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and reinforced now. After all, the only thing necessary in this world is to keep a wide enough horizon. Fix your eye on a single point and your vision soon gets strained and disturbed. Take in the whole sweep of God's beautiful creation, and there is always harmony and peace. Always 'God's greatness flows around our incompleteness,

Round our restlessness, his rest.'"

Dr. Glendenning went home. His mental occupation most of the way was an analysis of the present social law, the phase of human development of which it is an outgrowth, and that phase which, in its essential principles, it predicts.

"These bonds and chains and old traditions," his spirit cried, " are no doubt necessary to sensualists and the spiritually blind. Some men and women need them, as children need the restraint of home, or madmen need the discipline of the straightjacket. But must full-grown men and women creatures in possession of themselves be forever bound by them?"

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Then the still small voice"These are thy younger brethren. For their sake must thou endure till they also shall be made free. But rest certain of this: The truth has always an advantage over a lie; a true relation will outlive a false onenay, more, it will make an atmosphere so pure that the false cannot exist in it. Be true to thyself, and it must follow, as the night the day, that no being, no principle in all God's wide creation, can long be false to thee."

Dr. Glendenning breathed more freely. "A true man," he said to himself," can live down any falsehood that the Father of Lies himself can invent; and there is no fouler lie than a false marriage. Therefore, courage and patience."

By the time the doctor reached home he was in good command of himself quite ready for what he felt must come; that is, as ready as a man

weil can be for the onset of a scolding wife.

Elsie met him at the threshold.
"Richard," she exclaimed, "where
you been?"

have

"To Philadelphia," he answered, quietly.

Her face flushed with anger.

"You have the assurance to tell me," she said, "that you have been to see that woman?"

"Will you let me come into the house," he returned. "I should like dinner as soon as possible, and then I must be off about my business."

She made way for him, but followed him with an uneasy, nervous air.

"Richard," she said, "is that all the satisfaction that you intend to give me concerning this strange absence?"

"My dear, I don't imagine that anything which I could say on the subject would afford you the slightest satisfaction; therefore I prefer that you should excuse me from saying anything."

He took little Dora from her nurse's arms, and was about to kiss her. Elsie sprang forward.

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No," she said, "you shall not stain that child's pure lips with your foul kisses. I don't see, for my part, how you can have the assurance to come straight from that Jezebel and take my baby in your arms."

"Elsie," he said, "I have kissed no woman's lips since I kissed yours last. If my lips were stained with any impure associations, be sure I should not need you to remind me of my unfitness for the pure caresses of this child. To argue this subject with you is needless and unpleasant. Such peace as is still possible between us let us both strive to preserve."

Elsie had no resource but a flood of tears. Let us not chide her too severely for crying. Her world had been good to her, and it was going fast to pieces about her ears. Her changed relations with her husband were a never-ending source of trouble and discomfort to her in the present,

and caused her wretched forebodings in the future. The child had no father, no mother. Her Aunt Dorothea, she had an instinctive apprehen sion, would never understand her. Indeed, she had hitherto cherished so much of the wifely feeling towards Richard that she had shrunk from exposing what she felt to be his sin and his infatuation, to this straightforward, practical woman, who, she knew, would so utterly condemn him. That gossip was already abroad she was well aware; but she had striven industriously to cheek it, and, above all things, to keep it from her aunt. But this new trial racked her as no event had ever done before. She had nothing to support her under it but her religion.

"I do believe," she said to herself, "that I need a confessor. Mrs. Chilvers says it is such a relief always to have a wise, pious, disinterested counsellor. If any woman ever needed such an one, I am sure I do now. And the church, every way, is so beautiful and so comforting. Of course Richard would sneer; but then, what is Richard to me now?"

And then she reviewed all that Richard was not to her, and burst into a fresh spasm of weeping.

