And those who fell under my influence became,
as a rule, intelligent, devoted, and useful characters. Not a few of
them continue laborious and exemplary Christians, and able and
successful ministers, to the present day. I meet with good and useful
people almost everywhere, many of whom are in the ministry, who
acknowledge me as their spiritual father, and consider themselves
indebted to my former ministry, and to my early writings, both for their
standing and usefulness in the Church, and for their success and
happiness in life.
One would suppose that a method of preaching which was followed by such
happy results, should have been encouraged. And so it was by the great
mass of the people. They heard me gladly. They came in crowds wherever I
was announced to preach, and filled the largest chapels to their utmost
capacity. They drank in my words with eagerness, and made no secret of
the place I occupied in their affection and esteem. But many of my
brethren in the ministry regarded me with great disquietude. They
thought my preaching grievously defective. "It failed," they said, "to
give due prominence to the distinctive features of the gospel economy."
"It is good," they would say, "as far as it goes; but it does not go far
enough.
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