration. Holiness, said he, is a moral quality—he paus- 4ed, having forgotten all his studied discourse. Con-fused, he turned with staring eyes to address the -other side of his audience, and repeated with emphasis— |Holiness is a moral quality—and after a few incoherentwords, he paused again, and sat down. Astonished at msthe failure of my brother, I arose and preached. He ideclared to me afterwards, that every idea had forsaken 4him; that he viewed it as from God, to humble hispride; as he had expected to make a brilliant displayof talent to that assembly. I never remembered a ser-mon better, and to me it has been very profitable ; forfrom the hint given, I was led to more correct views ofthe doctrines of original sin, and of regeneration. _—s
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