A* 
 
 --;% 
 
 
 r 
 
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 M 
 
^ THE 
 
 SCRIPTURE CLUB 
 
 Of Valley Rest 
 
 0& 
 
 SKETCHES OF EVERYBODY'S 
 NEIGHBOURS 
 
 By the Author op 
 " The Barton Experiment^' ''Helen's Babies;' Etc. 
 
 BELFORD BROTHERS 
 
 Toronto, Ontario. 
 
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 Hi') 
 MS 
 
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 - .~ -!.<• 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 [ ' '^ 
 
 I A Liberal Movement i 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 Some Spiritual Differences 20 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 Free Speech 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 A Solemn Hour Completely Spoiled 60 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Familiar Sounds 78 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Builder Stott Saves the Faith 92 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Free Speech Becomes Annoying 109 
 
 3 
 
Jy CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Aftermath 126 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Doctrine of Insurance 144 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 i Decisive Battle 162 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Conclusion 183 
 
Scripture Club. 
 
 •♦• 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 
 
 THE success of the Second Church of Val- 
 ley Rest was too evident to admit of doubt, 
 and there seemed to be no one who begrudged 
 the infant society its prosperity. Most of its 
 members had come to the village from that 
 Western city known to all its inhabitants as 
 being the livest on the planet, and they had 
 brought their business wits with them. At first 
 they worshiped with the members of the First 
 Church, established forty years before, and with 
 an Indian or two still among its members ; but 
 it soon became evident to old members and 
 new that no single 30ciety could be of sufficient 
 
 - >.-» 
 
everybody's neighbors. 
 
 
 ■i 
 
 ii 
 
 theological elasticity to contain all the worship- 
 ers who assembled in the old building. There 
 were differences of opinion, which, though 
 courteously expressed, seemed great enough to 
 claim conscientious convictions for their bases ; 
 so with a Godspeed as hearty as their welcome 
 had been, the newer attendants organized a 
 new society. They were strong, both numeri- 
 cally and financially, so within a year they had 
 erected and paid for a costly and not hideous 
 church building, settled a satisfactory pastor, and 
 organized a Sunday-school, three prayer-meet- 
 ings, and a sewing society. The activity of the 
 new church became infectious, and stimulated 
 the whole community to good works ; occasion- 
 ally one of the other societies would endeavor to 
 return some of the spiritual favors conferred by 
 the Second Church, but so leisurely were the 
 movements of the older organizations that be- 
 fore they could embody a suggestion in an expe- 
 rience the new church would have discerned it 
 afar off and put it into practical operation. 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 3 
 
 It was in the rapid manner alluded to that the 
 Second Church came finally by a feature which 
 long and gloriously distinguished it. It was 
 I i.5o by the church clock one Sunday morning 
 when Mrs. Buffle, wife of the great steamboat 
 owner, who made his home at Valley Rest, no- 
 ticed her husband's face suddenly illumine as if 
 he had just imagined a model for the best lake 
 packet that ever existed; it was only 12.10, by 
 the same time-piece, when about thirty of the 
 solid* members of the church, remaining after 
 service, gathered in a corner of the otherwise 
 vacant building, and agreed to Mr. Buffle's pro- 
 posal that there should be organized a Bible class 
 especially for adults. 
 
 ** When you think of it," explained the pro- 
 jector, " it really seems as if there'd be no end 
 to its usefulness. I call myself as orthodox a 
 man as you can find in any church, anywhere, 
 but there's lots of things in the Bible that I'm 
 not posted on. I suppose it's the same with all 
 of you ; each of you may have thought a great 
 
■ i 
 
 » 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 if 
 
 ! 
 
 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 deal on some single subject, but you're not up 
 in everything — you haven't sat under preach- 
 ers who talk about everything." 
 
 ** There aren't many preachers who dare to 
 preach about everything," remarked young 
 lawyer Scott, who had in marked degree the 
 youthful appetite for the strongest mental food, 
 and the youthful assumption that whatever can 
 be swallowed is bound to be digested. 
 
 *'Nor that dares to say what he really be- 
 lieves," added Captain Maile, who had' that 
 peculiar mind, not unknown in theology and in 
 politics, which loves a doubt far more dearly 
 than it does a demonstration. 
 
 ** Preachers are like the rest of us," said Mr. 
 Bufifle ; '' they haven't time to study everything, 
 and they have to take a good deal on the say- 
 so of somebody else ; a good many things they 
 may be mistaken about, but they'd better have 
 some idea on a subject than none at all ; once 
 get a notion into their heads and it'll roll around 
 and make them pay attention to it once in a 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 5 
 
 while. And that's just what we need, I think, 
 and it's what brought this Bible class idea into 
 my mind. Each of us will express our minds 
 on whatever may be the subject of the day's 
 lesson, and we'll learn how many ways there are 
 of looking at it. No one of us may change his 
 mind all at once, but if he gets out of his own 
 rut for an hour in a week, he'll find it a little 
 wider and no less safer when he drops into it 
 again." 
 
 ** And perhaps he may get it so wide that 
 there'll be room enough in it for three or four, 
 or half-a-dozen Christians to walk in it side by 
 side, without kicking each other, or eyeing each 
 other suspiciously," suggested Brother Radley, 
 whose golden text always was, '' It is good for 
 brethren to dwell together in unity." 
 
 ** 77/^/'^ it!" exclaimed Mr. Bufifle, his eyes 
 brightening suddenly. '' That's it ! But I don't 
 intend to do all the talking, gentlemen. I sug- 
 gest that such of us as like the idea sign our 
 names to an agreement to meet every Sunday 
 
6 
 
 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 for the purpose specified, and that we imme- 
 diately afterward proceed to elect a teacher." 
 
 ** I don't wish to dampen any honest enthu- 
 siasm for Biblical research ; " said Dr. Humble- 
 top, a genial ex-minister ; " but from some re- 
 marks which have been made it would seem as 
 if doubt — perha^. honest, but doubt for all that 
 — were to have more to do than faith with the 
 motive of the proposed association. What we 
 need — what /feel to need, at least, and what I 
 believe is the case with all who are here present 
 — is to be rooted and grounded in the faith 
 which we profess, I would move, therefore, 
 that if the class is to be informally organized in 
 the manner proposed by Brother Buffle, that at 
 least the creed of our church be appended to 
 the document to which signatures are to be 
 |j| affixed." 
 
 ill *' Mr. Chairman," exclaimed Mr. AUeman 
 
 llii 
 
 m (Principal of the Valley Rest Academy, and 
 
 suspected of certain fashionable heresies), '* I 
 
 object In our congregation — here in this small 
 
 
 I 
 
 ,» ■ 
 
 ■1- i 
 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 7 
 
 gathering, in fact — is a large sprinkling of gen- 
 tlemen who are not members of the church, and 
 who do not accept our creed, though they en- 
 joy worshiping with us : Brother Humbletop's 
 resolution, if put into effect, would exclude from 
 the proposed teachings the very class of men 
 that we profess '"o believe are most in need of 
 religious instruction. The churches are so 
 rigid that a thinking man can scarcely gain ad- 
 mission to them without lying, actually or con- 
 structively : don't let us, in a class like that 
 proposed, follow the example of the Pharisees, 
 those very flowers of orthodoxy — and * lay on 
 men's shoulders burdens grievous to be borne.' 
 If our religion is what we claim it is, let us 
 open our gates wide enough to admit every one 
 who is at all interested to study God's ways as 
 made known through the scriptures.'' 
 
 ** Don't trouble yourself," said Captain Maile, 
 who was as dyspeptic in body as in mind, but 
 was also a keen observer of human nature ; ** I 
 don't see but saints need converting as badly as 
 
ll 
 
 ill 
 
 
 u 
 ^ fa 
 
 
 & everybody's neighbors. 
 
 sinners do, and there's enough of ^/lem to keep 
 you busy. We sinners can find a gathering 
 place somewhere else — perhaps the sexton will 
 think the furnace-room the proper place for us 
 — and we'll take Christian hospitality and great- 
 heartedness as our first subject for discussion." 
 ** You won't do anything of the kind," ex- 
 claimed Squire Woodhouse, one of the old set- 
 tlers who had joined himself to the Second 
 Church to avoid being tormented about what 
 some of the members of the First Church 
 termed his rationalism. '* You're going to meet 
 with us, blow us up all you like, teach us any- 
 thing you can, and make us better in any way 
 you know how to. God Almighty's kingdom 
 isn't any four-acre lot with a high stone wall 
 and a whole string of warnings to trespassers ; 
 his kingdom takes in all out-doors ; every man 
 alive is his child, and got a right to come and 
 go in his Father's house, even if he don't sit on 
 the same style of chair or creep under the same 
 kind of bedclothes that his brothers do. If he 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. ^ 
 
 don't like the meat, or bread, or dessert that 
 somebody else is eating, the table's so full of 
 ether good things that he cant go hungry un- 
 less he insists upon it. There isn't one of you 
 but's got more religion and brains than any of 
 the twelve apostles ever had ; but none of them 
 were ever turned out of the Bible class, though 
 one of them, who was a thief, was man enough 
 to stay away of his own accord, and voluntarily 
 go to judgment." 
 
 '' Churches wouldn't be near so full if all 
 thieves followed Judas's example,'* was the un- 
 gracious remark with which Captain Maile re- 
 ceived this handsome speech ; a hearty laugh 
 took the sting out of the captain's insinuation, 
 however. Meanwhile Mr. Buffle had torn a 
 leaf out of a hymn-book, scrawled a form of 
 agreement thereupon, and passed it around for 
 signatures. When the paper reached Dr. 
 Humbletop, that gentleman said : 
 
 ** Brethren, I sign this paper in the hope that 
 we shall work together for the honor and glory 
 
lo everybody's neighbors. 
 
 of God ; but I distinctly avow and reserve the 
 right to withdraw at any time, should such time 
 come, when my conscience forbids me any 
 ionger to attend." 
 
 Several others, among them Insurance Pres- 
 ident Lottson and Mr. Stott, the well-to-do 
 builder, announced the same reservation, but 
 no one entirely declined to sign. Then Mr. 
 Buffle moved the election of a teacher, and 
 the choice fell upon Deacon Bates, a man of 
 unabused conscience, pure life, extreme ortho- 
 doxy, and an aimless curiosity (which he mis- 
 took for thought) about things Biblical and 
 spiritual. Then Mr. Buffle arose and said : 
 
 " Mr. Chairman — Mr. Teacher, I mean — time 
 is money in the church as well as in the world. 
 It's only 12.30; Sunday-school won't be out 
 until 1.30. I move we select a lesson, and go 
 right to work." 
 
 The motion was put and carried, and in a 
 second Dr. Humbletop was upon his feet 
 
 " I propose,'* said he, " that after the offering 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. It 
 
 of a prayer — an essential which seems to have 
 
 been overlooked by our brethren so zealous in 
 
 good works — that we proceed to the considera- 
 
 « 
 
 tion of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. Let 
 us sit at the feet of one, the latchet of whose 
 shoes no other theologian was ever worthy 
 to unloose, and let us there seek those truths 
 which shall make us wise unto salvation. Let 
 us make ourselves fully acquainted with God's 
 plan for the redemption of sinful man." 
 
 " I move as a substitute," said Mr. Alleman, 
 '* that we begin with the Sermon on the Mount, 
 and learn from the Master instead of the ser- 
 vant." 
 
 The place was a church and the occasion was 
 the study of the Scriptures. But the attendants 
 were only human and they recognized the con- 
 ditions necessary to a fight with many indica- 
 tions of satisfaction ; faces lightened up, eyes 
 rapidly increased in luster, and lips uncon- 
 sciously parted in the manner natural to persons 
 who are gradually abandoning themselves to the 
 
t2 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 influence of an impending pleasure. Men sit- 
 ting to the right, left, and front of the apparent 
 contestants twisted their necks until their eyes 
 commanded the scene ; while good old Major 
 Brayme, who was rather deaf, and had got into 
 a corner for his neuralgia's sake, scented the 
 battle afar off and limped around to a front 
 seat. 
 
 " The question is on the amendment," said 
 the leader, *' unless some brother has still an- 
 other amendment to offer." 
 
 Nobody spoke ; as Captain Maile afterward 
 explained, '* 'twasn't anybody else's fight." Be- 
 sides, Valley Rest was peopled by the race 
 peculiar to all other portions of this terrestrial 
 ball, and one of the instincts of that race, 
 whether savage or civilized, is that it is far more 
 pleasing to be a spectator than a participant in 
 an altercation. 
 
 ** Mr. Leader," said Mr. Alleman after a mo- 
 ment of silence, ** in support of my amendment 
 I wish to say that no one more enthusiastically 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 1 3 
 
 admires than I do the remarkable, almost 
 unique, logical ability of the apostle ; but the 
 very reason which prompted him to give forth 
 that wonderful letf^r to the Romans is the one 
 which I offer in opposition to our studying that 
 same epistle. Paul was originally a shrewd 
 man of the world, and his conversion did not 
 deprive him of his common sense and tact. 
 Writing to the church at Rome — a church 
 whose members, judging by the Roman mental 
 constitution, must have been gained through 
 appeals logical rather than emotional — he met 
 them upon their own ground, and taught them 
 and grounded them in belief through those fac- 
 ulties in them which were most easily reached, 
 and which, more than any others, would retain 
 the impressions formed upon them. Of all that 
 Paul taught we profess to be convinced ; of what 
 Christ taught we are not so well informed, for 
 the reason that it is Paul, rather than Christ, 
 who is preached from the pulpit. But here we 
 are in a world and a state of society in which, 
 
14 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 for righteousness' sake, we are less helped by 
 logically drawn dogma than by earnest injunc- 
 tion and pure example. We do believe ; what 
 we need ij to learn to lead the new life which 
 that belief implies ; we need to have asserted, 
 explained, and impressed upon us the simple 
 but comprehensive rules and gracious promises 
 which Jesus enounced during his life. The 
 Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beati- 
 tudes ; which of us really believes in them as we 
 do in Paul's argument to the Romans ? It con- 
 tinues and concludes with a number of moral 
 injunctions, all of which we practically reject, or 
 at least neglect ; yet these bear directly on our 
 daily intercourse with our fellow-men, and our 
 daily acts of all sorts. Why, St. Paul himself 
 apparently preached after this same model when 
 he had to talk to men of the world whose intel- 
 ligence was not confined to a single groove, for 
 we read that when he preached — talked — to 
 Felix, the governor, he reasoned of righteous- 
 ness, temperance, and the judgment to come. 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 1 5 
 
 Therefore I move, for the good of those here 
 assembled, a- ^^ for the glory of God, that this 
 class proceed to the study of the Sermon on 
 the Mount." 
 
 There was a perceptible rustle and an ac 'e 
 interchange of winks and head-shakings as . .r. 
 Alleman closed ; but a dead silence was restored 
 as Dr. Humbletop slowly rose to his feet, cleared 
 his throat, adjusted his newly-polished glasses, 
 and raised his voice. 
 
 *' My dear friends," said he, ** having been an 
 humble but earnest follower of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ for nearly half a century, I need not on 
 this occasion enter into a defense of myself 
 against any possible insinuation of lack of faith. 
 Nor will any one doubt that I apprehend the 
 great value of the Sermon on the Mount ; some 
 of you will, perhaps, recall a series of sermons 
 which I preached a few years ago upon the 
 Beatitudes. But Jesus Christ was not merely a 
 moral teacher ; his great work was to redeem 
 the world from death by offering himself as a 
 
1 6 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 propitiation for their sins, and submitting him- 
 self unto death, even the shameful death of the 
 cross. His teachings were great, he spake 
 as man never spake before, but all this is as 
 naught compared with the great work which he 
 finished upon Calvary. It is this that we need 
 to study ; it is for this we should love and 
 adore him. * God so loved the world, that he 
 gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth in him should not perish, but have 
 eternal life.* " 
 
 ** I should like to ask Brother Humbletop if 
 personal salvation is the highest motive with 
 which we should study the Bible ? *' said Mr. 
 Alleman. 
 
 It was evident that the question was a poser 
 to the good doctor ; the very convexity and 
 luster of his glasses served only to make his 
 eyes stare more aimlessly at nothing for a mo- 
 m-ent or two. He recovered himself, however, 
 and replied : 
 
 "God, in his generosity, and doubtless in 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 
 
 17 
 
 view of the needs of sinful humanity, has 
 ordered that the salvation of mankind should 
 have been the principal object of Christ's com- 
 ing upon earth ; I am not here to criticise my 
 Maker." 
 
 " And you know that no one else is," re- 
 marked Mr. Alleman, with not inexcusable 
 acerbity. 
 
 " Question ! " exclaimed several voices. The 
 leader put the Question, and the amendment of 
 Mr. Alleman .vas adopted by a considerable 
 majority. Again Dr. Humbletop got upon his 
 feet. 
 
