righteousness' sake'!"

"Dare we call a heretic 'righteous'?" enquired the Archbishop--"Is
he not, in his very heresy, accursed?"

"According to our Lord, no one is accursed save traitors,--that is
to say those who are not true. If a man doubts, it is better he
should admit his doubt than make a pretence of belief. The persons
whom we call heretics may have their conception of the truth,--they
may say that they cannot accept a creed which is so ignorant of its
own tenets as to condemn all those who do not follow it,--inasmuch
as the very Founder of it distinctly says--'If any man hear my words
and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world,
but to save the world.' Now we, His followers, judge, but do not
save. The atheist is judged by us, but not rescued from his
unbelief; the thinker is condemned,--the scientist who reveals the
beauty and wisdom of God as made manifest in the composition of the
lightning, or the germinating of a flower, is accused of destroying
religion. And we continue to pass our opinion, and thunder our
vetoes and bans of excommunication against our fellowmen, in the
full front of the plain command 'Judge not, that ye be not judged'!"

"I see it is no use arguing with you," said the Archbishop, forcing
a smile, with a vexation the smile could not altogether conceal,--
"You are determined to take these sayings absolutely,--and to fret
your spirit over the non-performance of imaginary duties which do
not exist. This Church is a system,--founded on our Lord's teaching,
but applied to the needs of modern civilization. It is not humanly
possible to literally obey all Christ's commands."