uld be talking over
their heads with a vengeance."

"Do you think so?" I said. "Now, listen, young man. Which is, you or I,
the elder? I am. All right. Now, my experience is that it is not the
language, however eloquent, the people fail to follow, but the ideas,
and they fail to follow the ideas because they are ill-instructed in
their religion. Of course, I'm involved in the censure myself as well
as others. But I proved this satisfactorily to myself long ago. We were
in the habit of 'reading a book' at the Lenten exercises in the last
town wherein I officiated as curate. Now, the people hate that above all
things else. They'd rather hear one word from a stuttering idiot than
the highest ascetical teaching out of a book. Nevertheless, we tried it;
and we tried the simplest and easiest books we could find. No use. They
couldn't follow one paragraph with intelligence. One evening I read for
them--it was in Passion week--the last discourse of our Lord to His
disciples--words that I could never read without breaking down. I assure
you, they failed to grasp the meaning, not to speak of the pathos and
divine beauty, of those awful words. They told me so."

"Do you mean then to conclude that we, young priests, should go in for
high, flowery diction, long phrases, etc.? I could hardly imagine any
man, least of all you, sir, holding such a theory!"

"You're running away with the question, my boy. The eloquence that I
recommend is the eloquence of fine taste, which positively excludes all
the ornaments which you speak of."

"By Jove, we don't know where to turn," said my curate. "I never
ventured, during my late English experience of seven years, to stand in
the pulpit and address the congregation, without writing every word and
committing it to memory. I daren't do otherwise; for if I made a
mistake, fifty chances to one, some Methodist or Socinian would call at
the presbytery next morning and challenge me to deadly combat."

"And why should you give up that excellent habit here," I said, "and go
on the _dabitur vobis_?"

"Because you may conjecture easily that I shall be talking over their
heads."

"Better talk over their heads, young man, than under their feet. And
under their feet, believe me, metaphorically, they trample the priest
who does not uphold the dignity of his sacred office of preacher. 'Come
down to the level of the people!' May God forgive the fools who utter
this banality! Instead of saying to the peopl