“Louder, my lord,” whispered Jack Roller to the Bishop.
The old man raised himself on his toes, and, lifting his eyes, to heaven, uttered these words: “The union of all churches.”
A profound silence followed; and as the true purport of these words became evident to the crowd, a loud murmur of approval arose, which convinced the preacher he had struck the keynote of the public feeling. The ice was broken, and feeling himself at one with his congregation, the ex-dignitary proceeded unhesitatingly with his discourse, in language which was always sincere, and at times even waxed eloquent. He revealed to his public his inner thoughts and struggles. Strange to say, at every phrase he destroyed what he had at one time worshipped, and extolled that which he had formerly condemned.
“Three months ago,” went on the prelate, “humanity had very erroneous ideas of politics, economics, morals, and, I fear, also of religion; but now that man has not a rag upon his back, now that monk’s hood, Bishop’s apron, Hebrew canonicals are no more, conflicting dogmas cannot avail to separate man from man. The principle of love forms the basis of all divine teachings, and moral relationships between all creatures are the aim of all those who reverence an ideal of some sort. There is no doubt, my friends, that with the vanishing of clothes has disappeared also religious casuistry. Religion, and by that I mean love and charity, is as easy to practise in our large cities as it was in the small community of Galilee. The first thing which we must well understand is that religion must never be gloomy, nor ascetic, but, on the contrary, must shed a radiance over mankind; for practical religion consists in the perfect development of all our faculties, and in the enjoyment of that which is beautiful. Happiness is the true aim of religion, and it cannot be obtained by means of that religious depression which annihilates human efforts towards social reforms. Only by working hand in hand with science, and by strictly following her researches and approving of her discoveries, can that summum bonum be achieved.”
“The old fellow is unconsciously paving the way towards the goal; and I think the Seer’s invention will not raise the clergy’s wrath,” said Lionel to his little buffoon.
“My lord, there is no saying what a Bishop will do when he has lost his gaiters,” replied Danford.
“My dear friends”—the Bishop’s tone rose higher—“I am speaking as a man, not as the head of a Bishopric (I do not quite see how I could do the latter, since it is impossible nowadays to know a Canon from a Bishop, a Cardinal from a Rabbi), well my friends, I come as a man to tell you that we must accept the position, and give up attempting to unite the substance with the shadow. Let us start once more fairly on the road to enlightened happiness, and let us lead the theological reform, next to which the great Reformation was but child’s play. For centuries we have wrangled over the simplest doctrine: ‘Love thy neighbour.’ We all taught its lesson according to our lights, but, strange to say, bitter animosity continued to rule the world. It is only since our complete divestment that we realised that we looked first to the label, and rarely ever to the fundamental teaching. But, my friends, before we can in any way reform the morals of foreign countries, we must tighten the bonds which link men together, and carry into effect the great plan of religious unity. It is the only logical basis on which to establish true religion, and unless we strike the iron while it is hot we shall see morality disappearing under a heap of argumentation. Do not take me for a visionary constructing theoretical reforms which cannot be put into practice. I want you to know that I have looked at this problem from a practical point of view. You know as well as I do that, although every country had its turn in reforming the world, somehow the old injustice and the spirit of vindictiveness had a trick of creeping up again. But now that the hour has struck for England to do something in the world’s tournament, let us no longer procrastinate but do the right thing at the right moment. Much will be expected of the British race, for it is inclined to find fault with every other nation. The danger is at hand, and no one can accomplish this reform like us, nor can any other Church but ours effect this reconciliation. I therefore trust you will all help me in the work of joining hands.”
“Yes, the Bishop’s firm will get the job of repapering and whitewashing the old barn.” And Dan chuckled as he turned towards Lord Somerville.
“How irreverent you are, Dan,” reprovingly said Lionel.