“Judgment, yes, but the judgment which has not yet dawned for you, the enlightenment which is the knowledge of God’s will.  Worldly wisdom is a rule of thumb many men may acquire, the other wisdom, the wisdom of the soul, is personal—­the reward of revelation which springs from desire.  You ask me what I think you should do.  I will tell you—­but you will not do it, you will be powerless to do it unless you see it for yourself, unless the time shall come when you are willing to give up everything you have held dear in life,—­not your money, but your opinions, the very judgment and wisdom you value, until you have gained the faith which proclaims these worthless, until you are ready to receive the Kingdom of God as a little child.  You are not ready, now.  Your attitude, your very words, proclaim your blindness to all that has happened you, your determination to carry out, so far as it is left to you, your own will.  You may die without seeing.”

Crazy as it all sounded, a slight tremor shook Eldon Parr.  There was something in the eyes, in the powerful features of the clergyman that kept him still, that made him listen with a fascination which had he taken cognizance of it—­was akin to fear.  That this man believed it, that he would impress it upon others, nay, had already done so, the banker did not then doubt.

“You speak of giving,” Hodder continued, “and you have nothing to give —­nothing.  You are poorer to-day than the humblest man who has seen God.  But you have much, you have all to restore.”  Without raising his voice, the rector had contrived to put a mighty emphasis on the word.  “You speak of the labour of giving, but if you seek your God and haply find him you will not rest night or day while you live until you have restored every dollar possible of that which you have wrongfully taken from others.”

John Hodder rose and raised his arm in effective protest against the interruption Eldon Parr was about to make.  He bore him down.

“I know what you are going to say, Mr. Parr,—­that it is not practical.  That word ‘practical’ is the barrier between you and your God.  I tell you that God can make anything practical.  Your conscience, the spirit, tortures you to-day, but you have not had enough torture, you still think to escape easily, to keep the sympathy of a world which despises you.  You are afraid to do what God would have you do.  You have the opportunity, through grace, by your example to leave the world better than you found it, to do a thing of such magnitude as is given to few men, to confess before all that your life has been blind and wicked.  That is what the Spirit is trying to teach you.  But you fear the ridicule of the other blind men, you have not the faith to believe that many eyes would be opened by your act.  The very shame of such a confession, you think, is not to be borne.”

“Suppose I acknowledge, which I do not, your preposterous charge, how would you propose to do this thing?”