V WORSE REMEDIES 191 



Yet another word to commentators upon my 

 letters. There are some who rather chuckle, and 

 some who sneer, at what they seem to consider 

 the dexterity of an " old controversial hand/' 

 exhibited by the contrast which I have drawn 

 between the methods of conversion depicted in 

 the New Testament and those pursued by 

 fanatics of the Salvationist type, whether they 

 be such as are now exploited by Mr. Booth, or 

 such as those who, from the time of the Ana 

 baptists, to go no further back, have worked upon 

 similar lines. 



Whether such observations were intended to 

 be flattering or sarcastic, I must respectfully 

 decline to accept the compliment, or to apply the 

 sarcasm to myself. I object to obliquity of pro 

 cedure and ambiguity of speech in all shapes. 

 And I confess that I find it difficult to understand 

 the state of mind which leads any one to suppose, 

 that deep respect for single-minded devotion to 

 high aims is incompatible with the unhesitating 

 conviction that those aims include the propagation 

 of doctrines which are devoid of foundation 

 perhaps even mischievous. 



The most degrading feature of the narrower 

 forms of Christianity (of which that professed by 

 Mr. Booth is a notable example) is their insistence 

 that the noblest virtues, if displayed by those who 

 reject their pitiable formulae, are, as their pet 

 phrase goes, " splendid sins." But there is, 



