At this church I held forth for a series of Sundays and the good people insisted on giving me a donation. This was the type of donation already described in these memories, except that dancing was substituted for kissing. The cash contributions amounted to something over fifty dollars. In the light of my religious reformation while a student at Michigan University, my friends will ask about the effect of my theology on my hearers. Then and later I became thoroughly convinced that the average congregation takes few exceptions when preaching is positive and not negative with reference to the issues of life.
Dissension arises when dogmatic doctrines and negations are discussed.
This is just as true in politics as in religion. I was not hypocritical, but frank and earnest in my pulpit teachings. My audiences were relatively large and attentive. I presume that these speeches reduced to print would bear a marked resemblance to lectures. At this hour I rejoice over their non-existence in tangible form.