John Cross was not without his vanities.
Who is? Vanity is quite as natural as any other of our endowments.
It is a guaranty for amiability. A vain man is always a conciliatory
one. He is kind to others, because the approbation of others is a
strong desire in his mind. Accordingly, even vanity is not wholly
evil. It has its uses.
John Cross had his share, and Alfred Stevens soon discovered that
he ministered to it in no small degree. The good old preacher took
to himself the credit of having effected his conversion, so far as
it had gone. It was his hand that had plucked the brand from the
burning. He spoke freely of his protege, as well before his face as
behind his back. In his presence he dwelt upon the holy importance of
his calling; to others he dilated upon the importance of securing
for the church a young man of so much talent, yet of so much devotion:
qualities not always united, it would seem, among the churchlings
of modern times.
Alfred Stevens seemed to promise great honor to his teacher. That
cunning which is the wisdom of the worldling, and which he possessed
in a very surprising degree, enabled him to adopt a course of
conduct, look, and remark, which amply satisfied the exactions of
the scrupulous, and secured the unhesitating confidence of those
who were of a more yielding nature.
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