under a feverish conviction of your own incompetence, that also, especially in modern times, is rare, but not so much so as the other. I was afflicted in the latter fashion when I commenced practice. Although I passed through my three examinations with tolerable credit, and had gained more prizes than was usual, I could not get rid of the idea that I was incompetent. When I obtained patients, an undefinable dread came over me lest I should treat them improperly, and shorten their days. I had one case of typhus fever that nearly killed me. The idea got into my mind that through wrong treatment my patient would slip through my fingers; in which case I should be his murderer. He recovered and so did I. When his wife thanked me for my unremitting attention, she little suspected its real cause. It was a strange notion, but it worked well, for when it vanished it left a consciousness behind of the important nature of my duties, and to that I owe all my subsequent success, for it made me deal with every case attentively and with earnest

ness.

"But I don't see that others in the Church feel as I do. They rejoice and make merry when fortune favours them with a living; I have had a score of congratulatory letters from men who, without wishing my fortunes to be a whit lowered, do not disguise that they envy my success. They would enter upon the performance of my duties without fearing as I fear."

"Ah, probably so, but it does not follow that they would be any better qualified for the task. I knew a man, John Sedley, a fellow-student of mine, (although, in fact, he never studied anything beyond the science of boxing, the quality of porter, and the physiology of tea-gardens, wherein he drank no tea,) he obtained a most valuable appointment in the Army Medical Department, for which he was totally unfitted; and when I asked him how he intended to manage his affairs, he said that some poor devil would be glad to do the work for a small salary, he had done enough to get the appointment, and should have enough to do to spend his income. There are plenty of place-hunters like Sedley. The great majority of young men seem to be careless about the duties of an office if they can obtain the appointment. Their theory is that if employed by private persons they must be diligent in learning and performing their business, but that when public money is involved it matters little whether they work or play. And young men enter the Church much the same as they enter the Exchequer, merely because the appointment is acceptable. If the chances happen to be in their favour they go to the Bar or enter the Army, if better openings are visible in the Church, then to the Church they go. But, George, I would not have you put yourself upon their level. They do not share your fears, simply because of not having hearts noble enough to be moved by the proud sense of duty. You seem to me to be in the right track, for to be conscious of the importance of our task, and to feel our own incompetency, are essentials to all success.'

"But that consciousness affords no proof of the existence in its possessor of power to perform the duties," said George.

'No, but it shows that the man has some soul in him, which, with all due respect to the popular theory about all men having a soul, is rare in these days. Look at your statesmen, have they any sense of the awful importance of their functions? Do they care about doing the best for the country? They run a race to obtain office, and after success has crowned their efforts, their whole energy is devoted to the task of retaining power, without a thought bestowed upon the actual wants of the country. Their business is not to discover and perform the statesman-work which should be

done, but to bridge over the existing difficulties and put a smiling face upon things, so as to avoid every difficult question; and when any important matter is thrust upon them, they drug the people with moral opiates, so as to suspend the sense of pain, but do not attack its evil causes lest they should lose office. And while such examples are set in high places, there is no cause for wondering that in lower offices men imagine it is quite enough if they condescend to take the pay, without troubling themselves to perform, or even to understand, their duties. But in order to understand how far you are justified in your fears, I should like to hear something of what you intend to preach."

"Preach? Why, Doctor, what else can I preach than the Gospel?"

Aye, 'good tidings" should be preached, but what I want to know is, whose 'Gospel' are you going to preach? According to what interpretation and system? Shall you preach it according to Augustine or Origen, to Pascal or Pusey, to Calvin or Wesley? Is it to be High Church, Low Church, Broad Church, or Free Church Gospel? Are you intending to teach the dogmatical, ecclesiastical, or muscular Gospel? At present they are all in vogue; but the great majority of the people seem to be in doubt if, between them, with all their pulling and amputating, there be any Gospel which is worth the having."

For a few minutes Lester hesitated, as though not fully comprehending the spirit in which these questions were asked, but knowing the character of Dr. Moule to be above suspicion, for candour and directness, he replied.

"You think too much of these trifling distinctions, which, when fairly considered, involve no serious differences. The fact is, that they are nothing more than varieties of the one form of faith. It would perhaps be better if such distinctions were not drawn, better if all were ranged under one banner-although that is by no means certain-still, the various names and watch-words are only nominal, and do not involve any fundamental differences."

