onceived a strong liking for the
young man; they were nearly of the same age; and he saw that David
was troubled about spiritual matters, and took every opportunity
to discuss them with him. But he had too much of the schools, he
was too untried, and had been, in the main, too happily situated to
comprehend David's views. The very piety of the two men was
different. David's was lively, personal, and tender; it sat in the
center. The minister's was official, intellectually accepted,
conscientiously practised. It was not strange, then, that any
dissent David ventured to make was not conceived of as a soul-query,
but rather as a challenge against impregnable truths. He was
always ready to defend Calvinism, though David did not consciously
attack it. To be sure, he said strange and daring things--things
which came from his heart, and which often staggered his opponent;
but all the more Minister Campbell put on his armor to defend his
creed.

"It is a hard religion for men and for women," said David, as they
talked a stormy afternoon away on Barbara's hearthstone; "and why
God gave it, I can't tell; for, after all, minister, the blessedness
of heaven is an eternity older than the damnation of hell."

"Men called it unto themselves, and it is not hard, David. It is a
grand creed; it is a strong anchor for a weak soul; it won't let a
man drift into the deep waters of infidelity or the miserable shoals
of 'perhaps' and 'suppose.' Neither will it let him float on waves
of feeling like Arminianism, and be content with 'ahs' and 'ohs,'
and shrink from 'therefores.' Calvinism makes strong men before the
Lord, David, and strong men are not laid on rose-leaves and fed on
pap and cream."

"That is true, minister; for it seems to me that whenever men are
to be fishers, and fight the winds and waves, or to make a living
out of bare moor or rocks, or to do any other of the hard work of
life, they are born Calvinists."

"Just so, David. Arminians can weave a piece of broadcloth, and
Episcopals can till the rich, juicy fields of England; but God's
hard work--yes, David, and his hard fighting--has to be done by
his Calvinists. They were the only fighting Protestants. But for
Calvinists, Puritans, Huguenots, there would have been no
Reformation. Philip and the Pope would have had their way, and we
should all have been papists or atheists."

"I know not. You say so, minister, and it is doubtless true."

"It is true. You have been bor