The closing of that session of the Scripture Club, in which the nature and reward of righteousness was discussed, did not end the consideration of the subject. Mr. Radley himself determined that, at the next meeting, some one should move the rescinding of his own resolution to allow but one Sunday to a verse of Scripture; and several other members, among them Squire Woodhouse, Mr. Buffle, and Mr. Alleman, determined to put the resolution to death at the first opportunity. In the mean time, no member of the class, who went to and from the city on the little steamerOak-leaf, nor any one who had occasion to visit the local post-office, was allowed to forget the subject, which, not for the first time, caused such widely differing theories to be offered.
"You didn't have an opportunity to express your opinions last Sunday?" said Squire Woodhouse to Mr. Alleman, at the post-office on Monday evening, while the latter awaited the opening of the mail, and the former lay in wait for some one upon whom to expend his pent-up energies.
"No," replied the teacher; "and I doubt whether the expression of them would have done any good. Men are always willing enough to be observers of a quarrel; but to take part in one generally passes for a sign of bad breeding, and the care that men have for the results of their bringing up is, under such circumstances, admirable beyond expression."
"Oh, you're not exactly fair, I think," said the Squire. "Every member of that class thinks the case of faithvs.works is his own; he must be interested in one side or the other, for he believes eternity depends upon it."
"I don't see why any one should have such an idea," said Mr. Alleman. "It doesn't makethe slightest difference which side they take, if they really believe as they claim to do."
"Goodness!" exclaimed the Squire. "Why, areyougoing over to the defense of faith against works? You, who have always been preaching up good works as the whole end of life? I'm afraidI'vebeen in too much of a hurry, for I've been drifting over to your side very, very fast during the past two or three weeks."
"I've not changed my principles in the least," replied Mr. Alleman. "Either belief includes the other, if a man is really sincere in the belief itself."
"Well," said the Squire, with humility, "you scholarly fellows can do sums in your heads at a rate that no common man's ciphering can equal. I thought I'd heard a great deal on this subject, both before I experienced a change and after, but I never could see that there could be any agreement between the two. One set of men say that faith is everything; another say that works are the thing; both sets makefaces when they pass each other on Sunday on their way to their separate churches, and, if I read the religious papers correctly, it's the subject of the greatest religious fighting in the world."
"The fighting is between the men, not the ideas," said Mr. Alleman.
"Having withdrawn from the class," remarked Dr. Humbletop, who also was present, "or, I might say, having never belonged to it, I don't know that I have any right to take part in your conversation, but as this is not a stated session of the class——"
"Even if it was, Doctor, you'd be free to say whatever you liked," interrupted the Squire. "Free speech is the rule of the class on Sundays, and we certainly aren't going to be any narrower out of school than in it. Besides, you've been to a theological seminary, and know the ins and outs of this question. Now, I want to know if I'm not right and Alleman wrong?"
"You certainly are correct in your assumptions," replied the reverend doctor. "The Church, or, more properly speaking, the world and the Church, have always been at war upon this important issue. It has been the cause of battles in which precious human blood was shed, as well as of struggles in which words, fiercer than spears and darts, have been the weapons used, and souls instead of bodies were to be counted among the killed and wounded."
"And the Church," remarked young Mr. Waggett, as he tore the wrapper from a religious newspaper, which the postmaster had just handed him, "our Church has decided in favor of justification by faith, as the only sure way of salvation. Other churches——"
"There are no other churches," said Dr. Humbletop. "There are societies, containing many well-meaning persons, which have works as a basis of organization. They have built edifices for worship, founded colleges and schoolsfor the education of youth in their ideas, established newspapers, settled persons who, by courtesy, are called pastors, and formed societies which do much toward the amelioration of the physical condition of unfortunate humanity. The respect which they manifest toward portions of the Word of God renders it impossible to deny that they possess religious feeling and aspiration; but to admit that they constitute a portion of the body of which Christ is the head, is impossible. These persons, individually and in their associated capacity, war against the distinctive doctrine of the Church, which is, that Christ died for all men to make atonement for sin, that all men may become partakers in the benefits of this saving act by acknowledging him to be their Lord and Saviour."
"There—I told you so," said the Squire to the teacher.
"The Doctor has suggested a point of difference between the two great sections of the Protestant Church," said Mr. Alleman; "butthat was not the subject upon which we were talking."
"Why, yes, it was," said Builder Stott, who had been listening, while pretending to be otherwise engaged. "I heard every word of it."
Mr. Alleman gave an impatient start. "I said the disagreement was between men, and not between ideas. Our good champion of orthodoxy, the Doctor, cannot, with due respect to his Maker, admit that there are any works of real value that are not prompted by a true belief in the principles enounced by Jesus. Faith implies trust; trust of the inferior in the superior signifies a willingness to be guided: the guidance of a Being in whose wisdom and love we have unlimited confidencemustbe followed, if we really believe His utterances, and believe our own nature to be as imperfect and sinful as we profess to think it is."
"Ah!" said Dr. Humbletop, "theories of human action may be very beautiful, but that very imperfection and sinfulness of man makes themof no effect. Logically, Mr. Alleman is perfectly correct, and, from his very assertions, the Church deduces the argument whereby she brings reason to the support of inspiration. Man is so imperfect, so sinful, so depraved, that, when he would do good, evil is ever present with him. This condition of man shows the absolute need of a Saviour, and, of course, a loving God will not allow his children to lack anything which they really need. Thus the need and the existence of a Saviour are established, by their interdependence upon each other."
"That is hardly the point of our conversation," said Mr. Alleman. "The question between us was, whether there was not a similar interdependence between faith and works; whether, as either of them logically implies the other, either is not logically inclusive of the other."