 ** My dear friends," said he, '* I regret at this 
 early hour to part from an association from 
 which I had fondly hoped to derive spiritual 
 benefit, but my sense of duty impels me to take 
 such a step ; the vote of the class seems to in- 
 dicate an estimate of Christ to which I should 
 never dare to commit myself — an estimate 
 against which I must always protest. Person- 
 ally, I hold you all in high esteem ; you shall al- 
 
iS 
 
 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS, 
 
 ways be remembered by me at the throne of 
 grace, but upon the prime essential of Christian 
 fraternity we seem hopelessly at variance. In 
 one way I doubt not that your deliberations 
 will tend toward good, but that way is not the 
 best way, and I must therefore regret it. I shall 
 consider it my duty to take steps toward the 
 organization of a class upon what I conceive to 
 be a Christian basis, and in that class I shall al- 
 ways be ready to heartily welcome any of you. 
 Salvation through the atonement of Christ is 
 the central truth of the Bible ; a body of students 
 who examine the Word from any other stand- 
 point may be perfectly sincere and in earnest, 
 and they may constitute what may without un- 
 kind meaning be called a Scripture Club, but 
 they can never claim to be regarded as a Bible 
 class, in the proper acceptation of the term." 
 
 The doctor gathered his cloak, hat, and cane, 
 and retired with a graceful but dignified bow ; 
 the class rose to its feet in some confusion, and 
 Squire Woodhouse exclaimed : 
 
A LIBERAL MOVEMENT. 
 
 19 
 
 " Scripture Club, eh ? Well, it's a good name." 
 '' That's so," said Mr. AUeman ; '* let's adopt 
 it, and show the blessed old man that names 
 can't change natures." 
 
 A general assent was sounded; not so noisy 
 a one, perhaps, as that with which the Dutch 
 patriots of three hundred years ago accepted 
 the designation of ** Beggars," cast at them by 
 Spain, and destined to recoil upon those who 
 bestowed it; but the acclamation was neverthe- 
 less more earnest and demonstrative than is 
 common in churches, and it was perhaps well 
 that in the midst of it the dismissal of the Sun- 
 day-school compelled parents who were mem- 
 bers of the '* Club " to hurry out in search of 
 their children. 
 
1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 
 
 THE next meeting of the Scrip' ^'re Club of 
 Valley Rest was impatiently looked for- 
 ward to by all the club members. Although 
 there were at that time plenty of political theories 
 to quarrel over, two or three fine projects for 
 new lines of lake navigation, and at least a dozen 
 for making of the neighboring city the greatest 
 Western rival to New York, conversation on 
 these subjects was only fitful on the boats 
 which carried the business men of Valley Rest 
 between their homes and the city. Before the 
 second Sunday of the existence of the class, 
 each member !.ad in mind at least one religious 
 topic upon which he wanted full, exhaustive, 
 and decisive discussion; he also in his inner- 
 most heart, and sometimes on his lips, had the 
 
 ao 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 21 
 
 settled conviction that he was just the man 
 to speak the decisive word, and thus readjust 
 human thought to the newly-discovered require- 
 ments of eternal truth. 
 
 Nor was excitement on religious topics con- 
 fined to the members of the club. Not a day 
 of the week passed without bringing to Deacon 
 Bates a new candidate for admission. First 
 came Mr. Hopper, who took enthusiastic delight 
 in whatever was new, whether in religion, poli- 
 tics, medical theories^ or popular smoking to- 
 baccos. As Mr. Hopper was a rich man, good 
 Deacon Bates hastily assured him that the class 
 would be delighted to have him as a member, 
 and Mr. Hopper graciously responded by offer- 
 ing to read at the very first meeting a seven- 
 teen-page paper, from a very heavy but com- 
 paratively new quarterly, on '* The True Loca- 
 tion of the Holy Sepulchre." Then came Mr. 
 Jodderel, who had once defrayed the entire cost 
 of producing a bulky pamphlet, the motive of 
 which was the probable final settlement of all 
 
^2 EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 departed spirits, in renewed bodies, on some 
 one of the terrestrial globes which he believed 
 had been in preparation from the foundation of 
 the world. Mr. Jodderel more than hinted that 
 he would like to see considerable attention 
 given to this topic in the new class, and though 
 good Leader Bates trembled at the thought, 
 having heard the same subject discussed in sea- 
 son and out of season ever since Mr. Jodderel 
 had made the coming peerless city of the West 
 his place of business, he was true to the senti- 
 ment which had led to the formation of the 
 class, and therefore gave Mr. Jodderel a hearty 
 fraternal welcome. Then, like Nicodemus, 
 there came by night, and from fear of the or- 
 thodox, Brother Prymm, to whom the slightest 
 letter of the law was of more importance than 
 the whole of the spirit thereof He had made 
 the matter of joining the class a subject of 
 special prayer, he said, and had made up his 
 mind that if it were really the intention of the 
 members to encourage free speech and honest- 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 23 
 
 fy search for the actual truth regarding the will 
 of God, it was his duty to join the class, and 
 serve his blessed Master to the extent of his 
 poor abilities. Mr. Maddle came next, and 
 Leader Bates' heart gladdened to receive him, 
 for Mr. Maddle was one of the most successful 
 organizers in the State ; he had planned and 
 executed at least two remarkably successful 
 campaigns in the local political field, and had 
 reorg^,nized, out of nothing, more than one 
 shapeless business enterprise so admirably that 
 the backers thereof could not learn what they 
 had expended, nor could the creditors discern 
 what they themselves had received. With such 
 a man behind him. Leader Bates rose superior 
 to his own fears of the possible disintegration 
 which the diversity of views of his fellow-mem- 
 bers had seemed to make possible. And then, 
 as if providentially sent to give the class the 
 impress and protection of the highest order of 
 mentality, came Dr. Fahrenglohz, Ph.D., Got- 
 tingen, who had additional repute as being a 
 
24 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 good physician and a man who always paid his 
 bills. All these were present at the opening 
 hour of the next meeting, and with them came 
 several people of the class which yields capital 
 listeners, and proves the wondrous capacity of 
 the human mind for absorbing information with- 
 out ever being moved to lend any of it again 
 to others. 
 
 The meeting was opened with prayer. Dea- 
 con Bates remarked prefatorily that such would 
 be the proper thing in a class composed of 
 adults, and then he looked around hesitatingly 
 for the proper man to make the first formal 
 committal of the class into the hands of the 
 Lord ; but Squire Woodhouse saved him the 
 trouble by springing to his feet and volunteer- 
 ing to Heaven an address so concise that there 
 remained nothing unsaid. Then Bibles were 
 distributed, and opened at the fifth chapter of 
 Matthew s Gospel, and every one looked un- 
 speakably profound, though Mr. Hopper had 
 the presence of mind to place his hand beneath 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 2$ 
 
 his coat-tails and take hold of the review con- 
 taining the paper on " The True Location of 
 the Holy Sepulchre," so as to be ready in case 
 occasion offered. 
 
 '' Let us begin with the beatitudes," said the 
 leader. " * Blessed are the poor in spirit, for 
 theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' By the way, 
 I would suggest that each member speaks in 
 the order of his sitting. Mr. Lottson,*' continued 
 Deacon Bates, addressing the insurance presi- 
 dent, '' whom do you suppose Jesus referred to 
 as * the poor in spirit ' ? " 
 
 " Before answering that question," said Mr. 
 Lottson, " I think attention should be called to 
 a passage in the opening of the chapter. It is 
 said that * When he was set, Ats disciples came 
 unto him. And he opened his mouth and 
 taught them, saying,' etc. Now, before we try 
 to understand this beautiful succession of bless- 
 ings, we should realize whom ':" were spoken 
 to — to the disciples, who had left all and fol^ 
 lowed him, and therefore to a set of men to 
 
26 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 whom he could say things which it would be 
 nonsensical for him to say to the common 
 people and business men around him. The 
 disciples were out of business, and lived on 
 their friends — it was right enough for them to do 
 so under the circumstances, but for this very 
 reason Jesus told them the things which nobody 
 else could understand. This sermon was 
 preached to self-forgetting preachers, not to 
 men who had to make their living and take the 
 world as they found it ; and I suppose the 
 first beatitude meant to them just what it said. 
 They were poor in spirit — any man has to be, 
 if he be willing to go around without a cent in 
 his pocket — but to pay them for it he gave them 
 the kingdom of heaven, that is, the church of 
 which Christ is prophet, priest, and king. It's 
 the greatest charge in the world ; all business 
 enterprises are nothing in comparison with it ; 
 but Jesus showed his divine nature by giving 
 them this, for while they managed it splendidly, 
 it's the only great affair in the world that a lot 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. ±f 
 
 of poor-spirited men could manage without 
 running it into the ground/' 
 
 ** That depends upon what * poor in spirit ' 
 means/' remarked Squire Woodhouse. ** Presi- 
 dent Lottson seems to think it's the same thing 
 as mean-spirited, but if it is, I can tell him that 
 there's more money for that kind of chaps in 
 other businesses. Now I'm a farmer — my prin- 
 cipal crop is hay, and when my barn burned down 
 last winter w^ith eleven tons loose and forty odd 
 tons pressed, and I went to the insur " 
 
 ** The members will please speak as called 
 upon," said the leader, whose watchful ear im- 
 agined it detected a personality in the immediate 
 future of the Squire's address. Squire Wood- 
 house subsided after a soft whisper to his right- 
 hand neighbor, which caused that gentleman to 
 notice that President Lottson's face was flushing 
 a little, and his lips touching each other more 
 firmly than usual. 
 
 " It seems to me," said Mr. Radley, who was 
 next called upon, ** that the passage means just 
 
28 EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 what it says. The kingdom of heaven means 
 the place we all hope to get to some day, and 
 the poor in spirit are the people who aren't 
 touchy and don't put on airs. Christ was a 
 man of this kind himself, and he knew by ex- 
 perience what he was talking about." 
 
 ** Then how did he come to call a lot of 
 good church members vipers } " demanded 
 Squire Woodhouse, before the leader could 
 bring him to order. 
 
 *' Because they were vipers," answered Mr. 
 Radley. *' Being poor in spirit — humble — 
 doesn't need to keep anybody from telling the 
 truth. It's your /^/^/^-spirited chaps that do 
 most of the lying in the world — they do in 
 business circles anyway." 
 
 *' Next," said Deacon Bates, and Captain 
 Maile lifted up his voice. 
 
 ** Judging by the notions most people have 
 of the kingdom of heaven," said he, ** I don't 
 think anybody but poor-spirited people can 
 ever want to go there." 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. ^9 
 
 Next in order came Mr. Jodderel, and, as he 
 afterward told his wife, he breathed a small 
 thank-offering to Heaven for preparing so per- 
 fect an occasion for the presentation of hi^ own 
 theological pet. 
 
 ** I don't wonder," he said, ** that my military 
 friend turns up his nose at the home-made 
 heaven of most people, but I want him to un- 
 derstand that it was no such place that the 
 Lord was talking about. What did he mean 
 when he said, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
 and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
 the foundation of the world ' ? What sensible 
 man imagines that the kingdom h^ spoke of 
 meant any such place as Christians talk about, 
 or even the place where the Lord himself 
 is ? It can't be the latter, for t/iat wasn't pre- 
 pared from the foundation of the world ; it 
 existed long before, and didn't need any prep- 
 aration. If he prepared the kingdom from the 
 foundation of the world, and made the sun, 
 moon, and stars when he founded the world — 
 
30 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 a fact which I fully and implicitly believe be- 
 cause it is recorded in the inspired Word — the 
 kingdom must be in some other sphere. And 
 if, as astronomers say, and I have no reason to 
 doubt, these spheres are worlds, a great deal 
 like ours, we will have material bodies when we 
 go to them." 
 
 ** And poor spirits.'^" queried the insurance 
 president. 
 
 " Yes ! " exclaimed Mr. Jodderel fearlessly. 
 ** We can*t go there without first dying here, 
 and I never yet saw a man on his death-bed 
 who thought a high spirit, or what men call a 
 high spirit, had ever done him any good." 
 
 President Lottson tried to swallow a sigh 
 which was a little too quick for him ; he had 
 once or twice imagined himself on his own 
 death-bed, and had gained thereon some prac- 
 tical intimations which he had made haste to 
 forget when he got back to business. Mr. 
 Prymm, who sat next to Mr. Jodderel, cleared 
 his throat and said ; 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 3 1 
 
 " I think we owe Mr. Lottson our thanks for 
 calling our attention to an important fact which 
 has escaped general notice. The sermon was 
 undoubtedly preached to the disciples, and 
 should be considered accordingly ; a great 
 many mistakes of interpretation are doubtless 
 due to the habit of Christians in taking to them- 
 selves every saying of the Lord and his proph- 
 ets. I confess that the view advanced is so 
 new a one to me that I am unable at present to 
 express any opinion upon it, but I derive al- 
 ready this benefit from it — I learn anew how 
 necessary it is to pay close attention to the let- 
 ter of the Word." 
 
 ** Then," said young Mr. Waggett, who sat 
 next Mr. Pry mm, and who was principally re- 
 markable for undeviating devotion to Number 
 One, '' then the passage has nothing to do with 
 the great affair of the salvation of our own 
 souls." 
 
 ^* Supposing it hasn't," said Squire Wood- 
 house, in spite of the warning glance of the 
 
32 EVERYBODVS NEIGHBORS. 
 
 leader, " Sunday isn't a business day, and if 
 we want to talk about some of our best friends 
 then there's no harm in doing so, nor any time 
 wasted either." 
 
 ** Brother Scott," said Deacon Bates. The 
 young lawyer, who had been exerting over 
 himself a degree of control that was simply ter- 
 rible, considering his temptations to interrup- 
 tion, said : 
 
 ** May it please the class : There are some 
 evident misunderstandings abroad. Mr. Lott- 
 son's position is untenable, as the context of the 
 same sermon proves ; no examination, accord- 
 ing to the rules of evidence, can fail to prove 
 that the sermon was addressed to the whole 
 people. The passage cannot mean literally 
 what it says, as Mr. Radley thinks, because lit- 
 erally it is illogical, and had such been its in- 
 tention it could never have been accepted by 
 that consistent apologist for the integrity of the 
 Scriptures, the Apostle Paul, whose mind was 
 SO marvelously under control of the legal in- 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFEivi^NCES. 
 
 ^ 
 
 *stinct. Captain Maile's assumption as to the 
 general idea of heaven is utterly without sup- 
 port from fact ; for poverty of spirit is not the 
 prevailing characteristic of those whose opin- 
 ions of heaven are verbally made manifest. As 
 for Mr. Jodderel's proposition, it involves the 
 literal accuracy of the Book of Genesis, which 
 many orthodox Christians are unprepared to 
 admit. Mr. Prymm's notion that the saying* 
 of Jesus may be wrongly taken by individuals, 
 as applying to themselves, is not in accordance 
 with logical deductions from other portions of 
 Holy Writ. And how can Mr. Waggett sus- 
 tain his position that there is any eternal truth 
 that is not necessary to salvation ? " 
 
 A soft chorus of long-drawn breaths followed 
 the delivery of this speech, and then Squire 
 Woodhouse said : 
 
 ** Well, now that you've knocked all the rest 
 down, what are you going to do yourself.^ " 
 
 ** That," replied Lawyer Scott, evidently 
 pleased by the compliment but puzzled by t!\e 
 3 
 
34 KVKRVBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 question, *' cannot be answered as easily as it * 
 is asked, and I must beg the gentleman's in- 
 dulgence until I have time to prepare my 
 case/* 
 
 Mr. Buffle, founder of the class, was next in 
 order, and admitted that he could not see that 
 Jesus, being a clear-headed man, could ever 
 have meant anything but what he said. He, 
 Mr. Buffle, always said what be meant, no mat- 
 ter whether he was talking to preachers, ship- 
 pers, or the deck-hands on his own boats ; he 
 had found that if a man said exactly what he 
 meant, the stupidest of people could understand 
 him, while smarter people needed no more. 
 He would consider himsel^ a fool if he talked 
 over the head of any one who was listening to 
 him, and of course Jesus couldn't have been 
 foolish. He was very glad, though, to listen 
 to the many different views that had been ad- 
 vanced on the subject ; they proved just what 
 he had always believed, that men would learn 
 more about a thing by hearing all sides of it 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 3$ 
 
 than he could from ihe smartest talker alive who 
 knew only one side He liked the liberality 
 of the members of the class ; it was what he 
 called liberality, to listen to various views cour- 
 teously, even if you couldn't accept them all or 
 make them agree. 
 
 The question had now reached Dr. Fahren- 
 glohz, and the members, both liberal and nar- 
 row, prepared for something terrible. They 
 knew, in general, that he believed nothing that 
 they themselves did ; how then could his own 
 ideas be anything but dreadful? 
 
 The doctor looked mildly from behind his 
 very convex glasses, and said : 
 
 " Jesus was a mystic. From the spiritual 
 plane on which he lived it was impossible 
 for him to descend. He could say only that 
 which he believed. Pure-minded and wholly 
 regardless of ordinary earthly interests, he could 
 not be a utilitarian, in the vulgar acceptation of 
 the word. What thought he, what thinks any 
 philosopher, of how his theories may affect the 
 
36 F.VERYBODY^S NEIGHBORS^i 
 
 world ? It is his dutv to discover the truth, 
 help or hinder whomsoever it may, and to 
 speak it as he understands it, not in such frag- 
 ments as other people may comprehend it. 
 What did Buddha and Brahma ? They spoke, 
 they gave forth that which originated with 
 them." 
 
 *'And what did it all amount to .'^ " asked 
 Squire Woodhouse. " Business don't amount 
 to a row of pins among their followers, accord- 
 ing to the MisSi nary Herald, and virtue is 
 worse off yet." 
 
