v WORSE REMEDIES. 191 



some who sneer, at what they seem to consider 

 the dexterity of an " old controversial hand/' ex- 

 hihited by the contrast which I have drawn be- 

 twcen 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 Anabaptists, to 

 go no further back, have worked upon similar 

 lines. 



Whether such observations were intended to 

 be flattering or sarcastic, I must respectfully de- 

 cline 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 sup- 

 pose, that deep respect for single-minded devotion 

 to high aims is incompatible with the unhesitating 

 conviction that those aims include the propaga- 

 tion 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, per- 

 haps, one step lower; and that is that men, who 

 profess freedom of thought, should fail to see and 



