his salvation depended upon his being honest and steady. Hence his religion acted as a kind of hindrance to his worldly prosperity. This kept him all the time nervous, and he put all his troubles into the idea ‘heart disease.’ Another was a man who had a great deal of acquisitiveness and self-esteem, while all his acts were governed by public opinion. He wanted to be a great man by making himself wise at others' expense, or gaining every idea of value without paying for it. Hence he would often force himself into society where he was not wanted. His religion was always the last thing to think of. To him heaven and hell had no claims till he had gone through hell to make up his mind which place was the better for his practice. To cure these two was to show them the hypocrisy of their belief, and show that all men are to themselves just what they make themselves . . . So my arguments are always aimed at some particular belief, sometimes words, sometimes one thing, again another. . . . Hence what I write is like a court-record or a book on law with the arguments of each case. I take up a little of everything.”
