s pleased with the thought, which I
considered to be a bright one, and I no longer bit my lips, or tore my
hair, but took my hat, and, going forth, I flung my hat into the air.
And when my hat came down, I put it on my head and commenced running,
directing my course to the house of the Antinomian preacher, who sold
books, and whom I knew to have Bibles in various tongues amongst the
number, and I arrived out of breath, and I found the Antinomian in his
little library, dusting his books; and the Antinomian clergyman was a
tall man of about seventy, who wore a hat with a broad brim and a shallow
crown, and whose manner of speaking was exceedingly nasal; and when I saw
him, I cried, out of breath, "Have you a Danish Bible?" and he replied,
"What do you want it for, friend?" and I answered, "to learn Danish by;"
"and may be to learn thy duty," replied the Antinomian preacher. "Truly,
I have it not; but, as you are a customer of mine, I will endeavour to
procure you one, and I will write to that laudable society which men call
the Bible Society, an unworthy member of which I am, and I hope by next
week to procure what you desire."
And when I heard these words of the old man, I was very glad, and my
heart yearned towards him, and I would fain enter into conversation with
him; and I said, "Why are you an Antinomian? For my part, I would rather
be a dog than belong to such a religion." "Nay, friend," said the
Antinomian, "thou forejudgest us; know that those who call us Antinomians
call us so despitefully, we do not acknowledge the designation." "Then
you do not set all law at nought?" said I. "Far be it from us," said the
old man, "we only hope that, being sanctified by the Spirit from above,
we have no need of the law to keep us in order. Did you ever hear tell
of Lodowick Muggleton?" "Not I." "That is strange; know then that he
was the founder of our poor society, and after him we are frequently,
though opprobriously, termed Muggletonians, for we are Christians. Here
is his book, which, perhaps, you can do no better than purchase, you are
fond of rare books, and this is both curious and rare; I will sell it
cheap. Thank you, and now be gone, I will do all I can to procure the
Bible."
And in this manner I procured the Danish Bible, and I commenced my task;
first of all, however, I locked up in a closet the volume which had
excited my curiosity, saying, "Out of this closet thou comest not till I
deem myself comp
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