 The doctor smiled condescendingly. *'^He 
 that hath ears to hear, let him hear,' as your 
 prophet says. Is virtue and good business 
 always to be found with those who sit under 
 the words of Jesus ? " 
 
 ** N-no," said the Squire, '' and that's just 
 what we're driving at. If the words are under- 
 stood-^and followed — men can't help being 
 good and successful." \ 
 
 "And so there is all the more need of care- 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 2>7 
 
 ful, prayerful study of the words," remarked 
 Mr. Prymm. 
 
 There was general disappointment, among 
 those who had yet to speak, at the lack of any 
 startling heresy in the doctor's utterances. 
 Builder Stott in particular had felt that he 
 might have an opportunity of defending the 
 faith which he so unhesitatingly accepted, at no 
 matter what intellectual difficulties, by abusing 
 some heterodox utterance of the doctor; but 
 the doctor's statements had seemed to him to 
 resemble either a sphere — and a hollow one — 
 from which all projectiles would glance harm- 
 lessly, or mere thin air, in which there was 
 nothing to aim at. So he could do nothing 
 but assert his own orthodoxy. 
 
 "I believe everything that Jesus said was 
 meant just as it was spoken,'* said he ; 
 '' whether what we call common sense has got 
 anything to do with it or not, is none of our 
 business. Of course we can't live up to it all 
 — we're born in sin and shapen in iniquity ; 
 
38 
 
 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 our hearts are deceitful above all things and 
 desperately wicked — ^but what we can't do, he 
 did for us, by dying on the cross. We can 
 never act according to his teachings — we'd go 
 to the poor-house or into our coffins as soon 
 as we attempted it. If we could do it, there 
 wouldn't have been any need of an atone- 
 ment." 
 
 "Then the atonement is an excuse for 
 rascality, is it ? " asked Captain Maile. The 
 Captain's own house had been erected by 
 Builder Stott, and many had been his com- 
 plaints of features which had proved not in ac- 
 cordance with the spirit of the contract. 
 
 Leader Bates felt extremely uncomfortable ; 
 he never had liked personalities, and hated 
 them all the worse when they interfered with 
 that heavenly feeling which was to him the 
 principal object of all religious meetings. He 
 made haste to call upon Mr. Alleman, and that 
 gentleman replied : 
 
 ** Mr, Leader, there can be no doubt that 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 39 
 
 this passage was spoken to living men, about 
 living interests, and that it not only can be 
 lived up to by the exercise of such qualities as 
 men already have, but that it must be treated 
 and respected as truth if men do not wish the 
 disgrace and penalties of hypocrisy. Of what 
 consequence is it to true righteousness if men 
 will or will not reconcile scriptural injunctions 
 with business desires? Bring business up to 
 truth, not truth down to business, is the earthly 
 application of Christ's teachings." 
 
 '' That," said Builder Stott, '' may be all 
 right in running a first-class academy, but you 
 can't run the building business on any such 
 basis." 
 
 The hour for dismission was reached at that 
 instant, with Mr. Hopper still nervously shaking 
 the coat-tail pocket which contained the re- 
 view with the article on the '* True Location of 
 the Holy Sepulchre." Two or three of the 
 members departed, but the greater number 
 stood about and discussed the discussion. 
 
40 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 " Well, everybody had a chance to speak his 
 mind," said Mr. President Lottson. 
 
 '* That's so/' said Mr. Bufifle, founder of the 
 class, rubbing his hands enthusiastically. *' No- 
 body was afraid of his neighbor's opinions." 
 
 '* There seemed a general disposition to view 
 the subject from all points," remarked Mr. 
 Prymm. 
 
 " Not much regard paid to evidence," said 
 young Lawyer Scott, " but still an evident will- 
 ingness to open the case fairly." 
 
 *' There was not a proper interest displayed 
 in the future location of the soul," complained 
 Mr. Jodderel; ** still the members acted like 
 good listeners." 
 
 ** There was a little too much talking back," 
 said Mr. Radley ; ** men should be more care- 
 ful about treading on each other's corns. But 
 there was a real, liberal spirit shown through- 
 out, and that's what religious societies need." 
 
 "Men shouldn't have corns, if they don't 
 want them trodden on," said Captain Maile, 
 
SOME SPIRITUAL DIFFERENCES. 4I 
 
 " I won't complain, though — I never saw so 
 
 little narrowness in so large a religious gather- 
 
 • »» 
 ing. 
 
 " I take great delight in recalling the confer- 
 ence we have had," said Dr. Fahrenglohz. ** I 
 supposed, when I heard of this association, that 
 it would not bear the test of differences of 
 opinions, but I am grateful for the respect 
 shown to me, and pleased at the courtesy dis- 
 played toward others." 
 
 Squire Woodhouse waited until Mr. AUeman 
 disappeared, and then burst into a small group 
 exclaiming : 
 
 " Now, I like AUeman first rate — all of my 
 children go to his academy — but I do wonder 
 whether he could run a farm with those notions 
 of his? I'm glad the class listened respectfully, 
 though — it showed that nobody was afraid that 
 a little liberality would hurt any one." 
 
 ^>v. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FREE SPEECH. 
 
 THE members of the Scripture Club did 
 not put off their holy interest with their 
 Sunday garments, as people of the world do 
 with most things religious. When the little 
 steamboat Oakleaf started on her Monday 
 morning trip for the city, the members of the 
 Scripture Club might be identified by their 
 neglect of the morning papers and their ten- 
 dency to gather in small knots and engage in 
 earnest conversation. In a corner behind the 
 paddle-box, securely screened from wind and 
 sun, sat Mr. Jodderel and Mr. Prymm, the latter 
 adoring with much solemn verbosity the sacred 
 word, and the former piling text upon text to de- 
 monstrate the final removal of all the righteous 
 
 to a new state of material existence in a better 
 
 42 
 
FREE SPEECH. 43 
 
 ordered planet. In the one rocking-chair of 
 the cabin sat insurance President Lottson, 
 praising to Mr. Hopper, who leaned obse- 
 quiously upon the back of the chair and oc- 
 casionally hopped vivaciously around it, the 
 self- disregard of the disciples, and the evident 
 inability of anyone within sight to follow their 
 example. The prudent Waggett was interview- 
 ing Dr. Fahrenglotz, who was going to attend 
 the meeting of a sort of Theosophic Society, 
 composed almost entirely of Germans, and was 
 endeavoring to learn what points there might 
 be in thr Doctor's belief which would make a 
 man wiser unto salvation, while Captain Maile 
 stood by, a critical listener, and distributed 
 pitying glances between the two. Well for- 
 ward, but to the rear of the general crowd, 
 stood Deacon Bates in an attitude which might 
 have seemed conservative were it not mani- 
 festly helpless, Mr. Buffle with the smile pecu- 
 liar to the successful business man. Lawyer 
 Scott, with the air of a man who had so much 
 
44 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 to say that time could not possibly suffice in 
 which to tell it all, Squire Woodhouse, who 
 was in search of a good market for hay, Princi- 
 pal Alleman, who was in chase of an overdue 
 shipment of text-books, and Mr. Radley, who 
 with indifferent success was filling the self- 
 assigned roll of moderator of the little assem- 
 blage. 
 
 ** Nothing settled by the meeting ? " said Mr. 
 Buffle, echoing a despondent suggestion by 
 Deacon Bates. **Of course not. You don't 
 suppose that what theologians have been squab- 
 bling over for two thousand years can he set- 
 tled in a day, do you ? We made a beginning 
 and that's a good half of anything. Why, I and 
 every other man that builds boats have been 
 hard at work for years, looking for the best 
 model, and we haven't settled the question yet. 
 We're in earnest about it — we can't help but 
 be, for there's money in it, and while we're 
 waiting we do the next best thing — we use the, 
 best ones we know about." 
 
FREE SPEECH. 4$ 
 
 ** Don't you think you'd get at the model 
 sooner, if some of you weren't pig-headed 
 about your own, and too fond of abusing each 
 other s ? " asked Mr. Radley. 
 
 " Certainly," admitted Mr. Buffle, '' and that's 
 why 1 wanted us to get up a Bible-class like 
 the one we have. If everybody will try to 
 see what's good in his neighbors theories and 
 what's bad in his own, his fortune — his relig- 
 ion, I mean — is a sure thing. Fiddling on one 
 string always makes a thin sort of a tune." 
 
 *' There were a good many small tunes be- 
 gun yesterday, then," observed Squire Wood- 
 house. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Bufifle, " I thought some- 
 thing of the kind, myself, but a man can't break 
 an old habit to pieces all at once. Things will 
 be different before long, though." 
 
 " There is no reason why they shouldn't," 
 said Principal Alleman, *' excepting one reason . 
 that's stronger than any other. You can't get 
 to the bottom of any of the sayings of Christ, 
 
46 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 the Prophets or the Apostles without finding 
 that they mean, Do Right. And when you reach 
 that point, what is in the man and not what is 
 in the book comes into play, or, rather, it al- 
 ways should but seldom does." 
 
 ** I suppose that's so," said Mr. Buffle, soberly. 
 
 ** In and of ourselves we can do nothing," 
 remarked Deacon Bates. 
 
 " It's very odd, then, that we should have 
 been told to do so much," replied Principal 
 AUeman. 
 
 ** It was to teach us our dependence upon a 
 higher power," said Deacon Bates, with more 
 than his usual energy. 
 
 " Are we only to be taught, and never to 
 learn, then ? " asked Principal Alleman. '* Some 
 of my pupils seem to think so, but those who 
 depend least upon the teacher and act most 
 fully up to what they have been taught are the 
 ones I call my best scholars." 
 
 Deacon Bates's lower lip pushed up its 
 neighbor; in the school-room, the Principal's 
 
FREE SPEECH. 47 
 
 theory might apply, but in rehgion it was dif- 
 ferent, or he (Deacon Bates) had always been 
 mistaken, and this possibility was not to be 
 thought of for an instant. Fortunately for his 
 peace of mind, the boat toughed her city dock 
 just then, and from that hour until five in the 
 afternoon, when he left his store for the boat, 
 religious theories absented themselves entirely 
 from Deacon Bates*s mind. 
 
 The last meeting of the class was still the 
 most popular subject of conversation among 
 the members, however, and interest of such a 
 degree could not help be contagious. Other 
 residents of Valley Rest, overhearing some of 
 the chats between the members, expressed a de- 
 sire to listen to the discussions of the class, and 
 to all was extended a hearty welcome, without 
 regard to race, color, or previous condition of 
 religious servitude, and all were invited to be 
 doers as well as hearers. So at the next session 
 appeared ex-Judge Cottaway, who had written 
 a book and was a vestryman of St. Amos Par- 
 
4^ everybody's neighbors. 
 
 ish, Broker Whilcher, who wc shipped with the 
 Unitarians but found them rather narrow, and 
 Broker Whilcher's bookkeeper, who read Her- 
 bert Spencer, and could not tell what he him- 
 self believed, even if to escape the penalty of 
 death. Various motives brought men from 
 other churches, including even one from Father 
 McGarry's flock, and all of them were assured 
 that they might say whatever they chose, pro- 
 vided only that they believed it. 
 
 '' Shall we continue our consideration of last 
 Sunday s lesson ? " asked Deacon Bates, after 
 the opening prayer had been offered. '' We 
 have some new members, and should therefore 
 have some additional views to consider." 
 
 ** Let's hear everybody," said Captain Maile. 
 " If we talk as long about this verse as we'll 
 have to talk before we reach any agreement, 
 we'll all die before we can reach the square up- 
 and-down verses that are further along in this 
 same sermon." 
 
 "If the class has no objection to offer, we 
 
FREE SPEECH. 49 
 
 will continue our study of the third verse of the 
 fifth chapter of Matthew, and those who spoke 
 on last Sunday will allow the newer members 
 and others an opportunity to make their views 
 known." As Deacon Bates spoke, his eye 
 rested warningiy on Mr. Jodderel. 
 
 *' I think," said Mr. Jodderel, ** that the new 
 members ought to know what ideas have al- 
 ready been presented, so as to throw any new 
 light upon them, if they can. The nature of 
 the kingdom of heaven, now, is the most 
 important question suggested by the lesson, 
 and " 
 
 " It won't be of the slightest consequence to 
 anyone," interrupted Principal Alleman, ** un- 
 less they first comply with the condition which 
 the verse imposes upon those who want to 
 reach the kingdom." 
 
 **I wouldn't be too sure of that," remarked 
 President Lottson, " while Jesus said that the 
 poor in spirit should have the kingdom of 
 heaven, He didn't say that no one else should 
 
DO EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 share it with them. What is written doesn't 
 always express all that is meant." 
 
 " It doesn't in insurance policies, anyhow/' 
 said Squire Woodhouse, "when my barn 
 burned " 
 
 ** Time is precious, my brethren," said Dea- 
 con Bates hastily, scenting a personality, ** I 
 will therefore ask Judge Cottaway for his opin- 
 ion of the passage." 
 
 '* I think," said the Judge, with that impres- 
 sive cough which is the rightful indulgence of a 
 man who has written a volume on the rules of 
 evidence, '' that ' poor in spirit ' undoubtedly 
 means unassuming, rightly satisfied with what 
 is their due, mindful of the fact that human 
 nature is so imperfect that whatever a man 
 obtains is probably more .iian he deserves. 
 They can not be the meek, for special allusion 
 is made to the meek in this same group of 
 specially designated persons. Neither can it 
 refer to people who are usually called poor- 
 spirited persons, to wit, those who are too de- 
 
 amm 
 
FREE SPEECH. 5 1 
 
 void of what is commonly designated as spirit, 
 for these are properly classified as peace-makers, 
 and have a similar though not identical bless- 
 ing promised to them.'*' 
 
 " The class owes its thanks to the Judge for 
 his clear definition of the term * poor in spirit/ " 
 said Mr. Jodderel, *' and if he can be equally 
 distinct upon the expression * kingdom of heav- 
 en ' he will put an end to a great deal of sense- 
 less blundering." 
 
 "I know of but one definition," said the 
 Judge, " heaven is the abode of God and the 
 angels, and of those who are finally saved/' 
 
 **Ah, but where is it? that's the question 
 this class wants answered," said Mr. Jodderel, 
 twisting his body and craning his head for- 
 ward as he awaited the answer. 
 
 ** Really/* said the Judge, '' you must excuse 
 me. I don't know where it is, and I can't see 
 that study as to its locality can throw any light 
 upon the lesson." 
 
 This opinion, delivered by an ex- Judge, who 
 
52 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 had written a book on rules of evidence, 
 would have quieted almost anyone else, and 
 the members' faces expressed a sense of relief 
 as they thought that Mr. Jodderel also would 
 be quieted. But Mr. Jodderel was not one of 
 the faint-hearted, and in his opinion faint-heart- 
 edness and quietness were one and the same 
 thing. 
 
 ** No light upon the lesson ? ** echoed Mr. 
 Jodderel. " Why, what is the Bible for, if not 
 to inform us of our destiny ? What is this 
 world but a place of preparation for another ? 
 And how can we prepare ourselves unless we 
 know vvhat our future place and duty is to be ? " 
 
 ** Next! " exclaimed Deacon Bates with more 
 than his usual energy, and Mr. Jodderel sank 
 back into his chair and talked angrily with 
 every feature but his mouth, and with his 
 whole body besides. *' Mr. Whilcher has som.e 
 new ideas to present, no doubt," continued the 
 leader, bracing himbjlf somewhat firmly in his 
 chair, for the Deacon naturally expected an 
 
FREE SPEECH. S3 
 
 assault from a man of Mr. Whilcher's peculiar 
 views. 
 
 ** Poverty of spirit seems to me to be old 
 English for modesty/' said Mr. Whilcher, 
 " We know very little, comparatively, of the 
 great designs of God, and about as little of the 
 intentions of our fellow-men, so we should be 
 very careful how we question our maker or 
 criticise our neighbors. No human being 
 would appreciate divine perfection if he taw it ; 
 no man can give his fellow-men full credit for 
 what they would do, if they were angels, and 
 are sorry because they can't do. I think the 
 passage means that only by that modesty, that 
 self-repression, by which alone a man can ac- 
 cept the inevitable as decreed by God, and 
 forbear that fault-finding which comes fully as 
 easy as breathing, can a man be fitted for the 
 companionship of the loving company which 
 awaits us all in the next world." 
 
 ** Whereabouts ? " asked Mr. Jodderel. 
 
 Half-a-dozen members filibustered at once, 
 
54 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 and Mr. Jodderel was temporarily suppressed, 
 after which Squire Woodhouse remarked : 
 
 " Well, now, that sounds first rate — I neve 
 knew before that Unitarians had such good 
 religion in them — no harm meant, you know, 
 Whilcher." 
 
 " Now let us hear from Mr. Bungfloat,*' said 
 Deacon Bates. 
 
 Mr. Bungfloat, bookkeeper to Mr. Whilcher, 
 hopelessly explored his memory for something 
 from Herbert Spencer that would bear upon 
 the subject, but finding nothing at hand, he 
 quoted some expressions from John Stuart 
 Mills* essay on ** Nature,*' and was hopelessly 
 demoralized when he realized that they did not 
 bear in the remotest manner upon the topic 
 under consideration. Then Deacon Bates an- 
 nounced that the subject was open for general 
 remark and comment. Mr. Jodderel was upon 
 his feet in an instant, though the class has no 
 rule compelling the members to rise while 
 speaking. 
 
