Latest / In His Steps / Only a Ghost! by Irenæus the Deacon-Sabine Baring-Gould

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Only a Ghost! by Irenæus the Deacon-Sabine Baring-Gould · In His Steps

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Speaker 1: Chapter one of Only a Ghost by Ranius the Deacon.
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Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings in the
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Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Marianne Spiegel. Only a Ghost
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Speaker 1: by Raneus the Deacon by Sabine Bearing Gould, Chapter one,
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Speaker 1: Why I came to London? I am a ghost, A reader,
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Speaker 1: don't be alarmed, But nevertheless I repeat, I am a ghost,
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Speaker 1: a ghost of fifteen hundred and twenty years standing for
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Speaker 1: in the year three forty seven, I was still a
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Speaker 1: deacon of the Church of the Holy Cross at Jerusalem,
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Speaker 1: under the Blessed Cyril, Bishop of the same. And why
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Speaker 1: am I now in London? Why have I left the
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Speaker 1: holy shades and the company of blessed spirits to glide
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Speaker 1: about this black and by no means saintly city. Before
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Speaker 1: I disappear into my peaceful abode, I will place on
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Speaker 1: record why I left it and who induced me to
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Speaker 1: commit such an act of folly. On his release from
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Speaker 1: the flesh and his appearance in the world of spirits,
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Speaker 1: the Reverend Edward starch Rector of Grubbington in the Clay
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Speaker 1: told me that if I wished to see primitive Christianity
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Speaker 1: set forth as in the times when I lived on Earth,
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Speaker 1: I had only to go to Great Britain and listen
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Speaker 1: to the performance of the incomparable liturgy there. Used. Of course,
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Speaker 1: as a faithful though unworthy deacon of Saint Cyril's church,
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Speaker 1: I took a grave and sympathizing interest in all the
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Speaker 1: holy churches over the world, at all times and in
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Speaker 1: all countries. And though I should have preferred visiting Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: once more, or Antioch or Constantinople, I heard the spirit
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Speaker 1: of the ancient Church was in England, and to England.
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Speaker 1: Accordingly I went. In London. I was told I should
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Speaker 1: find the true spirit of primitive Christianity, for many were
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Speaker 1: the epithets of grace lavished upon it. I heard England
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Speaker 1: call the most religious country in the world, and London
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Speaker 1: the city of great enlightenment. I heard that all its
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Speaker 1: inhabitants were interested in the spread of the Gospel, and
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Speaker 1: that they considered themselves the most godly people on the earth.
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Speaker 1: So to London, methought I would go to find churches
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Speaker 1: like the Holy Cross, and bishops like Saint Cyril reigning
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Speaker 1: over each now as a ghost. Of course, I am invisible.
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Speaker 1: But when I wish for information, I have the power
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Speaker 1: of investing myself with the outward appearance of an intelligent stranger,
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Speaker 1: and of assuming the language of the country in which
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Speaker 1: I am Sojourning, people who would naturally be shy of
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Speaker 1: a Greek speaking ghost might have no objection to impart
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Speaker 1: information to a quiet looking stranger, dressed in black and
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Speaker 1: indulging it broken English. When necessary, I can immediately resume
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Speaker 1: my invisibility. I need scarcely say that this, when done
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Speaker 1: suddenly and on the impulse of the moment, has been
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Speaker 1: productive of much embarrassment to my earthly companions, but has
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Speaker 1: relieved me sometimes from positions which might have become slightly disagreeable.
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Speaker 1: On a fine day, then I found myself in the
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Speaker 1: streets of London, amongst a hurrying crowd, all seemingly too
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Speaker 1: busy to give a poor ghost the slightest particle of information.
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Speaker 1: I ran up against an elderly gentleman of mild and
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Speaker 1: prepossessing appearance, whose hat I knocked off quite by accident.
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Speaker 1: I beg your pardon, sir, I said, returning it to him.
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Speaker 1: I am a stranger. Here could you give me any
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Speaker 1: information on the state of religion in London. Religion. You
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Speaker 1: should have seen his face. He started at the word
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Speaker 1: as if he had been shot. Didn't shoot him my day,
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Speaker 1: But I heard of such things afterwards. I was surprised
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Speaker 1: at the effect the mere pronouncing of the word had
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Speaker 1: in the most religious city in the world. He turned
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Speaker 1: and walked with me up the street. If he had
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Speaker 1: only the remotest idea that I was the deacon Iranius
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Speaker 1: of Jerusalem in the fourth century, he would, I feel persuaded,
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Speaker 1: have fled as fast as his legs would carry him.
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Speaker 1: But he thought I was only an intelligent stranger, and
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Speaker 1: so he put his arm through mine and walked on.
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Speaker 1: He seemed to be a confiding sort of person, And
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Speaker 1: somehow or other I have always remarked that I possessed
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Speaker 1: a supernatural power of fascination which drew out the hearts
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Speaker 1: and brains of those I met with. I am a stranger. Here,
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Speaker 1: I said again, could you give me any information on
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Speaker 1: the state of religion in England? Religion? Said my stout friend, humph,
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Speaker 1: what's your line, Lyne? What could he mean? I don't
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Speaker 1: exactly understand your method of expressing yourself, I replied, Eh,
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Speaker 1: I mean what sort do you affect a fact? Said I.
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Speaker 1: I did not know religion was a matter of affectation.
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Speaker 1: In my day, it was a very real thing and
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Speaker 1: often cost a man his life. Ah, poor things over work.
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Speaker 1: I suppose should learn to take it easy. No use
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Speaker 1: killing oneself for an idea, idea more incomprehensible. Still, but
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Speaker 1: you have not answered my question about religion. Religion, replied
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Speaker 1: my friend. Ah, Yes, to be sure, which do you prefer? Which,
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Speaker 1: said I, in amazement, why the Christian religion? To be sure? Yes,
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Speaker 1: but there are such a lot of them, replied my friend,
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Speaker 1: high and low, Pusayite and Ritualist, and Pappist and Baptist, Wesleyan, Methodist, Calvinist,
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Speaker 1: and Independent and Bible Christians. And stop stop, replied I
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Speaker 1: you puzzle me more than ever. Who may you be?
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Speaker 1: Are you a deacon? Hoping I might find a kindred
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Speaker 1: spirit in my new acquaintance, my name's Bootle. And as
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Speaker 1: to being a deacon, I'd as soon be a chimney sweep.
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Speaker 1: I was astonished to speak thus of an office I
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Speaker 1: had always looked upon as one of the chiefest honors
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Speaker 1: the Christian Church had to bestow. As for myself, I
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Speaker 1: had never considered myself worthy to fill it, but had
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Speaker 1: been persuaded into accepting it by the Blessed Cyril himself.
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Speaker 1: He vainly tried to ordain me priest. But I considered
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Speaker 1: myself too highly honored already, and nothing would induce me
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Speaker 1: to accept that awful dignity. For a moment, I forgot
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Speaker 1: I was a ghost. I was a deacon once, I
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Speaker 1: said the deacon Irene. I stopped in time, one of
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Speaker 1: seven belonging to the Church of the Holy Cross, And
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Speaker 1: what seven to one? Church, said Bootle, That must have
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Speaker 1: been a precious long way off. We should have cut
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Speaker 1: you down, cut me down. There were a hundred to
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Speaker 1: Saint Sophia in Constantinople. What all in residence? Asked Bootle.
