[174] Compare these three different statements of it: A. P.
Call: As a Matter of Course, Boston, 1894; H. W. Dresser:
Living by the Spirit, New York and London, 1900; H. W. Smith:
The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, published by the Willard
Tract Repository, and now in thousands of hands.
[175] T. C. Upham: Life of Madame Catharine Adorna, 3d ed.,
New York, 1864, pp. 158, 172-74.
The next religious symptom which I will note is what have called
Purity of Life. The saintly person becomes exceedingly sensitive
to inner inconsistency or discord, and mixture and confusion grow
intolerable. All the mind's objects and occupations must be
ordered with reference to the special spiritual excitement which
is now its keynote. Whatever is unspiritual taints the pure
water of the soul and is repugnant. Mixed with this exaltation
of the moral sensibilities there is also an ardor of sacrifice,
for the beloved deity's sake, of everything unworthy of him.
Sometimes the spiritual ardor is so sovereign that purity is
achieved at a stroke --we have seen examples. Usually it is a
more gradual conquest.
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