I consented! But begged
a little time to think of it. He said the less one thought of a duty
the better; and we parted.
But the most singular instance of this wonderful man's power
over my mind was that he had as complete influence over me by
night as by day. All my dreams corresponded exactly with his
suggestions; and, when he was absent from me, still his
arguments sunk deeper in my heart than even when he was
present. I dreamed that night of a great triumph obtained, and,
though the whole scene was but dimly and confusedly defined in
my vision, yet the overthrow and death of Mr. Blanchard was the
first step by which I attained the eminent station I occupied.
Thus, by dreaming of the event by night, and discoursing of it by
day, it soon became so familiar to my mind that I almost
conceived it as done. It was resolved on: which was the first and
greatest victory gained; for there was no difficulty in finding
opportunities enow of cutting off a man who, every good day,
was to be found walking by himself in private grounds. I went
and heard him preach for two days, and in fact I held his tenets
scarcely short of blasphemy; they were such as I had never heard
before, and his congregation, which was numerous, were turning
up their ears and drinking in his doctrines with the utmost delight;
for Oh they suited their carnal natures and self-sufficiency to a
hair! He was actually holding it forth, as a fact, that "it was every
man's own blame if he was not saved!" What horrible
misconstruction! And then be was alleging, and trying to prove
from nature and reason, that no man ever was guilty of a sinful
action who might not have declined it had he so chosen!
"Wretched controvertist!" thought I to myself an hundred times,
"shall not the sword of the Lord be moved from its place of peace
for such presumptuous, absurd testimonies as these!"
When I began to tell the prince about these false doctrines, to my
astonishment I found that he had been in the church himself, and
had every argument that the old divine had used verbatim; and he
remarked on them with great concern that these were not the
tenets that corresponded with his views in society, and that he had
agents in every city, and every land, exerting their powers to put
them down.
Pages:
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209