 I|^I 
 
FREE SPEECH. 55 
 
 ** Mr. Leader," said he, ** everybody has 
 spoken, but nobody has settled the main ques- 
 tion, which is, where is the * kingdom of heaven?' 
 Everybody knows who the poor in spirit are ; 
 any one who didn't know when we began has 
 now a lot of first class opinions to choose from. 
 But where and what is heaven — that is what 
 we want to know.'* 
 
 A subdued but general groan indicated the 
 possibility that Mr. Jodderel was mistaken as 
 to the desires of the class. Meanwhile, young 
 Mr. Banty, who had been to Europe, and 
 listened to much theological debate in caf^s 
 and beer-gardens, remarked. 
 
 ** I'm not a member of this respected body, 
 but I seem to be included in the chairman's 
 invitation. I profess to be a man of the world 
 — I've been around a good deal — and I never 
 could see that the poor in spirit amounted to a 
 row of pins. If they're fit for heaven they 
 ought to be fit for something on this side of 
 that undiscovered locality." 
 
 I 
 
56 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 ** Discovered millions upon millions of times, 
 bless the Lord," interrupted Squire Wood- 
 house. 
 
 ** Well, the discoverers sent no word back, at 
 any rate," said young Mr. Banty, ** so there's 
 one view which I think ought to be consid- 
 ered; isn't it possible that Jesus was mis- 
 taken?" 
 
 Mr. Prymm turned pale and Deacon Bates 
 shivered violently, while a low hum and a gen- 
 eral shaking of heads showed the unpopularity 
 of young Mr. Banty's idea. 
 
 ''The class cannot entertain such a theory 
 for an instant," answered Deacon Bates, as 
 soon as he could recover ^ 's breath, " though 
 
 it encourages the freest expression of opin- 
 
 • »» 
 ion. 
 
 " Oh ! " remarked Mr. Banty, with a derisive 
 smile. The tone in which this interjection was 
 delivered put the class upon its spirit at 
 once. 
 
 ** Our leader means exactly what he says," 
 
FREE SPEECH. Sj 
 
 said Mr. Jodderel ; '' any honest expression of 
 opinion is welcome here." 
 
 *' If such were not the case," said Mr. Prymm, 
 ** a rival class would not have been formed." 
 
 ** And none of us would have learned how 
 many sides there are to a great question," said 
 Mr. Buffle. 
 
 " Larger liberty wouldn't be possible," said 
 Builder Stott. ** Why, I've just had to shud- 
 der once in awhile, but the speakers meant 
 what they said, and I rejoiced that there was 
 somewhere where they could say it." 
 
 **rve said everything I've wanted to," re- 
 marked Squire Woodhouse. 
 
 *' That's so," exclaimed insurance President 
 Lottson. 
 
 '* I havn't seen any man put down," testified 
 Captain Maile, '* and I 'don't yet understand 
 what to make of it." 
 
 *' Nobody could ask a fairer show," declared 
 Mr. Radley. 
 
 **The utmost courtesy has been displayed 
 
58 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 toward me/' said Dr. Fahrenglotz, '' although I 
 am conscious my views are somewhat at vari- 
 ance with those of others." 
 
 '' The nature of proof has not been as clearly 
 understood as it should have been," said young 
 Lawyer Scott ; " but no one has lacked oppor- 
 tunity to express his sentiments." 
 
 '' So far from fault being found with the free- 
 dom of speech," said Mr. Alleman, ** the senti- 
 ment of the class is, I think, that the expression 
 of additional individual impressions would have 
 been cordially welcomed, as they will also here- 
 after be." 
 
 Young Mr. Banty felt himself to be utterly 
 annihilated, and the pillars of the class looked 
 more stable and enduring than ever, and felt 
 greatly relieved when the session ended, and 
 they could congratulate each other on the glo- 
 rious spirit of liberty which had marked their 
 collective deliberations. And when Squire 
 Woodhouse dashed impetuously from the room, 
 
FREE SPEECH. 
 
 59 
 
 and returned to report that Dr. Humbletops 
 class consisted of one solitary pupil, several of 
 the members unconsciously indulged in some 
 hearty hand-shaking. 
 
 /. 
 
rm. .1 -. . 
 
 ,t 
 
 CHAPTER TV. 
 
 A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 
 
 THE Scripture Club of Valley Rest, on the 
 fourth day of its assembling, found itself 
 a fixed and famous institution. Some of the 
 members had at first regretted that no one of 
 the smaller rooms in the church edifice was un- 
 occupied at the hour of session ; but this regret 
 was soon abandoned, for the reason that neither 
 the pastor's study nor the regular Bible class- 
 room, had either been available at the noon- 
 day hour, would have been large enough to 
 accommodate the class and its visitors. The 
 main audience-room was the only one which 
 was adequate to the requirements of the class. 
 When the benediction was pronounced after 
 the morning sermon, a large portion of the 
 congregation remained, and, instead of chatting 
 
 6a 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 6l 
 
 leisurely with the occupants of neighboring 
 pews and preventing the exit of unsociable 
 people, they hurried to the seats nearest the 
 corner occupied by the class. Even then, those 
 who came last were occasionally compelled to 
 exclaim '* Louder!" for the attendants of the 
 Second Church did not compose the entire body 
 of hearers. Members of the five other churches 
 in the town, though loath to depart from their 
 denominational associations and pride so far as 
 to worship elsewhere, were not only without 
 scruples against listening to an informal body 
 like the Scripture Club, but hurried from their 
 own places of worship to the Second Church, 
 and some of them were suspected even of stay- 
 ing away from their own services in order to 
 reach the Scripture Club in time to secure good 
 seats. 
 
 The effect of all this upon the Club was 
 stimulating in high degree. Its first effect was 
 to decrease whatever tendency to personality 
 existed; whatever might be the week-day 
 
62 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 opinions of the members about each other, on 
 Sunday every one tacitly agreed to the appli- 
 cation of the Satanic rule that religion is reli- 
 gion, and business is business. Sdne special 
 effort was necessary to bring Squire Wood- 
 house to forget, for an hour in the week, his 
 burned barn and the action of President Lott- 
 son's insurance company ; but finally the 
 Squire's pride closed his lips upon this tender 
 subject. Members, who before had possessed 
 no religious ideas excepting those they had 
 adopted at second-hand, now began to think for 
 themselves; and being men of natural wits well 
 sharpened by business experience, they speedily 
 developed theories of their own, and strength- 
 ened their own pet positions. The few religious 
 books of reference in the village library — many 
 of them having once been gladly given to the 
 library by the very men who now sought 
 them — were in demand at early morn and dewy 
 eve, pastors' libraries were ransacked, and some 
 members even consulted booksellers, and pur- 
 
A SO £M^ HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 63 
 
 chased works bearing upon their own special 
 lines of thought and belief. Respect for the 
 ideas of others did not necessarily imply as- 
 sent, so discussion was frequent and animated. 
 Champions of the faith — as delivered unto 
 themselves — were numerous, and assailants of 
 the truth as held by the orthodox were in suf- 
 ficient numbers to keep their antagonists from 
 lapsing into a condition of mere assertion. And 
 over and around everything, like a glorious 
 halo, was the assurance, always prominent, that 
 free speech would not only be welcomed, but 
 that the lack of it, from any motive of fear or 
 conservatism, would greatly be regretted by 
 every member. 
 
 The discussion of the first beatitude consumed 
 the time of four entire sessions, and during all 
 these days it was in vain that Mr. Hopper car- 
 Si- •'- t J review containing the paper on **The 
 Tr j^ L^ocation of the Holy Sepulchre." When, 
 on the fifth day, Deacon Bates asked whether 
 any other members had anything to say on the 
 
64 EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 subject under consideration, Captain Maile 
 made answer : 
 
 "Call it a drawn fight, and give it up at that ; 
 if a.iy man here hadh^^n whipped, he wouldn't 
 know it." ' ' 
 
 *' Oh, come, come ! " said Squire Woodhouse, 
 *' I'll join issue with you on that. / want to 
 know what *poor in spirit' means, and have a 
 ^are in the kingdom of heaven " 
 
 ** But you don't want to know where or what 
 the kingdom is," interrupted Mr. Jodderel. 
 
 ** Yes, I do ; but I want first to know what 
 poor in spirit means. I feel pretty sure ?bout it 
 now, but " 
 
 ** That's it, exactly," said Captain Maile. 
 *' But — but you don't want to be anything that 
 interferes with business. Give us something 
 easier, Mr. Leader." 
 
 There were some indignant whispers of dis- 
 sent, but none of them were audible enough to 
 attract the attention of the class, and Deacon 
 Bates read the next verse. 
 
A SOLEMN H#UR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 
 
 65 
 
 *' Blessed a. ^ they that mourn, for they shall 
 be comforted/' read Deacon Bates. " Brother 
 Prymm, will you open the discussion of this 
 beatitude ? " 
 
 " There is none other more precious to the 
 earthly nature," said Mr. Prymm, " and yet the 
 passage proves the comprehensiveness peculiar 
 to inspired words. Sin and perplexity are the 
 lot of all mortals, and they bring trouble with 
 them ; but the single sorrow which raises man 
 up to God, and brings God down to man, is 
 mourning. It may be done from sinful causes 
 — upon earth — but whatever the cause, the act 
 itself shows us how near God is to us, and what 
 are his sentiments usward. He knows from 
 the greatness and purity of his own nature how 
 intense this sentiment may Le, and his sympa- 
 thy shows itself so tenderly in no other way as 
 by this promise, that he will come to his chil- 
 dren and comfort them when they are in sor- 
 row. What an evidence of the need of a God 
 does this promise afford ! Where else can we 
 
66 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 turn for true comfort when in trouble ? Earthly 
 friends lack that knowledge of us from which 
 alone true sympathy can come ; the pleasure of 
 the flesh can give us nothing better than tem- 
 porary forgetfulness ; but the divine sympathy is 
 perfect in its knowledge, timely and appropriate 
 in its expression, and incalculable in its force 
 and endurance." 
 
 ** I am glad to offer my weak testimony in 
 support of the remarks of Brother Prymm," said 
 Builder Stott, who came next in the order of 
 rotation. *' I have had my sad experiences in 
 this world, — all of you have had yours, I sup- 
 pose, — but it seems to me that mine have been 
 peculiar. IVe trusted men and been swindled 
 by them. IVe been abused for things that I 
 never thought of doing. I've lost dear ones 
 that left places that have never been filled and 
 never can be, and I h'tve found no one whose 
 words could be more than a mockery — one that 
 wasn't intended, of course, but that hurt just as 
 badly as if it had. It has been only when on 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 67 
 
 my knees, or praying silently as I walked the 
 street, that I found a sympathizing friend. 
 There can be no doubt in me about what that 
 passage means — I know all about it by blessed 
 experience." 
 
 ** So do I," said Mr. Buffle. '' I've been what 
 men call fortunate in this world's affairs, but if 
 any one here thinks that money can buy ex- 
 emption from misery, I want to tell him that 
 he's greatly mistaken. 'I lost a child two *or 
 three years ago — some of you remember her ; 
 I'd have changed places with the cheapest work- 
 man in my shipj^ard — yes, the most miserable 
 beggar in the street — if by doing so I could 
 have brought her back again. But money 
 couldn' do it, and, as our friend Stott has just 
 remarked, the best of earthly friends couldn't 
 take the sting away. I can't say that God's 
 comfort came just when I most wanted it, but 
 God is good and wise ; he sent it when he 
 thought best, and it was full of blessing when it 
 came. It doesn't heal wounds to be com^or;^J 
 
68 everybody's neichbors. 
 
 by Heaven — the wounds remain as tender as 
 ever ; but the pain and the feehng of hopeless- 
 ness depart, and a man is made to feel like the 
 wounded soldier, or the wrecked, starved sailor 
 when help comes — he knows he has a friend to 
 lean upon." 
 
 Mr. Bufifle felt for his handkerchief and ap- 
 plied it to his eyes ; an operation which, in spite 
 of his great-heartedness, he seldom had occa- 
 sion to perform in public : meanwhile Broker 
 Whilcher said : 
 
 ** I don't agree with every one here, as most 
 of you know ; but the beautiful promise which 
 forms the subject of our lesson to-day has been 
 '"ulfiUed to me. I can't explain how, but I pro- 
 fess to be too much of a man to deny what I 
 learn by experience, even when I can't ascertain 
 who my teacher is. My own great ups and 
 downs of life have been principally social, and, 
 as has been remarked by others, they are the 
 hardest of any to bear. And somehow — I wish 
 I could learn how — I have been helped, soothed, 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 69 
 
 sustained, whenever I could abandon myself to 
 tlie influence of whatever higher power it is 
 that looks to the hearts of men and sees that 
 they are not entirely crushed/' 
 
 *' The older a man grows in year and expe- 
 rience," said Judge Cottaway, without his official 
 cough, *' the greater his experience of sorrow. 
 The exercise of wisdom may prevent some 
 troubles that carelessness and ignorance may 
 induce, but even then there is more of misery 
 in life than any human influences can avert. I 
 believe, after much deliberation upon the evi- 
 dence adduced from the affairs of men, that the 
 Comforter is also the one who afflicts in many 
 cases ; but so certain am I of his wisdom and 
 goodness that I would never avert his chas- 
 tening hand. The cry of Christ in the garden, 
 * O, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
 pass from me : nevertheless not as I will, but as 
 thou wilt,' should be the sentiment of every one 
 that is in affliction. That more bitter cry that 
 was sounded from the Cross may also be, with- 
 
Jo everybody's neighbors. 
 
 out sin, re-echoed by the human soul in trou- 
 ble ; but every one learns, by blessed experience, 
 that the soul is never forsaken, and that our 
 sorrows are known to Heaven better than they 
 are to ourselves." 
 
 Mr. Jodderel sat next, and Squire Wood- 
 house whispered to his nearest neighbor : 
 
 " Too bad ; he'll bring in the kingdom of 
 heaven and pit it against the Ring." But to 
 the astonishment of every one, Mr. Jodderel 
 said only : 
 
 *' No one knows more of this blessed Com- 
 forter than I. My childish days were heavily 
 clouded ; I was abused in youth ; I am misun- 
 derstood now ; I have lost dear ones ; a long 
 procession has preceded me to the grave, each 
 member of it leaving my heart more lonely than 
 before, and the time has come when I am too 
 old to search for new friends and dear ones. 
 But upon my knees, o: as I commune with him 
 upon my bed in tl c night season, or when I 
 read his precious promises given by word of 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 7 1 
 
 mouth or through his holy prophets, I find con- 
 solation and hope and cheer, and forget that 
 I am a lonely old man in an unsympathetic 
 world." 
 
 *' Captain Maile ? " said Leader Bates, and 
 the ex -warrior responded : 
 
 ** Everything I have heard th/s morning 
 agrees with my own experience, and no matter 
 what doubters may say and hypocrites may 
 help them to make people believe, I can 
 never forget the special blessings I have re- 
 ceived in afifliction, and when I have least ex- 
 pected them." 
 
 Squire Woodhouse sat next to Captain Maile, 
 and joined in the general acknowledgment by 
 saying : 
 
 *' You all know me, my friends ; you know 
 I've often had a pretty hard row to hoe, for 
 often it's been in a shape that hoeing couldn't 
 help. But when the worst has come, and I 
 couldn't do anything but stand still and endure 
 it ; when I couldn't shake it off, or forget it, or 
 
72 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 improve it any way, there came in just when I 
 couldn't expect it, or see how it could happen 
 even with God managing it ; when every one I 
 leaned on failed me, and I had to shut myself 
 up in my own miserable heart — then there came 
 a visitor that made himself at home, helped 
 me, changed me, made a new man of me, and 
 showed me that the worst chance of man is the 
 best one for God — blessings on his holy name 
 forever.*' 
 
 Then Dr. Fahrenglotz said : 
 
 ** For myself, I have no family ties. I never 
 knew my parents, for they entered into the un- 
 knowable while I was yet a babe ; I have had 
 neither brother nor sister, but I have had friends, 
 and they have passed away, leaving my heart as 
 empty as if it had never contained any other 
 denizen. I have felt the last pulsation of the 
 heart-dealings of many of you, and have watched 
 you afterward with a solicitude which it might 
 have seemed officious for me to have expressed. 
 And to myself and to others I have known true, 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 73 
 
 mysterious comfort to come, I know not from 
 where ; the great outer, the intangible envelope 
 of the human heart, is hidden from my sight 
 and thought ; but from it I know there 
 comes a subtle mystery whose influence tran- 
 scends that of mortals, and which influence is 
 tender, soothing, and lasting — an influence 
 which I cannot characterize more aptly than 
 to say that it must come from some one or 
 some principle of nature akin to that of Him 
 whom most religious bodies denominate The 
 Great Physician." 
 