"Works include faith?" exclaimed Builder Stott. "Well, excuse me, but my time is valuable, and I guess I'll be moving. I always liketo get hold of a real idea about religion, but that notion is too far-fetched for anything. Why, according to you, a Unitarian or a heathen, if he does good, is a child of God and a partaker of the promises. Christ might as well not have lived and died, if that is all his work amounted to."
Mr. Stott started, and Squire Woodhouse exclaimed, "Why don't you keep him?"
"Because," said Mr. Alleman, with a peculiar smile, "I'm occasionally orthodox enough to believe that some men are predestinated to destruction, and that men, like Stott, who never follow Christ's teachings and dread them as they do Satan, are among the number. Honestly, now, Squire Woodhouse, can you see how a sincere attempt to fulfill the moral injunctions of Jesus Christ and his apostles can fail to lead a man to faith in Christ and the Father? When a system of morality is given, which, in terms and results, is so far above the morality of the world that the world shrinksfrom it, yet which in practice proves to be correct, do you suppose it is possible to doubt the higher inspiration of the giver? Did any mere law-giver ever enjoin unselfishness? Is unselfishness natural? Does not its practice, and the spiritual influence which is felt in return for its practice, raise a man to a plane of wisdom, tenderness, and strength, such as has never been reached in any other way? Have not honest disbelievers in great numbers, when they have attempted a higher morality than that of the world in general, fallen back upon Christ as their only available teacher, and been led to him, either by desperation or sympathy, or both?"
The Squire had not read as much as Mr. Alleman in the controversial theological literature of the day, and he could not reply from actual knowledge, but he said:
"I don't know, but I'll take your word for it. I know that although I'm a church member, and pretend to be led by the Spirit, there have beenonly once in a while times when I've got outside of business rules about matters of time and money, and that, when these times have come, I've felt nearer to God than I've ever done even when I've been in trouble."
"Then you understand my meaning," said Mr. Alleman. "There is no difference between faith and works, providing both are rendered in sincerity, for neither of them can help leading to the other. And as you have seen the truth of this fact by personal experience, you are just the man who should support me in the effort which I hope to make next Sunday to impress this truth upon the class, not for the sake of presenting a new theory for discussion, but to join conflicting ideas for the good of man and the glory of God."
"I frankly admit," said Dr. Humbletop, "that friend Alleman's idea is a beautiful one—so beautiful that it could not have been conceived without inspiration from on high. But should it prevail in society instead of beingconfined to the individual breast, its results can hardly fail to be disastrous. What will restrain depraved humanity from neglecting the offer of salvation by faith in Christ, and devote itself to working out its own salvation? How many souls will be lost if the fear of eternal suffering is not held before them, and if they attempt to begin through work, and finish ere the blessed time of change comes?"
"If they can trust to God's mercy while they are mere beggars for help," said Mr. Alleman, "they can certainly do it while they are endeavoring to help themselves and Him. Unless," continued Mr. Alleman, with an impatient gesture, "unless God can seem to you to be nothing but a vengeful monster—unless he has at some unknown time withdrawn all his merciful promises to those who do righteousness and walk uprightly."
"My dear young friend," said Dr. Humbletop, who had slowly been dropping his head backward and adding intensity to the solicitudeexpressed by his stare, "do you know that you have taken upon yourself the authority to urge men from the new dispensation back to the old, and thus to set back the work of grace for two thousand years? Do you not know that the law alone was found to be insufficient?"
"Doyounot know," said Mr. Alleman, "that by that assertion you impugn the wisdom of the Almighty?"
"God forbid!" exclaimed the doctor, starting backward so abruptly that he nearly overturned the post-office stove. "The law was given as it was on account of the hardness of men's hearts, as Christ himself expressly states."
"True," said Mr. Alleman, "and 'the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men to repent.' When the law was insufficient to the needs of mankind, God sent another law-giver in the person of Christ. And men might have obeyed him to a greater extent than they do, had not the Church taken theposition that the need of man was of more consequence than duty to God, and that saving one's self—which human selfishness is abundantly able to look out for without being urged to it—is of more consequence than complying with the desires of Christ, and through Christ, God."
"Salvation possible through human selfishness!" ejaculated Dr. Humbletop.
"That's the sentiment which the church most appeals to," said Mr. Alleman.
"The central truth of inspiration, revelation, and the atonement only a concession to the fears and personal desires of mankind!" continued the doctor. "Oh, horrible, horrible!"
"Itishorrible," said Mr. Alleman, "that a strong organization like the Church, with respectability, morality, tradition, and authority on its side, should teach such a doctrine; but your own sermons, which I have found to be models of logic, though based upon false premises, prove the truth of your condensation of mystatements. Men are urged, not to righteousness as taught by prophets, apostles, and the Master himself, but to take the best possible care of Number One—urged to something which the most miserable savage alive knows is dictated by the strongest instinct of his nature. What must Christ, remembering the intensity and agony of his earthly efforts, think of the Church?"
Dr. Humbletop assumed, slowly, his pulpit manner, and at length replied:
"My dear friend—for dear I must call you in remembrance of your many self-denying efforts for the good of mankind—I must decline to discuss this subject any further with you. For two thousand years the Church of Christ has endured, and guided itself according to the words of Christ himself—"
"All of his words, or only such of them as have been fullest of promise of safety?" interrupted Mr. Alleman.
"All of them," boldly replied the doctor."The Church has taught everything that Christ did. I, myself, have preached from every verse of Christ's sermon on the Mount."
"But you have carefully avoided the literal meanings of these verses in nearly every instance," said Mr. Alleman.