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Speaker 1: Of course, what could he mean? What frightful extravagance? Reduction
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Speaker 1: is the order of the day. We should make very
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Speaker 1: short work of that. But you spoke of Holy Cross Church,
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Speaker 1: where may that be? Pray in Jerusalem, I replied, Ha,
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Speaker 1: Palestine Exploration Fund and all that. Yes, I know, perhaps
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Speaker 1: you were dug out with the doug out with the rest, Yes,
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Speaker 1: with the lamp and the dishes and all the things
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Speaker 1: they found. You know, an off bootle went into a
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Speaker 1: ha ha ha, which took him some minutes to recover.
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Speaker 1: I did not know what he meant, and thought I
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Speaker 1: had met with an unfortunate man afflicted by the loss
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Speaker 1: of his reasoning powers. However, as I am a ghost,
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Speaker 1: it did not matter to me, for should he become violent,
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Speaker 1: I had nothing to do but to disappear. But you
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Speaker 1: want to know something about the last new thing in religion?
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Speaker 1: I did not at all like his way of putting it,
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Speaker 1: but thought I had better humor him, so said, yes, Well,
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Speaker 1: the swell thing now is to go and hear a
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Speaker 1: gospel address in the drill hall. Is that a church?
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Speaker 1: Dear me? No, But you don't know the meaning of
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Speaker 1: the word church. A church is an assembly of faithful people. Well,
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Speaker 1: Delilah Perkins gives the next gospel address. And who is
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Speaker 1: Delilah Perkins. Delilah Perkins was a very wicked woman. Delilah
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Speaker 1: Perkins is a saint. Poor soul. Poor soul was her
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Speaker 1: time of penance and probation. Long penance for what why
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Speaker 1: you said? She sinned and then repented she lapsed. I
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Speaker 1: imagine in the persecution for how long was she put
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Speaker 1: out of the church. Don't talk nonsense, replied Boodle. The
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Speaker 1: church considers itself extremely honored by having her bright eyes
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Speaker 1: in it. But of course the priest absolved her first.
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Speaker 1: How provoking you are. We have none of that ritualistic
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Speaker 1: nonsense here, she says, she can do her own soul
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Speaker 1: without any of your priests and rubbish A noon a noon.
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Speaker 1: Then I will lend her the Treatise of Saint John Chrysostom,
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Speaker 1: the Golden mouthed upon the priesthood. It came after my time,
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Speaker 1: but I doubt not I can procure it, and she
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Speaker 1: will see how great is the office she despises. Read,
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Speaker 1: my dear fellow, I should like to see her do it.
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Speaker 1: No one has any time to read now. By the
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Speaker 1: time we have done our times and our pall mall
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Speaker 1: and our temple bar, we have read enough to float
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Speaker 1: our minds for the day. And a big book sends
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Speaker 1: the best of us into a fit of sulks. But
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Speaker 1: stay has not Saint Paul a passage forbidding women to
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Speaker 1: speak in the church. Perhaps though you never heard of
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Speaker 1: Saint Paul. For my mind misgave me my informant, appearing
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Speaker 1: so very ignorant on some points. Oh yes I have,
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Speaker 1: and I know the passage you refer to. But there
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Speaker 1: Saint Paul speaks of the church. Now the drill Hall
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Speaker 1: isn't a church. But if I understood you rightly, you
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Speaker 1: said just now it is. You said a church was
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Speaker 1: an assembly of faithful people. Pardon me? Is this not
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Speaker 1: arguing in a circle? Oh? Bother, replied my illogical friend.
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Speaker 1: How you worry one? I was never brought up to theology,
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Speaker 1: then why talk about it if you have no time
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Speaker 1: to read about it? Here I remembered the saying that
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Speaker 1: every Englishman considers himself born a farmer and a theologian,
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Speaker 1: however ignorant he may be on every other subject. My
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Speaker 1: dear sir, if we only talked about what we understood,
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Speaker 1: our conversation would be extremely limited. But to tell you
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Speaker 1: the truth, I am glad you have no fancy for
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Speaker 1: the renowned Delilah, for I am, in reality an old
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Speaker 1: fashioned Anglican and I don't approve of all these new lights. Moderation,
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Speaker 1: say I, moderation, and leave these frights and fervors to
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Speaker 1: happy Tommy and the rest of them. And who is
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Speaker 1: Happy Tommy, a converted Collier. He tells exciting tales about
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Speaker 1: he dragged his grandmother around the room by her white
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Speaker 1: hair when he was drunk, and multitudes crowd to hear him.
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Speaker 1: For the greater the sinner, the greater the saint. And
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Speaker 1: was this man baptized before he perpetrated these atrocities? I
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Speaker 1: suppose so I was aghast the Blessed Sorrow would have
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Speaker 1: insisted on years of lowly penitence before he readmitted him
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Speaker 1: to Christian fellowship. You would have seen such a man,
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Speaker 1: when truly repentant, fall at the feet of the faithful
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Speaker 1: and implore their prayers. You would have seen him in
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Speaker 1: the porch, weeping scalding tears and counting himself unworthy even
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Speaker 1: to hear the prayers, much less to join in them.
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Speaker 1: And you would have seen, Well, I don't know anything
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Speaker 1: about your friend, the Blessed Cearl, but I do know
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Speaker 1: that people here don't make such a fuss about repentance.
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Speaker 1: The more atrocious the crimes, the more they like to
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Speaker 1: talk about them, and the more people crowd to hear them.
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Speaker 1: Do you not remember how we read that Holy Paul,
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Speaker 1: when converted, went into the wilderness for three years to
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Speaker 1: fit himself to preach the gospel. My dear fellow, we've
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Speaker 1: got no desert here except one of brick and mortar,
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Speaker 1: And there is no glory to be gained by hiding oneself,
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Speaker 1: of course not. But what has a Christian to do
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Speaker 1: with glory? Read Tertullian's De Corona, and you will see
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Speaker 1: though afterwards he lapsed into heresy, how nobly and beautifully
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Speaker 1: he speaks in the Treatise of the Glory, which as
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Speaker 1: our masters alone. What's the gentleman's name, Tertullian, Oh ah,
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Speaker 1: something ritualistic. I suppose tomorrow's Sunday, you had better come
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Speaker 1: to my church, Saint Silas, with pleasure. What hour does
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Speaker 1: the Great Liturgy begin? Eleven o'clock? Surely that's rather late,
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Speaker 1: not at all, quite early enough. Some very extreme people
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Speaker 1: assemble at seven or eight o'clock. But it's not considered
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Speaker 1: at all the thing. In fact, it's very extreme. I
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Speaker 1: thought something about the extreme of laziness, but said nothing,
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Speaker 1: especially as Boodle held out his card in the kindest manner,
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Speaker 1: I promised to be faithful to the appointment, and having
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Speaker 1: waited till my friend had turned the corner of the street.
