“Nor could I, unless the Lord had first laid hold of me. ‘He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness’—I do not put it on myself.”
Gerhardt never made long speeches on religious topics. He said what he had to say, generally, in one pithy sentence, and then left it to carry its own weight.
“I say, Gerard, I’ve wondered more than once—”
“Well, Stephen?”
“No offence, friend?”
“Certainly not: pray say all you wish.”
“Whether you were an unfrocked priest.”
“No, I assure you.”
“Can’t tell how you come by all your notions!” said Stephen, scratching his head.
“Notions of all kinds have but two sources,” was the reply: “the Word of God, and the corruption of man’s heart.”