"I have attached to each one such meaning as the Spirit has indicated to me," said the doctor, with rather chilling dignity. "And I would further say that I have treated them according to the habit of the Church during the nineteen centuries that have nearly elapsed since Christ appeared. If I had taught from my own understanding alone, I might have had misgivings; but with countless prophets, apostles, and martyrs to whom to look for example, I have felt secure in my position. You cannot, therefore, expect me to accept your views as opposed to those of the whole body of Christian teachers. The experience of the world is always of value in teaching the teacher what to do and say, and that experience—"
"Is always based upon selfishness," interrupted Mr. Alleman.
"And that experience," continued Dr. Humbletop, "has been that the atonement made by Christ is the all in all of Scripture."
The doctor called for his letters, bowed in a dignified manner to Mr. Alleman and the Squire, and departed.
Let no one blame Dr. Humbletop for his lack of clear vision. A more honest, conscientious, and generous soul could not be found in Valley Rest. Receiving an income which to many of his acquaintances would have seemed insufficient to a man of good breeding and refined tastes, he found ways of devoting more than a tithe of it to charities either private or public. He was always ready to forego his own tastes and inclinations in order to visit the sick, counsel the troubled, or pray with the dying; his voice and vote were never lacking in affairs of public interest, and they were always used in the interest of the highest morality. But thedoctor had been born and bred under a religious system which he had been taught was to be accepted, not changed, and not even to be questioned. To him, as to the wise Solomon, the law of the Lord was perfect, the difference between the two men being that the doctor found the whole law in the letter of a single department of it, instead of in the Spirit, and that this peculiarity of his mind had come to him by birth, been strengthened by a special education, and established by habit. Whenever he for a moment questioned his belief, he very naturally contemplated the many generations of wiser men who had accepted beliefs like his own, and in their wisdom and their interpretation of Scripture his soul rested.
And yet Squire Woodhouse was moved to say to Mr. Alleman:
"It seems to me the doctor begs the question."
Conversation upon the lesson of the previous Sunday was not confined to the quartette that met at the village post-office. Most of the members of the club went to the city on Monday morning on the little steamerOak-leaf. The radicals among them were eager for a renewal of the fray, and the orthodox were not at all averse to displaying their defensive abilities. Indeed, President Lottson stood at the wharf, newspaper in hand, for the express purpose of encountering Broker Whilcher, and provoking him to make an attack. The broker finally appeared, accompanied by his wife and children; but the presence of non-combatants did not discourage the Soldier of the Cross, who had been too long in the insurance business to be willing to lose any chanceof strengthening his own protection against risk in another world. Broker Whilcher met him boldly; he sent hisimpedimentapromptly to the rear—to wit, the ladies' saloon—and prepared for the combat which he knew was approaching.
"I suppose you think you whipped us yesterday," said President Lottson, by way of opening shot.
"It was too clear a case to depend upon supposition only," said the broker; "but if you've any doubts on the subject I've no objections to helping defeat you again."
"Seriously, Whilcher," said the president, leading his antagonist to atête-à-tête, "do you realize what comes of all this nonsense? You profess to be a free-thinker, so I won't ask you to meet me on my own ground, which is that the new dispensation furnishes a substitute for the old; I'll only ask you to look at the matter from your own rationalistic point of view. A man must live up to his beliefs, if heisa man."
"True enough," replied the broker. "I wish your parson would admit the same, and preach accordingly. I wouldn't be cheated quite so often by his parishioners."
"Business is business," said the president. "You don't ever let any of the theories of your new-fashioned philosophy stand in the way of your making a good trade, do you?"
"No, I can't say that I do," replied the broker.
"And yet," said Mr. Lottson, "you believe in the theory of the reign of law—a law which cannot be broken without danger of severe penalty. Now whether Christ was God or only man, you've got to obey the law under penalty of punishment, unless there is some other way of satisfying it. Therefore, why not accept a belief that leaves you as free to believe in the law, to admire its wisdom and beauty, as you are now? Putting the thing in a business light, you change no beliefs—you simply take on a new one."
"I'll profess to believe nothing but what I understand," declared the broker.
"You believe in geography, don't you?" asked the president, "and in history, astronomy, chemistry, zoölogy—all the sciences, in fact? You swear by Darwin, yet you certainly don't pretend to understand all that he writes about."
"I accept his conclusions, because I believe in his wisdom and honesty," said the broker. "Of course I don't profess to be able to follow him through his scientific experiments."
"Exactly," said the president. "And you believe that Christ and the apostles were honest, don't you?"
"Yes—as honest ashumanbeings ever are," said the broker.
"That means as honest as Darwin and Spencer, then," said Mr. Lottson. "Then why not believe them as well as your scientific teachers?"
"Because——" said Mr. Whilcher, and hesitated.
"Because other peopledo," continued Lottson, "and it wouldn't seem scholarly to accept that which was taught and accepted by men whose demonstrations were not made by the assistance of material things. If you stick to your ideas, men will hold you to them. You can't live up to them in your business; you'll lose money if you try it, and you'll be called a fool for your pains. Why don't you be consistent? There's no consistency between morals and business excepting through the medium of the Christian belief. Believe what you choose so long as you believe in a First Cause, be one of us, accept the promises that were made to provide for your condition as well as that of every other man that finds a constant disagreement between life and law. Then you'll at least have done what is the business duty of every man—you'll have provided against the dangers which you don't fear, and yet daren't defy for fear they may exist."
"That's a cold-blooded way of putting it, anyway," remarked the broker, after a moment or two of thought, which was apparently amusing.
"I don't deny it," said the president, "but reason is always cold-blooded. You don't pretend that in your darling scientific hobbies it's anything else, do you? You free-thinkers claim to monopolize reason; but you can't help seeing that religion deals in it just as much as science does, and that it leads men to the church as truly as it does to the study. And I want it to lead you to us, as it is bound to do if you're as fair as you pretend to be."