I once

"Perhaps not; and having just arrived from the centre of Christian learning, you ought to know better about that than I do. Still, if there be no radical differences between the various sects, it will be hard to redeem their pastors from the charge of lacking charity; for why, in that case, should they be so bitter against each other? But I confess my ignorance of the subject. Theological books are not numerous in my library. I never could understand them, and, in truth, I don't believe they were written to be understood; they are not composed in the same style or language other works are. tried to get through Dwight's Theology, but, although making desperate attempts, I could not advance beyond the third volume, it would have killed me outright if I had read the fourth and fifth. The writers of such books always struck me as men who, to boldness of assertion, defiance of logic, and uncandid selections of facts, added unscrupolosity of argument, coupled with the resolve to bring in a verdict against their opponents, without permitting them to give in evidence. I believed in the religion they professed, but was disgusted with their sophistry."

"You are rather harsh, Doctor, in stating a painful truth. I grant their apparent lack of candour, but must maintain their integrity. They were led by foregone conclusions to say things which can be wrested to their condemnation; but-"

"The results, however, in either case are precisely the same to those who are deceived by them. But, as I was saying, they appear to me to differ

upon many important points, quite as much so as those who have connected themselves with different medical schools. For instance we have Allopathy, Homœopathy, Hydropathy, and the new 'pathy called 'the expectant method.' One man fills his patient up to the brim with pills and draughts, another doses his victims with imaginary drugs in proportions equally imaginary; one deluges his patient with pump mixture, packs him up in wet sheets, scalds him with hot water, scrubs the skin off his body, and then plunges him into a cistern of cold water as a sort of refresher; while another uses neither drugs, imaginary drugs, nor water, but pockets his fee, and blandly leaves nature to do her curative work in the best possible style. They are all medical men, they are unanimous in describing themselves as belonging to the healing profession, but whatever unity there may be in the name, there is none in spirit. There is no more hope of their coming to an agreement, except that of plundering their patients, than there is of an acid and an alkali mingling in solution without neutralising each other. And to my mind there is the same degree of fundamental difference between the theological schools; they profess to show how spiritual diseases are to be healed, but their methods are as widely at variance as are those of Allopathy and Hydropathy."

"I think, Doctor, that there is more of ingenuity than fitness in your illustration. All the theological schools, and all the sects, are united in the name of Jesus."

Yes, and are satisfied with being united in the name, for they care not to become one in his spirit. In our times men are more afraid of being called infidels or sceptics, than they are of performing unchristian actions. They spend so much of their time talking about their religion, that they have none left wherein to practise it."

"I am half inclined to believe, Doctor, that you are becoming sceptical of the faith."

"You must not trouble to believe anything of the kind, George," answered the Doctor rather tartly. "I confess to being the enemy of mere wordmongering and falsehood in every form, but especially do I hate lying in the name of God. I have no faith in lies, and above all else I have no confidence in those who undertake to say that no word must be spoken until they have painted and decorated what they call the truth. The poor two-legged creatures stand up in their pulpits to make professions, which, practically considered, are quite foreign to the great aim of their lives. And as far as infidelity among the working-classes is concerned, I have no doubt that the clergy are solely responsible for it. They have been unfaithful to their sermonspoken words, and the people who judge more from the life of a man than they do from his discourses, could not be blind to the contradictions. The preachers spoke of equality and brotherhood in their discourses; but, with a few noble exceptions, did nothing to prove their belief in the doctrine they had promulgated."

Lester felt that, although it had been bitterly said, there was a painful measure of truth in Dr. Moule's words. The latter spoke very warmly, for no man hated hypocrisy more intensely, or loved honest speech more thoroughly, than he did. It was one of his common remarks, that he cared not what religion a man was of, if he would but honestly profess and carry it out. He loved many Catholics and Socinians, whom he knew to be good men, but for any man to profess piety and then to act meanly, was his abhorrence. He believed that the majority of ministers hated each other; or that if they did not go quite so far as to hate, they were at least jealous of each other's suc

cess, although, even in relation to the successful, in public, declaring their sympathy.

"The other evening," said he, "I turned into the Hall, while the 'AntiPapal Indignation Meeting' was being held. The audience was greatly excited, for Doctor Growler was upon his legs, and as usual, like a real Scotch terrier, he was snapping and showing his teeth at the Pope, which, as a matter of course, brought down the applause of the house, much to Growler's satisfaction. When I entered he was 'demonstrating' that he was prepared to die the martyr's death in defence of Protestantism, was even prepared to go any length to aid in destroying the Papal system; but it struck me that if such were the case he ought not to stay in England but should go to Rome and nail his protests upon the door of St. Peter's. Why keep so carefully out of harm's way? Did the Apostles and early teachers do that?

"But you would not argue that every Protestant is called upon to incur the danger of losing his life? It may be as much a duty to keep out of danger as it is to utter the truth. If we are to pray to be preserved from temptation, I see no reason why it should not be argued that we have no right to tempt others to persecute."