When Richard came home her eyes were still red and swollen. In his heart of hearts he pitied her; but how should his pity express itself. The baby was ill and fretful, and he strove in every way to comfort her, and so relieve the mother's cares; but the coolness and patience with which he did this was in itself an exasperation. No woman can ever feel that any bribe which is offered in the place of love is anything else than an insult. Better open scorning and hatred than any kindness which falls short of the soul's demand. And Elsie

was too weak and childish not to express this feeling in the most irritated and defiant manner. Richard's patience was thoroughly tested, and at length it gave way. He felt that there would be no peace so long as the storm within her remained unspent, and he said to her:

"If there is anything you would like to say, Elsie, anything which you feel would relieve you of this irritation, I think you might better say it at once, and have it over. One can't live in this way always."

It was a case of that " cold intense which burns you." Elsie flamed out in a fury of indignation. Reproach and invective flew thick and fast; some of it so wide of the mark as to be amusing; other some, so pointed with woman's wit as to sting like fire. Richard bit his lips and walked the room, determined to endure to the end; but a fierce epithet, applied to Eloise, proved the last straw.

Elsie," he said, almost as hotly as herself, " say what you please of me- I can bear it all; but never take that name upon your lips again in scorn. The woman you condemn is as pure as an angel, and I should be less than a man if I stood silently by to hear her traduced. I think you must have said enough to cool your temper for to night, and I commend you to silence and reflection."

He took his hat and left the house. It was an unwise speech, and the effect was just such as he might have anticipated. Elsie felt that she had borne a great deal in silence, but that this was too much. Hitherto she had been as careful of Miss Vaughan's good name as of her husband's, but at this point she desperately resolved to let loose upon this guilty pair the scorpions of society.

C. F. CORBYN.

THE FRIEND.-MAY, 1868.

THE

REV. STEPHEN H. TYNG.

HE following letter, addressed by Mr. Tyng to Bishop Potter, appeared too late for insertion in our April number:

"Right Rev. H. Potter, D.D, LL.D., D.C.L, Oxon.

"CHURCH

NEW-YORK, March 11, 1868.

"RIGHT REV. AND DEAR SIR: I have now silently suffered all that the ecclesiastical authorities of this diocese have desired to inflict. Notwithstanding the allegation of your address, I affirm, without fear of disproval, that from the beginning to the end of my trial I have neither in my pulpit, before the public, nor through the press argued, still less agitated, the issues involved. I should, however, be false to candor and my independence as a presbyter and a man, did I not now take some notice of the ignominious ceremony to which I have, in submission to your request, been subjected, and the prolonged admonition and argument to which I have listened from your lips.

"So soon as my Lenten engagements wil! permit, I purpose to present, both to yourself and the public, a full and frank review of the whole proceedings, including the language of your

sentence.

"The church which you chose as the scene, the presence of the city police, the clergy whom you selected as witnesses, the religious services which introduced and completed the exercises, your positive and rude refusal to receive the protest of my venerable and reverend counsel and father-all these were adapted, if not intended, to aggravate the attempted disgrace. "That there may be no reasonable ground for misunderstanding, previously to the preparation of the observations to which I have already referred, I desire now, and in full consciousness of the responsibilities which it may entail, solemnly to protest against the whole course, conduct, and conclusion of the Ecclesiastical trial in which have appeared as respondent. I hold it, as in duty bound, to have been equally opposed to the principles of the common law, the canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the doctrine and discipline of Christ as this church hath received the same. I absolutely deny its regularity and renounce its authority. From its unjust presentment, oppressive rulings, predetermined decision, and insinuating censure, I appeal to the general judgment of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to the impartial review of the other Christian churches of this land, to the word of the living God, and to Jesus, the chief shepherd and bishop of us all.

"Your servant in the Church,

"STEPHEN H. TYNG, jr."

It is not easy to misunderstand the tenor of this letter; it means war. It is the closing word of a grand protest against church despotism, and is full of the spirit with which Gen. Grant said, "I will fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer."

We are entirely ignorant of the state of feeling in the Episcopal Church, and would like exceedingly to know the strength of Mr. Tyng's followers. Among any people who were not utterly bound in theological fetters, it would seem impossible that there should not be a warm and ready response to the brave words of this brave man. Supporters we are sure he must have, in the church or out of it, and we are equally sure that he is doing a great work for the advancement of what, in the poverty of words, we call Liberal Christianity, even though he be entirely unconscious of such a purpose.

