"now, father irwin," said the chairman, addressing a smart, keen-looking young priest who sat at the end of the table, "you have just come back to us from australia; of course, everything is perfect there. what do you think—are the particles in a ciborium, left by inadvertence, outside the corporal during consecration consecrated? now, just reflect for a moment, for it is an important matter."

"unquestionably they are," said the young priest confidently.

"they are not," replied the chairman. "the whole consensus of theologians is against you."

"for example?" said father irwin coolly.

"wha-at?" said the chairman, taken quite aback.

"i doubt if all theologians are on your side," said father irwin. "would you be pleased to name a few?"

"certainly," said the chairman, with a pitying smile at this young man's presumption. "what do you think of benedict xiv., suarez, and st. alphonsus?"

the young man didn't seem to be much crushed under the avalanche.

"they held that there should be reconsecration?"

"certainly."

"let me see. do i understand you aright? the celebrant intends from the beginning to consecrate those particles?"

"yes."

"the intention perseveres to the moment of consecration?"

"yes!"

"and, the materia being quite right, he intends to consecrate that objective, that just lies inadvertently outside the corporal?"

"quite so."

"and you say that benedict xiv., suarez, and st. alphonsus maintain the necessity of reconsecration?"

"yes."

"then i pity benedict xiv., suarez, and st. alphonsus."

there was consternation. the bishop looked grave. the old men gaped in surprise and horror. the young men held down their heads and smiled.

"i consider that a highly improper remark, as applied to the very leading lights of theological science," said the chairman, with a frown. and when the chairman frowned it was not pleasant. the bishop's face, too, was growing tight and stern.

"perhaps i should modify it," said the young priest airily. "perhaps i should have rather said that modern theologians and right reason are dead against such an opinion."

"quote one modern theologian that is opposed to the common and universal teaching of theologians on the matter!"

"well, ballerini, for example, and the salmanticenses—"

"psha! ballerini. ballerini is to upset everything, i suppose?"

"ballerini has the missal and common sense on his side."

"the missal?"

"yes. read this—or shall i read it?

"'quidquid horum deficit, scilicet materia debita, forma cum intentione, et ordo sacerdotalis, non conficitur sacramentum; et his existentibus, quibuscunque aliis deficientibus, veritas adest sacramenti.'"

"quite so. the whole point turns on the words cum intentione. the church forbids, under pain of mortal sin, to consecrate outside the corporal; consequently, the priest cannot be presumed to have the intention of committing a grave just at the moment of consecration; and, therefore, he cannot be supposed to have the intention of consecrating."

"pardon me, if i say, sir," replied the young priest, "that that is the weakest and most fallacious argument i ever heard advanced. that reasoning supposes the totally inadmissible principle that there never is a valid consecration when, inadvertently, the priest forgets some rubric that is binding under pain of mortal sin. if, for example, the priest used fermented bread, if the corporal weren't blessed, in which case the chalice and paten would be outside the corporal, as well as the ciborium; if the chalice itself weren't consecrated, there would be no sacrifice and no consecration. besides, if you once commence interpreting intention in this manner, you should hold that if the ciborium were covered on the corporal, there would be no consecration—"

"that's only a venial sin," said the chairman.

"a priest, when celebrating," said father irwin sweetly, "is no more supposed to commit a venial than a mortal sin. besides—"

"i'm afraid our time is running short," said the bishop; "i'll remember your arguments, which are very ingenious, father irwin. but, as the chairman says, the consensus is against you. now, for the main conference, de textibus sacræ scripturæ."

"father duff will read his paper, my lord, and then we'll discuss it."

