and exegesis, and to minimize our points of difference. Let us bear in
mind that whether our own particular system of theology be based upon
Calvin's predominating doctrine, the sovereignty of God and the
unchangeableness of his decrees; or whether we, like Arminius, lay
greater stress upon the doctrine of the freedom of the human will and
man's individual responsibility; whether we be Calvinist or Arminian,
Presbyterian or Methodist, Baptist or Quaker--we all worship the same
God, and through the same Mediator. Therefore, laying aside all malice
and envying and evil speaking and sectarian strife, let us preserve the
'unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace.'"

Thus the stranger reasoned, and ere he had finished, Hiram Gilcrest,
stripped of the armor under which he had so long battled for his stern
creed, was left helpless and wounded; and the sharpest item of his
defeat was this, that the Wellington of this Waterloo was proclaiming
substantially the same doctrine as that of the hated Stone.

His armor broken, his weapons captured, himself wounded, the old man
sat with bowed head, too weak and crushed to quit the field until the
sermon was finished. Then, unheeded, he threaded his way out of the
throng. Awe at last stole over him as he rode slowly along the quiet
lanes, with his hat slouched low over his face; and he was conscious of
a deeper meaning in his favorite texts of Scripture than he had
hitherto felt. Presently, however, he returned to his own habitual and
(to him) more reassuring reasoning. "That fellow seems to think the
whole ocean of God's eternal purpose and decree can be caught up and
held in one little pint cup; and in his self-confident ignorance he
looks upon the Lord's ways as though they were a child's reading-book
which any man could learn at once. Even if there be truth in what he
says, the simple gospel is too mild and too broad to be used thus
freely. It would make the road to salvation toe easy for the
transgressor. The Westminster Confession and the Shorter and Longer
Catechisms are the skillful condensation and concentration of all
Scripture truth. They are the framework of the church; and one might as
well try to build a house without beams and rafters as to try to hold a
church together without creeds and covenants and confessions of faith."

He said nothing to any one of that sermon in the grove; but the next
few weeks he searched the Scriptures as he had never done before. At
first h