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"If you join the Romish Church don't expect to see me again, and as you take the step to please yourself you must in future expect no allowance from me.* I am ashamed of you, you are a disgrace to our family.'

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"Why," said Arthur, on showing it to his sister, "that is just what old Lamort said when George came over. They all seem to think it' disgraceful,' I wonder why?"

A few days later saw Arthur and his cousin Birkbeck kneeling side by side at the Altar of the Sacred Heart in the Jesuits' Church in Farm Street; each mutually recited the Creed of Pope Pius IV., and both voices boldly declared, "I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church, for the Mother and Mistress of all Churches, and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ."

Mr. Joyce, on reading an account in the paper, sneeringly exclaimed, "I thought so, that comes of preaching about the Virgin." Scripture-reader Cantwise snuffled, "Jesuit, I knew he was one all the time -didn't like Papists in Boyle's Court joining our pure Faith." Mr. Emptypate said to the Vicar, "I told you he preached like a Unitarian, and now I'm sure I

*For parents to refuse to have their children under their roof or to give them money to keep them alive is not at all uncommon; as many London Priests can testify.

was right, for you will always find Rationalists and Papists work together to sap the foundation of our Protestant Church."

One person only judged him fairly and that was dear old Mr. Rashleigh. Arthur wrote to him and said he feared he would be pained to know what he had done but did not like him to hear of it first of all from the newspapers.

"Poor fellow," said Mr. Rashleigh to his wife; "there is a loss to the Church of England! He has been literally driven to Rome."

"So was Anna,” replied Mrs. Rashleigh.

"Yes," said her husband; "and yet Macdonald will of course fail to see that he is the main cause of this sad event. Oh dear! oh dear! The men who get ordained and succeed are but a poor lot in comparison to those of my time. The clergy used to be gentlemen, and behave as such; now a lot of men who would fail in any other profession get in and preach platitudes, and are safe men, and do nothing, and for that reason get on; or they are like the lad's father, hot-headed bigots with no consideration, and precious little learning, and here's the result."

Father Shallow, who took in the Penny Snapper, discussed the matter over with Miss Carter.

"Oh, Father Shallow, is it not dreadful? will he be saved now that he has joined the Italian Schism? Only to think, I suppose he denies 'our' Orders, and

thinks he never in 'our' Holy Mass received the 'Body of Christ;' is it not fearful thus to desert Holy Mother Church in all her troubles?"

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"Yes, indeeed it is; but do you know I hear from Brother Cherubim that he was told all sorts of falsehoods by those Priests he went to. He assures they supported the Forged Decretals as true, and put before him volumes of the Fathers with forged quotations. It is one satisfaction that poor Lamort has returned; he found out their tricks, and I hear is going to give a lecture to St. Dunstan's Fraternity next week, on the Dishonesty of Romanism.""

"Oh! you don't say so; that is good news!" cried the young lady.

"Oh, yes; and I hear Birkbeck, who went over with Arthur, is so shocked that he is coming back again. They were very civil to him, flattered him and all that sort of thing; then he met Lord Turnabout at the Lumleys', and they flattered him up to the skies, and you know he is very vain, so they soon got him over. They say the priests were going to try and make him a Priest that they might get his money, but Lamort has stopped all that. I expect he will make some wonderful revelations of their ways of making perverts. Miss Eleanor, mind you pray for him at Holy Mass. I must go and 'vest' now. I shall see you after service, shall I not?"

"Yes," simpered Miss Carter. "I'm going to work

a floral cross for the font, so I must take the size of it after service."

A quarter of an hour later Miss Carter knelt at the Altar-rails to receive Communion from the hands of "Father" Shallow, both of them apparently being "in love and charity with their neighbours," in spite of the way they had gloated over the doings of Birkbeck, Lamort and Arthur.

CHAPTER XII.

A RETURN TO PROTESTANTISM.

MISS CARTER was quite right in telling "Father" Shallow that Lamort had returned to the Church of England, or at least that he had given up Romanism. We left him wishing good-night to Father Clary, Birkbeck and Macdonald.

"That man may be a Priest, but I'm certain he is unsound-he must be one of those wretched Gallican minimizers. What did he say? Oh, yes, I know. 'If a man's conscience is right God won't condemn him ;' that was one of his theories. What dreadful nonsense! At that rate why need I have become a Catholic? I should have been just as safe as a Protestant, and then my father and home would be open to me. Besides if that is true the comfortable jog-trot old parson who lives a quiet comfortable life in his Parsonage will go to heaven, although perhaps every Sunday in his life he damns the Pope."

He reached his lodgings in a very uncomfortable frame of mind, and found no letters, but a book lay

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