He said no one should
ever sit at his table who would not take a glass of wine. And I never
did sit at his table after. He invited my colleagues, and he invited the
old superannuated minister, whose character I cannot describe, but he
never invited me.
One object that I had in view in adopting my abstemious way of life was
to save a little money to buy books. I had become an author too, and
had thoughts of publishing a number of works, and I wanted to be able to
do so without having to go into debt. Then I wanted to do good in other
ways. I liked to be able to give a little to the distressed and needy
that I was called upon to visit. And I liked to subscribe occasionally
to funds for the erection of new schools and chapels in circuits where I
was stationed. Among my reasons for becoming a teetotaler was a desire
to induce others to do so, who seemed to me to be likely, if they
continued to use intoxicating drinks, to become drunkards. Then I had
seen the terrible effects of the drinking system, both in the Church and
among my relations. And I was anxious for the success of every kind of
measure that seemed likely to promote the reformation and salvation of
mankind.
10. I had not been a teetotaler long before I became anxious to see my
brethren in the ministry teetotalers.
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