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Speaker 1: For fear of startling him by my sudden disappearance, I
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Speaker 1: dropped the intelligent stranger and subsided into the ghost. End
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Speaker 1: of chapter one. Chapter two of Only a Ghost by
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Speaker 1: Erranius the Deacon by Sabine bearing Gold. This LibriVox recording
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Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Recording by Marianne. Chapter two,
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Speaker 1: How I went to church with Boodle punctual to my appointment.
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Speaker 1: I was at the door of Saint Silas's a little
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Speaker 1: before eleven. Crowds were streaming in at the three doors
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Speaker 1: which led into the church. This looks well, thought I.
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Speaker 1: Devotion to the Christian faith seems to have a home
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Speaker 1: within this city. I wonder if they have had a
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Speaker 1: persecution here lately. Boodle was late, and a roll of
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Speaker 1: distant thunder from within told me that something had begun.
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Speaker 1: I soon saw my fat friend puffing up the steps.
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Speaker 1: Come along. He said, I'm late. They don't keep seats.
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Speaker 1: Beyond the first lesson keep seats. I did not understand him.
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Speaker 1: He spoke as if he were talking of the amphitheater.
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Speaker 1: The Gentiles always had their seats kept for them there.
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Speaker 1: But I scarcely thought that Christians would in this manner
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Speaker 1: imitate the unbelievers and the lesson lesson of what. There
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Speaker 1: was no time to ask questions, though, and we hurried
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Speaker 1: into church. They had not yet begun, though a mighty
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Speaker 1: instrument of music, perched on high, was giving forth a
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Speaker 1: roll of harmony. Confound it, said, Boodle, they've stuffed an
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Speaker 1: old woman into my seat, and I've only one too.
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Speaker 1: They might have waited a few minutes my seat again.
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Speaker 1: I was so aghast at his profane language in the
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Speaker 1: Holy Precincts that I could not ask him for an explanation.
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Speaker 1: But what I saw explained itself. The whole building was
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Speaker 1: mapped out into little divisions, with high but thin walls.
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Speaker 1: Between these little divisions were with seats. Some had crimson
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Speaker 1: cushions and some had not. I had imagined that thin
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Speaker 1: walls were to prevent any pushing and quarreling that might
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Speaker 1: take place, for I had always heard that the English
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Speaker 1: were the most pugnacious people in the world, and I
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Speaker 1: also judged that the cushions were for the comforts of invalids.
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Speaker 1: I could not help thinking what an advanced civilization had
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Speaker 1: made since my time. My stout friend beckoned me to
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Speaker 1: a busy looking gentleman in a short black gown and
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Speaker 1: a stick, and told him to put us into a seat.
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Speaker 1: Now I could speedily have dispensed with the attentions of
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Speaker 1: the busy gentleman by dropping the intelligent stranger and resuming
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Speaker 1: the ghost, but I was again afraid of the effect
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Speaker 1: such a proceeding might have upon Boodle, whose nerves I
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Speaker 1: perceived were not of the strongest order. However, I saw
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Speaker 1: a row of seats without back cushions, and I said
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Speaker 1: to him, why cannot we sit here, my dear fellow.
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Speaker 1: He replied, they are the free seats, and his tone
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Speaker 1: of contempt showed me that somehow or other they were
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Speaker 1: not the thing. Oh, I understand, A ray of light
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Speaker 1: shot across my mind. Those are the places for the penitents.
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Speaker 1: In my time, they were not allowed to come beyond
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Speaker 1: the entrance. Boodle lifted his eyebrows, and I saw that
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Speaker 1: I had said something wrong again, so I resolved to
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Speaker 1: be silent and watch the service. In the meantime, we
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Speaker 1: had been conducted to a red cushioned seat, and the
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Speaker 1: door carefully shut upon us. I thought at first we
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Speaker 1: were to be locked in for fear we might wish
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Speaker 1: to go away before the proper time, but I heard
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Speaker 1: no sound of the key being turned upon us. Preceded
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Speaker 1: by the busy man in the short black gown and
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Speaker 1: the stick in his hand, a quiet gentleman, arrayed in white,
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Speaker 1: ascended a short wooden tower and went down on his
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Speaker 1: knees within it. The other Christians took no notice of
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Speaker 1: him at all, and might as well have been asleep
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Speaker 1: for anything, they seemed to care. In a little while,
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Speaker 1: he got up and muttered something, and then began an
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Speaker 1: address Dearly Beloved. I thought the dearly beloved objects of
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Speaker 1: his affection seemed wondrously cold in their method of returning it,
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Speaker 1: for though they arose from their seats, they scarcely paid
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Speaker 1: any attention to him or showed any animation whatever. When
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Speaker 1: Boodle got into his seat, he stood for a few
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Speaker 1: seconds and stuck his nose into his hat. This curious
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Speaker 1: proceeding did not seem to excite any astonishment on the
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Speaker 1: part of our neighbors. The ceremony to me had no meaning,
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Speaker 1: and as the Blessed Cyril had always warned us never
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Speaker 1: to do anything for the sake of mere form or
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Speaker 1: without a meaning, I kept to my own practice and
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Speaker 1: that of my fellow worshippers in Holy Cross, and, bowing low,
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Speaker 1: reverently made the sign of the Cross. I heard the
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Speaker 1: rustle of a silk dress. Evidently shaken with rage and disgust,
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Speaker 1: I saw on my right and elderly lady, whose face
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Speaker 1: was suffused with anger. She edged off from me with
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Speaker 1: a look of indignation, and whispered to her neighbor, pusyyite.
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Speaker 1: What could she mean? I looked again, for I knew
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Speaker 1: old ladies were often afraid of insects, and I thought
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Speaker 1: perhaps some loathsome animal of that name, might have been
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Speaker 1: crawling on her muff. Shall I catch it for you, ma'am?
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Speaker 1: I whispered, as politely as possible. The old lady shook
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Speaker 1: herself again and immediately changed places with her companion. These
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Speaker 1: English are strange people. What could I have done to
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Speaker 1: offend her? I was grieved that I should have done so,
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Speaker 1: and in my distress I very nearly turned into Erraneus
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Speaker 1: the deacon, But on the whole thought I might complicate
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Speaker 1: the situation still further by so doing. The service went on.
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Speaker 1: There were singings, readings, prayers, but no amends like lapse
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Speaker 1: of thunder, no responses like the roaring of the sea,
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Speaker 1: such as I remember in Jerusalem and the churches where
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Speaker 1: I had the honour to minister. The attitudes too of
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Speaker 1: the worshippers astonished me. Boodle took it easy and sat
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Speaker 1: through all the prayers, and many more followed his example.
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Speaker 1: Some placed their knees upon high cushions, which conveniently hoisted
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Speaker 1: their bodies up, until midway they leant upon the red
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Speaker 1: cushioned seats. This was called kneeling, But it did not
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Speaker 1: look to me like the attitude of the penitence in
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Speaker 1: Holy Cross in the Year of Grace three forty eight.
