270 THE JOURNEYMAN. 



He concludes with a fine testimony to the merits of Mr 

 Stewart. ' Permit me/ Mr Editor, ' before taking leave 

 of you and the public, to state once more, for myself 

 and my townsfolks, one great cause of our hostility to 

 the deprecated measure. It threatens to separate us 

 from our minister. Mr Stewart was the man of our 

 choice. The high character and admirable talents of 

 this gentleman were alone taken into account when we 

 called upon him to preside over us in spiritual things ; 

 after an acquaintance with him of nearly seven years, we 

 can now testify to the purity of that character, and to 

 the strength and brilliancy of these talents ; much of 

 our knowledge of human life and of human nature, of 

 the depravity of man and of the goodness of the Al- 

 mighty, has been derived from him. By means of his 

 powerful discourses a beneficial impulse has been given 

 to our powers of thought ; in these discourses no inapt 

 images or absurd conclusions disturb the conviction that 

 the doctrines of Christianity are indeed fraught with the 

 wisdom of God, and address themselves not more to the 

 hearts than to the understandings of men ; but on the 

 contrary, they are marked and striking examples of the 

 established law of criticism and logic, that nothing but 

 what is just in argument, and apt and beautiful in 

 illustration, should be associated with what is morally 

 good and spiritually holy/ 



This letter, signed ' One of the People/ naturally 

 elicits a reply from the man of law, and, in July, 1831, 

 Miller's rejoinder appears in shape of a thirty-six page 

 pamphlet. In it Miller plays to perfection the part of 

 the village Junius. ' To no man will I yield, at least 

 without a struggle, those rights and privileges which 

 have been bequeathed to me by my ancestors, and 

 which I consider it my duty, so far as my modicum of 



