that at one time or another people have taken such a
peculiar interest in him. He talks of his early struggles, the economy
of bacon, and the bigotries of Old Testamentarians in the same concise
language set to the same unvaried monotony of voice. If you should
fail to follow him, he would almost chide you for not paying attention.

Nearly twenty years ago I met a preacher keenly interested in Flavelle.
He told me a story repeated to him in a sort of admiring deprecation
that very day by a Methodist preacher from Toronto who had a gift for
elevated gossip. This story was probably out of the Apocrypha, as it
concerned a very worldly episode in the joint experiences of Mr.
Flavelle and another Canadian financier on a visit to Chicago, when the
latter got a wire stating that a certain conditional donation of his to
a small church in Ontario had been unexpectedly covered by the
congregation with the stipulated equal amount, and that it was time to
send the money. It was said that he showed the wire to Flavelle; that
the two financiers took joint action on the Stock Exchange; and that
the money was wired immediately. The little details about the
transaction I omit, partly out of deference to the preacher who bandied
the yarn--wherever he got it. He probably only half believed it
himself. Even ministers will gossip.

Much has been said about Sir Joseph's religious affairs. He has had
many. He has been in publicity over a few, such as the controversy
between the late Dr. Carman, his old adversary, and Rev. George
Jackson, his then pastor, whom he defended. Flavelle has never
concealed his enthusiasm for the church. He has entertained many a
celebrated minister. He has been prominently identified with Missions,
with the Methodist Book Room--that sadly unecclesiastical
corporation--with debates in Conference on amusements and other things,
with Methodist education. In all these he has practised the text,
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do." The church needed Flavelle's
organizing hand. He generously lent it. He could not do otherwise
without being untrue to his own prodigious and inherited passion for a
certain kind of organized religion.

The personal faith of a public man is no business for the critic,
except where that faith becomes public works. Sir Joseph has been
conspicuously aligned with the militant work of the Church. It has
been the belief of those who know him, casually or intimately, that his
ph