"Yes, I wanted to tell you how indignant all these Pharisees were, who
want me to behave like a prude with young people, when I merely wanted
to be reasonable. When I was going to be married, I naturally had to ask
one of my colleagues to perform the ceremony. After having settled the
important points, I said to him, ’In the Marriage Service of the Church
of England there is one passage which I consider absolutely indecent.
Yes, yes, I know quite well that it is what St. Paul said. Well,
probably in his time he had a perfect right to say such things, and they
were adapted to the manners and customs of the Corinthians, but they are
not meant for the ears of a young girl from Aberdeen in 1906. My fiancée
is innocent, and I will not have her shocked.’ The young man, a
worldly-minded little curate, went and complained to the bishop, who
sent for me and said haughtily, ’So it is _you_ who are taking upon
yourself to forbid the reading of the Epistle to the Corinthians? I
would have you know that I am not the man to put up with nonsense of
this sort.’ ’All right,’ I replied, ’I would have you know that I am
not the man to put up with an insult to my wife. If this fellow insists
on reading the passage I shall say nothing in the church, out of respect
for the sacred edifice, but I promise you that after the ceremony I
shall box his ears.’
"Well, messiou, the bishop looked at me carefully to see if I was in
earnest. Then he remembered my campaign in the Transvaal, the negro
Queen, and the dangers of a scandal, and he answered me with unction, ’I
do not see after all that the passage that shocks you is absolutely
essential to the marriage ceremony.’"
Dr. O’Grady here came in and asked for a cup of tea.
"Who made this tea?" he demanded. "You, Aurelle? How much tea did you
put in?"
"One spoonful for each cup."
"Now listen to an axiom—one spoonful for each cup and then one for the
pot. It is curious that no Frenchman knows how to make tea."
Aurelle changed the subject.
"The padre was telling me about his wedding."
"A padre ought not to be married," said the doctor. "You know what St.
Paul said, ’A married man seeks to please his wife and not God.’"
"You have put your foot in it now," said Aurelle. "Don’t talk to him
about St. Paul; he has just been strafing him badly."
"Excuse me," said the padre, "I only strafed a bishop."
"Padre," said the doctor, "judge not——"
"Oh, I know," said the padre, "the Master said that, but He did not know
any bishops." Then he returned to his old subject. "Tell me, O’Grady,
you are Irish; why have the Catholic chaplains more influence than we?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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