"You want me to be a religionist, do you?" asked Whilcher; "a shouting, sentimental exhorter! What a fine reputation you want me to make—and lose—among my friends!"
"I don't want you to do anything of the sort," said the president. "Did you ever hear ofmeshouting or exhorting?"
Mr. Whilcher laughed long and loud at the mere thought, as would any other of the president's acquaintances have done. The presidentcolored a little and contemplated the matting of the cabin floor, but replied:
"It's nothing to my discredit, nor anything to laugh about. Because excitable people get into the church, drawn there by appeals to their emotional nature, it doesn't prove that noise and talk are necessary results of religion. You don't find any nonsense of that kind in St. Paul's Epistles, do you?Hewas a man after my own heart—a fellow who believed that the laborer was worthy of his hire, who kept himself before the people, who talked solid sense, and explained how easy it was for every man to take advantage of the sacrifice that was made for him. You know the little company there is in the city that insures against accidents? I don't believe you'd lend twenty-five cents on the dollar on its stock—I'll sell you some of their certificates cheaper than that, if you ever want any—but whenever you make a trip out of town I understand you take out one of their policies."
"So I do," said the broker. "It costs verylittle, and it covers a good deal, and may come handy in case of trouble."
"That's exactly the argument in favor of your joining the church," said the president, "excepting that in the latter case a great deal more is promised and the cost is nothing at all."
"Excepting church dues," said the broker, with a quizzical smile.
"Well," said the president, "that's true, but what do they amount to in a question of risk?"
Broker Whilcher reflected profoundly for several moments, and at last said:
"Lottson, I'm inclined to do it; if any one had ever talked solid sense to me about religion I should have been in the Church before. Still, how am I going to solemnly declare before a body of people that I believe things which I really don't believe at all?"
"You must believe them before you declare any belief, and believe them for the reason that you believe thousands of other things—because you are told that they are true. Youbelieve many a thing on the word of worse men than those who wrote the Gospels and Epistles, for these men showed no sign of being on the make, while your business informants do. You are to believe them for lack of any definite information to the contrary, and because there was no selfish object in the eye of any man who gave the words upon which these beliefs are founded."
"I declare, I'll do it!" exclaimed the broker; "but say, Lottson, do you get a commission on church members as you do on insurance risks? Because if you do—halves!"
"Nonsense!" laughed the president. "You'll have to go before the examining committee this week, for next Sunday is the first of the month, and the regular day for the reception of new members."
"Examining committee!" exclaimed the broker. "Whew! I guess I'll change my mind."
"Don't be afraid," said the president. "I'm a member of the committee, myself, and whenI take a candidate in hand, the others are pretty sure to let him alone. I've been in business long enough to know how to treat a man according to his style, I fancy."
The new candidate laughed heartily to himself, stared at the president so intently that he embarrassed the latter; then he shook his head with the air of a man to whom a new revelation had come, and he put a cigar in his mouth and started forward for a contemplative smoke.
As for President Lottson, he quoted to himself, with intense satisfaction, the passage:
"Whoso shall convert a sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins."
Then he searched the boat diligently for Captain Maile, and when he had found him he told him the news with evident exultation, and the captain replied:
"Another crooked stick reserved unto the final burning."
"See here, Maile," said Mr. Lottson, "this isnonsense, and you're the last man who should be guilty of it. Your father and grandfather were among the founders of the church in this section of country."
"That's true," said the captain, "and to save the family reputation from disgrace, I've had to spend some of the money they left me in trying to undo some of the mischief they did."
"Then you're a fool," said the president. "That may sound like plain talk, but it's true; you should have learned, as your ancestors did, that religion is one thing and business is another."
"Oh, I've learned it," said the captain, "and I've also learned that the devil, if there is a devil, is the father of that precious notion, and that it's worth millions to him. Do you suppose I think any more of men because they belong to the church? Do you imagine I look over your policies any less carefully than I do those of Bennett, who don't believe in God, devil, or anybody else? Do you suppose I'lltake Whilcher's word a minute quicker when he gets into the church than I do now? Not a bit of it. The church is the hope of the honest and the mask of the rascally. How did you like the way the lesson went yesterday?"
"I liked the way it ended better than anything else," said the president.
"I knew you would," said the captain; "and if they spring a reconsideration on you next Sunday,won'tyou be disgusted!"
Mr. Buffle had approached the couple as they conversed, and said:
"Gentlemen, what do you think of yesterday's exercises?"
"Both dissatisfied," promptly replied the captain. "Lottson don't like the way they began, and I'm sorry that they ended when they did."
"I'm counting noses to see if we can't secure a reconsideration," said Mr. Buffle. "I don't like the way in which the main question was dodged, and I want to hear more of it."
"Then you'd better go over to the UnitarianChurch," said President Lottson. "They'll talk morality to you there to your heart's content."
"They will in our church, too," replied Mr. Buffle, "unless prevented by trickery. One would suppose that morality was something to be afraid of by the way people dodge talking about it."
Mr. Lottson assumed a very high-toned air, and replied:
"It isn't that morality is feared, but that when men fall to talking about it they forget that there is anything higher."
"Perhaps it's because they never talk about it excepting at the beginning," said Mr. Buffle, "and they're anxious to begin at the bottom, as men have to do in business and everything else, if they really want to learn. I begin to think it's a subject about which there isn't much known. It's often seemed to me in churches that men are very much like the apprentices in my ship-yard; the first thing these boys want to do is to paint the names and designs on thepaddle-boxes, though that's the very last thing we generally attend to. Not one in a hundred of them are ever anxious to know how keels are laid and hulls are shaped."