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Speaker 1: I at first did as I was accustomed to do
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Speaker 1: in the Church of the Blessed Cyril, and stood upon
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Speaker 1: my feet, as we always did on the Lord's Day
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Speaker 1: and on the forty days after Resurrection Day. But seeing
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Speaker 1: that this created astonishment, and being anxious in all things
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Speaker 1: to avoid giving offense, I went down upon my knees,
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Speaker 1: declining the high cushion, which would have caused the action
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Speaker 1: to become an unreality. By degrees, this sleepy kind of
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Speaker 1: worship came to an end. Though far be it from
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Speaker 1: me to speak ill of any kind of Christian observants.
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Speaker 1: I could not help calling it sleepy, for none seemed
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Speaker 1: the better or the worse for it, and not a
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Speaker 1: muzzle of any one's countenance changed. A gentle murmur was
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Speaker 1: the utmost notice bestowed upon any of the petitions presented
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Speaker 1: to the throne in their name, and the sentiments of sorrow, penitence,
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Speaker 1: joy and hope sung for them by a few voices
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Speaker 1: near the magnificent instrument of music in the gallery, seemed
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Speaker 1: to wake no answering echo in their hearts. At the
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Speaker 1: end of the church, against the wall, and covered with red,
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Speaker 1: was what looked to me an altar. In spite of
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Speaker 1: the two red cushions at each end of it, we
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Speaker 1: had no cushions to recline on. In the Church of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Cross. In the year three forty eight at Jerusalem,
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Speaker 1: I wondered all through the service when the Great Liturgy
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Speaker 1: was going to begin, for of course the altar would
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Speaker 1: not then stand useless. At last, the gentleman, arrayed in white,
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Speaker 1: went to one end of the altar, and, placing his
23:12
Speaker 1: elbows on the cushion, hoisted himself up to his knees
23:15
Speaker 1: on a short bench before him, whilst another gentleman likewise,
23:19
Speaker 1: and White did exactly the same, exactly opposite to him
23:23
Speaker 1: at the other end, and with their heads in their
23:26
Speaker 1: hands and their elbows on the altar, they repeated something
23:29
Speaker 1: in a gentle and monotonous tone. Whilst this was going on,
23:34
Speaker 1: some one touched my shoulder in a manner which showed
23:37
Speaker 1: me it was no denizen of earth. And I saw
23:39
Speaker 1: above me the shade of the Reverend Edward Starch of
23:43
Speaker 1: Grummington in the clay, contemplating the scene with the most
23:46
Speaker 1: sublime satisfaction. Ah, he said to me. And spirit voices
23:52
Speaker 1: have the gift of not disturbing and earthly congregation. This
23:56
Speaker 1: is the true spirit of Anglicanism. See how far removed
24:00
Speaker 1: from popish superstition on the one hand, and from puritanical
24:04
Speaker 1: baldness on the other. Look at the bright example of
24:08
Speaker 1: primitive Christianity reading the Ten Commandments in front of a
24:13
Speaker 1: red altar with nothing on it, said I, as one
24:16
Speaker 1: of the reverend gentlemen advanced to the rails in front
24:19
Speaker 1: of the altar. It is not the least like what
24:23
Speaker 1: took place in my time. Now you must know that
24:27
Speaker 1: in the holy shades no religious animosities exist. Each ghost
24:32
Speaker 1: has its own peculiar liking and generally continues attached to
24:35
Speaker 1: what he loved most during his sojourn on earth. But
24:39
Speaker 1: he never considers it necessary to use bad language to
24:42
Speaker 1: the other ghosts if they should be of a different
24:44
Speaker 1: way of thinking, And such terms as vulgar Protestant and
24:48
Speaker 1: superstitious papist are never heard amongst us. We all hope
24:53
Speaker 1: there are many different ways of looking at the same truth.
24:57
Speaker 1: So I did not feel at all angry with the
24:59
Speaker 1: ghost of the Rever Edward's starch, but calmly nodded to
25:03
Speaker 1: it as it floated above me. I could not help
25:06
Speaker 1: imagining what would be the feelings of that old lady
25:09
Speaker 1: in the rustling silk if she only knew how close
25:12
Speaker 1: her dainty bonnet was to the peaceful shade, And worse still,
25:17
Speaker 1: should she ever discover that the quiet gentleman on her
25:20
Speaker 1: left was the Deacon Iranius of the year three forty eight.
25:24
Speaker 1: After the Gospel and the Creed, one of the sleepy
25:27
Speaker 1: clergymen aforesaid, ascended the steps of a high pulpit and
25:31
Speaker 1: began his sermon. That is good, whispered the shade of
25:36
Speaker 1: the Reverend Edward's starch. Now you see the real primitive
25:40
Speaker 1: way of doing things? And where are the children? Said I,
25:45
Speaker 1: I see none. The shade pointed to a gallery at
25:49
Speaker 1: the west end, over the music gallery. It was crowded
25:53
Speaker 1: with little faces, some full of mischief, most heavy with sleep. Huh.
26:01
Speaker 1: We used to place them close to the altar. The
26:04
Speaker 1: blessed cirl always said the children were worthiest to be
26:07
Speaker 1: near it. And where are the poor? I see none?
26:12
Speaker 1: The shade pointed to the seats for the penitence. As
26:14
Speaker 1: I thought, and I saw about a score of persons
26:18
Speaker 1: who looked as if they wished they were anywhere else.
26:22
Speaker 1: Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.
26:27
Speaker 1: And he that hath no money, come ye buy and
26:31
Speaker 1: eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and
26:36
Speaker 1: without price. I was startled. I thought it must be
26:40
Speaker 1: another ghost making a quotation in an ironical manner. But
26:46
Speaker 1: now it was the text of the coming sermon, and
26:50
Speaker 1: the voice was very earthly. Could anyone have a nobler theme?
26:55
Speaker 1: One to make the heart glow and the tongue utter
26:58
Speaker 1: words of fire to us the whole man to animation.
27:02
Speaker 1: I could not help thinking what the Holy Cyril would
27:05
Speaker 1: have made of it. But the sleepy preacher was, if possible,
27:10
Speaker 1: more sleepy than his congregation. He told them how thankful
27:14
Speaker 1: they ought to be that they lived in such a
27:16
Speaker 1: favored land, where every one might hear the truth if
27:20
Speaker 1: he would listen. Here the deaf old people in the
27:24
Speaker 1: far off free seats began to fidget, How thankful they
27:28
Speaker 1: ought to be that England was England and not any
27:31
Speaker 1: other country. How thankful they ought to be for their pastors,
27:36
Speaker 1: meaning himself, no doubt, and the other gentleman in white,
27:41
Speaker 1: who was nodding his head in the most emphatic manner
27:43
Speaker 1: inside the altar rails, whether a sleep or assent, I
27:47
Speaker 1: could not quite make out how thankful they ought to be,
27:51
Speaker 1: that grace had been given them to do right, and
27:54
Speaker 1: in short, how thankful they ought to be they were
27:58
Speaker 1: not as other men. And having sent most of his
28:01
Speaker 1: congregation to sleep, and very nearly himself also, he brought
28:06
Speaker 1: himself up with a jerk, and abruptly concluded before that
28:09
Speaker 1: catastrophe occurred. Then, returning to the holy table, the offerings
28:14
Speaker 1: of the faithful were collected capital whispered in ghostly language
28:20
Speaker 1: the shade of Reverend Edward's starch capital. They have succeeded
28:25
Speaker 1: in carrying this point. This is the great Anglican battle ground.