"very good. now, father duff!"

father duff was another representation of the new dispensation, with a clear-cut, smooth-shaven face, large blue-black eyes, which, however, were not able to fulfil their duties, for, as he took out a large roll of manuscript from his pocket, he placed a gold-rimmed pince-nez to his eyes, and looking calmly around, he began to read in a slow, rhythmic voice. it was a wonderful voice, too, for its soft, purring, murmurous intonation began to have a curious effect on the brethren. one by one they began to be seized by its hypnotic influence, and to yield to its soft, soporific magic, until, to my horror and disgust, they bowed their heads on their breasts, and calmly slept. even the master of conference, and the bishop himself, gently yielded, after a severe struggle. "i shall have it all to myself," i said, "and if i don't profit much by its historical aspects, i shall at least get a few big rocks of words, unusual or obsolete, to fling at my curate." and so i did. codex alexandrinus, and codex sinaiticus, and codex bezæ, and codex vaticanus rang through my bewildered brain. then i have a vague recollection that he actually laughed at the idea of six literal days of creation, which made an old priest, out of his dreams, turn over to me and whisper: "he's an infidel"; then, again, he ridiculed the idea of the recognized authorship of the pentateuch; spoke of chaldean and babylonian interpolations; knocked on the head the davidical origin of the psalms; made the book of daniel half-apocryphal; introduced the book of job, as a piece of arabian poetry, like the songs of some man called hafiz; talked about johannine gospels and pauline epistles; and, altogether, left us to think that, by something called ritschlian interpretations, the whole bible was knocked into a cocked hat. then he began to build up what he had thrown down; and on he went, in his rhythmical, musical way, when just as he declared that "the basal document on which everything is founded is the ur-evangelium, which is the underlying cryptic element of the synoptic gospels,"—just as he reached that point, and was going on about tatian's "diatessaron," a deep stertorous sound, like the trumpeting of an elephant, reverberated through the conference room. they all woke up, smiling at me, and as they did not seem inclined to apologize to father duff for their misbehavior, i said gravely and most angrily:—

"my lord, i think the conference should be a little less unconscious of the grave discourtesy done to one of the most able and erudite papers that i have ever heard here—"

there was a shout of irreverent laughter, in which, i am sorry to say, the bishop joined. at least, i saw his lordship taking out a silk handkerchief and wiping his eyes.

"i propose now, my lord, as an amende to the most cultured and distinguished young priest, that that valuable paper be sent, with your lordship's approbation, to some ecclesiastical journal in ireland or america. its appearance in permanent print may give these young men some idea of the contents of the document, the main features of which they have lost by yielding, i think too easily, to the seductions of ill-timed sleep—"

here there was another yell of laughter, that sounded to my ears ill-placed and discourteous; but the chairman again interposed:—

"now, father duff, if you are not too highly flattered by the encomiums of father dan, who was your most attentive and admiring listener, i should like to ask you a few questions on the subject-matter of your paper."

"surely," i declared, "you are not going to attack such a stronghold? besides, the time is up."

"there is a full hour yet, father dan," said the bishop, consulting his watch; "but you won't mind it, you are able to pass your time so agreeably."

i did not grasp his lordship's meaning; but i never do try to penetrate into mysteries. what's that the scripture says? "the searcher after majesty will be overwhelmed with glory."

but the little skirmishes that had taken place before the paper was read were nothing to the artillery-duel that was now in progress.

"with regard to the septuagint," said the chairman, "i think you made a statement about the history of its compilation that will hardly bear a test. you are aware, of course, that justin, martyr and apologist, declares that he saw, with his own eyes, the cells where the seventy were interned by order, or at the request, of ptolemy philadelphus. how, then, can the letter of aristeas be regarded as apocryphal?"

"well, it does not follow that the whole letter is authentic merely because a clause is verified. secondly, that statement imputed to justin may be also apocryphal."

"do you consider the names of the seventy-two elders also unauthentic?"

"quite so."

"and altogether you would regard the septuagint as a rather doubtful version of the ancient law?"

"i'd only accept it so far as it agrees with the vulgate and the codices."

"but you're aware it was in common use amongst cultivated jews years before the coming of our lord; in fact, it may be regarded as a providential means of preparing the way of the lord for the jews of greece and alexandria."

"that proves nothing."

"it proves this. it is well known that the hebrews were scrupulously exact about every title and letter, and even vowel-point—"

"i beg your pardon, sir; the hebrews before christ didn't use vowel-points."

"that's a strong assertion," said the chairman, reddening.

"it is true. i appeal to his lordship," said father duff.

"well," said the bishop diplomatically, "that appears to be the received opinion; but the whole thing is wrapped up in the mists and the twilight of history."

i thought that admirable.

