under than free � he said with a sigh � in a state of freedom we may think as we please � and freedom of thought doubt � whereas in a state of we think as we and so god s good man we are gradually forced into an attitude of belief the spread of among the english is entirely due to the wild liberty of opinion allowed them by their forms of faith i do not agree with you i � declared firmly � the spread of is due not to freedom of opinion nor forms of faith but simply to the and weakness of the clergy the bishop looked at him with a smile you always speak straight out john i he said � you always did i and strange to say i like you all the better for it i could if i chose both and command you � but i will do neither you must take your own way as you always have done but there is a of rome even in your little church of st rest � your miracle shrine � your unknown saint in the coffin you and your kneel before that every sunday true � but we do not kneel to it � nor do we pray through it � replied � it stays in the because it was found in the but it does not make a miracle shrine as you say � there is nothing miraculous about it if it contains the body of a saint � said the bishop slowly � it be miraculous i if in the far gone centuries the prayers and tears of sorrowful human beings have cold stone some some tenderness some vitality bom of these prayers and tears must yet remain we preach the supernatural � do we not believe in it the divine supernatural � yes answered � but f the bishop interrupted him by a gesture of his delicate hand there are no in the matter john � he said quietly � what is supernatural is so by its own nature the divine is the human the human is the divine in all and through all things the spirit moves and makes its way our earth and ourselves are but of matter worked by the spirit or essence of force this spirit we can neither see nor touch therefore we call it natural but it all things � the stone as completely as the flower it through that in your church as easily as through your own living veins hence as i say if the mortal remains of a saint are within that the spirit or soul it may work miracles for all we dare to know i he paused and looking kindly at s grave and somewhat troubled face added � some god s good man day when we are in very desperate straits john we will see what your saint can do for us i he smiled returned the smile but nevertheless was conscious of a sorrowful sense of regret at what he considered his friend s leaning toward superstitious and ceremonies at the same time he well knew that any violent opposition on the subject would be worse than useless in the bishop s present mood he therefore contented himself with as he mentally said putting in the thin end of the � and � carefully clear of all matters � contrived in a great measure to the old sway he had been wont to exercise over s more mind when at college � so that before they parted he had obtained from him a promise that there should be no or even preparation for to home till six months had elapsed and if you would only put away that picture � said earnestly pointing towards the virgin and child � or rather if you ould have another one painted of th sweet woman you loved as she really was in life it would be wiser and safer for your own peace the bishop shook his head the virgin and child are a symbol of all � he said � mother and son � present and future i woman holds the human race in her arms � at her breast i � without her chaos would come again and for me all womanhood is in that one face i he raised his eyes to the picture with an almost devout passion � and then abruptly turned away the conversation was not renewed again between them but when parted from his friend he had the satisfaction of knowing that he left him in a brighter more hopeful and condition cheered soothed and by the exchange of that mutual confidence and close sympathy which had linked their two lives together in boyhood and which held them still and tenderly to each other s most intimate emotions as a home at his own domain late on the saturday night had no opportunity to learn anything of the incidents which had occurred during his brief absence letters were waiting for him but he opened none and shut himself up in his study at once to prepare his next day s sermon he wrote on far into the night long after au the servants of his household had retired to rest and himself the next morning in consequence therefore his preparation for the eleven o clock service were necessarily somewhat hurried and he had not time to say more than a cheery good morning even to whom he passed on his way into the church or to adam frost though he fancied that both men looked at him somewhat curiously as with an air of mingled doubt and once within the sacred building he was conscious of an crowded congregation none that he could see were missing from their usual places mary certainly was not there � but as she was not a church he did not expect her to be present hall was 