'Is it your serious belief, then, that the mass of parishioners here or elsewhere--are ready for this form of spiritual instruction?' 'Most distinctly--given the true capacity in the teacher. Mark me; I don't say that they are capable of receiving much absolute knowledge. What I desire is that their minds shall be relieved from a state of harassing conflict--put at the right point of view. They are not to think that Jesus of Nazareth teaches faith and conduct incompatible with the doctrines of Evolutionism. They are not to spend their lives in kicking against the pricks, and regard as meritorious the punctures which result to them. The establishment in their minds of a few cardinal facts--that is the first step. Then let the interpretation follow--the solace, the encouragement, the hope for eternity!' 'You imagine,' said Godwin, with a calm air, 'that the mind of the average church-goer is seriously disturbed on questions of faith?' 'How can you ignore it, my dear Peak?--Permit me this familiarity; we are old fellow-collegians.--The average churchgoer is the average citizen of our English commonwealth,--a man necessarily aware of the great Radical movement, and all that it involves. Forgive me. There has been far too much blinking of actualities by zealous Christians whose faith is rooted in knowledge. We gain nothing by it; we lose immensely. Let us recognise that our churches are filled with sceptics, endeavouring to believe in spite of themselves.' 'Your experience is much larger than mine,' remarked the listener, submissively. 'Indeed I have widely studied the subject.' Chilvers smiled with ineffable self-content, his head twisted like that of a sagacious parrot. 'Granting your average citizen,' said the other, 'what about the average citizeness? The female church-goers are not insignificant in number.' 'Ha! There we reach the core of the matter! Woman! woman! Precisely _there_ is the most hopeful outlook. I trust you are strong for female emancipation?' 'Oh, perfectly sound on that question!' 'To be sure! Then it must be obvious to you that women are destined to play the leading part in our Christian renascence, precisely as they did in the original spreading of the faith. What else is the meaning of the vast activity in female education? Let them be taught, and forthwith they will rally to our Broad Church. A man may be content to remain a nullifidian; women cannot rest at that stage. They demand the spiritual significance of everything.--I grieve to tell you, Peak, that for three years I have been a widower. My wife died with shocking suddenness, leaving me her two little children. Ah, but leaving me also the memory of a singularly pure and noble being. I may say, with all humility, that I have studied the female mind in its noblest modern type. I _know_ what can be expected of woman, in our day and in the future.' 'Mrs. Chilvers was in full sympathy with your views?'