rel of flour, which
supported her and the man of God day by day without diminishing. These
things actually happened. They are as true as the Bible. And they may
happen again. At any rate they _should_ happen. The sky-pilots should
subsist on the fruits of prayer. Let them live by faith--not _our_
faith, but _their_ own. This will prove their sincerity, and give
us some trust in their teaching. And if they _should_ starve in the
experiment--well, it is worth making, and they will fall martyrs to
truth and human happiness. _One_ batch of martyrs will suffice. There
will be no need of what Gibbon calls "an annual consumption."

The men of God pilot _us_ to Heaven, but they are very loth to go there
themselves. Heaven is their "home," but they prefer exile, even in this
miserable vale of tears. When they fall ill, they do not welcome it as
a call from the Father. They do not sing "Nearer my God to thee." We do
not find them going about saying "I shall be home shortly." Oh no! They
indulge freely in self-pity. Like a limpet to a rock do they cling to
this wretched, sinful world. Congregations are asked if they cannot "do
something," a subscription is got up, and the man of God rushes off
to the seaside, where prayer, in co-operation with oxygen and ozone,
restore him to health, enable him to dodge "going home," and qualify him
for another term of penal servitude on earth.

It appears to us that sky pilots, like other men, should be judged
by their practice. If they show no belief in what they preach, we are
foolish to believe in it any more than they do. It also appears to us
that their profession is as fraudulent as fortune-telling. Many a poor
old woman has been imprisoned for taking sixpence from a servant girl,
after promising her a tall, dark husband and eight fine children; but
men dressed in black coats and white chokers are allowed to take money
for promises of good fortune in the "beautiful land above." It further
appears to us that the sky pilots should be compelled to come to a
reasonable agreement before their trade is licensed. They should settle
_where Heaven_ is before they begin business. Better still, perhaps,
every applicant for a license should prove that _some_ human soul _has
been_ piloted to Heaven. Until that is done, the profession is only
robbery and imposture.

DEVIL DODGERS.

Most people suppose this phrase to be a recent Americanism. It occurs,
however, in the Memoirs of James Lackington