. . ., and I thought to myself it was very
different, and being very different I did not like it, and I thought to
myself how scandalised the people of D . . . would have been had they
heard it, and I figured to myself how indignant the high-church clerk
would have been had any clergyman got up in the church of D . . . and
preached in such a manner. Did it not savour strongly of dissent,
methodism, and similar low stuff? Surely it did; why, the Methodist I
had heard preach on the heath above the old city, preached in the same
manner--at least he preached extempore; ay, and something like the
present clergyman, for the Methodist spoke very zealously and with great
feeling, and so did the present clergyman; so I, of course, felt rather
offended with the clergyman for speaking with zeal and feeling. However,
long before the sermon was over I forgot the offence which I had taken,
and listened to the sermon with much admiration, for the eloquence and
powerful reasoning with which it abounded.

Oh, how eloquent he was, when he talked of the inestimable value of a
man's soul, which he said endured for ever, whilst his body, as every one
knew, lasted at most for a very contemptible period of time; and how
forcibly he reasoned on the folly of a man, who, for the sake of gaining
the whole world--a thing, he said, which provided he gained he could only
possess for a part of the time, during which his perishable body
existed--should lose his soul, that is, cause that precious deathless
portion of him to suffer indescribable misery time without end.

There was one part of his sermon which struck me in a very particular
manner: he said, "That there were some people who gained something in
return for their souls; if they did not get the whole world, they got a
part of it--lands, wealth, honour, or renown; mere trifles, he allowed,
in comparison with the value of a man's soul, which is destined either to
enjoy delight, or suffer tribulation time without end; but which, in the
eyes of the worldly, had a certain value, and which afforded a certain
pleasure and satisfaction. But there were also others who lost their
souls, and got nothing for them--neither lands, wealth, renown, nor
consideration, who were poor outcasts, and despised by everybody. My
friends," he added, "if the man is a fool who barters his soul for the
whole world, what a fool he must be who barters his soul for nothing."

The eyes of the clergyman, as he uttered