No worst thing ever done in
the name of Christianity, no vilest corruption of the Church, can
destroy the eternal fact that the core of it is in the heart of
Jesus. Branches innumerable may have to be lopped off and cast into
the fire, yet the word I am the vine remaineth.
The demagogues had gloried in the expulsion of such men as Jeames
Gentle and Blue Peter, and were soon rejoiced by the return of Bow
o' meal--after a season of backsliding to the fleshpots of Egypt,
as they called the services of the parish church--to the bosom of
the Barn, where he soon was again one of the chief amongst them.
Meantime the circles of their emanating influence continued to
spread, until at length they reached the lower classes of the upper
town, of whom a few began to go to Barn. Amongst them, for reasons
best known to herself, though they might be surmised by such
as really knew her, was Mrs Catanach. I do not know that she ever
professed repentance and conversion, but for a while she attended
pretty often. Possibly business considerations had something to do
with it. Assuredly the young preacher, though he still continued
to exhort, did so with failing strength, and it was plain to see
that he was going rapidly: the exercise of the second of her twin
callings might be required. She could not, however, have been drawn
by any large expectations as to the honorarium. Still, she would
gain what she prized even more--a position for the moment at the
heart of affairs, with its excelling chances of hearing and overhearing.
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