524 RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT -I 



me. According to this, even our good rector had no more 

 chance of salvation than a Presbyterian or Baptist or 

 Methodist minister. But this serious view of the case was 

 disturbed by a humorous analogy. There were then fight 

 ing vigorously through the advertisement columns of the 

 newspapers two rival doctors, each claiming to produce 

 the only salutary sarsaparilla, and each named Town- 

 send. At first one claimed to be &quot;the Dr. Townsend,&quot; 

 then the other claimed to be &quot;the Dr. Townsend ; the first 

 rejoined that he was &quot;Dr. Jacob Townsend,&quot; whereupon 

 the other insisted that he was &quot;Dr. Jacob Townsend&quot;; to 

 this the first answered that he was &quot;the original Dr. Jacob 

 Townsend, and the other then declared that he was the 

 original Dr. Jacob Townsend ; and so on, through issue 

 after issue, each supplying statements, certificates, argu 

 ments, rejoinders ad nauseam. More and more, then, the 

 various divines insisting on the exclusive possession of the 

 only remedy for sin reminded me of these eminent sarsa- 

 parilla-makers, each declaring his own concoction genu 

 ine and all others spurious, each glorifying himself as 

 possessing the original recipe and denouncing his rivals 

 as pretenders. 



Another contribution to my thought was made one day 

 in the Sunday-school. While reading in the New Testa 

 ment I had noticed the difficulties involved in the two gen 

 ealogies of Jesus of Nazareth that in Matthew and that 

 in Luke. On my asking the Sunday-school teacher for an 

 explanation, he gave the offhand answer that one was the 

 genealogy of Joseph and the other of Mary. Of course it 

 did not take me long to find this answer inadequate ; and, 

 as a consequence, Sunday-school teaching lost much of its 

 effect upon me. 



But there was still one powerful influence left in behalf 

 of the old creed. From time to time came the visitation 

 by the bishop, Dr. DeLancey. He was the most impres 

 sive man I have ever seen. I have stood in the presence 

 of many prelates in my day, from Pope Pius IX down; 

 but no one of them has ever so awed me as this Bishop of 



