mony to the
blessings which he had received through Confession, and to the
glory of the Holy Eucharist, as the Sun and Centre of Catholic
worship. His conviction of the reality and nearness of the spiritual
world gave him a singular ease and "access" in intercessory prayer,
and his love of humanity responded to that ideal of public worship
which is set forth in _John Inglesant:_ "The English Church, as
established by the law of England, offers the Supernatural to all
who choose to come. It is like the Divine Being Himself, Whose
sun shines alike on the evil and on the good."

5. In what theology did Wilberforce, whose adult life had been
one long search for truth, finally repose? Assuredly he never lost
his hold on the central facts of the Christian revelation as they
are stated in the creed of Nicaea and Constantinople. Yet, as years
went on, he came to regard them less and less in their objective
aspect; more and more as they correspond to the work of the Spirit
in the heart and conscience. Towards the end, all theology seemed to
be for him comprehended in the one doctrine of the Divine Immanence,
and to find its natural expression in that significant phrase of
St. Paul: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Spiritually-minded men do not, as a rule, talk much of their spiritual
experiences; but, if one had asked Wilberforce to say what he regarded
as the most decisive moment of his religious life, I can well believe
that he would have replied, "The moment when 'it pleased God to
reveal His Son _in_ me.'"

The subject expands before us, as is always the case when we meditate
on the character and spirit of those whom we have lost; and I must
hasten to a close.

I have already quoted from a writer with whom I think Wilberforce
would have felt a close affinity, though, as a matter of fact, I
never heard him mention that writer's name; I mean J. H. Shorthouse;
and I return to the same book--the stimulating story of _John
Inglesant_--for my concluding words, which seem to express, with
accidental fidelity, the principle of Wilberforce's spiritual being:
"We are like children, or men in a tennis-court, and before our
conquest is half-won, the dim twilight comes and stops the game;
nevertheless, let us keep our places, and above all hold fast by
the law of life we feel within. This was the method which Christ
followed, and He won the world by placing Himself in harmony with
that law of gradual development which the Divin