 '' Excuse me, gentlemen," said young Mr. 
 Banty, who had come in late, and had, sorely 
 against his will, been compelled to occupy a 
 seat among those whom he called *' the Saints ; " 
 " Excuse me ; I didn't come in to say anything 
 to-day, but, things going as they are, I can't be 
 quiet. I went abroad a year ago ; most of you 
 know why. There was a lady in the question. 
 She died ; I suppose it was best for her, for I 
 didn't, in the slightest degree, begin to be fit 
 
74 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 for her, but her death didn't hurt me any the 
 less. I haven't, since then, been as good a man 
 as I should have been. I don't mind saying 
 that the ways in which I've tried to forget my 
 trouble haven't been such as have done me any 
 good. But as everybody else has opened his 
 heart to-day, I wouldn't be a bit of a man if I 
 kept mine shut. I want to say that when I 
 have a quiet hour, and get to thinking about 
 that girl, there's something happens that I don't 
 understand, but I'm very thankful for. I got 
 to be a great deal less despairing, though, at the 
 same time, I think a great deal more tenderly 
 about her. I lose my ugliness at losing her ; I 
 see how much better it was for her : I see how 
 things had better go as they should than as J 
 want them, and I come out of that time less 
 willing to go on a spree, less anxious to see the 
 boys, and more anxious to go on thinking than 
 to do anything else," * 
 
 The order of rotation demanded that the next 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. /S 
 
 speaker should be Mr. Alleman, and that gentle- 
 man remarked : 
 
 " I am heartily glid to see that there is one 
 ground upon which all of us can meet. Those of 
 you who know me know what frequent occasion 
 I have had to learn all that you have learned of 
 the unspeakable power of a comforting God. I 
 have instinctively passed the greater portion of 
 my life in my affections, for I know of no other 
 sentiment which is so all-comprehensive ; and 
 through these I have found daily new causes 
 for mourning. We are informed by Jesus that 
 the greatest of all commandments is that enjoin- 
 ing love toward God, and that the second is like 
 unto it, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self.* To try to fulfill this command is to have 
 constant incentives to mournfulness. Every 
 day I have them, from some cause heretofore 
 unexpected, and the causes involve so many 
 other people in troubles, which might be 
 avoided, and for which I can blame only myself, 
 that but for the presence of the Comforter I 
 
76 
 
 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 would be driven to despair or madness. What 
 a tremendous responsibility rests upon us, my 
 friends, in this our greatest relation to humanity, 
 and how impossible it would be to endure it 
 unless aided by a power greater than our own. 
 1 cannot, by any words, express my satisfaction 
 at hearing so many men, and, in other religious 
 matters, men of such differing views, testify to 
 the unfailing promptness of the Great Sympa- 
 thizer. And I should be glad to hear a wider 
 expression of experiences, and assure myself 
 that, in troubles outside the range purely per- 
 sonal, my fellow-beings enjoy the comfort that 
 I do. I am confident that the recital of such 
 experiences would strengthen every one for 
 greater works of humanity and lov /' 
 
 There was a dead silence for several minutes, 
 and the leader finally relieved the uncomfortable 
 sensation of the members by asking : 
 
 *' Mas any one any other remarks to offer?" 
 
 No ' ne responded. 
 
 '*Thc next lesson, which we will hardly have 
 
A SOLEMN HOUR COMPLETELY SPOILED. 77 
 
 time to begin to-day, will be upon the third 
 beatitude," said Deacon Bates. *' The class 
 may consider itself dismissed, I suppose." 
 
 '* Now, wasni that just like Alleman } " asked 
 Squire Woodhouse of Captain Maile. *' We 
 were having the most heavenly time I ever did 
 know inside of a church, and he utterly ruined 
 it." 
 
 "The resL -,* y u didn't act a bit as if you'd 
 ruined yourselves, did you ? " asked the Cap- 
 tain, in reply. 
 
 "Why, how?" asked the Squire. 
 
 "Eyes have they, but they see not," answered 
 the Captain, starting abruptly for his carriage. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FAMILIAR SOUNDS. 
 
 THE members of the club spent a whole 
 week in trying to recover from the bad 
 effects of Mr. AUeman's peculiar and untimely 
 harangue, and even then they did not succeed. 
 ** We were getting into such an unusual, such 
 a heavenly state of mind," explained Mr. Hop- 
 per, *' and the Lord knows that heavenly states 
 of mind are scarce enough anywhere under the 
 best of circumstances. We were forgetting all 
 the tricks, the games that had been come upon 
 us in the discussion of other points en which 
 the brethren had made up their minds, and 
 picked out their trees to hide behind ; and we 
 were having just the happy, quiet, sympathetic 
 time which a man knows how to appreciate 
 when he's knocked about tne world for a little 
 
FAMILIAR SOUNDS. 79 
 
 while, when all of a sudden Alleman must 
 come in, and spring some of his peculiar notions 
 upon us. I don't see why the Lord lets such 
 men torment the world about religious affairs. 
 They're good enough in every other way/' 
 
 Other members of the class wondered also ; 
 and when, on the following Sunday, Deacon 
 Bates asked if any one else had any remarks to 
 make on the late lesson, nobody answered. So 
 the leader read : 
 
 " ' Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit 
 the earth.' Judge Cottaway" — the Deacon had 
 skillfully inveigled the Judge into a front seat 
 before the discussion began, so as to have a 
 strong and respectable opening — "we would be 
 glad to learn your views of this passage." 
 
 ** I take it to mean," answered the Judge, 
 *' that meekness is a virtue so highly esteemed 
 by the Almighty, that he offers, as an incentive 
 to its cultivation, the most highly valued of 
 earthly inducements. Meekness seems to be 
 the antithesis, the exact opposite of strife, and 
 
8o everybody's neighbors. 
 
 so much of strife is so causeless and harmful, 
 yet so attractive to the ordinary mind, that those 
 who indulge in it are by this passage warned by 
 implication. Meekness is not a virtue of such 
 greatness as poverty of spirit, as may be in- 
 ferred from the smaller reward promised to those 
 
 who practice it, and " 
 
 "I want to correct the gentleman right 
 there," exclaimed Mr. Jodaerel. ** What earth 
 are they to inherit ? This earth ? Why, every- 
 body laughs at that notion. A man's got to 
 fight awfully 'hard to get anything in this world, 
 and harder yet to keep whatever he gets. The 
 path of meekness leads but to the poor-house. 
 The earth alluded to evidently means the new 
 earth, which, in the Revelation, John beheld, in 
 connection with the new heaven. That new 
 earth appeared after the destruction of the old 
 one ; and for what could it have appeared but 
 to be populated by the redeemed spirits from 
 this? That was the kingdom of heaven, and 
 the text before us evidently refers to it. * The 
 
l^AxMILIAR SOUNDS. tl 
 
 meek shall inherit the earth ;* the apostles, to 
 whom this passage was spoken, needed no 
 more definite expression about the matter, of 
 which the Master doubtless had spoken many 
 times Avith them. The whole passage seems to 
 me an exact repetition of the one before it, just 
 to give emphasis to the first." 
 
 *' I wonder if thut's exactly straight ? " re- 
 marked Squire Woodhouse, more with the air 
 of a man in a soliloquy than one asking a ques- 
 tion. **If there is a way of inheriting the 
 earth, or even a little piece of it, I'd like to 
 know all about it ; but if it s only the next 
 world that the passage refers to " 
 
 " If it M. 2fers only to the next world, you're not 
 in such a hurry to understand it," interrupted 
 Captain Maile. 
 
 " We — ell," drawled the Squire, *' that isn't 
 
 exactly the way I was going to finish off, but I 
 
 guess it's pretty near the truth. It don I sound 
 
 well either, does it ? " 
 
 " Brother Prymm ? " said Deacon Bates, and 
 6 
 
82 
 
 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 the champion of orthodoxy responded to tJie 
 invitation by saying, 
 
 " The meek are undoubtedly those who fol- 
 low the non-resistant injunctions which arc 
 found everywhere in the New Testament ; they 
 are the men who when one cheek is struck turn 
 the other also, who render not railing for rail- 
 mg. 
 
 " And who, when the coat is taken, will offer 
 the cloak also," added Captain Maile. 
 
 '' Certainly," said Mr. Prymm, with rather a 
 wry face, ** though I cannot, with any present 
 light, see how the latter course would be practi- 
 cal and judicious. The other injunctions are 
 but amplifications of the inspired saying, * A 
 soft answer turneth aw^ay wrath,' but how pro- 
 perty rights can be maintained at all, if the in- 
 junction quoted by Captain Maile were followed, 
 1 unable to see." 
 
 it wouldn't work in the steamboat busi- 
 H " declared Mr. Buffle. ** It's hard enough 
 : ^et the worth of your rr. )ney, even wbcTi 
 
FAMILIAR SOUNDS. 83 
 
 men promise to pay ; but if a man were to un- 
 derstand that by stealing one of my tug-boats 
 he would have a right to expect a first-class lake 
 packet as a present, I'd have to go out of busi- 
 ness within a fortnight." 
 
 ** I'm inclined to think the passage in ques- 
 tion must be an interpolation by one of Christ's 
 reporters," said President Lottson, who had 
 been taking a cautious course of Matthew 
 Arnold. 
 
 *' Why, if / were to live up to that injunc- 
 tion," said Builder Stott, '' folks would want to 
 modify their house plans every day. In fact 
 they do it now. The moment I try to oblige a 
 man by giving a little more than his contract 
 calls for, he wants something else. Women 
 in particular are perfectly awful that way ; 
 they " 
 
 " Ladies are present," remarked Lawyer 
 Scott, who was considerable of a ladies* man. 
 
 " Just think of a broker trying to do business 
 in that way ! " exclaimed Broker Whilchen 
 
§4 EVERYBODV*S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 " Or a man whose principal crop is hay/' 
 said Squire Woodhouse. 
 
 '' Or an importer of English cutlery," sug- 
 gested Mr. Jodderel. '* Still, the passage ought 
 either to be explained away or lived up to, for 
 if going contrary to business rules is necessary 
 to inherit the new earth — it's contrary to sense 
 that this earth can be got hold of by any such 
 unbusiness-like operation — the new earth, other- 
 wise the kinp*dom of heaven — 
 
 " Members will please bear in mind the rule 
 that remarks are to be made in regular order,"^ 
 interposed the leader hastily. '' We will hear 
 from Brother Hopper." 
 
 '* I suppose meekness means patience," said 
 the gentleman addressed, nervously clutching 
 his coat-tail pocket with its precious contents ; 
 ** not getting into a stew about everything, in 
 fact ; but how a man is to be so, when every- 
 thing goes on the way it shouldn't, is more than 
 / can tell, and how they're going to get the 
 earth for their pains is a bigger puzzle yet." 
 
FAMILIAR SOUNDS. 85 
 
 Mr Lottson being called upon, said: 
 '* I can only repeat about this passage my 
 remarks upon the one which preceded it. It 
 means exactly what it says, but it means it only 
 in a spiritual sense, and only to those to whom 
 it was said — ^to the disciples of Christ, and those 
 whose conditions of life are equally admirable 
 and peculiar. The disciples were meek — all but 
 Peter, that is — and he stopped being a man of 
 the world after he learned that he couldn't be 
 that and a consistent disciple too. And look at 
 the result ! Haven't the disciples of Christ in- 
 herited the earth ? Hasn't the blood of the 
 martyrs been the seed of the Church ? Hasn't 
 the non-resistent, patient, self-sacrificing course 
 of Christian missionaries led to the conversion 
 
 of powerful heathen nations, opened avenues of 
 
 ■I 
 
 trade between them and Christian countries " 
 
 " Which have straightway been traveled over 
 by men who rob the heathen, poison them with 
 rum, and kill them off with the popular vices of 
 civilization," interrupted Captain Maile, 
 
86 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 " Opened avenues of trade between them and 
 Christian countries," resumed President Lottson, 
 as if no interruption had occurred, '' created a 
 demand for the Bible and the school, discour- 
 aged war, extended the area of production, 
 established representative governments in the 
 place of irresponsible despotisms, brought from 
 foreign lands, to study our institutions, men 
 whose fathers and grandfathers were brutal 
 savages, and hastened the coming of the day 
 when at the name of Jesus every knee shall 
 bend and every tongue confess him Lord ? 
 Business alone could never have done this ; it 
 required a special development of mind, and to 
 those whom he had created for this urpose 
 Jesus enounced this promise, which was the 
 only one that in the nature of things could be 
 made to them about earthly interests." 
 
 " I declare ! " whispered Squire Woodhouse 
 to Mr. Bufifie, ** Lottson did that splendidly. If 
 it wasn't for the way he treated rne about that 
 barn I should say that Lottson ought to have 
 
FAMILIAR SOUNDS. 
 
 87 
 
 gone into the ministry." At the same moment 
 Deacon Bates called Mr. Prymm to the chair, 
 took the floor himself, and said : 
 
 ** There was a remark dropped by Mr. Lott- 
 son, and followed up in his excellent speech, 
 which I am certain conceals a truth which is not 
 clearly enough realized. If it was, a number of 
 puzzling questions that have been before the 
 class could have easily been answered. He said 
 the passage should be taken in a spiritual sense. 
 It certainly should. God is a Spirit; our own 
 spirits are our only immortal parts ; everything 
 else in us and everything around us is transient 
 and perishable. The meek should be meek in 
 a spiritual way ; they should not be puffed up 
 with knowledge, or what they think to be such, 
 hut should in humility open their hearts to the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit. Business has 
 nothing to do with our eternal welfare; it is 
 only one of the necessary but transient affairs 
 of our perishable, material bodies ; but the things 
 unseen are eternal. If we would constantly 
 
88 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 keep this fact in our minds I am sure many of 
 our present difficulties in studying the Scriptures 
 would disappear. This earth is not our abiding 
 place ; our time here is but short ; ' A thousand 
 years are but as a dpy in His sight ;' heaven is 
 our final and eternal home, and it was to in- 
 struct us how to prepare our souls for the future 
 state of existence that the prophets spoke and 
 Jesus came to earth/' 
 
 " According to that, it don't matter how we 
 do business," said Squire Woodhouse ; " every 
 man can be just as sharp and underhanded as 
 he pleases. Well, it s a comfortable belief, but 
 I think you're mistaken. Deacon, about its 
 being lost sight of ; I think pretty much every- 
 body lives up to it, as far as business goes." 
 
 ** Dr. Fahrenglotz," remarked the leader, in 
 evident confusion at the moral deduced from 
 his theory. 
 
 "Although not attaching to the words that 
 degree of authority that some do," said the 
 Doctor, "their unselfish tendency and their 
 
FAMILIAR SOUNDS, 89 
 
 moral beauty convince me that they have an 
 important meaning. That they can apply to 
 the common affairs of life I cannot believe, for 
 the theory is contrary to reason and experience. 
 They probably refer to some coming state of 
 society when the application of true reason shall 
 have raised men above their present physical 
 and moral level, and enabled them to translate 
 the mystic sayings of the world's great seers." 
 
 "Then the passage doesn*t comman. any- 
 thing that s really essential to salvation ? " asked 
 young Mr. Waggett. 
 
 "Oh, no, certainly not,'* said Captain Maile. 
 "Nothing does, or if it does, our business is to 
 get around it somehow, and look at some other 
 side of it." 
 
 The leader called upon Mr. Alleman, who 
 said : 
 
 '* The simple fact that this saying was given 
 is sufficient excuse and command to follow it, 
 no matter what it brings us or takes from us. 
 As, however, the rns^terial bearing of the pas- 
 
90 EVER\BODYS NEIGHBORS. 
 
 sage has attracted more attention to-day than 
 the manifest desire of Christ, I wish to recall to 
 notice the peculiar wording. Jesus does not 
 say that the meek shall earn or acquire the 
 earth, but that they shall inherit it An inheri- 
 tance is something that the child obtains from 
 the parent through love and affection. The 
 passage means : * Be meek, not given to strife, not 
 stirring up wrath, attending to your own affairs, 
 not assuming to be better or more deserving 
 than others ; * and God, who owns the earth and 
 all that is in it, who makes man his steward, 
 who pulleth down one and setteth up another, 
 who knows the uses of property better than we 
 do, and who sooner or later puts it into proper 
 hands, will give you the earth. Be meek, and 
 trust to God for appreciation, even upon 
 earth." 
 
 *' One o'clock," observed President Lottson, 
 and the session closed. 
 
 " Now wasnt that just like AUeman ? " asked 
 Squire W >odhouse of Mr. Jodderel. *' Beauti- 
 
FAMILIAR SOUNDS. 9 1 
 
 ful idea — perfectly heavenly ; but nothing in it 
 that a man can take hold of without running the 
 risk of losing some of his property. He'd bet- 
 ter not talk that way before the city booksellers, 
 if he don't want to have to pay cash for every 
 bill of books he buys." 
 
 And Captain Maile walked out singing to 
 himself, but in a tone loud enough to be offen- 
 sive, the old song beginning, 
 
 ** Whip the devil around the stump." 
 
• %' i 'i8?^ 
 
 •♦-1 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. 
 
