nd she had felt a certain
filial glow in approaching it, which had been fanned into pious flame by
the effect of the ministration. The fervent hymns and the opportunities
for bearing testimony at some of the services appealed to her needs and
gave her a sense of oneness with eternal truth, which had hitherto been
lacking from her religious experience. In judging Wilbur she was
disposed to ascribe the defects of his character largely to the coldness
and analyzing sobriety of his creed. She had accompanied him to church
listlessly, and had been bored by the unemotional appeals to conscience
and quiet subjective designations of duty. She preferred to thrill with
the intensity of words which now roundly rated sin, now passionately
called to mind the ransom of the Saviour, and ever kept prominent the
stirring mission of evangelizing ignorant foreign people. It appeared
probable to Selma that, as the wife of one of the leading
church-members, who was the chairman of the local committee charged with
spreading the gospel abroad, her capacity for doing good would be
strengthened, and the spiritual availability of them both be enhanced.

Then, too, Mr. Lyons's political prospects were flattering. The thought
that a marriage with him would put her in a position to control the
social tendencies of Benham was alluring. As the wife of Hon. James O.
Lyons, Member of Congress, she believed that she would be able to look
down on and confound those who had given her the cold shoulder. What
would Flossy say when she heard it? What would Pauline? This was a form
of distinction which would put her beyond the reach of conspiracy and
exclusiveness; for, as the wife of a representative, selected by the
people to guard their interests and make their laws, would not her
social position be unassailable? And apart from these considerations, a
political future seemed to her peculiarly attractive. Was not this the
real opportunity for which she had been waiting? Would she be justified
in giving it up? In what better way could her talents be spent than as
the helpmate and intellectual companion of a public man--a statesman
devoted to the protection and development of American ideas? Her own
individuality need not, would not be repressed. She had seen enough of
Mr. Lyons to feel sure that their views on the great questions of life
were thoroughly in harmony. They held the same religious opinions. Who
could foretell the limit of their joint progress? He