"to pass away from that subject," said the chairman, now somewhat nervous and alarmed, "i think you made statements, or rather laid down a principle, that catholics can hardly accept."

father duff waited.

"it was to the effect that in studying the history of the bible, as well as in interpreting its meaning, we must take into account the discoveries and the deductions of modern science."

"quite so."

"in other words, we are to adopt the conclusions of german rationalistic schools, and set aside completely the supernatural elements in the bible."

"pardon me; i hardly think that deduction quite legitimate. there are two schools of thought in the church on this question: the one maintains with dr. kaulen, of bonn, that the conclusions of modern criticism are so certainly erroneous that young students should not notice them at all. the other holds that we must read our bibles by the light of modern interpretation. the official encyclical of the present pope leo xiii. ('providentissimus deus') should have closed the controversy; but men are tenacious of their opinions, and both schools in germany utilize the encyclical for their own ends. professor aurelian schöpfer, of the brixen, at once published his book ('bible and science'), in which he maintained that the teaching of the natural sciences may be used by catholics not only to confirm biblical statements, but to interpret them. as i have said, he was opposed by kaulen, of bonn. there was a second duel between schantz of tübingen, and scholz of würzburg. the former insisted that no new principle of biblical interpretation has been introduced by the encyclical; the latter that the principle of scientific investigation was recognized, and was to be applied. now, a protestant, könig of rostock, was interested in this catholic controversy, and collected seventy reviews of schöpfer's work by leading scholars in germany, austria, france, ireland, america; and he found that five sixths endorse the position of the author—"

"you might add, father duff," said my curate, who was an interested listener to the whole argument, and who had been hitherto silent, "that these reviewers found fault with schöpfer for ignoring the consensus patrum, and for decidedly naturalistic tendencies."

the whole conference woke up at this new interlude. the chairman looked grateful; the bishop leaned forward.

"but the 'civiltà cattolica,'" said father duff, "which we may regard as official, says, in its review of the same book: 'biblical history cannot be any longer stated except in agreement with the true and correct teaching of the bible and the reasonable conclusions of the natural sciences.'"

"quite so," said father letheby, "that applies to the certain discoveries of geology and astronomy. but surely you don't maintain that philology, which only affects us just now, is an exact science."

"just as exact as the other sciences you have mentioned."

"that is, as exact as a mathematical demonstration?"

"quite so."

"come now," said my curate, like a fellow that was sure of himself, "that's going too far."

"not at all," said father duff; "i maintain that the evidence of history on the one hand, and the external evidence of monuments on the other, combined with the internal evidence of scriptural idiomatisms of time and place, are equivalent to a mathematical demonstration."

"you'll admit, i suppose," said father letheby, "that languages change their structures and meanings very often?"

"certainly."

"the english of shakespeare is not ours."

"quite so."

"even words have come to have exactly antithetical meanings, even in a lapse of three hundred years."

"very good."

"and it is said that, owing to accretions, the language we speak will be unintelligible in a hundred years' time."

"possibly."

"now, would you not say that a contemporary of shakespeare's would be a better judge of his poetry and its allusive and natural meaning than ever so learned a linguist, after an interval of change?"

"well, i should say so. i don't know where you are drifting."

"what is the reason that we never heard of these 'internal evidences,' these 'historical coincidences,' these 'exclusive idioms,' from origen or dionysius, or from jerome or augustine, from any one of the fathers, who held what we hold, and what the church has always taught, about the authorship of the sacred books, and to whom hebrew and greek were vernacular?"

"but, my dear sir, there are evident interpolations even in the gospels. do you really mean to tell me that that canticle of the magnificat was uttered by a young hebrew girl on hebron, and was not rather the deliberate poetical conception of the author of st. luke's gospel?"

i jumped from my seat; but i needn't have done so. i saw by the whitening under my curate's eyes, and the compression of his lips, and his eyes glowing like coal, that our dear little queen's honor was safe in his hands. father duff couldn't have stumbled on a more unhappy example for himself. father letheby placed his elbows on the table and, leaning forward, he said in a low, tremulous voice:

