ATTEMPTED RESCUE OF A UNITARIAN 



from his own knowledge. It appeared that just 

 previous to the service the archdeacon lunched 

 with the Mayor of Bridgwater, who was to accom- 

 pany his reverence to the service. Before they 

 reached the yard the guest discovered that his 

 entertainer was a Unitarian, and at once the 

 archdeacon had the conviction strong upon him 

 that it was his bounden duty to show his Worship 

 the error of his ways and thereby save his soul. 

 So, abandoning all thought of the majority 

 who as far as he knew might be perfectly sound 

 upon so controversial a subject he devoted all 

 his efforts to rescuing the Mayoral minority of 

 one. He had, as he believed, a special mission 

 thrust upon him, and, this being so, he was not 

 the man to let anything stand in the way of his 

 fulfilling it. Any one who knew the archdeacon 

 would have no difficulty in understanding how 

 this thought would grip him or would doubt his 

 absolute sincerity in this or any other matter 

 which had possession of him. As I ascertained 

 afterwards, however, even the archdeacon's power- 

 ful arguments were insufficient to induce the lost 

 sheep to enter the church-fold. I never missed 

 the show yard service during all my 35 years 

 of office, and this was the only address that had 

 no reference to the special circumstances of show 

 week. 



I have many pleasant recollections of show 

 yard sermons and those who preached them, and 

 can often in imagination hear the resonant voice 

 of the late Dr. Thorold, Bishop of Winchester, 

 who arrested the attention of everybody at the 

 onset when, with impressive emphasis, he gave out 



223 



