'One or two. We have his lecture on Altruism.'
'I happen to know it. There are good things in it, I think. But I dislike his modern interpretation of old principles.'
'You think it dangerous?'
He no longer regarded her frankly, and in the consciousness of her look upon him he knit his brows.
'I think it both dangerous and offensive. Not a few clergymen nowadays, who imagine themselves free from the letter and wholly devoted to spirit, are doing their best in the cause of materialism. They surrender the very points at issue between religion and worldliness. They are so blinded by a vague humanitarian impulse as to make the New Testament an oracle of popular Radicalism.'
Sidwell looked up.
'I never quite understood, Mr. Peak, how you regard Radicalism. You think it opposed to all true progress?'
'Utterly, as concerns any reasonable limit of time.'
'Buckland, as you know, maintains that spiritual progress is only possible by this way.'
'I can't venture to contradict him,' said Godwin; 'for it may be that advance is destined only to come after long retrogression and anarchy. Perhaps the way does lie through such miseries. But we can't foresee that with certainty, and those of us who hate the present tendency of things must needs assert their hatred as strongly as possible, seeing that we may have a more hopeful part to play than seems likely.'