ith Wells asking about the Fall,
"Tell me, did it really happen?" to which Chesterton briefly replied,
"Yes."

I imagine he thought he and the other writers had said this several
times already, but in fact they had not. Perhaps they did not realise
where the beginning must be made in instructing otherwise instructed
men on the subject of Catholicism. It is all very interesting and
curious. But it largely explains why Bernard Shaw found it hard to
believe that Gilbert believed in Transubstantiation. Has any Catholic
ever explained the philosophic meaning of Transubstantiation to the
Great old Irish Man of English Letters? Even Gilbert was perhaps too
much inclined simply to play the fool in high-spirited fashion with
those who attacked the Faith in his paper or other papers. But then
how well he played it!

Here are some imaginary interviews on

. . . the recently discovered traces of an actual historical Flood:
a discovery which has shaken the Christian world to its foundations
by its apparent agreement with the Book of Genesis. . . .

The Dean of St. Paul's remarked: "I do not see that there is any
cause for alarm. Protestantism is still founded on an impregnable
rock: on that deep and strong foundation of disbelief in the Bible
which supports the spiritual and intellectual life of all true
Christians today. Even if dark doubts should arise, and it should
seem for the moment as if certain passages in the Scripture story
were true, we must not lose heart; the cloud will pass: and we have
still the priceless possession of the Open Bible, with all its
inexhaustible supply of errors and inconsistencies: a continual
source of interest to scholars and a permanent bulwark against
Rome. . . ."

Mr. H. G. Wells exclaimed: "I am interested in the Flood of the
future: not in any of these little local floods that may have taken
place in the past. I want a broader, larger, more complete and
coordinated sort of Flood: a Flood that will really cover the whole
ground. I want to get people to understand that in the future we
shall not divide water, in this petty way, into potty little ponds
and lakes and rivers: it will be one big satisfying thing, the same
everywhere. _Apres moi le Deluge_. Belloc in his boorish boozy way
may question my knowledge of French; but I fancy that quotation will
settle him."*

[* March 30, 1929.]

On the favourite topic of mod