ty agreement.

'That puts into a sentence,' he said, 'what I have thought through many
an hour of work.'

'Well, now, we know there's no lack of schemes for reforming society.
Most of them seek to change its spirit by change of institutions. But
surely it is plain enough that reform of institutions can only come as
the natural result of a change in men's minds. Those who preach
revolution to the disinherited masses give no thought to this. It's a
hard and a bad thing to live under an oppressive system; don't think
that I speak lightly of the miseries which must drive many a man to
frenzy, till he heeds nothing so long as the present curse is attacked.
I know perfectly well that for thousands of the poorest there is no
possibility of a life guided by thought and feeling of a higher kind
until they are lifted out of the mire. But if one faces the question
with a grave purpose of doing good that will endure, practical
considerations must outweigh one's anger. There is no way of lifting
those poor people out of the mire; if their children's children tread
on firm ground it will be the most we can hope for. But there is a
class of working people that can and should aim at a state of mind far
above that which now contents them. It is my view that our only hope of
social progress lies in the possibility of this class being stirred to
effort. The tendency of their present education--a misapplication of
the word--must be counteracted. They must be taught to value supremely
quite other attainments than those which help them to earn higher
wages. Well, there is my thought. I wish to communicate it to men who
have a care for more than food and clothing, and who will exert
themselves to influence those about them.'

Grail gazed at the fire; the earnest words wrought in him.

'If that were possible!' he murmured.

'Tell me,' the other resumed, quickly, 'how many of the serious people
whom you know in Lambeth ever go to a place of worship?'

Gilbert turned his eyes inquiringly, suspiciously. Was Egremont about
to preach a pietistic revival?

'I have very few acquaintances,' he answered, 'but I know that religion
has no hold upon intelligent working men in London.'

'That is the admission I wanted. For good or for evil, it has passed;
no one will ever restore it. And yet it is a religious spirit that we
must seek to revive. Dogma will no longer help us. Pure love of moral
and intellectual beauty must take its place.'

Gilber