 THE Scripture Club proceeded promptly to 
 work on the ensuing Sunday. Too many 
 men had brought to the previous meeting ideas 
 which they could not find time to express ; so 
 on the second Sunday in which the nature and 
 reward of the meek were considered, the mem- 
 bers who had not expressed their views, with 
 several who had, made haste to occupy front 
 seats, so as to be sure of opportunities to speak. 
 Among these was Squire Woodhouse. He 
 had several times ruined the regularity of the 
 proceedings of other meetings, but still he was 
 unsatisfied. He had not expressed his own 
 views in full, partly because he had not been 
 asked to do so, but principally because he had 
 hci'l no settled views to express* |^ow. how- 
 
l^rtT.DER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. 93 
 
 ever, the case was different. He had leisurely 
 pondered over everything that he had heard in 
 the class, he had admired each original idea 
 with the true American heartiness toward new 
 notions, he had endeavored to reconcile them 
 with his unformulated but still ver)^ positive pre- 
 conceived religious opinions, and his honesty 
 had finally triumphed over his theology and his 
 sophistry. When he came to church, therefore, 
 he neglected his own pew and took the front 
 seat and the extreme right end thereof, so when 
 Deacon Bates opened the exercises of the class 
 immediately after service, it was impossible not 
 to call upon Squire Woodhouse first of all. The 
 Squire cleared his throat, waved his head about 
 in a dissatisfied manner, and finally said : 
 
 "This thing of being meek grows pretty 
 big when you think about it for a little while, 
 and the worst of it is that everything else in the 
 chapter is only a chip out of the same block. 
 All of it — being meek and everything else — 
 seems to come in the end to just this : you 
 
94 KVERYRODY'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 mustn^t be like folks in general, particularly like 
 business men. I confess that I don't know 
 exactly how to do it all, but it seems to me it 
 must be done by any one who believes that 
 Jesus Christ had the right to say all that he 
 did. I dorit know how to be meek about the 
 way I was swindled — treated, I mean — by the 
 insurance companies when my barn burned 
 down *' 
 
 ** Personal ! " whispered Mr. Prymm. 
 
 ** I don't care if it is personal," said Squire 
 Woodhouse. ** I'm trying to point a moral, and 
 it isn't my fault if other folks get in the way and 
 get hurt. I don't know how to be meek when 
 I'm abused, but " 
 
 ** It isn't required of you," said Mr. Jodderel. 
 ** You're expected Ic take care of what has been 
 intrusted to you in your capacity as a steward 
 of the Lord." 
 
 Many were the affirmative shakes of head 
 which followed this remark. 
 
 " I suppose I am," said the Squire, ** and so 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. 95 
 
 long as I am a human being I won't be likely 
 to forget it ; but whether when I get mad over 
 being swindled the anger all comes from my 
 feeling of being deprived of the Lord's prop- 
 erty, I'm not so sure : I've a suspicion that 
 more of it comes from the heart of Squire 
 Woodhouse than from the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 ** Not a bit of it," said Mr. Hopper, finding 
 at last a subject upon which he could speak 
 from the abundance of his heart. ** Aren't you 
 working for the good of your family, and don't 
 St. Paul say that the man who don't look out 
 for his family is worse than an infidel ? " 
 
 " Yes," said the Squire meditatively ; '* but 
 he don't tell you to boil over when there's 
 nothing to be gained by rt, and when getting 
 mad makes you uninteresting to everybody, not 
 excepting yourself. He doesn't tell you to let 
 your suspicions manage your wits, and deter- 
 mine what sort of a man your neighbor is. The 
 man who gets the best of me in a trade may be 
 a scoundrel ; I've always made it a rule to think 
 
g6 i:VERYBODY*S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 SO, in fact ; but when I come to think of it, I 
 remember that Tve sometimes made a hard, 
 sharp trade myself without meaning anything 
 wrong/' 
 
 ** You never carried back the unfair gains, 
 though, when you saw what you'd done, did 
 you ? " asked Captain Maile. 
 
 ** Well, no ; not that I can recollect. I kave 
 tried to make it up to the man in some way or 
 other, though." 
 
 '' Taking pains to tell him why you were try- 
 ing to do it ? " asked the Captain. 
 
 '' No — no, I can't say that I did— I don't 
 know that I ever succeeded in doing it, any 
 how," said the Squire honestly. '' I'd think it 
 over, off and on, and before I'd know it, the 
 whole thing would fall out of my mind." 
 
 ** So all you did was to ease your conscience 
 — sing it to sleep, so to speak," continued the 
 Captain. ** You gave him all the good feeling 
 you could, which you couldn't help giving any 
 way, because you're naturally a good-hearted 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. 97 
 
 fellow, and then when you'd comforted yourself 
 your work stopped." 
 
 ** That's about the truth of the matter," re- 
 plied the Squire, *' though I didn't mean to out 
 with it all so plainly before folks." 
 
 "Then," asked the Captain, ** what's the 
 moral difference between you and a rascal ? " 
 
 ** Sh — h — h — h" arose in chorus, even Presi- 
 dent Lottson taking part in the remonstrance. 
 
 ** There isn't any," said the Squire stoutly, 
 ** if everybody's a rascal that's called one. But 
 anybody that has the honest feelings / have, 
 and that loves the square thing so much, and 
 likes so much to see it done, istit a rascal, and 
 as I've had the kind of experiences I've told 
 about, I don't see why other men that have had 
 others like them, and that are called ugly names 
 by me as well as everybody else, mayn't be just 
 as right at heart as I am. After this I'm going 
 to believe them so, any how," 
 
 There was a general nod of assent, and Presi- 
 dent Lottson arose, went around to where the 
 
98 EVKRYBODY^S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 Squire was sitting, and offered his hand to the 
 loser of the barn. The Squire took it, rather 
 gingerly at first, but finally gave it a squeeze so 
 hearty that President Lottson winced and drew 
 his hand away. 
 
 ** There ! " exclaimed Captain Iviaile ; *' every- 
 thing is all right now, of course. Goodness 
 don't consist in doing right, but only in feeling 
 right. Not what you do, but what you believe 
 is what saves a man." 
 
 ** Such is the decree of God and the decision 
 of the Church,'* remarked Mr. Prymm. 
 
 ** Then what saints the devils must be ! " ob- 
 served the Captain ; '* for ^key believe, though, 
 to be sure, they tremble." 
 
 Another murmur of dissent was heard, and 
 young Mr. Waggett hastened to throw a small 
 quantity of oil on the troubled waters by re 
 marking that whatever was sufficient to salva-- 
 tion was the fulfillment of God's plan as re sealed 
 in the holy Scriptures. 
 
 " I'm not through yet," said the Squire ** I 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. 99 
 
 was coming to that point. Of course, other men 
 make blunders very much h'ke mine. I ought 
 to be meek about judging them — I ought to 
 forgive them their trespasses as I hope to have 
 mine forgiven. But if there's so much excuse 
 to think bad of men for what they do and don't 
 do, we ought to put the cause out of the way, as 
 well as to be patient with others as w^e'd have 
 them patient with us. If IVe had reason so 
 many times to think the worst about church 
 members, I suppose that sinners — sinners out- 
 side of the Church — must see them to be just as 
 bad as I do. And if they do, what induce- ' 
 ment is there for sinners to come into the 
 Church ? " 
 
 ** Salvation ! " promptly answered young Mr. 
 Waggett. 
 
 "That's no moral inducement," said the 
 Squire ; *' it's a selfish one." 
 
 ** Oh, oh, oh ! " exclaimed Builder Stott, sup- 
 ported by a sympathetic sensation which was 
 manifested by most of the members, while Mr. 
 
ICX) EVERYBODY S NEIGHBOkS. 
 
 Jodderel sprang to his feet and said — shouted, 
 almost : 
 
 ** Mr. Chairman, I protest against this drift- 
 ing away from the subject by talking all sorts 
 of new-fangled notions that " 
 
 " Free speech is the rule of this class," said 
 Captain Maile. '' Youve given us a great deal 
 about the kini^dom of heaven that nobody ever 
 heard of beL.-3, that's as unheard of in the 
 Bible or the Church " 
 
 " It is in the Bible," said Mr. Jodderel ; *' you'll 
 find it in the prophets and apostles from begin- 
 ning to end." 
 
 *' I would suggest," said Mr. Prymm, in the 
 most measured and soothing of tones, *' that 
 Brother Woodhouse should remember that we 
 have but a single hour in the week to talk upon 
 these subjects, and that however deeply he may 
 be interested in his own peculiar views, it would 
 be well to let all who are present have an op- 
 portunity to offer their views." 
 
 " Yes, let s get away from morality as soon as 
 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. lOI 
 
 we can," said Captain Maile. *' What's Sunday 
 good for, if you can't in it get away from these 
 enraging affairs of the week ? Nine-tenths of 
 the moral questions in the world are started by 
 business ; and who has any right to drag busi- 
 ness into the Lord's house on Sunday, and just 
 after a sermon, too ? " , 
 
 Faces confused, awry, angry, and merry, 
 shov^ed that the Captain had aroused a great 
 deal of feeling, which, in sentiment, was not a 
 unit. Deacon Bates would have ordered the 
 immediate relief of the class from extraneous 
 subjects ; but he had, from the beginning of the 
 services, groaned over the fact that next to 
 Squire Woodhouse sat Mr. Jodderel, and no 
 one else could be called upon without destroy- 
 ing that rule of rotrtion upon which the leader 
 generally depended for relief. Silently resolving 
 to pack the front seats on the succeeding Sun- 
 day, he said, in tones so subdued as to be almost 
 pathetic : 
 
 ♦* Brother Jodderel" 
 
 ^ 
 
102 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 The members looked resignedly into each 
 other's eyes ; Mr. Stott turned to the table of 
 Hebrew weights and measures in his Bible, and 
 tried to lose himself in them ; Broker Whilcher 
 began slyly ciphering on a card, doubtless to 
 solve some problem of the market ; Mr. Alle- 
 man buried himself in a school report from 
 some other town ; Mr. Hopper re-read to 
 himself the paper on ** The True Location of 
 the Holy Sepulchre ; " and Mr. Bufifle dropped 
 into gentle slumber. 
 
 ** I want to say/' said Mr. Jodderel, **that 
 you can't rightly know how to be meek until 
 you know what's to be required of you in the 
 earth which the meek are to inherit, and you 
 can't know that without knowing where and 
 what that earth is. Now, it cant mean this 
 earth, for if the meek inherited it, it would be 
 stolen away from them precious quickly. What 
 happens to a meek man when somebody hits 
 him without knocking the meekness out of him ? 
 — he gets hit again. What happens to him if 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH. IO3 
 
 somebody trier to swindle him out of his prop- 
 erty, and he don't show that he Tvon't endure 
 imposition ? — he'll be cheated out of every cent. 
 So the meekness that wc think about is evidently 
 not the thing for the earth that's to be inherited, 
 and the question is, what is ? And that brings 
 us back to the question, What sort of a land 
 
 are we going to inherit ? Tt " 
 
 " If it is to be the abode of the finally saved 
 and redeemed," said Mr. Radley, ** I really 
 don't see that meekness can be enjoined upon 
 its inhabitants, unless we are all mistaken about 
 the nature of the change that will take place 
 after death. Our mental condition will be 
 determined for us, and we can't do better on 
 this earth than act according to what seems 
 the highest order of goodness. I should really 
 like to ask the gentleman if the next world is all 
 that we are to think of while we remain in this 
 one, and whether we are not to guide ourselves 
 somewhat by the rights of other people as well 
 as by our own desires ? " 
 
I04 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 " This earth is not our abiding place." quoted 
 Mr. Prymm ; " we have a home not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens." 
 
 " Certainly," said Mr. Jodderel ; " that's cor- 
 rect ; it is in the heavens — in the sky — the air 
 above us, in which are suspended all the plan- 
 etary bodies, one of which " 
 
 " The gentleman has lost sight of my ques- 
 tion," said Mr. Radley. 
 
 ** So will everybody else," remarked Captain 
 Maile. " If you press that question, you'll 
 ruin the interest of this meeting. We didn't 
 come here to learn what we ought to do ; 
 we're here to study out what's to be done 
 for us.'*' 
 
 " Not a bit of it," said Mr. Buffle, who has 
 slowly awakened from his nap. '' fm not, any 
 way. I'm as fond as any one else of getting 
 anything ; but I've already been blessed with 
 more than I deserve, and I want to know what 
 God's will concerning me is on earth as well as 
 in heaven/' 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAIIH. lOD 
 
 ** Always providing it don't cost you any- 
 thing," said Captain Maile. 
 
 " Nonsense," replied Mr. Buffle, rather angrily. 
 ** I never refused to spend money on any really 
 useful charity." 
 
 Several members softly responded, " That's 
 true." 
 
 '' Yes," said Captain Maile ; *' you occasion- 
 ally spend a penny out of a dollar, so to speak, 
 and you deserve credit for it, for very few other 
 men of means o so far ; you're ahead of your 
 day and generation. When I carry around a 
 subscription paper for anything, your name al- 
 ways has a handsome sum after it. But do you 
 really mean that you are going through this 
 Sermon on the Mount — if we live long enough 
 to get through it, which is very unlikely at the 
 present rate of progress — and practically agree 
 to what it says ? " 
 
 Mr. Buffle was cornered ; but blessed be 
 corners ! There are no other positions in life 
 from which a man can obtain so good a view of 
 
 5* 
 
I06 EVERYBODV*S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 himself. Mr. Buffle studied the back of the 
 seat in front of him for a few seconds ; looked 
 rather blank, then very modest, then very 
 manly, raised his head, and said : 
 
 - Yes, I do." 
 
 ** Good ! " was the only word Captain Maile 
 uttered, while Mr. Jodderel shook his head 
 dismally, and exclaimed : 
 
 '' Here we are, away from the subject again, 
 Mr. Leader ! " 
 
 *' We can hurry back to it, if the gentleman 
 will answer my question," observed Mr. Radley. 
 
 ** It*s one o'clock," remarked Builder Stott. 
 
 The members arose, and most of them de- 
 parted as soon as possible, while President 
 Lottson turned to Stott, and said : 
 
 " You did that just in time." 
 
 *' Well," said Stott modestly, '* something had 
 to be done. This old fight between faith and 
 works has played the mischief wherever it's come 
 up among men, and I'm not going to sit still and 
 see it break up an interesting class like this, 
 
BUILDER STOTT SAVES THE FAITH, IO7 
 
 IVe no other chance to study the Bible except 
 here, and I'm not going to have it ruined by a 
 lot of theorists getting into a row. I'm afraid 
 its too late, though, Buffle got some new 
 notion into his head when Maile cornered him 
 there ; and he never lets go of any thought that 
 strikes him as good. The first thing you'll hear 
 of will be another subscription list, with his 
 name at the head, and he'll go into it with all 
 his might, like he did about the building of this 
 church ; and everybody will be worried by him, 
 and he'll drag it in here, and act as if the 
 Bible wasn't anything but a code of every-day 
 morals." 
 
 ** And forget all about the gospel-plan of sal- 
 vation," said young Mr. Waggett. 
 
 *•* And the kingdom of heaven," suggested 
 Mr. JoddereL 
 
 ** And the atonement, the central truth of the 
 Scriptures," remarked Mr. Prymm ; ** the vica- 
 rious efficacy of the atonement." 
 
 ^* And you'll shut your ears and eyes for fear 
 
io8 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 you might be converted and healed," said Cap- 
 tain Maile. 
 
 And the lingerers went straightway every 
 man to his own house. 
 
 2-^« ^*' 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FREE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYIT'G. 
 
 AS the next meeting^ of the Scrip Club 
 was about to open, certain members 
 noticed that Mr. Jodderel had taken a seat 
 which would entitle him to be the first person 
 called upon for an opinion, and that he was 
 divesting his pockets of a large number of 
 books, most of them in faded and unconven- 
 tional bindings. The members glanced at each 
 other in terror, and when the opening prayer 
 was concluded, Mr. Radley promptly ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Mr. Leader, the New Testament contains 
 eight thousand verses, lacking two. With oc- 
 casional quadrennial exceptions, there are but 
 fifty-two Sundays in a year. We have already 
 
 consumed, on an average, two Sundays to a 
 
 ^ 109 
 
1I6 EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBOkS. 
 
 verse ; at this rate we will need more than 
 three hundred years to get through the New 
 Testament. Certain chapters, like the first 
 chapter of Matthew and the third chapter of 
 Luke, may form exceptions ; but as no man here 
 can expect to live through much more than one- 
 tenth of the time necessary to consider all the 
 Gospels and Epistles, and as, even at the rate 
 of a verse to a day, we would need to have our 
 lives extended to several times the average 
 longevity of mortals, I move that no single verse 
 of Scripture shall be allowed to monopolize the 
 attention of this class for more than one Sun- 
 day." 
 
 ** I second the motion/* said Mr. Alleman. 
 
 ** Mr. Leader!" exclaimed Mr. Jodderel, ** I 
 object. We have spent two Sundays in con- 
 sidering the third beatitude, and we know no 
 more about the whereabouts of the kingdom of 
 heaven than when we began. If the proposed 
 resolution takes effect now, and we find each 
 verse of the Gospel as interesting as those 
 
FREE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYING, 1 1 I 
 
 already studied, no one knows how many of us 
 may go from our deathbeds to the bar of God 
 without knowing what to expect thereafter." 
 
 ** And as God is only our Father, and the 
 maker of the universe, and as we profess only to 
 believe that he is wiser and more loving than 
 any earthly parent, we daren't trust him to 
 make the matter plain in the next world," ob- 
 served Captain Maile. 
 
