" There was even in him a
strain, if not of humour, of a shrewdness which was akin to it, and
expressed itself in many pithy sayings. "If two angels came down from
heaven to execute a divine command, and one was appointed to conduct an
empire and the other to sweep a street in it, they would feel no
inclination to change employments." "A Christian should never plead
spirituality for being a sloven; if he be but a shoe-cleaner, he should
be the best in the parish." "My principal method for defeating heresy
is by establishing truth. One proposes to fill a bushel with tares;
now if I can fill it first with wheat, I shall defy his attempts." That
his Calvinism was not very dark or sulphureous, seems to be shown from
his repeating with gusto the saying of one of the old women of Olney
when some preacher dwelt on the doctrine of predestination--"Ah, I have
long settled that point; for if God had not chosen me before I was
born, I am sure he would have seen nothing to have chosen me for
afterwards." That he had too much sense to take mere profession for
religion appears from his describing the Calvinists of Olney as of two
sorts, which reminded him of the two baskets of Jeremiah's figs.
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