emies by leaving your old communion. Not so many as you
think. This is the way the common sort of people will talk:--'You have
got your ticket to the feast of life, as much as any other man that ever
lived. Protestantism says,--"Help yourself; here's a clean plate, and a
knife and fork of your own, and plenty of fresh dishes to choose from."
The Old Mother says,--"Give me your ticket, my dear, and I'll feed you
with my gold spoon off these beautiful old wooden trenchers. Such nice
bits as those good old gentlemen have left for you!" There is no
quarrelling with a man who prefers broken victuals. That's what the
rougher sort will say; and then, where one scolds, ten will laugh. But,
mind you, I don't either scold or laugh. I don't feel sure that you
could very well have helped doing what you will soon do. You know you
were never easy without some medicine to take when you felt ill in body.
I'm afraid I've given you trashy stuff sometimes, just to keep you quiet.
Now, let me tell you, there is just the same difference in spiritual
patients that there is in bodily ones. One set believes in wholesome
ways of living, and another must have a great list of specifics for all
the soul's complaints. You belong with the last, and got accidentally
shuffled in with the others."

The minister smiled faintly, but did not reply. Of course, he considered
that way of talking as the result of the Doctor's professional training.
It would not have been worth while to take offence at his plain speech,
if he had been so disposed; for he might wish to consult him the next day
as to "what he should take" for his dyspepsia or his neuralgia.

He left the Doctor with a hollow feeling at the bottom of his soul, as if
a good piece of his manhood had been scooped out of him. His hollow
aching did not explain itself in words, but it grumbled and worried down
among the unshaped thoughts which lie beneath them. He knew that he had
been trying to reason himself out of his birthright of reason. He knew
that the inspiration which gave him understanding was losing its throne
in his intelligence, and the almighty Majority-Vote was proclaiming
itself in its stead. He knew that the great primal truths, which each
successive revelation only confirmed, were fast becoming hidden beneath
the mechanical forms of thought, which, as with all new converts,
engrossed so large a share of his attention. The "peace," the "rest,"
which he had purchased wer