the Church, the Church would welcome your aid in
removing them."

The facile skill with which the Cardinal had disarmed him excited Paul's
admiration even whilst he found himself disadvantaged by it. "My
conception of the life of the spirit differs widely from that of
Catholicism," he said, speaking slowly and deliberately. "We stand upon
opposite platforms, and our purposes are divided. I regard not one man
in a million, however admirable his life, as fit for that perfect state
called Heaven and not one in a hundred millions, however evil, as
deserving of that utter damnation called Hell. I say that there are
intermediate states innumerable. Is Rome open to consider such a claim?"

"To consider it, Mr. Mario? Rome has always taught it. Have we not a
Purgatory?"

"For the justified, but what of the sinner?"

"Have we no prayers for the dead? You maintain that no man is fit for
Heaven; so does Rome--that no soul is lost whilst one prayer is offered
for its redemption. We agree with you. In _The Gates_ you have done no
more than to analyse the symbolism of Roman ritual, defining Purgatory
as a series of earthly experiences and Heaven as their termination. Have
you considered, Mr. Mario, that whatever a man's belief may be, he can
do no more than to be true to himself?"

"And is Rome true to Rome, your Eminence? Before the horrors of war the
spirit stands aghast, but are the horrors perpetrated by Prussia
reconcilable with the teachings of St. Peter? For lesser crimes,
thousands burned at the stake during the Pontificate of Innocent VIII;
yet Rome to-day hears German prelates calling upon God to exalt the
murderer, the ravisher, and is silent. If Rome is untrue to Rome the
rock upon which the Church of St. Peter stands may yet be shattered."

Cardinal Pescara twisted the ring upon his finger, regarding Paul with a
glance of almost pathetic entreaty. "You hurt me, Mr. Mario," he said.
"I do not recall that you have levelled this charge against the Catholic
Church in your book. But it seems to me to be rather a criticism of
internal administration than of doctrine, after all. If no man be worthy
of hell, why should his Holiness abandon sinful Germany? It is for him
to decide, since all laws are locked within the bosom of the Pope."

"I would unlock those laws, your Eminence, and set them up before the
world in place of empty dogmas. I would have open sanctuaries and open
minds. Humanity has outgrown its childhood and