wished him to come?"

"I saw you coming. I came toward the gate in the hope that he might
come in." Then he added a word of cordial greeting. I perceived that I
was walking with my host.

There are some men to whom one instinctively pays the compliment of
direct speech. "I have been walking with two clergymen. I understand
that you differ from both with regard to religious opinion."

It appeared to me that after this speech of mine he took my measure
quietly. He did not say in so many words he did not see that this
difference of opinion was a sufficient reason for their absence, but by
some word or sign he gave me to understand that, adding:

"I feel myself deprived of a great benefit in being without their
society. They are the two best and noblest men I know."

"It is rare for men to take pleasure in the society of their
opponents."

"Yet you will admit that to be willing to learn from those from whom we
differ is the only path to wisdom."

"It is difficult to tread that path without letting go what we already
have, and that produces chaos."

With intensity both of thought and feeling he took up the words that I
had dropped half idly, and showed me what he thought to be the truth and
untruth of them. There was a grave earnestness in his speech which made
his opinion on this subject suddenly become of moment to me, and his
intensity did not produce any of that sensation of irritation or
opposition which the intensity of most men produces as soon as it is
felt.

"You think that the chief obstacle which is hindering the progress of
true religion in the world at present is that while we will not learn
from those who disagree with us we can obtain no new light, and that
when we are willing to reach after their light we become also willing to
let go what we have had, so that the world does not gain but loses by
the transaction. This is, I admit, an obstacle to thought; but it is not
the essential difficulty of our age."

"Let us consider," I said, in my pedantic way, "how my difficulty may be
overcome, and then let us discuss that one you consider to be
essential."

Toyner's choice of words, like his appearance, betrayed a strong, yet
finely chiselled personality.

"We are truly accustomed now to the idea that whatever has life cannot
possibly remain unchanged, but must always develop by leaving some part
behind and producing some part that is new. It is God's will that the
religious thought of the world, wh