inseparable from the prophetic character, and it was his intense
enthusiasm and eloquent tongue that cast a spell over the simple-
minded people who believed in him. But his doctrines were too
shallow and unsatisfactory ever to take root, and it could be easily
seen that when Marchurst died 'The Elect' would die also,--that is,
as a sect, for it was not pervaded by that intense religious fervour
which is the life and soul of a new doctrine. The fundamental
principles of his religion were extremely simple; he saved his
friends and damned his enemies, for so he styled those who were not
of the same mind as himself. If you were a member of 'The Elect', Mr
Marchurst assured you that the Golden Gate was wide open for you,
whereas if you belonged to any other denomination you were lost for
ever; so according to this liberal belief, the hundred people who
formed his congregation would all go straight to Heaven, and all the
rest of mankind would go to the devil.

In spite of the selfishness of this theory, which condemned so many
souls to perdition, Marchurst was a kindly natured man, and his
religion was more of an hallucination than anything else. He was
very clever at giving advice, and Madame Midas esteemed him highly
on this account. Though Marchurst had often tried to convert her,
she refused to believe in the shallow sophistries he set forth, and
told him she had her own views on religion, which views she declined
to impart to him, though frequently pressed to do so. The zealot
regretted this obstinacy, as, according to his creed, she was a lost
soul, but he liked her too well personally to quarrel with her on
that account, consoling himself with the reflection that sooner or
later, she would seek the fold. He was more successful with M.
Vandeloup, who, having no religion whatever, allowed Marchurst to
think he had converted him, in order to see as much as he could of