Where now were all the heresies she had attributed to Walter? banished, like a noon-day illusion. Now that Mrs. Claremont had embraced the "spirit that giveth life," she could see how "the letter killeth." She saw that the Sabbath, which was made for man, could not be too sacred to plead for the rights of man; that the religion which was too sacred to admit the humblest to its communion as children of the same Father, and therefore entitled to the same birthright as the highest, was not worthy the name of Christian, whatever good works it might perform.
"Did not even the Pharisees the same?" "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, but he who doeth the will of the Father shall be my disciple."
What is the will of the Father? Not merely to visit the widows and the fatherless in their affliction, but to undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free. What is faith without works? Of what use the daily prayer to God that righteousness shall prevail through all the earth, without making use of the human instrumentalities he has ordained for its accomplishment?
In the following autumn Walter visited the classic ground of his Alma Mater. On the first evening of his arrival a large meeting was held to discuss those very questions to which he had consecrated his life, awakening no little interest in the community, for excitement was then at its height.
The reverend doctors of divinity, and the honorables of every profession met in solemn convocation to decide what limit should be assigned to free speech, and how far a man should be amenable to God in