28:30
Speaker 1: The prayer of the church militant as the clergy resumed
28:34
Speaker 1: their former position at the north and south end. After
28:38
Speaker 1: the prayer, and whilst I was waiting for the liturgy
28:41
Speaker 1: to proceed, to my astonishment and the great relief of
28:44
Speaker 1: the congregation, the blessing was pronounced and the assembly broke up.
28:50
Speaker 1: Are we to go now? Said I to Boodle go,
28:54
Speaker 1: I should think, so, what more do you want? Haven't
28:58
Speaker 1: you had enough? Bootle yawned and looked about for his hat.
29:03
Speaker 1: But what does all this lead up to, said I,
29:06
Speaker 1: if not to the bread of life? And how can
29:09
Speaker 1: they all fast at this hour and then go without
29:12
Speaker 1: the celestial food? Bootle looked at me in astonishment. You
29:17
Speaker 1: don't mean to say you think these people have had
29:20
Speaker 1: no breakfast. The faithful at Holy Cross never ate until
29:25
Speaker 1: they had had the Holy Bread. And on Wednesdays and
29:28
Speaker 1: Fridays the stations, you know, they took no food till
29:32
Speaker 1: three in the afternoon, for the services were not over
29:35
Speaker 1: till then. My goodness me, said Bootle. And where do
29:40
Speaker 1: you say, is that remarkable place in Jerusalem? I replied,
29:47
Speaker 1: and does Bishop Gobbot approve of these ritualistic proceedings. I
29:52
Speaker 1: don't know, I replied, I don't know anything about Bishop Gobbot.
29:57
Speaker 1: This was a very long, long time ago, in the
30:00
Speaker 1: year here I stopped remembering. I am a ghost, and
30:05
Speaker 1: that Bootle did not know it a very long time ago.
30:10
Speaker 1: I should rather think it was, said bootle, pardon me,
30:15
Speaker 1: I whispered, slightly irritated. Have you any business to collect
30:20
Speaker 1: the alms of the faithful and not to give them
30:23
Speaker 1: the bread of life? It seems to me to be
30:26
Speaker 1: all take and no give, all take, I should think so.
30:32
Speaker 1: It's awful humbug, I think, But it doesn't hurt me much,
30:36
Speaker 1: for I never put in more than a threepenny bit.
30:40
Speaker 1: No doubt you feel hurt at not receiving your due
30:44
Speaker 1: bread upon the day of bread. No wonder your offering
30:47
Speaker 1: is small. Well, to tell you the truth, I have
30:52
Speaker 1: not had what you speak of for many a long year.
30:56
Speaker 1: What are you excommunicate? Asked I, in horror. Suppose I
31:01
Speaker 1: had been making friends with some profane person under the
31:03
Speaker 1: ban of the church. My dear fellow, what are you
31:08
Speaker 1: talking of? We don't do such things nowadays. As we
31:13
Speaker 1: went out, I said to the busy man in black
31:15
Speaker 1: who stood at the door, at what hour are the
31:19
Speaker 1: holy mysteries celebrated in this church? He looked at me
31:23
Speaker 1: from head to foot and said, mystery, mystery. We don't
31:30
Speaker 1: have no think o that ere swort here. We don't
31:33
Speaker 1: believe in no mysteries. What's devor But surely surely the
31:39
Speaker 1: holy sacrifice is offered some time or other. Oh, you
31:44
Speaker 1: be one of the read letter lot. Be you? We
31:48
Speaker 1: don't old to none of that ritualistic nonsense. More puzzled
31:53
Speaker 1: than ever, I went on with Boodle. As we left
31:57
Speaker 1: the holy precincts, I said to him, have the majority
32:00
Speaker 1: of the faithful in that church never been within the
32:03
Speaker 1: sacred walls before? Why should you think so? Because in
32:08
Speaker 1: the opening address such great pains were taken to explain
32:11
Speaker 1: to those present what they had come for. It began,
32:15
Speaker 1: if I remember right, dearly beloved, ha ha ha, said Boodle,
32:21
Speaker 1: that has been going on no end of time. Whenever
32:26
Speaker 1: wherever you go to church, even if you go every
32:29
Speaker 1: day of your life week days and Sundays, you will
32:33
Speaker 1: never be allowed to say your prayers until you have
32:36
Speaker 1: heard an explanation of why you came and what you
32:38
Speaker 1: came for. For the last three hundred years, that has
32:43
Speaker 1: been going on with unintermitting perseverance, and the poor things
32:49
Speaker 1: have not learned it yet. What a long time it
32:52
Speaker 1: takes to din an idea into an englishman's head. We
32:56
Speaker 1: certainly were not so long about it in my day.
33:00
Speaker 1: In fact, we should not have gone to church at
33:02
Speaker 1: all until we were quite certain why we went. Come along,
33:07
Speaker 1: said Boodle, we shall just be in time to hear
33:09
Speaker 1: the crack preacher at Saint Timothy's Chapel end of chapter two,
33:22
Speaker 1: chapter three of Only a Ghost by Raneus the Deacon
33:26
Speaker 1: by Sabeim bearing Gold. This LibriVox recording is in the
33:30
Speaker 1: public domain recording by Marianne, Chapter three, the Popular Preacher.
33:38
Speaker 1: There was a great crowd within Saint Timothy's church, and
33:41
Speaker 1: many stood in the center passage and in the doorway.
33:45
Speaker 1: Except the mere fact of this standing crowd, I could
33:48
Speaker 1: not see anything that the least reminded me of Holy
33:50
Speaker 1: Crossed Church. At the end of the building, where in
33:54
Speaker 1: my day the altar would have stood, I saw a
33:57
Speaker 1: high wooden rostrum from which a grave, thin, yellow looking
34:01
Speaker 1: person preached. He was clothed in a morning garment of
34:05
Speaker 1: solemn black is he doing penance for the sins of
34:09
Speaker 1: the people, said I to Boodle, What are you thinking of?
34:14
Speaker 1: He answered? The penance is, I should say, on the
34:18
Speaker 1: side of those who listen the faithful. Here was shot
34:22
Speaker 1: four or five together between very high walls. I supposed
34:26
Speaker 1: they were the wooden walls of old England, which I
34:29
Speaker 1: had heard of since I had been in London. Bootle
34:32
Speaker 1: told me the service began later at Saint Timothy's than
34:35
Speaker 1: at Saint Silas's, and that the sermon from the Reverend
34:38
Speaker 1: Ebenezer Growler was quite the thing to hear. The preacher
34:43
Speaker 1: was exciting himself in a manner which did my heart
34:45
Speaker 1: good to see, for I thought such earnestness would not
34:49
Speaker 1: fail to hit the mark. Listen, said Bootle, quite a
34:54
Speaker 1: burst of eloquence, and the preacher thumped the cushion in
34:57
Speaker 1: front of him, balanced himself on him toes, and shouted,
35:02
Speaker 1: take heed, brethren of old superstition, above all of that
35:07
Speaker 1: new heresy called ritualism. Remember we have no priesthood, no sacrifice,
35:15
Speaker 1: good Heavens, I whispered to Boodle. Does he not remember
35:19
Speaker 1: what the blessed Andrews said? When taken before the Roman Prefect,
35:23
Speaker 1: Blessed Fiddlestick replied, Boodle, you don't suppose a popular preacher
35:28
Speaker 1: has time to read anything, do you. I was amazed.