"I do not argue for men running into danger. It is not every man's calling to become a martyr, but every man is bound to abstain from boasting of his heroism when he has resolved to incur no risk. Growler remains in England to brave the Pope, but will not venture upon bearding him in Rome. The real heroes said less but worked more bravely. Growler has taken a leaf out of Falstaff's book, for he makes sure the enemy is powerless before drawing his sword. It is the old story of a live ass kicking a dead lion, and then braying about his glorious victory. For, after all the howling, and applauding, the poor old Pope is dead enough, although the unhappy old man won't lay down, thus he becomes a butt for the shafts of such curs as Growler. There he stood, thundering, and what he misnames arguing' about the Man of Sin and the Scarlet Woman; while, unanimous in their applause, the lights of all our Churches and Chapels were grouped around him like flies round a treacle pot. It reminded me of a strange scene I once witnessed in a workhouse lunatic asylum. As in a very Babel, all the idiots, with their upturned faces, were jabbering their satisfaction while a lunatic was making them a speech about the wickedness of the man who made them such thin gruel, and arrogantly assumed to be their master."

Lester enjoyed the richly humourous manner of the Doctor while delivering the latter portion of his speech; it is certain, too, that the fact of his being so severe against Growler was especially grateful to the young rector, who, under the impression that they were valuable, had recently invested somewhat largely in Growler's works, but much to his annoyance, on reading them, he made the discovery that they were not written, but built by the aid of scissors and paste, out of materials which had been ruthlessly plundered from other men's writings. Hencé he was prepared not only to appreciate the severe criticism of the Doctor, but to increase it by adding remarks of his Still, he could not overlook the fact, that instead of proving the theory about ministers hating each other, this instance tended to establish the contrary; for were not the lights of all the Churches busy applauding Growler? But when this was pointed out, Doctor Moule had a sufficient answer.

own.

Oh, yes; they were applauding with their hands and feet but not with their hearts. They hated him quite as much as they hated the Pope. They were sitting in brotherly union, because an outsider was to be condemned,

yet, when that was over, they were as ready to condemn each other. I have heard them preach in their own places, and, as a rule, half their time is devoted to cutting up a neighbouring preacher, some dear brother in Jesus,' and his doctrines. They are united in name as gold and copper are in being money, and there is no nearer likeness, no closer affinity. But come, said he, rising, "I must visit a patient near the quay, let us walk together, and have one turn more upon the pier. A turn in the evening air will be far more profitable than sitting here pulling miserable Dutch dolls to pieces."

Lester gladly agreed, for having found himself to be as incapable of successfully opposing, as he was of agreeing with, the Doctor's arguments and illustrations, he accepted the opportunity of a ramble as furnishing an excellent means of changing the conversation. When it had ended, they two parted, each returning home busily engaged in wondering when and where they should meet again.

But Lester was considerably benefited by the turn the conversation had taken; which, if it had not been strictly logical, and admirably conceived, was at least well calculated for making him look with greater confidence upon the future. For some weeks he had been hampered by the idea of being incompetent to perform the duties of his station, and, like most young men who possess a noble modesty, coupled with real, but as yet untried, strength of character, he had mistaken his fears for positive proofs. When he had finished reading the works of Growler, his mind was strangely oppressed, for knowing them to be extensively sold, and not having learnt the fact that people buy popular religious books more for show than for use, he foolishly imagined they were as widely read. He had been disgusted by their maudlin sentimentality, their japanish show of scholarship without the substance, their straining after effect, and the pompous arrogance of their verbal humility, and had concluded that if such was the religious teaching required by the world, he was incapable of supplying it. But when Doctor Moule began his attack, although displeased by its tone, he felt greatly relieved, for there was no longer the conviction on his mind of being the only person who considered Growler to be a spiritual mountebank, who cared more for the halfpence than for the donkey he balanced upon his oratory. Thus he had gained more confidence in his own judgment, and was better prepared for facing his new position. Possibly if this conversation had taken another turn, this history would never have been written; for in his frame of mind, it needed but a feather's weight to make him abandon the living of Crosswood, at least until by serving in the capacity of a curate elsewhere he should have gained the practical knowledge he considered necessary. Doctor Moule, without knowing it, had really given him the rectory, for by compelling him to recognise the fact that all earnest men commence life with doubting their own powers, he had inspired him with courage to enter bravely upon his task.

NOTICE.

OUR readers will be glad to hear that we are now able definitely to fix a time for the opening of the new place in Newman Street. On the first Sunday in August there will be a Morning Service; and the opening will be commemorated by a Tea Party and Soirée, to be held in the last week in July, of which further particulars will be given.