"you may be very learned, father, and i believe you are; but for all the learning stored up in those german universities, which you so much admire, i would not think as you appear to think on this sacred subject. if anything could show the tendency of modern interpretations of the holy scriptures, it would be the painful and almost blasphemous opinion to which you have just given expression. it is the complete elimination of the supernatural, the absolute denial of inspiration. if the magnificat is not an inspired utterance, i should like to know what is."

there was a painful silence for a few seconds, during which i could hear the ticking of my watch. then the master of conference arose, and, kneeling, said the actiones nostras. we were all gathering up our books and papers to disperse, when the bishop said:—

"gentlemen, the annual procession in honor of our blessed lady will be held in the cathedral and college grounds on the evening of may the 31st. i shall be glad to see there as many of you as can attend. dinner at four; rosary and sermon at seven o'clock. father letheby, would you do me the favor of preaching for us on that occasion?"

father letheby blushed an affirmative; and then the bishop, with delightful tact, turned to the humbled and almost effaced father duff, and said:—

"father duff, leave me that paper; i think i'll adopt the admirable suggestion of our friend, father dan."

some of the young fellows, wits and wags as they were, circulated through the diocese the report that i tried to kiss the bishop. now, there is not a word of truth in that—and for excellent reasons. first, because like zacchæus, i am short of stature; and the bishop—god bless him!—is a fine, portly man. secondly, because i have an innate and congenital dread of that little square of purple under his lordship's chin. i'm sure i don't know why, but it always gives me the shivers. i'm told that they are allowing some new class of people called "monsignori," and even some little canons, to assume the distinctive color of the episcopate. 't is a great mistake. our fathers in god should have their own peculiar colors, as they have their own peculiar and tremendous responsibilities. but i'll tell you what i did. i kissed the bishop's ring, and i think i left a deep indentation on his lordship's little finger.

the master of conference detained me.

"i'm beginning to like that young fellow of yours," he said. "he appears to have more piety than learning."

"he has both," i replied.

"so he has; so he has, indeed. what are we coming to? what are we coming to, at all?"

"then i suppose," i said, "i needn't mind that bell?"

"what bell?"

"the bell that i was to tie around his neck."

"father dan, you have too long a memory; good by! i'm glad you've not that infidel, duff, as curate."

we went home at a rapid pace, my curate and i, both too filled with thought to speak much. at last, i said, shaking up:—

"i'm beginning to think that i, too, took forty winks during the reading of that paper."

"i think about forty minutes of winks, father dan," he replied. "you slept steadily for forty minutes out of the forty-five."

"that's a calumnious exaggeration," i said; "don't i remember all about job, and daniel, and the synoptic gospels."

"these were a few preliminaries," replied my curate.

"but who was that undignified and ungentlemanly fellow that woke us all with such a snore? i suppose it was delaney?"

"no; it was not delaney. he was too agitated after his rencontre with the chairman to fall asleep."

"indeed? perhaps it would be as well for me not to pursue the subject further. this will be a great sermon of yours."

"i'm very nervous about it," he said, shaking the reins. "it is not the sermon i mind, but all the dislike and jealousy and rancor it will cause."

"you can avoid all that," i replied.

"how?"

"break down hopelessly and they'll all love you. that is the only road to popularity—to make a fool of yourself."

"i did that to-day," he said. "i made a most determined cast-iron resolution not to open my lips unless i was interrogated, but i could not stand that perkiness and self-sufficiency of duff, especially when it developed into irreverence."

"if you had not spoken i should have challenged him; and i am not sure i would have been so polite as you were. the thing was unpardonable."

we dined at father letheby's. just after dinner there was a timid knock at the door. he went out, and returned in a few minutes looking despondent and angry. i had heard the words from the hall:—

"she must give it up, your reverence. her little chest is all falling in, and she's as white as a corpse."

"one of the girls giving up work at the machines," he replied. "she's suffering from chest trouble, it appears, from bending over this work."

"who is she?" i queried.

"minnie carmody—that tall girl who sat near the door."

"h'm," i said. "i think it would be nearer the truth to say that minnie carmody's delicacy comes from the vinegar bottle and white paper. she was ashamed of her red face, and this is the latest recommendation of the novelette to banish roses, and leave the lilies of anæmia and consumption."

"it augurs badly, however," he replied. "the factory is not open quite a month yet."