 ** Question ! " exclaimed every one who had 
 perceived Mr. Jodderel's collection of books. 
 
 The q . estion was put and carried, with but 
 two dissentmg voices, that of young Mr. Wag- 
 gett being one of them. Then the Leader read 
 the verse : 
 
 *' Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness, for they shall be filled ;" 
 and he asked Mr. Jodderel to open the discus- 
 sion. The gentleman addressed maintained a 
 sulky silence for about two minutes, and finally 
 remarked : 
 
 ** This class seems bound to drift from spirit- 
 
112 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 ual interests to temporal ones. The discussion 
 of the most important question suggested by 
 revelation has been prevented by an almost 
 unanimous vote, and now we are expected to 
 consider righteousness — ;i*ere morality — and its 
 rather dubious earthly reward. Filled ? Why, 
 certainly they will be filled. In this late day 
 and age no man studies the moral law without 
 learning moie than his mind can hold. Right- 
 eousness is good ; it is necessary ; men need to 
 learn about it, and others need to teach it, but 
 it's an awful come-down for the great fact of a 
 life beyond the grave." 
 
 ** Certainly," said Captain Maile. "Right- 
 eousness is full of annoying little bothers about 
 what ought to be done for other people, while 
 the kingdom of heaven consists only of what is 
 to be done for ourselves. The Bible is crammed 
 full of these tormenting hints, and they always 
 appear just when a man would rather think 
 about something else ; being given by divine 
 command, though, as the majority of the class 
 
FREE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYING. I I 3 
 
 believe they are, I suppose they must be talked 
 about in one way or another." 
 
 *' They certainly should," said Broker Whil- 
 cher, who had been attracted to Mr. Jodderel's 
 side by the array of books which that gentleman 
 had begun to bring into line. " I have a sad 
 reputation in point of orthodoxy, but what Cap- 
 tain Maile admits in sarcasm, / declare in the 
 most solemn earnest. Morality is the order of 
 things, and to a sinner like me, it seems to be 
 a matter of prime importance. The interest 
 which some of the members display in the na- 
 ture of the kingdom of heaven is quite natural 
 and proper ; but how they propose to get there 
 without morality, or, if they^ please, righteous- 
 ness, is a puzzle to any man who reads the 
 Bible and notices the importance attached to 
 right conduct" 
 
 Deacon Bates promptly called President Lott- 
 son to the chair, took the floor himself, during 
 an animated buzz by the class, and delivered 
 with rapidity and emphasis the following speech : 
 
114 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 • 
 
 " The method of reaching the better world, 
 other than that of mere right doing, is rightly a 
 matter of wonder to those who do not accept 
 the inspired Word as a divinely designed and 
 revealed plan for the salvation of sinful man. 
 But if any of the good Book has binding force, 
 all of it has ; it stands or falls as a whole. We 
 are informed by the apostle whose wi . 'ngs fill 
 half of the New Testament, that ' The law of the 
 Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 
 from the law of sin, which is death. For what 
 the law* — that is, the law of righteousness — 
 * for what the law could not do, in that it was 
 weak through the flesh, God, sending his own 
 Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, 
 condemned the flesh : that the righteousness 
 of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not 
 after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' And again 
 we are told — oh, blessed assurance to those 
 who find the law of righteousness impossible to 
 fulfill ! — that * Abraham believed God, and it was 
 imputed unto him for righteousness.* And we 
 
Free speech becomes annoying. li5 
 
 are also told, by the Saviour himself, that * God 
 so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whoso believeth in him shall 
 not perish but have eternal life.' The law can- 
 not be fulfilled by man ; we are all imperfect ; 
 even when we will to do right the flesh wars 
 against the spirit, and ignorance hinders men 
 of the best intentions from doing what they 
 would do. No man can be saved through the 
 law ; excepting jesus Christ, * there is no other 
 name under heaven whereby mankind can be 
 saved. I hope I have answered the gentle- 
 man's question in a manner distinct enough to 
 be understood by him and such others here 
 present to whom the Gospel plan of salvation is 
 not as plain as it should be." 
 
 Deacon Bates resumed the chair, and Broker 
 Whilcher replied : 
 
 " The explanation is perfectly satisfactory, as 
 an answer to my question ; but it seems to me 
 rather strange that any one should be willing to 
 enter without effort when everybody is plainly 
 
Il6^^ EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBOR^. 
 
 told the desires of the king and benefactor 
 whom they expect to meet." 
 
 Builder Stott sat next, and hastened to the 
 rescue of faith from a freethinker like Mr. Whil- 
 cher. 
 
 " Suppose we do right always," said he, 
 ** what does it amount to ? Our righteousness 
 IS as filthy rags in His sight, according to the 
 inspired Word, and there's very little to hope 
 for from anything so worthless. Nobody knows, 
 even when he's doing his best, whether he is 
 right or wrong. Even Satan sometimes ap- 
 pears as an angel of light. I can remember 
 many a time when Tve done what seemed to 
 be exactly the right thing, and I not only went 
 without any credit for it, but it seemed to make 
 everything else go wrong. I begin to think the 
 Lord knows his own business best, and that we 
 can't meddle with it without getting into trou- 
 ble." 
 
 ** Gettinof into trouble is an excuse for not 
 trying to do right, is it.**" asked Captain Maile. 
 
FREE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYING. I I 7 
 
 " No, it isn't," replied Mr. Stott quite testily ; 
 ** but a man can do a great deal of trying with- 
 out succeeding, and without finding what is the 
 proper thing to do. If we always knew just 
 what was right, we should never get into 
 trouble." 
 
 *' I should like to ask the gentleman if Christ, 
 the apostles, and prophets never got into trou- 
 ble ? " said Mr. Alleman. 
 
 ** I suppose they did," replied Mr. Stott, in 
 visible embarrassment; **but — but that was di- 
 vinely ordained for the benefit of sinful man." 
 
 ** I should like also to ask if the gentleman 
 considers the servant above his master, and free 
 from responsibility for his conduct ? " 
 
 " No, of course not," said Mr. Stott, 
 
 but — 
 
 ti ■ - " 
 
 ' Mr. Stott's expression remained unfinished 
 for so long a time that Mr. Bufifle took pity 
 upon him, and remarked : 
 
 *' It seems to me that unless hungering and 
 thirsting after righteousness is a special virtue, 
 
ii8 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 it would not have been brought into this small 
 group of qualities for which special blessings are 
 promised. If it is of so much consequence, we 
 ought, in gratitude to God, to be anxious to 
 learn just what righteousness is. What we are 
 to get for practicing it isn't of so much conse- 
 quence. And as there aren't many of us who 
 have had so much reason to study the meaning 
 of the word as our friend Judge Cottaway has, 
 I think the class will be willing to waive the 
 regular order of answering for once, and hear 
 from the Judge his opinion of this important 
 word." 
 
 Every one looked at the Judge, and Deacon 
 Bates remarked that he would assume that Mr. 
 Buffle expressed the sentiments of every one. 
 
 ** Righteousness," said the Judge, with his 
 regulation court-room air, ** has but one mean- 
 ing. Philologically, legally, morally, and spirit- 
 ually it means right doing. Legally, righteous- 
 ness consists in obeying the law, and, by impli- 
 cation, refraining from offending the law, Mor- 
 
FREE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYING. I I9 
 
 ally, it is the very highest attainment possible 
 to man ; in its fulfillment every ordinary duty of 
 man toward man is accomplished. Spiritually, 
 either under the old dispensation or the new, 
 its range of application is increased and its 
 nature strengthened and elevated. By no cor- 
 rect line of reasoning, nor by any honest inter- 
 pretation of the letter and sph*it of the Scriptures, 
 can the imperative obligation of man to do 
 righteousness be set aside. Because the term is 
 frequently used as a synonym for piety, there is 
 no excuse for substituting religious belief for it, 
 for true piety must include righteousness, and 
 has no foundation without it. The religious 
 sentiment may suddenly take possession of a 
 man who has previously been unrighteous ; but 
 it is reputable and valuable only so far as it 
 induces its subject to attain, not only to negative 
 righteousness, the refraining from misconduct, 
 which the law holds to ^ "iifificient, but also 
 to that positive, active \ ircue, enjoined by all 
 the inspired teachers, which shall make a man 
 
I20 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 actively virtuous, and from higher motives than 
 that of merely escaping penalties and gaining 
 rewards. Christ himself said of the moral law 
 that every jot and tittle of it should be fulfilled." 
 
 " And it was fulfilled, on the Cross, when 
 he cried, * It is finished,' " interrupted Builder 
 Stott. 
 
 " That's so," said young Mr. Waggett, now 
 thoroughly aroused. " If it hadn't been, we 
 never could have been saved." 
 
 " If the gentlemen really infer from Christ's 
 last words that he meant to set aside the moral 
 law," resumed Judge Cottaway, **the Church 
 has been making a sad blunder during the 
 twenty centuries which have followed the scene 
 on Calvary. During all these years, she has 
 been a teacher of morality ; she has restrained, 
 sometimes by persuasion, oftener by authority, 
 sometimes by mistaken methods, sometimes in 
 too lukewarm a manner, the baser passions of 
 mankind, and encouraged the nobler qualities. 
 In legal righteousness, the ancient Romans sur- 
 
FREE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYING. 121 
 
 passed the world, and gave the models of all 
 codes in operation to-day in the civilized world. 
 And yet righteousness among the Romans, 
 while wise, was often vindictive, and always 
 wholly selfish. The smallest, most ignorant 
 community in our neighborhood to-day has a 
 higher, purer conception and practice of moral- 
 ity than the central city of the world had in the 
 time of Christ, and though it is not under the 
 special direction of the Church, its growth can 
 be traced back to no other source." 
 
 ** IVe often heard," said Mr. Jodderel, " that so 
 an Episcopalian admits the authority and divme 
 origin of his Church, he can believe anything he 
 pleases, and the address we have just listened 
 to convinces me that the statement is true. 
 Why, gentlemen, while nobody has a higher 
 respect for Judge Cottaway's character and at- 
 tainments than I have, it seems to me that he 
 isn't much different from a Unitarian or any 
 other freethinker that imagines he has some 
 hold upon religion. Why, gentlemen, whats 
 
T22 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 the good of Christ having lived and died at all, 
 if we're still in bondage under the law? I don't 
 mean that we're not to do right when we can — 
 I want to do right as much as any man ever 
 did — but if I've got to be bothered about all 
 the little points that the Scribes and Pharisees 
 fussed over, I don't see how much better off I 
 am than they were." 
 
 " The gentleman is better off, as he expresses 
 it," said the Judge, '* because he has the benefit 
 of the clearer light which Christ shed upon the 
 law, and because through the life and death of 
 Christ he has incentives to that love for the 
 Source of all goodness which enables a man to 
 overcome difificulties which, to the merely self- 
 ish moralist, are utterly insurmountable. It is 
 thus that love becomes the fulfillment of the 
 law, for it enables the weakest man to overcome 
 his worst inclinations." 
 
 ** What becomes, then, of the doctrine of jus- 
 tification by faith — the corner-stone of all Prot- 
 estantism ? " asked President Lottson. 
 
FREE SFEECH BECOMES ANNOYING. 1 23 
 
 *• It remains as strong as ever," answered the 
 Judge. " All are forgiven, our misdeeds com- 
 mitted in ignorance, when — mark the condition 
 — when we are honest in intention and effort. 
 * The just ' — the righteous, that is, those who 
 do right to the best of their knowledge — * shall 
 live by faith.' I would remind the gentleman 
 that Christian theology, of every school, is based 
 principally upon the principles laid down by that 
 masterly jurist, the Apostle Paul, and that he 
 makes of faith not the master but the subordi- 
 nate of love. ' And now abideth faith, hope, 
 love, these three ; but the greatest of these is 
 love.' " 
 
 ** You can't go back on Paul," remarked 
 Squire Woodhouse, " but it's often seemed to 
 me that religious people treat Paul a great deal 
 as the boys treat my orchard ; they steal the 
 apples they like the looks of best, but the best 
 I've got are really the least handsome, and I 
 generally have the full crop to myself," 
 
124 EVERYBODVS NEIGHBORS. 
 
 Some one reminded the Leader that it was 
 one o'clock, and the class arose. 
 
 " I'm going into Humbletop's class after this," 
 said Builder Stott to President Lottson. ** I 
 was a little doubtful when this class was started 
 whether it wouldn't sooner or later run things 
 into the ground, and now it Jias done it. Cot- 
 taway is a dangerous man, for all his knowledge 
 and squareness. There are men here, mem- 
 bers of our Church, that'll be as likely as not to 
 swallow all that he said, and then what'U their 
 faith amount to ? I say that if any such non- • 
 sense gets a hold in this church it ought to be 
 made a matter of discipline." 
 
 '' I think / shall remain with the class," said 
 President Lottson. ** There is a great deal of 
 what is said here that I can't approve of, but that 
 is all the more reason that somebody with a cool 
 head and quick wits should be on hand to pre- 
 vent the orthodox faith from going to ruin." 
 
 " I was very much interested in your re- 
 piarks," said Broker Whilcher to the Judge. 
 
tKEE SPEECH BECOMES ANNOYING. 12$ 
 
 '* Matthew Arnold has put forth some of the 
 
 same views." 
 
 " I am glad to hear it," replied the Judge. 
 " They will save him from drifting into vacuity, 
 and they will convince his readers of his hon- 
 esty of purpose. I wish only that I could be- 
 lieve that such views had as strong a hold upon 
 the Church as they have upon the outside world. 
 Verily, Christ never spoke a truer saying than 
 that * a man s foes shall be they of his own 
 household/ " 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AFTERMATH. 
 
 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 him- 
 self determined that, at the next meeting, some 
 one should move the rescinding of his own reso- 
 lution 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 steamer 0ak4eafy 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. 
 
 za6 
 
AFTERMATH. 1 2^^ 
 
 ** You didn't have an opportunity to ex- 
 press your opinions last Sunday?" said Squiie 
 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 breed- 
 ing, and the care that men have for the results 
 of their bringing up is, under such circum- 
 stances, admirable beyond expression." 
 
 " Oh, you're not exactly fair, I think,'* said 
 the Squire. " Every member of that class thinks 
 the case of faith vs. 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 make 
 
12^ ever^:body*s neighbors. 
 
 the slightest difference which side they take, if 
 they really believe as they claim to do/' 
 
 '* Goodness !" exclaimed the Squire. " Why, 
 are you going over to the defense of faith 
 against works ? You, who have always been 
 preaching up good works as the whole end of 
 life ? Tm afraid Fve been in too much of a hurry, 
 for I've been drifting over to your side ver/, 
 very fast during the past two or three weeks. ' 
 
 ** Fve not changed my principles in the least," 
 replied Mr. Alleman. ** Either belief includes 
 the other, if a man is really sincere in the be- 
 lief 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 ; ^ )th sets make 
 
AFTERMATH. 129 
 
 faces when they pass each other on Sunday on 
 their way to their separate churches, and, if I 
 read the religious papers correctly, its the sub- 
 ject 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," re- 
 marked 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 Sun- 
 days, 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 .'*" 
 
130 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 ** You certainly are correct in your assump- 
 tions," 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 reli- 
 gious 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 edi- 
 fices for worship, founded colleges and schools 
 
Aftermath. 131 
 
 for the education of youth in their ideas, es- 
 tablished newspapers, settled persons who, by 
 courtesy, are called pastors, and formed socie- 
 ties which do much toward the amelioration of 
 the physical condition of unfortunate humanity. 
 The respect which they manifest toward por- 
 tions 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 dis- 
 tinctive 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 differ- 
 ence between the two great sections of the 
 Protestant Church,'* said Mr. AUeiran ; ** but 
 
132 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 that was not the subject upon which we were 
 talking." 
 
 ** Why, yes, it was/' said Builder Stott, who 
 had been listening, while pretending to be other- 
 wise 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 or- 
 thodoxy, 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 confidence must be fol- 
 lowed, 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 hu- 
 man action may be very beautiful, but that very 
 imperfection and sinfulness of man makes them 
 
AFTERMATH. 1 33 
 
 of no erifect. Logically, Mr. AUeman is per- 
 fectly 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 exist- 
 ence of a Saviour are established, by their in- 
 terdependence upon each other." 
 
 '' That is hardly the point of our conver- 
 sation," said Mr. Alleman. **The question 
 between us was, whether there was not a sim- 
 ilar 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 valu- 
 able, and I guess I'll be moving. I always like 
 
134 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS, 
 
 to 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 hea- 
 then, 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 occasionalh' orthodox enough to 
 believe that some men are predestinated to de- 
 struction, and that men, like Stott, who never 
 follow Christ's teachings and dread them as 
 they do Satan, are among the number. Hon- 
 estly, now, Squire Woodhouse, can you see 
 how a sincere attempt to fulfill the moral in- 
 junctions of Jesus Christ aud 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 
 jnorality of the world that the world shr^'nks 
 
AFTERMATH. 135 
 
 froin It, yet which in practice proves to be cor- 
 rect, do you suppose it is possible to doubt the 
 higher inspiration of the giver ? Did any mere 
 law-giver ever enjoin unselfishness ? Is unself- 
 ishness 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, ten- 
 derness, and strength, such as has never been 
 reached in any other way ? Have not honest 
 disbelievers in great number's, 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. Alle 
 man 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 w^ord for it. 
 I know that although I'm a church member, and 
 pretend to be led by the Spirit, there have been 
 
136 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 only once in a while times when I've got out- 
 side of business rules about matters of time and 
 money, and that, when these times have come, 
 IVe 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 pre- 
 senting 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 con- 
 ceived without Inspiration from on high. But 
 should it prevail in society instead of being con- 
 
AFTERMATH. 137 
 
 fined 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 endea- 
 voring to help themselves and Him. Unless," 
 continued Mr. Alleman, with an impatient ges- 
 ture, '* unless God can seem to you to be no- 
 thing 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 back- 
 ward and adding intensity to the solicitude ex- 
 
138 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 pressed 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? " 
 
 *' Do you not know," said Mr. Alleman, ** that 
 by that assertion you impugn the wisdom of the 
 Almighty ? " 
 
 ** God forbid ! " exclaimed the doctor, start- 
 ing backward so abruptly that he nearly over- 
 turned 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 com- 
 mandeth 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 the po- 
 
AFTERMATH. 139 
 
 sition that the need of man was of more con- 
 sequence than duty to God, and that saving 
 one's self — which human selfishness is abund- 
 antly able to look out for without being urged 
 to it — is of more consequence than comply- 
 ing with the desires of Christ, and through 
 Christ, God." 
 
