the soul of a sinner to contemplate something better than himself.  Women and little children enter the Church as well as men,—­would you have them find no comfort?  Must a woman with a broken heart take her sorrows to the vast Silence of an unreasonable God among universes of star systems?  Or shall she find hope, and a gleam of comfort in a prayer to a woman of the same clay as herself in the person of the Virgin Mary?  And remember, there is something very beautiful in the symbol of the Virgin as applied to womanhood!  The Mother of God!  Does it not suggest to your poetical mind that woman is destined always to be the Mother of the God?—­that is, mother of the perfect man when that desirable consummation shall be accomplished?”

“I have never doubted it.’” said Aubrey, “The Mother of Christ is to me a symbol of womanhood for all time!” Gherardi smiled.

“Good!  Then in spite of your denunciations you come very near to our faith’”

“I never denied the beauty, romance, or mysticism of the Roman Catholic Faith,” said Aubrey, “If it were purified from the accumulated superstition of ages, and freed from intolerance and bigotry, it would perhaps be the grandest form of Christianity in the world.  But the rats are in the house, and the rooms want cleaning!”

“In every house there are those rats—­in every room there is dirt!” said Gherardi, “Presuming that you speak in a moral sense.  What of your Houses of Parliament?  What of the French Senate?  What of the Reichstag?  What of the Russian Autocracy?—­the American Republic?  In every quarter the rats squeal, and the dirt gathers!  The Church of Rome is purity itself compared to your temporal governments!  My dear sir,” and approaching, he laid a kindly hand on Aubrey’s arm, “I would not be harsh with you for the world!  I understand your nature perfectly.  It is full of enthusiasm and zeal for righteousness,—­ your heart warms to the sorrows of the human race,—­you would lift up the whole world to God’s footstool; you would console—­you would be a benefactor—­you would elevate, purify, rejuvenate, inspire!  Yes!  This is a grand mood—­one which has fired many a would-be reformer before you,—­but you forget!  It is not the Church against which you should arm yourself—­it is the human race!  It is not one or many religious systems with which you should set yourself to contend—­it is the blind brutishness of humanity!” As he spoke, his tall form appeared to tower to an even greater height,—­his eyes flashed, and the intellectual pride and force of his character became apparent in every feature of his face.  “If humanity in the mass asked us for Christ only; if men and women would deny themselves the petty personal aim, the low vice, the crawling desire to ingratiate themselves with Heaven, the Pharisaical affectation of virtue—­if they would themselves stand clear of ‘vain repetition’ and obstinate egoism, and would of themselves live purely, the Church