r to me," the priest replied, "and it is
natural that you should defend your position."

"It is the only position and the only course left to a thinking and a
self-respecting white man," the Major rejoined.

"Yes, I will agree to that, too."

"Ah, and that's the trouble, Mr. Brennon. You agree while you oppose."

"My dear Major, I am not here to oppose, nor to destroy, but to save
fragments when the hour of destruction shall have come."

"But if your church believes that it can save fragments why doesn't it
exert itself to save the whole?"

"Major, salvation comes of persuasion and persuasion is slow."

"Yes, and let me tell you that your form of religion will never become
popular among the negroes. The negro is emotional, and to make a display
of his religious agitation is too great a luxury to be given up. Your
creed entails too much belief and too little excitement; upon the layman
it doesn't confer sufficient importance. The negro must shout and hug.
The quiet mysticism of the divine spirit does not satisfy him. He wants
to be exorcised; he wants what is known as the mourners'-bench jerks. If
his brother loves him he doesn't want a quiet assurance of that fact,
conveyed by a year of conduct; he demands a noisy proof, the impulse of
a moment of joy."

With a slow shake of his head old Gid confirmed this view, and the
priest looked on, gravely smiling. "You have now touched upon a mistaken
phase of the negro's character," said he. "And to make my point clear, I
must speak plainly with regard to the appearance of our form of worship.
I must present it as it impresses the ignorant and the superstitious. In
doing so I make myself appear almost irreverent, but in no other way can
I show you the possibilities of my work among the colored race. Mystery
appeals to the negro. Behind all mystery there is power. Under the
influence of the sensationalist the negro may shout, demand an impulsive
proof of love, hug his brother; but in his heart God is a fearful and
silent mystery. And the Catholic church shows him that the holy spirit
is without noise. In the creation of the great tree there has not been a
sound; all has been the noiseless will of God. It is not difficult to
show him that ours was the first church; it may be shown that the
Protestant Bible held him a slave; and above all we prove to him that in
the Catholic church there is no discrimination against his color, that a
negro may become a Cardinal. We convince