 ** Salvation possible through human selfish- 
 ness ! *' 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!" 
 
 *' It is horrible," said Mr. Alleman, *' that a 
 strong organization like the Church, with re- 
 spectability, 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 my 
 
140 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 Statements. Men are urged, not to righteous- 
 ness 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 ? *' inter- 
 rupted Mr. AUeman. $ 
 
 *' All of them," boldly replied the doctor* 
 
AFTERMATH. I4I 
 
 ** 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 in- 
 stance/' said Mr. Alleman. 
 
 " I have attached to each one such meaning 
 as the Spirit has indicated to me," said the doc- 
 tor, 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 under- 
 standing alone, I might have had misgivings ; 
 but with countless prophets, apostles, and mar- 
 tyrs 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 — " 
 
t4^ EVERYBODYS NEIGHBORS. 
 
 " Is always based upon sc 'fishness," inter- 
 rupted Mr. Alleman. 
 
 *' And that experience," continued Dr. Hum- 
 bletop, '' 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 insuffi- 
 cient 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, coun- 
 sel 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 the 
 
AFTERMATH. 143 
 
 doctor had been born and bred under a reli- 
 gious 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 th '^ two men being that the doctor found 
 the whole law in the letter of a single depart- 
 ment of it, instead of in the Spirit, and that 
 this peculiarity of his mind had come to him 
 by birth, bv^en strengthened by a special educa- 
 tion, 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 interpre- 
 tation of Scripture his soul rested. 
 
 And yet Squire Woodhouse was moved to 
 say to Mr. Alleman : 
 
 ** It seems to me the doctor begs the ques- 
 tion." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. 
 
 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 steamer 
 Oak leaf. The radicals among them were 
 eager for a renewal of the fray, and the ortho- 
 dox 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 encou^^^nng Broker Whil- 
 cher, and provoking him j 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 insur- 
 ance business to be willing to lose any chance 
 
 144 
 
tHE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. 145 
 
 of Strengthening his own protection against risk 
 in another world. Broker Whilcher met him 
 boldly ; he sent his impedimenta proniptly to 
 the rear — to wit, the ladies' saloon — and pre- 
 pared for the combat which he knew was ap- 
 preaching. 
 
 ** I suppose you think you whipped us yester- 
 day," said President Lottson, by way of open- 
 ing shot. 
 
 ** It was too clear a case to depend upon sup- 
 position only," said the broker ; ** but if youVe 
 any doubts on the subject I've no objections to 
 helping defeat you again." 
 
 "Seriously, Whilcher," said the president, 
 leading his antagonist to a tite-h-tHe^ " 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 1* ve up to his beliefs, if he is a man," 
 
146 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 ** 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 pen- 
 alty. 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 »^atisfying 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 ueliefs — you simply take on a 
 
 new one." 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. t^f 
 
 ** ril profess to believe nothing but what I 
 understand," declared the broker. 
 
 ** You believe in geography, don't you ? *' 
 asked the president, ** and in history, astron- 
 omy, chemistry, zoology — 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 as human beings ever are," 
 said the broker. 
 
 " That means as honest as Darwin and Spen- 
 cer, then," said Mr. Lottson. '' Then why not 
 believe them as well as your scientific teachers ? " 
 
 ** Because " said Mr. Whilcher, and hesi- 
 tated. 
 
148 EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 ** Because other people doy' continued Lott- 
 son, '' and it wouldn't seem scholarly to accept 
 that which was taught and accepted by m . 
 whose demonstrations were not made by the as- 
 sistance 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 pro- 
 vide 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 duly 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, any 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. 1 49 
 
 ♦way/' 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 pre- 
 tend 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 ex- 
 horter ! 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 of me 
 shouting or exhorting ? " 
 
 Mr. Whilcher laughed long and loud at the 
 mere thought, as would any other of the presi- 
 dent's acquaintances have done. The president 
 
i5o everybody's neighbors. 
 
 colored 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 ? He was 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 ex- 
 plained how easy it was for every man to take 
 advantage of the sacrifice that was made for 
 him. You know the little ompany there is in 
 the city that insures against accidents ? I don't 
 believe you'd lend twenty-five cents on the dol- 
 lar on its stock — I'll sell you some of their cer- 
 tificates 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 gosts very 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. I Si 
 
 little, 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, *' except- 
 ing 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 — be- 
 cause you are told that they are true. You be- 
 
1 52 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 licve 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 in- 
 formation 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 '.he regular day for the reception of new 
 members." 
 
 '* Examining committee ! " exclaimed the bro- 
 ker. ** Whew ! I guess I'll change my mind." 
 
 " Don't be afraid," said the president. " I'm 
 a member of the committee, myself, and when 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. 1 53 
 
 I 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 ac- 
 cording to his style, I fancy." 
 
 The new candidate laughed heartily to him- 
 self, 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 him- 
 self, 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 is 
 7* 
 
1 54 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 nonsense, 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 nrecious notion, and 
 that it's worth millions to him. Do you sup- 
 pose 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 Tl) 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. 1 55 
 
 *take 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 any- 
 thing else/' said the president. 
 
 " I knew you would," said the captain ; **and 
 if they spring a reconsideration on you next 
 Sunday, wojit you 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 cap- 
 tain. "Lottson don*t like the way they began, 
 and Tm sorry that they ended when they did." 
 
 '* I'm counting noses to see if we can't secure 
 a reconsideration," said Mr. Puffle. ** 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 Unitarian 
 
1 56 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 Church," said President Lottson. "They il talk 
 morality to you there to your heart's content." 
 
 ** They will in our church, too," -eplied 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 
 4o is to paint the names and designs on thq 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. lOJ 
 
 paddle-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, in- 
 stead of letting them enjoy a day of holy rest 
 and delight in the contemplation of what they'^^ 
 going to get when they can't stay here any 
 longer to get for themselves." 
 
 Mr. Lottson turned abruptly away, and re- 
 marked to Mr. Prymm that Captain Maile was 
 the most hardened scoffer he had ever known. 
 7 > Iso informed Prymm of the movement in 
 L^vor 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 the 
 
1 58 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 class 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 smgle verses, I shall find it more conve- 
 nient and profitable to devote the corresponding 
 hour of every Sabbath to private study and con- 
 templation." 
 
 I suppose," said President Lottson, noting 
 the approach of Judge Cottaway and Deacon 
 Bates elbow to elbows 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 
 Avhich we might imitate with profit," said Mr. 
 Buffle. ''They believe in listening to all the 
 evidence and determining accordingly. Evi- 
 dence seems a something which the members 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. iSq 
 
 of 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 les- 
 son, 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 right- 
 eousness. I suggested, and the judge was 
 pleased to agree with me, that righteousness 
 had a spiritual as well as a merely moral signifi- 
 cance." 
 
 *' It certainly has," said President Lottson 
 promptly, '' and if for a w^hile we could divest 
 ourselves of the materialistic notions which pre- 
 vail as badly in the Church as out of it, we 
 would obtain some new light on this subject 
 
l6o EVERYBODV'S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 which 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 prepa- 
 ration 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 revil- 
 ing 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 a 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF INSURANCE. l6l 
 
 man believes in a presidential candidate, he be- 
 lieves 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 be- 
 took himself to his own reflections, and these 
 lasted until the boat touched her pier in the city. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A DECISIVE BATTLE. 
 
 WHEN the Scripture Club assembled on 
 the following Sunday, it was in a 
 manner somewhat more quiet and ^ess cordial 
 than usual. Mr. Jodderel volunteered the open- 
 ing 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 sub- 
 ject. As the original mover of the resolution 
 restricting the cla^ to one Sunday to a verse, 
 which motion I made with the almost unani- 
 mous 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 that 
 
 162 
 
 fom 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLi. l6' 
 
 the rule referred to be rescinded for one Sun- 
 day, and that we continue the discussion of the 
 fourth beatitude." 
 
 " Second the motion," said Sqrire Wood- 
 house. 
 
 '* 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 reso- 
 lution." 
 
 '* 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 un- 
 limited informal and social opportunities for dis- 
 
164 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 cussion, as, indeed, they have already beert 
 doing all week long." 
 
 Mr. Prymm looked appealingly toward Pre- 
 sident 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 medi- 
 tated 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 disap- 
 pointment upon President Lottson, but it had 
 brought him some tormenting anxieties. If 
 Whilcher, who was a shrewd observer of men, 
 really meant what be said, was it not possible 
 and probable th^t he, President Lottson, who 
 believed all that he had asked the broker to 
 believe, and very little more, might also be 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. 1 65 
 
 looked 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 ele- 
 ment in the church, however, and it was numer- 
 ically 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 ex- 
 ercise of his best logical faculties. Why, then, 
 should he be considered hypocritical ? Could it 
 
1 66 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 be 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 reflec- 
 tions, 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, 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. 1 6/ 
 
 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, and 
 
i68 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 ask 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 mo- 
 ment 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 atone- 
 ment which set aside mere human righteous- 
 ness as a requisite to salvation. I move we 
 drop the subject." 
 
 " The gentleman's motion is not in order, un- 
 less in the form of an amendment," said Dea- 
 con Bates. 
 
 ** Mr. Hopper's suggestion that this beati- 
 tude 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 substan- 
 tiated — or, rather, whether it can be successfully 
 opposed." 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. 1 69 
 
 President Lottson leaned over the back of 
 young Mr. Waggett's chair, and whispered: 
 
 *' Don't make an ass of yourself, /can 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, Prin- 
 cipal Alleman, Mr. Buffle, Lawyer Scott, Dr. 
 Fahrenglotz, and Captain Maile, nine In all, 
 while for the negative there \yere but seven votes, 
 Mr. Bungfloat and young Banty keeping their 
 seats during both votes, the former with a help- 
 less 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 lis- 
 tened at the key-hole, hurried off to Dr. Hum- 
 
 8 
 
170 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 bletop'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 evi- 
 dence, the requirement for righteousness never 
 ends in the Holy Scriptures, and never can end 
 while the Church hold the revealed wnll of God 
 as an authoritative rule of guidance. The law 
 was the topic of lawgivers, prophets, the Psalm- 
 ist, the wise Solomon, and all of them ^.ga '"led 
 it as the only substitute for the personal pres- 
 e*^ ce and command of God. Christ never failed 
 to hold it up for reverence and obedience, ex- 
 cepting when minor points of it were of less 
 vital importance than that of those for whose 
 direction i was given.'' 
 
 '' That's it, exactl) ," interrupted Mr. Jod- 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. Ijl 
 
 derel. '* The law was made for man, not man 
 for the law, and when man can't live according 
 to the law, the law must g'^^e 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 imap-^ne that it was more for the sake of 
 rebuking .^yno^^'sy than to defend the improvi- 
 dence of hib dli>wlples 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 exjjlaining that obedience should not be 
 only to the letter, but to the spirit of the heav- 
 enly commands. Mercy, love, and compassion 
 are not at all inconsistent with the closest appli- 
 cation of ♦^he la\v 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 rule 
 
172 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 from 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 com- 
 mandment, 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 man- 
 kind, even if done in ways permissible in busi- 
 ness 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 ques- 
 tions, I feel that I am severe upon no one more 
 than my own old self, when I say that to re- 
 cover 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 construct^'on of the most 
 careless law, the only theft at all pardonable is 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. 17^ 
 
 that 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 
 to Him, 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 once 
 
174 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 seemed uncontrollable have come more and 
 more under restraint under the influence of 
 generations of right living. Men nowadays 
 endure physical discipline from which the as- 
 cetics 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 did not have 
 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, pro- 
 fanity unspoken, and the greater crimes men* 
 tioned in the Decalogue seldom or never 
 brought to light — in such localities we find 
 the greed of gafn made the excuse of unfair 
 dealings between man and man ; it stirs up 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. I7S 
 
 Strife more vicious than that which took place 
 when the civiHzed world was one grand camp, 
 and when to kill a man for his possessions was 
 a deed praiseworthy rather than otherwise, es- 
 pecially when the victim might, with any excuse, 
 be called an enemy." 
 
 ' " One might s ippose, from the judge's re- 
 marks, that the world had but one sin — and 
 only one virtue," said Mr. Jodderel. 
 
 ** According to Scripture,'^ exclaimed the 
 judge, " there is but 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 T have been 
 
176 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 using — 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 delight- 
 ful. The promise given, therefore, in this beati- 
 tude is the most precious in the whole Bible, for 
 there is no good it does not include, nor any 
 evil ^^ ' ' h it does not help us to shun." 
 
 ' the first satisfactory description I 
 t\ , \ o( the law,'' remarked Mr. Radley. 
 ** % 1 ./ why other men — preachers, even — * 
 nevt .. about it in the same way." 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. 17? 
 
 " They'd lose all their wealthy pew-holders 
 if they did/' answered Captain Maile. 
 
 **Not all/' said Mr. Buffle, ** at least, not if 
 Fm as 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." 
 
 8* 
 
178 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 **Only hope of what ? " asked Squire Wood- 
 house. 
 
 ** Of salvation, of course," replied the presi- 
 dent. 
 
 " Then, what about the world ? " asked Mr. 
 Radley. " Is nothing to be done /lere for 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 com- 
 bination 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 ! " 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. 1 79 
 
 " Gentlemen/* said Mr. Alleman, " It seems 
 to me that this class has by this time plain- 
 ly 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 dis- 
 cover 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 sin- 
 cerity 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 opin- 
 ions? 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 v^e, therefore, form a 
 
i8o everybody's neighbors. 
 
 new 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 relig- 
 iously suicidal, if not blasphemous," declared 
 Mr. Prymm, 
 
 " The man who does it can bid good-bye to 
 his property," said Mr. Hopper, *'and 1, for 
 one, am determined to give a good account of 
 my stewardship." 
 
 ** He can bid good-bye to his chance of sal- 
 vation, 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. 
 
A DECISIVE BATTLE. l8l 
 
 "If we cannot leave all to follow Him," re- 
 marked 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 Law- 
 yer 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 consid- 
 ers 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 upon 
 
1 82 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 morality/* exclaimed Mr. Alleman. " Captain 
 Maile, you're certainly with us! YouVe al- 
 ways talked as if you were." 
 
 The captain made a wry fac^. 
 
 ** I've talked against hypocrisy — that's what 
 I've done," said he. ** I've got no special relig- 
 ious belief myself, but I hate to see holes in 
 those of other people." 
 
 *' I," said Dr. Fahrenglotz, ** would yield ad- 
 herence 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 rap- 
 idly than it had ever done before, and left the 
 judge, the principal, the Squire, Mr. Bufifle, and 
 Mr. Radley talking to each other. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 WHEN next the Scripture Club convened 
 there were visible some vacant places. 
 Mr. AUeman 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 en- 
 deavored to dissuade Mr. Prymm from his in- 
 tention, but he remained firm. Broker Whilchet 
 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 he 
 
 183 
 
184 EVERYBODY'S NEIGHBORS. • 
 
 told to every irreligious acquaintance the story 
 of the difificulties 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 custo- 
 dians :hereof, 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, Princi- 
 pal AJleman, 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, 
 
CONCLUSION. 1 85 
 
 and the subject of much dismal head-shaking 
 among the churchly, that these five men repre- 
 sented 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 denomina- 
 tional 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 oro^anization. He finallv 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 the 
 
1 86 everybody's neighbors. 
 
 Second 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 faith- 
 ful, and they devoted themselves to study with 
 an earnestness that v/as 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 sub- 
 ject, and some of the young lady attendants 
 pronounced some of these addresses more in- 
 teresting 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. 
 
CONCLUSION. 187 
 
 Prymm, who finally came back to the class after 
 having been assured that for months it had dis- 
 cussed no subject not purely scriptural, made 
 some remarks upon the atonement which were 
 finally collected in a volume entitled " A Lay- 
 man s Views of Christ's Great Work/' and the 
 book received many carefully worded non-com- 
 mittal notices from the religious press, though 
 the bulk of the edition still remains in the store- 
 house of the publisher. Young Mr. Waggett 
 kept an observant eye for all topics bearing lit- 
 erally upon the subject of salvation. Mr. Hop- 
 per found at last an opportunity to read his 
 long- cherished essay upon *'The True Location 
 of the Holy Sepulchre," with many notes, sug- 
 gestions, and emendations by himself. And the 
 class grew in membership and in the number of 
 listeners, and there was never heard in it a per- 
 sonality or a revival of old disputes which had 
 time and again rended the church. Nothing 
 was said in its whole subsequent history which 
 
i88 
 
 EVERYBODY S NEIGHBORS. 
 
 could 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.