y saying any more. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

Notwithstanding these words, the first episcopal act of the Bishop of
Silchester drove many poor souls away from God.

The effect upon Mark, had his religion been merely a pastime of
adolescence, would have been disastrous. Owing to human nature's respect
for the conspicuous there is nothing so demoralizing to faith as the
failure of a leader of religion to set forth in his own actions the word
of God. Mark, however, looked at the whole business more from an
ecclesiastical angle. He had reason to condemn the Bishop for
unchristian behaviour; but he preferred to condemn him for uncatholic
behaviour. Dr. Cheesman and the many other Dr. Cheesmans of whom the
Anglican episcopate was at this period composed never succeeded in
shaking his belief in Christ; they did succeed in shaking for a short
time his belief in the Church of England. There are few Anglo-Catholics,
whether priests or laymen, who have never doubted the right of their
Church to proclaim herself a branch of the Holy Catholic Church. This
phase of doubt is indeed so common that in ecclesiastical circles it has
come to be regarded as a kind of mental chicken-pox, not very alarming
if it catches the patient when young, but growing more dangerous in
proportion to the lateness of its attack. Mark had his attack young.
When Father Rowley left Chatsea, he was anxious to accompany him on what
he knew would be an exhausting time of travelling round to preach and
collect the necessary money to pay off what was actually a personal
debt. It seemed that there must be something fundamentally wrong with a
Church that allowed a man to perambulate England in an endeavour to pay
off the debt upon a building from ministrating in which he had been
debarred. This debt, moreover, was presumably going to be paid by people
who fully subscribed to teaching which had been officially condemned.

When Mark commented on this, Father Rowley pointed out that as a matter
of fact a great deal of money had been sent by people who admired the
practical side, or what they would have called the practical side of his
work among the poor, but who at the same time thoroughly disapproved of
its ecclesiastical form.

"In justice to the poor old Church of England," he said to Mark, "it
must be pointed out that a good deal of this money has been given by
devout Anglicans under protest."

"Yes, but that does