"That's only business; isn't it, Lottson?" asked Captain Maile. "Business and religion are two very different things, and a smart man like you, Buffle, ought to know it, and not go about arranging for Sunday exercises to torment men into thinking what they ought to do, instead of letting them enjoy a day of holy rest and delight in the contemplation of what they're going to get when they can't stay here any longer to get for themselves."
Mr. Lottson turned abruptly away, and remarked to Mr. Prymm that Captain Maile was the most hardened scoffer he had ever known. He also informed Prymm of the movement in favor of a reconsideration of the lesson of the previous Sunday.
"I shall oppose it," said Mr. Prymm with more than his ordinary decision. "I entered theclass with the hope of learning something of God's will as revealed by the Scriptures; but if it is the desire of the remaining members, or a majority of them, that we shall linger for weeks over single verses, I shall find it more convenient and profitable to devote the corresponding hour of every Sabbath to private study and contemplation."
"I suppose," said President Lottson, noting the approach of Judge Cottaway and Deacon Bates elbow to elbow, the latter looking very solemn and the judge exceedingly bored, "I suppose it will be like Cottaway to insinuate that the matter should be talked over and over again until doomsday. It takes a lawyer to string a subject out until he doesn't know the end of it when he sees it."
"Lawyers like the judge have some faculties which we might imitate with profit," said Mr. Buffle. "They believe in listening to all the evidence and determining accordingly. Evidence seems a something which the membersof this class are afraid of, and practice based upon it is still more terrifying. Ah, good morning, judge—we want to have another talk next Sunday on the subject of yesterday's lesson, and knowing your experience in sifting evidence, we would be very grateful if you would charge your conscience with the case, and become responsible for it."
"If the rule can be suspended, I shall be glad to throw upon it such light as I can," said the judge.
"We were talking, gentlemen," said Deacon Bates, "upon the spiritual significance of righteousness. I suggested, and the judge was pleased to agree with me, that righteousness had a spiritual as well as a merely moral significance."
"It certainly has," said President Lottson promptly, "and if for a while we could divest ourselves of the materialistic notions which prevail as badly in the Church as out of it, we would obtain some new light on this subjectwhich is so puzzling when considered only by the human mind. We would realize that with the prince of this world Christ has nothing to do; that while in the world we are under the dominion of the world."
"And that our real life does not begin until we are with God," said Deacon Bates, by way of supplement. "This world is a place of preparation for another, and it is what we are to do and be in that blessed sphere that Christ came to teach us. The things of this world are really the unreal—only the things which are unseen are eternal. How much righteousness had the crucified thief who rebuked his fellow for reviling Christ? Yet to him were spoken the words which every Christian longs to hear, 'This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.' Belief in Christ, longing for him and his glory, are what should occupy our thoughts while on earth."
"And do it so closely that we shall have an opportunity to follow him. Of course when aman believes in a presidential candidate, he believes and does nothing else. He doesn't vote for him, act according to his political theories, spend money for him, or any such nonsense. He merely believes in him, and does or leaves undone everything else, feeling sure that it's the candidate's business to make everything come right. That isn't the way you gentlemen talked last campaign, though."
The deacon smiled pityingly. "There you go again," said he, "mixing the temporal and the spiritual, though they're not the slightest bit alike."
"Certainly not," said Captain Maile; "so it's heretical to try to bring heavenly influences to bear upon earthly things. You want people to understand that God is not God of the living, but of the dead, though that wasn't the way Christ said it when he was alive."
Each man put on a pugnacious face, and betook himself to his own reflections, and these lasted until the boat touched her pier in the city.
When the Scripture Club assembled on the following Sunday, it was in a manner somewhat more quiet and less cordial than usual. Mr. Jodderel volunteered the opening prayer, and then Deacon Bates began to read the fifth beatitude, when Mr. Radley said:
"Mr. Leader, a majority of the class would like to hear a further discussion of the last subject. As the original mover of the resolution restricting the class to one Sunday to a verse, which motion I made with the almost unanimous support of the class, it is fitting that I should take the initiative in securing a further hearing upon any subject of which the majority have not heard enough. I therefore move thatthe rule referred to be rescinded for one Sunday, and that we continue the discussion of the fourth beatitude."
"Second the motion," said Squire Woodhouse.
"Mr. Leader," exclaimed Mr. Jodderel, "I object. The time of this class should be spent upon the consideration of subjects according to their relative importance. If the nature and whereabouts of the Kingdom of Heaven is worth only a single hour of discussion, this minor question of righteousness certainly isn't entitled to any more. I must oppose the resolution."
"It was apparently very unwise to adopt such a rule," remarked Mr. Prymm, "if only to be rescinded or suspended whenever the curiosity of any of the members may desire it. We are adults instead of children, and cannot afford, for the sake of consistency, the abrogation of this rule, especially when every one present has unlimited informal and social opportunities fordiscussion, as, indeed, they have already been doing all week long."