35:34
Speaker 1: I listened with shuddering frame to an elaborate disproof of
35:38
Speaker 1: what we at Holy Cross used to call the Catholic faith.
35:42
Speaker 1: We were exhorted by mister Growler not to attend church
35:45
Speaker 1: except on the Sabbath, not to believe in absolution, not
35:49
Speaker 1: to believe in the priesthood, not to believe in times
35:53
Speaker 1: and seasons, not to esteem one day more than another,
35:57
Speaker 1: but above all to beware of certain churches, which he
36:00
Speaker 1: named in full. As we came out after three quarters
36:06
Speaker 1: of an hour of this wonderful performance, I said, are
36:09
Speaker 1: the objectionable churches tenanted by Gnostics? By what said Boodle?
36:16
Speaker 1: By adherents of the Gnostic heresy? I never heard of
36:20
Speaker 1: that heresy. We've plenty here, but none of that name
36:24
Speaker 1: that I know of. At least tell me, I asked,
36:29
Speaker 1: Are these people superstitiously devoted to the priesthood? Do they
36:33
Speaker 1: throng to the churches to confess their sins before the
36:36
Speaker 1: whole congregation? Do they crowd inconveniently to the services, so
36:40
Speaker 1: that their duties in the world are seriously hindered. My
36:44
Speaker 1: dear fellow, it's all you can do to get them
36:47
Speaker 1: to come to church once a week. Then why did
36:50
Speaker 1: he preach to them as if they were never out
36:53
Speaker 1: of it? Because that sort of thing goes down. The
36:57
Speaker 1: people haven't the slightest intention of honoring the priest, or
37:00
Speaker 1: of flocking to the churches, or of giving alms, or
37:04
Speaker 1: of beautifying God's house. And so the Reverend Ebenezer preaches
37:08
Speaker 1: up the holiness and ugliness and the filthiness of good works.
37:12
Speaker 1: And the people love to have it so, and he
37:15
Speaker 1: is asked to three dinners every night of the week.
37:19
Speaker 1: But he told them that it was enough to keep
37:20
Speaker 1: the Sabbath, And yet they were keeping the Lord's Day. Now,
37:25
Speaker 1: the primitive Christians kept both for a long time, but
37:28
Speaker 1: by degrees left off the Jewish Sabbath. His language was
37:32
Speaker 1: a little confused. Don't be alarmed, said Boodle. We haven't
37:37
Speaker 1: the slightest intention of keeping two Sundays a week. One
37:40
Speaker 1: is quite enough. When he said the Sabbath, he meant
37:43
Speaker 1: the Lord's Day. When he said Saturday, he meant Sunday.
37:50
Speaker 1: Very well, I shall know another time, I meekly remarked.
37:55
Speaker 1: Just then I saw, floating close to me the shade
37:57
Speaker 1: of the Reverend Edward's starch, perfectly disgusting. Was it not,
38:02
Speaker 1: muttered the ghost? I am not sure it was more
38:06
Speaker 1: so than your pet service at Saint Silas's, I replied,
38:10
Speaker 1: why so calmly inquired the ghost, because there the preacher
38:15
Speaker 1: took certain truths for granted, but did not act on them.
38:19
Speaker 1: There was the appearance, but not the reality. He exhorted
38:23
Speaker 1: us to attend the Eucharist and then sent us away
38:26
Speaker 1: without it. Now the preacher Saint Timothy's told us that
38:29
Speaker 1: there was nothing in anything and gave us nothing. Saint
38:34
Speaker 1: Cyril would be very much astonished at both of them. Humph,
38:38
Speaker 1: said the ghost, and quietly floated away. Now this dialog,
38:43
Speaker 1: being spoken in spirit language, was utterly inaudible to my
38:46
Speaker 1: friend Boodle. He merely thought I was looking up to
38:50
Speaker 1: see if it were going to reign. But tell me,
38:53
Speaker 1: I continued, as we walked along the street, what have
38:57
Speaker 1: the churches done with? Excited mister Grawler's wrath to that
39:01
Speaker 1: enormous pitch, Saint Chad's and Saint Thurston's and Saint Ethelbert's
39:07
Speaker 1: and the others. Oh, nothing that I can understand. As
39:11
Speaker 1: far as I know, they have kept exactly to the
39:14
Speaker 1: directions of the Book of Common Prayer, and when there
39:17
Speaker 1: were no directions, they have tried to find out what
39:19
Speaker 1: was done at the time the book was compiled. That
39:23
Speaker 1: does not sound so very bad. But of course mister
39:26
Speaker 1: Growler is very particular in following the directions of some
39:29
Speaker 1: superior authority, as he is so anxious to make others
39:33
Speaker 1: take offense at the Brethren. Not at all. He does
39:37
Speaker 1: the whole thing in his own way, taking what he
39:40
Speaker 1: pleases and leaving out what he pleases. But people don't
39:43
Speaker 1: mind it because he gives them very little trouble, and
39:46
Speaker 1: they come out pretty much the same as when they
39:48
Speaker 1: went in. Now, the man at Saint Chad's is always
39:52
Speaker 1: worrying about fasting and praying and confessing your sins and
39:55
Speaker 1: the like, and people get no peace of their lives
39:58
Speaker 1: with his brother. That sounds more like Holy Cross thought.
