be softened; he has a soul--it can be freed from the
wither that tether it down; he has the virtues you can appeal to; and
he has the pride which you, as a Christian minister, have the right to
prove to be a sin. I cannot argue with him; I cannot reprove the man to
whom I owe so much. All ranks of men and of mind should be equal to you,
the pastor, the divine. You ministers of the gospel address yourselves
unabashed to the poor, the humble, the uninstructed. Did Heaven give you
power and commandment over these alone? Go, Preacher! go! Speak with the
same authority to the great, to the haughty, to the wise!" The old man's
look and gesture were sublime.

The Preacher felt a thrill vibrate from his ear to his heart; but his
reason was less affected than his heart. He shook his head mournfully.
The task thus assigned to him was beyond the limits which custom
prescribes to the priest of the English Church;--dictation to a man not
even of his own flock, upon the closest affairs of that man's private
hearth and home! Our society allows no such privilege; and our society
is right.

Waife, watching his countenance, saw at once what was passing in his
mind, and resumed, as if answering George's own thought:

"Ay, if you were but the commonplace priest! But, you are something
more; you are the priest specially endowed for all special purposes of
good. You have the mind to reason--the tongue to persuade--the majestic
earnestness of impassioned zeal. Nor are you here the priest alone; you
are here the friend, the confidant, of all for whom you may exert your
powers. Oh, George Morley, I am a poor ignorant blunderer when presuming
to exhort you as Christian minister; but in your own words--I address
you as man and gentleman, you declared that 'thought and zeal should not
stammer whenever I said, Keep your promise.' I say it now--Keep faith to
the child you swore to me to befriend!"

"I will go-and at once," said George, rising. "But be not sanguine.
I see not a chance of success. A man so superior to myself in years,
station, abilities, repute!"

"Where would be Christianity," said Waife, "if the earliest preachers
had raised such questions? There is a soldier's courage--is there not a
priest's?"

George made no answer, but, with abstracted eye, gathered brow, and
slow, meditative step, quitted the room, and sought Guy Darrell.

BOOK XII.

CHAPTER I.

THE MAN OF THE WORLD SHOWS MORE INDIFFERENCE TO THE THING