Mr. Prymm looked appealingly toward President Lottson, but that gentleman seemed in the depths of a gloomy reverie, and unwilling to be disturbed. For Mr. Lottson's convert had relapsed; he had, before the evening on which the examining committee met, dropped a note to Mr. Lottson, saying that the longer he meditated upon the matter the more he felt that the proposed action would be hypocritical; that if the church would not detect the hypocrisy, the rest of the world would, and he preferred to retain the respect of his friends. This note of Broker Whilcher's had not only inflicted disappointment upon President Lottson, but it had brought him some tormenting anxieties. If Whilcher, who was a shrewd observer of men, really meant what he said, was it not possible and probable that he, President Lottson, who believed all that he had asked the broker to believe, and very little more, might also belooked upon as a hypocrite? He knew that his reputation in his own church was not all that he could have wished it to be; but, looked at in sober earnest, his church, to his eyes, consisted of such of its members as were city business men, like himself; there was still another element in the church, however, and it was numerically the largest, which judged a man by his professions, and Mr. Lottson trusted that among these he still retained his respect. But then came a more annoying thought. Business was business, and business men would take no man's word any the more implicitly because he was a church member. Could it be possible that among these he passed not only for a business man of ordinary morality, but as a hypocrite too? Was he not really honest in his beliefs? He certainly was; he could lay his hand on his heart and swear honestly that every religious belief he possessed he had acquired by the exercise of his best logical faculties. Why, then, should he be considered hypocritical? Could itbe possible that the world saw something more in the Bible than church members like himself did? Certainly not. How could the world do anything of the sort? It had never studied the Bible as he had done, and as fathers of the faith, with whom he had never for a moment dared to compare himself, had done. And then to have a prolonged consideration of the late lesson go on in his hearing while he felt as he did! It was unendurable. He would have departed silently and without explanation, and betaken himself to Dr. Humbletop's class, had he not previously informed Builder Stott that he would remain and look after orthodox interests in the club.
But as he reached this point of his reflections, Mr. Prymm's remarks ended, and his eye caught Mr. Prymm's, and the exasperating character of the doctrine of non-paying works seemed more unendurable to him than ever, so he controlled himself, rose to his feet, and said:
"Mr. Leader, in the interest of Christianity,as defined by the Master, I also object to the further consideration of this subject, if it is urged with the spirit that has been manifested. Christ said, 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light,' but some of the members of this class remind me of the Pharisees of whom Christ said that 'they bound upon men's shoulders burdens grievous to be borne.' If religion was made for anything, it was made for belief and use in this present world; I object, therefore, to its being made to appear so unlovely and severe that those who most need it are frightened from it. Those of us who believe would never have done so had we supposed that men would be allowed to set aside Christ's merciful words, and establish the commandments—the notions—of men in their place. I believe as thoroughly in righteousness as any man, but I don't care to sit here and listen to its meaning being changed by men who care more for their own opinions than they do for the commandments of God. And so I shall vote against the resolution, andask all others to do so, if they believe in the righteousness of God instead of that of man."
"I don't see why it's a Scriptural subject at all," said Mr. Hopper, relinquishing for a moment his hold upon the review containing the article on "The True Location of the Holy Sepulchre." "It was announced by Jesus, I know; but it was before he made that atonement which set aside mere human righteousness as a requisite to salvation. I move we drop the subject."
"The gentleman's motion is not in order, unless in the form of an amendment," said Deacon Bates.
"Mr. Hopper's suggestion that this beatitude was given before the atonement was made," said young Mr. Waggett, "is so original and so full of practical interest that I should like to hear a further discussion of the subject, if only to see whether this point cannot be substantiated—or, rather, whether it can be successfully opposed."
President Lottson leaned over the back of young Mr. Waggett's chair, and whispered:
"Don't make an ass of yourself.Ican see where this thing is bound to lead us, if you can't; vote the other way when the question is put."
A moment or two of silence ensued, and then Deacon Bates put the question to vote. A strong response of "Ay!" was soon followed by an equally noisy "No!" and some one called for a rising vote. Up rose Judge Cottaway, Squire Woodhouse, Broker Whilcher, Mr. Radley, Principal Alleman, Mr. Buffle, Lawyer Scott, Dr. Fahrenglotz, and Captain Maile, nine in all, while for the negative there were but seven votes, Mr. Bungfloat and young Banty keeping their seats during both votes, the former with a helpless expression of countenance, and the latter with a contemptuous smile.
"The ayes have it," said the leader, and Builder Stott, who, until that moment, had listened at the key-hole, hurried off to Dr.Humbletop's class-room and stated that the club was determined on carrying free speech into the ground and the club with it.
"Mark my words," said the builder, "the Scripture Club is as good as dead."
The discussion was opened by Judge Cottaway, according to the special request of the founder of the club, and the old jurist spoke as follows:
"Estimated according to the rules of evidence, the requirement for righteousness never ends in the Holy Scriptures, and never can end while the Church hold the revealed will of God as an authoritative rule of guidance. The law was the topic of lawgivers, prophets, the Psalmist, the wise Solomon, and all of them regarded it as the only substitute for the personal presence and command of God. Christ never failed to hold it up for reverence and obedience, excepting when minor points of it were of less vital importance than that of those for whose direction it was given."
"That's it, exactly," interrupted Mr.Jodderel. "The law was made for man, not man for the law, and when man can't live according to the law, the law must give way, as it did by express command when Christ condemned the Jews for rebuking the disciples when they plucked corn on the Sabbath day."
"I imagine that it was more for the sake of rebuking hypocrisy than to defend the improvidence of his disciples that Christ spoke as he did on the occasion referred to," said the judge. "But he declared the binding force of the law more than once, and he not only urged it upon the people, but increased its scope and severity by explaining that obedience should not be only to the letter, but to the spirit of the heavenly commands. Mercy, love, and compassion are not at all inconsistent with the closest application of the law, though men have strangely come to imagine that they are. In this same matchless sermon we are studying you will find his definition of some methods of violating the seventh commandment. The spiritual rulefrom which Christ deduced these conclusions may be applied to all the other commandments with results equally startling. 'Thou shalt not steal,' is the simple letter of the eighth commandment, but according to the new method prescribed by Christ for the translation of the law according to Moses, to deprive a man of his peace, of his patience, of his faith in mankind, even if done in ways permissible in business circles, is as truly theft as is the depriving a man of his money by actual robbery. And as I am a member of the bar, as I have been a law-maker, and an adjudicator of legal questions, I feel that I am severe upon no one more than my own old self, when I say that to recover the amount of a debt by legal means which compel the debtor to part with property of value several times greater than that of the property upon which the debt is based, is theft of the most heinous description, for even under the most merciful construction of the most careless law, the only theft at all pardonable isthat of small amounts in cases of dire necessity; whereas my experience in legal collections is that not once in a hundred times are they made excepting of men in the direst distress, and of utter inability to pay."