Similar ideas of truth are often entertained under different names, and there is so much in the name, that what may be perfectly proper under a conventional title, is appalling when it has a radical appellative. But in the growing light of truth, such distinctions are effaced, and all imperfections of detail are lost in the perfection of the whole.

So we say again, that consciously or unconsciously those who take part in this church quarrel are fighting one of the battles of the ages, the significance of which will at some future day be clearly understood, even if it now appears too much in the light of a personal quarrel or a struggle of rival prelates.

If the result of this quarrel should be a separation from the Episcopal Church, we trust that Mr. Tyng will find, beyond its narrow pale, a Church that is broad enough to shelter and appreciate so noble a man and so true a worker.

There is perhaps never a prophet who comprehends fully the grandeur of his own prophecy, or a laborer who appreciates the richness of his own vineyard, but sooner or later the prophecy shall ripen and the vineyard bear fruit, and the prophet and the laborer shall find that they have worked better than they knew.

We wait and sing with Tennyson :

"For I doubt not through the ages

One increasing purpose runs ;
And the thoughts of men are widened,
With the process of the suns."

LITERARY

The American Ecclesiastical Almanac for Ministers and Laymen; by PROF. ALEXANDER J. SCHEM. New York, 1868. Fredk. Gerhard, Agt.

This is a small but very comprehensive work, in pamphlet form, and combines with a neat and well-arranged almanac, brief sketches of all the principal religious organizations of the world, showing their mode of government, church officers, number of members, etc., compiled from the most recent official publications of each society. The work commends itself to all interested in the present aspects of the religious world, and will be especially useful to those whose profession frequently requires accurate knowledge on subjects about which such knowledge is often unattainable.

NOTES.

James Mott.-A brief biographical sketch of this well-known and widely-honored friend, has been prepared by Mary Grew, of Philadelphia, and will soon be issued in a neat form, from the press of P. Tomlinson, publisher, 39 Nassau St., New York. This good man has been so warmly interested in all philanthropic movements, that he has a large circle of friends outside the narrow limits of the society to which he belonged; and those who have known of his loving works and words will be glad to have a simple record of his upright life, such as is now promised us. The truly good are so few on the earth that the remembrance of such lives as his is a continual refreshment.

NOTE. The committee of twelve appointed in the quarterly meeting to examine the case of John J. Merritt give notice, after a full hearing of the case, and three months of deliberation, that they are not yet prepared to report The committee is continued.

THE FRIEND.

VOL. 111.-JUNE, 1868.- NO. 30.

THE FOUR GOSPELS.

ARTICLE XV. THE MARVELLOUS NARRATIVES.

(II.-Direct application to Gospel Text. Idea of the Myth.)

3. THE MYTHICAL SYSTEM.-In our last article we treated of two systems of interpretation-the supernatural and the naturalistic. The former we considered as refuted by our previous argument concerning the credibility of miracles, and the latter we endeavored to refute on the score of its being a mere tissue of assumptions, which may be admirable in themselves and of high ingenuity, but are entitled to no credit as history. As, therefore, if our view is correct, the marvellous or miraculous stories of the New Testament can neither be believed as they stand nor resolved into natural events deserving of any credit, and as it can scarcely be denied by a careful and candid reader that the writers intended these stories to be accepted in simple good faith as realities, it remains to ask: What are the miraculous narratives of the Gospels? How are they to be viewed and interpreted? Our answer is, They are myths; it is the purpose of the present article to describe and explain the idea of the myth.

It is the distinguishing characteristic of the mythical mode of interpretation, that it lays stress on the form of the narrative rather than its substance. Both the supernatural and naturalistic systems are concerned mainly with the contents of the record-the one declaring it literally and supernaturally true, as the writer intended it; the other rejecting the supernatural, and striving to elicit a substratum of natural fact, which may or may not be true, which is generally quite unimportant, and which the writer never dreamt of. The mythical method, on the contrary, declares that there is no supernatural to believe, and little or no positive history to ferret out, but finds its facts or

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