The record-union., 1898-01-23

ways his own a sick child in the
/ nsiehfcrhood would cry for Jed to corie
and rsay, and then he must needs make
long trips over the fields and through
the depths of the woods, seeking out
the fairest OF summer flowers or the
sweetest of ripening berries to tighten
the chiG's burden of endurance. And
he hardly remembered such an unin
terruDted succession of accidents nap-
penlng TO his wards among the beasts.
But by and by he took The Problem
of Religious Progress back to its own
er, stepping proudly.
I've got that feiier, sure" he said
OF Mr.. White: he can never get away
from me, unless my remembrance fools
me. Can you give me something else?'
The little mans face showed deep re-
l:ef.
DO you think you know it?" he
asked. He thought, perhaps he is not
the fool he looks" He had not wished
to infiict the pain OF discourage
thinking that Jed would abandon his
undertaking when he realized its diff
culties.
Sure" Jed insisted Want to hear
me say it?"
NO. no. Mr.. White FASTENED to say.
/ Here are other works | have selected
for you. And don't neglect the gram
mar"
! There We're two long years of this,
years through whose dreary length jed
never wavereti. though they brought
the first anxious furrows to his fore
head and the first lack of color to his
| cheeks. Oh no: he never waverea; i
was for his mother.
| Not that he kept his old placid con-
tent. He could realize duly that he
had no understanding of what was
passing into the great dim cavern Of
his memory, and he had vague idea
| that this should be otherwise.
Say" he queried once of Mr.. White;
will they-those committee fellers--
will they examine me about the Bible,
| too?"
| Surely" his director answered: "and
they viii want to know as much as pos
/ sible of your convictions
Convictions Jed repeated; Il amt
never been convicted"
Mr. White flushed. Your doctriesl
convictions-your understanding of the
doctrinal relations Of the Bibles teach
| ings. They will want to be we'll salts
fed upon that point
! Jed vas silent for a few moments,
with the dancing lights in his eyes
overloaded.
Il mean,' he said slowly-'I mean
about what the Bible says. You see
can understand that, specially the
New Testament part like when it says,
Blessed are the pure in heart or some
! thing ike that. Why, anybody can
Leo hof O.
times. when I'm layin' on my back in
the woods. like I could pretty near say
them kind Of things myself. But I'll
be dogged if I can ketch on to what
these fellers say in the books"
AS his reading went on his perplexity
increased.
Look here" he asked again, how
do you reckon them old fellers-paul
an Peter, an Him-Christ. L mean
how do you reckon they preached before
these books was wrote? That's Fyhat
l don't see
They were-they were led of God, }"
Mr.. White answered, as briefly as he
could. He had gradually come to feel
| that he was not altogether at ease un
der the boys questions.
"Of course" Jed assented; II might
nave kllOM Gu tldl iiCu lie dudtd
! irrepressibly. IF a feller now could be
+! led that way, he'd be right in it.
wouldn't he?"
Then the fateful application for
committee was made. Mr.. White was
appointed. with two STRIPPING pastors
from neighboring towns. They were
to meet Jed in the parlor of the village
| church.
L. l1act
| His mother had to button his collar;
| his hand trembled SO. And hers be-
haved hardly better. She laid her thin
hands on his shoulders, looking down
into his face, for she was taller than
he Jed hardly knew the look in her
eyes, he had not seen it since Phil died.
Her old eyes had always held kindness
and warm affection for her younger
son; now they cleaned with a fond
pride.
You'll do the best you can, won't
you, Jeddy for mammy's sake? she
whispered There was something the
matter with Jed's speech: he could cnly
grip her hand hard before he marched
resolutely down the graveled pathway
toward the gate.
The visiting cleFgymen smiled per-
plexedly when they were introduced to
their candidate The three ministers
talked among themselves, leaving Jed
TO his hopes and fears for a few minutes.
Then the Rev. Mr.. Lathrop from
Whitesville just up the river, squared
his shoulders and voice.
Perhaps we would do WELL" he said,
ito discover first what has been the
character and direction of your prerar-
atory studies. What general acquaint-
ance have you, my boy. with the writ
ers on homiletics?" He was perhaps
two years Jed's senior.
"Homy--'' Jed said; then his voice
clogged in his throat.
"Homiletics," Mr. Lathrop repeated,
and fixed his confident eyes on Jed's
paling face.
Jed's lips were hot and dry. his brain
confused whirl. and his heart
throbbed so wildly that he could feel
its Earring movement through his whole
body.
"Shucks!" he gasped at last, Il dun
no what you mean"
The pause was awkward Then the
other member of the committee said
smoothly:
Take yonr time. There is no hurry.
We can get al his slowly. Rational
theology, now. We can save time by
finding what you have been reading,
so we may know how to examine you.
What have you read upon rational the
ology?"
Jed,s cropping brain caught at the
words.
The Kantian philosophy. rising lit
tie later than German rationalism. ex-
erted an important and relatively er-