escriptions, he said he was aware
that such was the fact, and that such a wish was anything but wise,
inasmuch as, if they had any regard for the religion they professed, they
ought to stand by it through thick and thin, proclaiming it to be the
only true one, and denouncing all others, in an alliterative style, as
dangerous and damnable; whereas, by their present conduct, they were
bringing their religion into contempt with the people at large, who would
never continue long attached to a Church the ministers of which did not
stand up for it, and likewise cause their own brethren, who had a clearer
notion of things, to be ashamed of belonging to it. 'I speak advisedly,'
said he, in continuation; 'there is one Platitude.'

'And I hope there is only one,' said I; 'you surely would not adduce the
likes and dislikes of that poor silly fellow as the criterions of the
opinions of any party?'

'You know him,' said the man in black, 'nay, I heard you mention him in
the public-house; the fellow is not very wise, I admit, but he has sense
enough to know that, unless a Church can make people hold their tongues
when it thinks fit, it is scarcely deserving the name of a Church; no, I
think that the fellow is not such a very bad stick, and that upon the
whole he is, or rather was, an advantageous specimen of the High Church
English clergy, who, for the most part, so far from troubling their heads
about persecuting people, only think of securing their tithes, eating
their heavy dinners, puffing out their cheeks with importance on country
justice benches, and occasionally exhibiting their conceited wives,
hoyden daughters, and gawky sons at country balls, whereas Platitude--'

'Stop,' said I; 'you said in the public-house that the Church of England
was a persecuting Church, and here in the dingle you have confessed that
one section of it is willing to grant perfect freedom to the exercise of
all religions, and the other only thinks of leading an easy life.'

'Saying a thing in the public-house is a widely different thing from
saying it in the dingle,' said the man in black; 'had the Church of
England been a persecuting Church, it would not stand in the position in
which it stands at present; it might, with its opportunities, have spread
itself over the greater part of the world. I was about to observe that,
instead of practising the indolent habits of his High Church brethren,
Platitude would be working for his money, preaching the