to shame by his great devotion. The
letter was a reply to a very unfair article about the Rilchester riot;
it was absolutely necessary that some one should speak. I tell you,
Roberts, if you knew the man, you could not speak so bitterly of him.
It is not true that he leads a selfish, easy-going life; he has spent
thousands and thousands of pounds in the defense of his cause. I don't
believe there is a man in England who has led a more self-denying life.
It may be very uncomfortable news for us, but we've no right to shut our
ears to it. I wish that man could stir up an honest sense of shame in
every sleepy Christian in the country. I believe that, indeed, to be his
rightful mission. Raeburn is a grand text for a sermon which the
nation sorely needs. Here is a man who spends his whole strength in
propagating his so-called gospel of atheism. Do you spend your whole
strength in spreading the gospel of Christ? Here is a man, willing
to leave his home, willing to live without one single luxury, denying
himself all that is not necessary to actual health. Have you ever denied
yourself anything? Here is a man who spends his whole living all that he
has on what he believes to be the truth. What meager tithe do you bestow
upon the religion of which you speak so much? Here is a man who dares
to stand up alone in defense of what he holds true, a man who never
flinches. How far are you brave in the defense of your faith? Do you
never keep a prudent silence? Do you never 'howl with the wolves?'"

"Thank Heaven you are not in the pulpit!" ejaculated Mr. Roberts.

"I wish those words could be sent through the length and breadth of the
land," said Charles Osmond.

"No doubt Mr. Raeburn would thank you," said his friend, with a
sharp-edged smile. "It would be a nice little advertisement for him.
Why, from a Church of England parson it would make his fortune! My dear
Osmond, you are the best fellow in the world, but don't you see that you
are playing into the enemy's hands."

"I am trying to speak the words that God has given me to speak," said
Charles Osmond. "The result I can well trust to Him. An uncomfortable
truth will never be popular. The words of our Lord Himself were not
popular; but they sunk into men's hearts and bore fruit, though He was
put to death as a blasphemer and a revolutionary."

"Well, at least then, if you must take up the cudgels in his defense, do
not dishonor the clerical profession by personal acquaintance w