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MINISTRY AT STAND. [Chap. III. 



thies and the influence of his zeal ; especially those who visited 

 him at his parsonage, and sometimes spent a Sunday there. 

 Mr. W. H. Herford writes, " He then seemed to me to overdo 

 the part of ' servant of all ; ' yet none of his friends could say 

 that his general beneficence deadened his particular sympathies. 

 When I used to go over to Stand from college, or he to come 

 to a college meeting, his interest in old subjects was unim- 

 paired, and his readiness to sympathize with any special matter 

 which I might bring before him, was just as warm as though 

 his days and nights had not been spent in doing whatever he 

 thought ought to be done, and nobody else would do." 



As a minister, he felt it specially incumbent on him to care 

 little for money or station ; and he was convinced that it was 

 better to make mistakes, than to give way to wrong principles. 

 To a friend who had heard an exaggerated account of his 

 peculiarities, he wrote (March 7, 1846): "I have never 

 wished to compel others to my way ; I only want liberty for 

 all classes. But some love fashion and custom more than free- 

 dom and love. To such I will give no subjection, but show 

 them plainly that I think Christianity teaches differently. In 

 the matter of dress, I do what other people wish, as no principle 

 is involved. I wear black, cravats, and gown, etc. As far as 

 people let me, I follow comfort and health ; but I don't idolize 

 even these things. The question of address is different, be- 

 cause it involves the principle of priestcraft. Like the one 

 glass of wine, it is not an evil in itself, but in its connexions 

 and consequences. I generally address other people as they 

 wish, and let them address me as they wish ; but I never take 

 titles myself, and I try to show that I don't think myself 

 above a working man, or below a duke. As to mixing on 

 familiar terms with all classes, I wish to be familiar with all 

 friends, and respectful to all men. I have always been treated 

 with respect by every one — by the poor perhaps more than 

 by the rich; and I think a working-man who does his duty 

 far more respectable than a wealthy man who does not : and I 

 tell them so. I have more real friends at Stand among the 