"But Christ mercifully forbore to give such interpretations to all the commandments," said Mr. Jodderel, "and I have always thought his refraining from doing so was one of the sure proofs of his divinity. Of course he saw the people around him—his own disciples, even—doing hundreds of things that were wrong; but he knew their natures were too feeble to live up to the holy ideas which were natural enough toHim, so he said little, except to exhort them to sin no more."
"Very true," said the judge, "but since then the Christian world has had the benefit of nearly twenty centuries of growth under the instructions of Christ. Men have grown less animal, more intellectual; less brutal, more spiritual. The passions and appetites that onceseemed uncontrollable have come more and more under restraint under the influence of generations of right living. Men nowadays endure physical discipline from which the ascetics of Christ's time, or even of the middle ages, would have shrunk with fear. The world is lamentably full of wickedness and weakness, but it has now what it didnothave when Moses gave his law—it has in every community one or more men who show by right living what a perfect control man may exert over his lower faculties, or, rather, over the lower developments of faculties which in the clearer light of to-day develop into noble virtues. But the stronger sins die hardest, so to-day we find, in communities where murder is unheard of, Sabbath-breaking unknown, profanity unspoken, and the greater crimes mentioned in the Decalogue seldom or never brought to light—in such localities we find the greed of gain made the excuse of unfair dealings between man and man; it stirs upstrife more vicious than that which took place when the civilized world was one grand camp, and when to kill a man for his possessions was a deed praiseworthy rather than otherwise, especially when the victim might, with any excuse, be called an enemy."
"One might suppose, from the judge's remarks, that the world had but one sin—and only one virtue," said Mr. Jodderel.
"According to Scripture," exclaimed the judge, "thereisbut one virtue, for it includes all others. Its name is Love—will the gentleman remember that the assertion is Christ's, and not mine? There is more than one sin, truly; but not one of the dreadful number could exist were the one virtue practiced as it should be. And this brings me back to the leading idea of the lesson, from which I have unintentionally been diverted toward specialties. And yet, I know not how better to explain the nature of righteousness according to the law, than to continue in use the illustration that I have beenusing—the treatment, by each other, of men in their business affairs. For there are but few relations of men that cannot be classified under business heads. By implication, sins against self and nature belong in the same category, for the man who impairs in any way his own physical and mental capital, injures to a greater or less extent the whole community in which he resides. To save man and to bless him is the whole aim of the law, for it is only by man in his proper condition that God can be fully glorified. Thus regarded, the way of righteousness can never seem hard, tiresome, or narrow—it is rather the only highway which is always delightful. The promise given, therefore, in this beatitude is the most precious in the whole Bible, for there is no good it does not include, nor any evil which it does not help us to shun."
"That's the first satisfactory description I ever heard of the law," remarked Mr. Radley. "I wonder why other men—preachers, even—never talk about it in the same way."
"They'd lose all their wealthy pew-holders if they did," answered Captain Maile.
"Not all," said Mr. Buffle, "at least, not ifI'mas well off in this world's goods as I think I am. And I don't propose to forget what I have heard."
"It is very evident, however," said President Lottson, "that Christ knew that this idea of the law—which I admit to be as sound as it is beautiful—could never be fulfilled by man, or he would never have considered it necessary to make an atonement for sin, and urge people to accept it, instead of trying to be saved by righteousness alone. The gentleman lays great stress upon the failings of business men. They exist about as he has painted them, but had he spent his own life in business instead of among the abstractions of a learned profession, he would see the other side of the case, which is that business is selfish, that it cannot be otherwise, and that man's only hope lies in Christ's promises."
"Only hope of what?" asked Squire Woodhouse.
"Of salvation, of course," replied the president.
"Then, what about the world?" asked Mr. Radley. "Is nothing to be doneherefor God—and man? Did we come into the world for no purpose but to get out of it in the best shape we can? Has God no purposes to fulfill here, or did he only make this wonderful combination of beauty and utility, that we call the world, to be a mere stage for blundering and wrong-doing?"
"No," answered young Mr. Waggett; "it is to fit us all for entrance to the glorious company of angels, prophets, and martyrs."
"We had better all die in infancy then," said Mr. Radley, "before we've been unfitted for such society, and been compelled to begin all over again. What a contemptible blunderer God must be, if the common religious idea of the use of the world is correct!"
"Gentlemen," said Mr. Alleman, "it seems to me that this class has by this time plainly indicated its religious measure. We have met together many times; we have expressed our own views, and listened to many others; we have individually indicated considerable ability and ingenuity; but I am unable to discover that even a respectable minority have changed their beliefs. Of the sincerity of belief of those who have spoken there can be no doubt; but something more than ability and sincerity is necessary to retain usefulness for a body of men, who are determined to approach intellectually no nearer to each other. As we cannot agree intellectually, why can we not do so morally, and establish for the class a higher motive than can be furnished by religious curiosity or tenacity of special theological opinions? Free speech has been the distinctive feature of the class, but all that freedom of expression can gain for us has already been gained. Why cannot we, therefore, form anew and solemn compact that we will, each one according to his own special religious belief and light, strictly order our lives according to the moral ideas which we all admit are found in the Bible and are above criticism?"