40:02
Speaker 1: I he is such a nuisance that Growler has sent
40:06
Speaker 1: two fellows to watch him to see if he does
40:09
Speaker 1: anything actionable. He might bend his knee half an inch
40:12
Speaker 1: too low, or have too many things on the altar,
40:15
Speaker 1: and then Growler would have him up before the justices
40:18
Speaker 1: in a jiffy. Then the persecution here has not yet ended,
40:23
Speaker 1: I said, my spirits rising at the prospect of something
40:26
Speaker 1: like primitive Christianity. You still hear the pagan cry to
40:30
Speaker 1: the lions with the Christians, something like that. But the
40:35
Speaker 1: curious part of it is that instead of a pagan cry,
40:38
Speaker 1: it is now a Christian cry, and instead of the lions,
40:41
Speaker 1: it is the lion and the unicorn. But come to
40:45
Speaker 1: me next Sunday and I will show you what goes
40:47
Speaker 1: on at Saint Chad's. The kindly Boodle turned the corner,
40:51
Speaker 1: waving his hand to me, and again I saw the
40:54
Speaker 1: shade of the Reverend Edward's starch. You won't like Saint
40:58
Speaker 1: Chad's at all, said he. I wouldn't go there if
41:01
Speaker 1: I were you. It's not in the least like anything
41:05
Speaker 1: Charles the First saw, or laud or Sancroft. It's not
41:09
Speaker 1: in the least like the interior of Bishop Andrew's chapel
41:13
Speaker 1: in the Hierurgia Alacana. It's not in the least like
41:16
Speaker 1: Saint George's Chapel Windsor or Saint James's Piccadilly. But my
41:23
Speaker 1: dear ghost, I replied, you forget, I have nothing to
41:27
Speaker 1: do with either. I go back far beyond two hundred
41:31
Speaker 1: or even three hundred years. I am looking for primitive Christianity,
41:36
Speaker 1: such as I remember it in the days of the
41:38
Speaker 1: Blessed Cyril. The ghost sank his head sadly. If you
41:43
Speaker 1: are wise, said he, you'll keep to the use of
41:47
Speaker 1: the last three hundred years. My three hundred years are
41:52
Speaker 1: as good as yours, said I rather cantankerously. I must own,
41:57
Speaker 1: considering that I was a ghost of fifteen hundred and
41:59
Speaker 1: twenty years standing end of chapter three, Chapter four of
42:12
Speaker 1: Only a Ghost by Raneus the Deacon by Sabine Bearing Gould.
42:17
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
42:21
Speaker 1: Marie Anne, Chapter four sarum Ewes. Saint Chad's was difficult
42:29
Speaker 1: to find. It was in a poor part of the
42:32
Speaker 1: enormous town. I mean it was in that part of
42:36
Speaker 1: the town which was tenanted by the poor, hidden by
42:40
Speaker 1: number of sordid and densely populated buildings. The exterior presented
42:44
Speaker 1: no very striking features. But when I reached the entrance,
42:48
Speaker 1: I saw at once that some sort of affinity could
42:50
Speaker 1: be claimed with Holy Cross Church at Jerusalem. The area
42:55
Speaker 1: was grand and spacious, full of seats, truly, But the
43:00
Speaker 1: these seats were so unpretentious and low that they did
43:03
Speaker 1: not attract the eyes like those of Saint Silas. There
43:06
Speaker 1: were no locks and no bolts, and no doors to them. Boodle,
43:11
Speaker 1: true to his appointment, had joined me at the door,
43:15
Speaker 1: looking as if he did not like it much, but
43:17
Speaker 1: that he considered himself bound to keep his engagement. Well
43:23
Speaker 1: what do you think of it? Said he? Rum looking place?
43:27
Speaker 1: Ain't it more like a church than anything I have
43:30
Speaker 1: seen yet? I am pleased beyond measure at seeing such
43:34
Speaker 1: a crowd of real worshippers. But tell me who are
43:38
Speaker 1: these evil looking persons to our left? Oh? They are
43:42
Speaker 1: the spies? Spies? Are they the persons who will carry
43:48
Speaker 1: the information to the prefect? Prefect, no privy council? And
43:55
Speaker 1: how do they execute them? Here? By burning crucifixion or
44:00
Speaker 1: wild beasts? We haven't got to that yet. It's a
44:04
Speaker 1: pleasure to come. Heavy finds are the great things. Now.
44:09
Speaker 1: I had always heard England was a money loving country,
44:12
Speaker 1: so I suppose this was the greatest punishment the persecutors
44:15
Speaker 1: could inflict. And what will these persons do. Oh, they
44:21
Speaker 1: will watch narrowly to see whether the incumbent of the
44:23
Speaker 1: church bows his knee in the middle of a certain prayer,
44:26
Speaker 1: and whether he holds the chalice and patent too high.
44:30
Speaker 1: And a lot of little things you and I should
44:31
Speaker 1: never notice. But what this people hate most the people
44:36
Speaker 1: who employ the spies. I mean, are lights on the
44:39
Speaker 1: altar above it or around it? And why? Because there
44:46
Speaker 1: is an old custom that two lights shall be set
44:49
Speaker 1: on the altar to show that Christ is the light
44:51
Speaker 1: of the world. And do these people say He is
44:55
Speaker 1: not the light of the world. What odd Christians they
44:58
Speaker 1: must be. What is the name of the society who
45:02
Speaker 1: employs these spies? The Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews. No,
45:09
Speaker 1: I don't mean that. I can't remember it exactly. I
45:12
Speaker 1: think it calls itself the Church Association. It was a
45:17
Speaker 1: grand service, certainly, the music, the animation of the priests,
45:22
Speaker 1: the devotion of the people, the want of distinction between
45:25
Speaker 1: rich and poor, the prominent position of the altar, the
45:29
Speaker 1: evident subordination of all to the great Christian sacrifice was
45:34
Speaker 1: refreshing to one who, like myself, was anxious to see
45:38
Speaker 1: a revival of things as they were under the blessed sarl.
45:42
Speaker 1: At a certain point in the service, a servant of
45:44
Speaker 1: the church walked quietly up to the altar and lit
45:47
Speaker 1: the candles. I saw a self satisfied smirk on the
45:51
Speaker 1: part of the spies, and heard the rustle of the
45:54
Speaker 1: paper on which they wrote down their records. That'll cost
45:58
Speaker 1: him five hundred pounds, whispered Bootle to me, looking at
46:02
Speaker 1: the priest of Saint Chad's, and serve him right, muttered
46:07
Speaker 1: the shade of the Reverend Edward's starch as it quietly
46:10
Speaker 1: floated by me. I never lighted my candles at Grubbington
46:14
Speaker 1: in the clay. I considered they looked much better unlighted.
46:20
Speaker 1: They certainly were much more economical. I replied. It did
46:25
Speaker 1: not matter in the least when Starch and I talked
46:27
Speaker 1: in church, because as we only used ghost language, we
46:31
Speaker 1: disturbed nobody. It was another thing when Bootle began, for
46:35
Speaker 1: his remarks were so loud I had serious thoughts of
46:38
Speaker 1: suddenly becoming invisible. I was ashamed of being in his company,
46:42
Speaker 1: for no wooden walls hid us. As in the other churches,
46:46
Speaker 1: the main features of the service were grand, the sermon
46:50
Speaker 1: most interesting and rousing, but there were various little affectations
46:54
Speaker 1: that puzzled me and made me still sigh. For Holy
46:57
Speaker 1: Cross and its simple majesty, everything there seemed so thoroughly natural,
47:03
Speaker 1: whilst at Saint Chad's people seemed to be wondering whether
47:06
Speaker 1: all they were doing was in proper order. As we
47:10
Speaker 1: came out, and we did not come out until, as
47:13
Speaker 1: at Holy Cross, all was finished and an end made
47:16
Speaker 1: of the great Christian service of the Eucharist. Boodle turned
47:20
Speaker 1: to me and said, now I shall introduce you to
47:23
Speaker 1: that gentleman and place you in better hands than mine.
47:27
Speaker 1: He will just suit you, for he understands all these things.
47:31
Speaker 1: Good Bye, I must be off home to dinner, Come
47:34
Speaker 1: and dine. No, well, never mind, see you another time.
