religious sects which, as you say, are so entirely antagonistic,
would by this forced union feel themselves humiliated and trampled
upon; their hatred toward each other would be daily augmented; their
antipathies would find new food; and their religious zeal, which is
always exclusive, would burn with fiercer fury. Not only the
priests, but kings and princes, would look upon the carrying out of
your plan with horror. And shall not this daring step bring terror
into the cabinets of kings? A monarch, who has just drawn the eyes
of all politicians upon himself, now proposes to take charge of the
consciences of his subjects, and bow them to his will! Alas, how
would envy, with all her poisonous serpents, fasten upon the
triumphal car of a king who, by the great things he has already
achieved, had given assurance of yet greater results, and now stoops
to tyrannize over and oppress the weak and good, and cast them among
the ruins of their temples of worship to weep and lament in despair!
No, my king, this idea of a Pantheon, a universal house of worship,
can never be realized. It was a great and sublime thought, but not a
wise one; too great, too enlarged and liberal to be appreciated by
this pitiable world. Your majesty will forgive me for having spoken
the honest truth. I was forced to speak. Like my king, I love the
one only and true God, and God is truth."

"You have done well, Jordan," said the king, after a long pause,
during which he raised his eyes thoughtfully toward heaven. "Yes,
you have done well, and I believe you are right in your objections
to my Pantheon. I offer up to you, therefore, my favorite idea. For
your dear sake, my Pantheon shall become a ruin. Let this be a proof
of the strong love I bear you, Jordan. I will not contend with the
priests in my church, but I will pursue them without faltering into
their own; and I say to you, this will be a long and stiff-necked