"What!" exclaimed Mr. Jodderel, "and turn a religious organization into a society for the encouragement of mere morality? None for me!"
"I should consider such a course as religiously suicidal, if not blasphemous," declared Mr. Prymm.
"The man who does it can bid good-bye to his property," said Mr. Hopper, "and I, for one, am determined to give a good account of my stewardship."
"He can bid good-bye to his chance of salvation, too," said young Mr. Waggett, "if he's not going to think more of it than he does of mere morality."
"Good-bye to his fun, too," suggested young Mr. Banty.
"If we cannot leave all to follow Him," remarked Deacon Bates, who had once felt himself called to mission work, but successfully resisted the call, "it would certainly be unseemly to do so for the sake of mere worldly righteousness."
"'Twould revolutionize society," said Lawyer Scott, "and no man should attempt such a thing without the most careful preparation."
"Doesn't Herbert Spencer say something about morality being at the top of everything?" asked Mr. Buffle of Broker Whilcher.
"Ye—es," said the broker; "but he considers that it's wrong to sacrifice one's business, as I'd have to do to live according to the plan suggested."
"If Christ had intended that morality should have been so much," said President Lottson, "he would have talked more about it, and less about other things. He knew what the world needed, what it could stand, and what it couldn't."
"As if he wasn't all the while insisting uponmorality," exclaimed Mr. Alleman. "Captain Maile, you're certainly with us! You've always talked as if you were."
The captain made a wry face.
"I've talked against hypocrisy—that's what I've done," said he. "I've got no special religious belief myself, but I hate to see holes in those of other people."
"I," said Dr. Fahrenglotz, "would yield adherence to such a system, were it not that men disagree as to what morality is, and I do not wish to subject myself to any arbitrary rule or agreement. The soul of man should be free."
Judge Cottaway arose and gave his hand to Mr. Alleman, and several members affected to consider this action as a sign that the meeting had adjourned. The party dispersed more rapidly than it had ever done before, and left the judge, the principal, the Squire, Mr. Buffle, and Mr. Radley talking to each other.
When next the Scripture Club convened there were visible some vacant places. Mr. Alleman was not there, and Mr. Prymm had betaken himself to Dr. Humbletop's class, where he might study the Word of God without perplexing annoyances from those who could not, for even an hour in a week, and that hour on the Sabbath day, let the world out of their thoughts. Several of the members had endeavored to dissuade Mr. Prymm from his intention, but he remained firm. Broker Whilcher went back to his Unitarian brethren, but even among them he was noted as having lost his old interest in the brotherhood of man and the rights of humanity. Young Mr. Banty drifted off to nowhere in particular; but for weeks hetold to every irreligious acquaintance the story of the difficulties in the Scripture Club, and great was the sinful hilarity excited thereby.
The difference of opinion on the subject of righteousness had upon the class an effect so peculiar that Dr. Fahrenglotz did not hesitate to express an opinion that free speech was a dead letter, and he thereafter took pains to absent himself from the company of the assumed custodians thereof, although he was frequently and earnestly besought to favor the club with the pure logical aspect of questions, the import of which the members had first obscured by much sophistry.
Judge Cottaway, Squire Woodhouse, Principal Alleman, Mr. Radley, and the founder of the class contracted a habit of meeting informally at each other's residence, and as subscription papers increased in numbers soon after, there was little or no curiosity manifested by their late associates to know what was talked about at these meetings. It was a noteworthy fact,and the subject of much dismal head-shaking among the churchly, that these five men represented four different denominations, and that they finally deprived Father McGarry's flock of a member who had several times listened to the discussions of the club in its earlier days, whom they failed to provide with a new denominational faith in place of his old one.
As for Captain Maile, he was thereafter the most shamefaced and silent man at Valley Rest. He was by no means the first man who had mistaken the critical faculty for character; but he was not a man of large information in the history of the world outside of Valley Rest, so he spent several years of his life in indignant yet humble self-questionings as to his peculiar mental organization. He finally admitted to himself that to keep his fault-finding disposition under control, he must devote more persistent attention to it than he had ever given his better self before. Several years later he identified himself closely with all the practical work of theSecond Church, and distinguished himself as being the man of all others who could accept advice without showing impatience.
But the remainder of the club remained faithful, and they devoted themselves to study with an earnestness that was simply magnificent. They would divide each lesson into sections, and assign a section to each member, which member would in turn collect and present to the class all available information upon the subject, and some of the young lady attendants pronounced some of these addresses more interesting than sermons. Mr. Jodderel naturally took in charge all topics relating to the future state of existence, and as the class imposed no arbitrary distinctions as to time, he found no cause to complain. To President Lottson fell the duty of enlightening the class upon the geography of Palestine, and so thoroughly did he do his work that one of his papers was asked for publication, and copies of it were accepted with thanks by several learned societies. Mr.Prymm, who finally came back to the class after having been assured that for months it had discussed no subject not purely scriptural, made some remarks upon the atonement which were finally collected in a volume entitled "A Layman's Views of Christ's Great Work," and the book received many carefully worded non-committal notices from the religious press, though the bulk of the edition still remains in the storehouse of the publisher. Young Mr. Waggett kept an observant eye for all topics bearing literally upon the subject of salvation. Mr. Hopper found at last an opportunity to read his long-cherished essay upon "The True Location of the Holy Sepulchre," with many notes, suggestions, and emendations by himself. And the class grew in membership and in the number of listeners, and there was never heard in it a personality or a revival of old disputes which had time and again rended the church. Nothing was said in its whole subsequent history whichcould cast discredit upon the daily life of any member, or cause Satan to feel any serious apprehensions for the continued activity of his own business.
THE END.