Dawson Collection

him; but they asked him whether he would mind preaching his sermons on the rest of the Commandments at the week evening service, when only the devout were present, instead of on the Sunday when saints and sinners were mixed; "for," said they, "we think Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less." There were some in Birmingham who might have said the same; there were others who, if they had said what they thought, would have altered a word in the old lines; Religion never was designed To make our profits less. To such as these his preaching was unwelcome. But the mass of the people heard him gladly; for he spoke to them as one who knew their difficulties, their temptations, and their struggles; and he had a gospel to give them by which they could live. —All men are grateful for that. IV Let me next speak of Dawson's work as a teacher and lecturer. However, opinion may differ as to the effect of his preaching, there can be little difference as to his unrivalled power to awaken and enlighten. I say this, not forgetting the fact that on three separate occasions he became the editor of a daily newspaper —the Mercury in 1848, the Daily Free Press in 1855, and the Morning News in 1871. But it may be said in extenuation that these lapses were brief and at long intervals, and that the newspapers which he edited soon came to confusion, if not to liquidation. No one—not even the most thorough-

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