“I do not know the passage. Pope is not my Bible. I should call such superior beings very inferior beings indeed.”
“Do you call the angels inferior beings?”
“Such angels, certainly.”
“He means the good angels, of course.”
“And I say the good angels could never behave like that, for contempt is one of the lowest spiritual conditions in which any being can place himself. Our Lord says, ‘Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for their angels do always behold the face of my Father, who is in heaven.’”
“Now will you even say that you understand that passage?”
“Practically, well enough; just as the poorest man of my congregation may understand it. I am not to despise one of the little ones. Pope represents the angels as despising a Newton even.”
“And you despise Pope.”
“I hope not. I say he was full of despising, and therefore, if for no other reason, a small man.”
“Surely you do not jest at his bodily infirmities?”