Part of a half-page tirade by one character concerning the local preacher, Mr. Irwine.  This novel, set in 1799, sees the rise of itinerant Methodist preachers, in this case in the form of a delicate but strong young woman, Dinah, whose vibrant sincerity and lack of over indulgence seems to provide a refreshing alternative to the pillar-of-establishment clergy.
‘… preaching at best but a carnal and soul-benumbing morality …’
Source: George Eliot, Adam Bede (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985 (1859)), p. 112