47:40
Speaker 1: We passed into the little dark cloister leading out of
47:43
Speaker 1: the church, and standing there I saw the individual in question,
47:46
Speaker 1: whom I recognized as one of the assistant priests with
47:49
Speaker 1: whose minute and rather nervous, fussy ways I had been struck.
47:54
Speaker 1: He was a tall, lantern jawed, cadaverous looking man, stiff
47:59
Speaker 1: as an iron rock god and impractical as a thunderbolt.
48:04
Speaker 1: The Reverend Octagon Fidgets murmured, boodle to me, and I
48:08
Speaker 1: heard him whisper to the person in question something about
48:12
Speaker 1: red hot ritualist, just your sort, you know, meaning me
48:18
Speaker 1: What he meant I could not imagine, no doubt it
48:21
Speaker 1: was something very appropriate. The Reverend Octagon Fidgets bowed and
48:26
Speaker 1: walked with me down the street said, in a hollow voice,
48:30
Speaker 1: Miserable Service, wasn't it, mister? I didn't quite catch your name.
48:37
Speaker 1: I should think you didn't, and you're not going to now,
48:40
Speaker 1: thought I to myself. Then, in answer to his question,
48:44
Speaker 1: Miserable Service said I in what way, pray sir? Why
48:50
Speaker 1: in the first place didn't you notice the frontal was
48:53
Speaker 1: all wrong? What was the matter with it? It was
48:58
Speaker 1: the color of Sunday red. Now you know it ought
49:01
Speaker 1: to have been the color of the saint whose day
49:03
Speaker 1: it was, That is yellow, Sarum yellow for Saint Swithum,
49:09
Speaker 1: Bishop and Confessor. It is true some people have a
49:12
Speaker 1: notion that Sundays of a certain class take precedence of
49:16
Speaker 1: the Saint's day. But that is wrong, my dear sir,
49:19
Speaker 1: totally wrong and the Reverend Octagon struck his foot on
49:23
Speaker 1: the curbstone with excitement. I tell my respected incumbent over
49:28
Speaker 1: and over again about it, but he says he has
49:31
Speaker 1: little time for these things, and he must stick to
49:34
Speaker 1: broad principles. But hallo, hallo, what is happening to you
49:42
Speaker 1: at this moment? Forgetting all my caution, I subsided from
49:46
Speaker 1: the visible to the invisible and became the shadow of
49:49
Speaker 1: the Deacon Iranius. The reason was the sudden appearance of
49:53
Speaker 1: the two Church Association spies peeping round the corner. I
49:57
Speaker 1: was so horribly nervous at their self satisfy lear that
50:00
Speaker 1: I felt I could not face them. And I was
50:03
Speaker 1: also afraid lest a natural infirmity of temper should invite
50:07
Speaker 1: me to wreck my bodily combative powers upon them. So
50:11
Speaker 1: all things considered, I judged it better to put such
50:14
Speaker 1: a course entirely out of my own power. And their
50:17
Speaker 1: utter incapability of appreciating the invisible prevented their perceiving that
50:21
Speaker 1: a spirit was near them. The Reverend Octagon Fidgets had
50:26
Speaker 1: a considerable insight into the other world, so he did
50:29
Speaker 1: not entirely lose sight of me. In a few words,
50:32
Speaker 1: I explained to him who and what I was, and
50:35
Speaker 1: he did not even seem surprised. He said, he was
50:38
Speaker 1: only too delighted to have the opportunity of making my acquaintance.
50:44
Speaker 1: But the Marionette Fussy's spirit was too strong in him
50:47
Speaker 1: to allow him to pass over his grievances, and he
50:50
Speaker 1: began again, don't you think is a horrid shame to
50:54
Speaker 1: pass over Saint Swithun? When did he live? Said I
50:59
Speaker 1: somewhere about nine hundred and something. Ah, that is long
51:04
Speaker 1: after my time, you see, And I am not a
51:06
Speaker 1: fair judge. You don't know anything about the serum. Yellow,
51:10
Speaker 1: then asked the reverend Gentleman, in a sepulcura tone, not
51:16
Speaker 1: I what did you cover your altar with at Holy Cross?
51:21
Speaker 1: With the best we had generally white embroidered with black. Ah,
51:27
Speaker 1: the white linen cloth, you mean, but did you have
51:30
Speaker 1: that embroidered? Yes? Why not? The Privy Council would not
51:36
Speaker 1: allow that. Here the white linen cloth must be perfectly plain.
51:41
Speaker 1: We never allowed outsiders to interfere, said I indignantly. Then
51:47
Speaker 1: what was your altar like? Not so large as yours
51:51
Speaker 1: and not so high up? A marble table on four
51:54
Speaker 1: marble legs, the drapery being hanged loosely over it, not
51:58
Speaker 1: stretched tight like yours. Humph muttered the Curate of Saint
52:03
Speaker 1: Chad's musingly. And can you tell me, said I, turning
52:08
Speaker 1: questioner in my turn, why at Saint Silas's the priest
52:12
Speaker 1: stood at the end of the altar, and also at
52:15
Speaker 1: Saint Timothy's, whilst at Saint Chad's he stood in front
52:18
Speaker 1: of it. My dear sir, have you not heard? That
52:24
Speaker 1: is the question upon which half the clergy of England
52:27
Speaker 1: are ready to tear the other half in pieces. The
52:30
Speaker 1: whole church in this country is up in arms about
52:32
Speaker 1: the position of the priest at the altar, whether he
52:36
Speaker 1: ought to stand with his back or his right shoulder
52:38
Speaker 1: to the people. Which way do you see it? Neither,
52:43
Speaker 1: said I. The priest stood behind the altar, facing the people.
52:47
Speaker 1: But then the altar was at the west end of
52:49
Speaker 1: the church. The priest faced east and the people west.
52:54
Speaker 1: Humph said the curate again, we seem to have departed
52:58
Speaker 1: from the primitive practice in some things, certainly, I replied.
53:04
Speaker 1: For instance, it seemed to me very strange that the
53:07
Speaker 1: epistolur and the gospeler should have read turning away from
53:11
Speaker 1: the people. That is old saram use, said the Reverend Octagon,
53:17
Speaker 1: A very bad use. It struck me, what is the
53:20
Speaker 1: use of reading so that the people can't hear when
53:23
Speaker 1: we read the Gospel or the Epistle. We came out
53:27
Speaker 1: into the midst of the church and read with a
53:29
Speaker 1: loud and distinct voice. Then I remarked there was no reservation. Ah,
53:36
Speaker 1: said the curate. It will be long before people have
53:38
Speaker 1: reverence enough to resort to the blessed sacrament for worship.
53:43
Speaker 1: I don't mean for worship, said I. The reservation for
53:47
Speaker 1: purposes of worship was long after my time. We reserved
53:51
Speaker 1: for the sick and the absent, and sent it to
53:54
Speaker 1: them by the hands of the deacons. I was one
53:56
Speaker 1: of those happy persons who are messengers of the spiritual food,
54:00
Speaker 1: and very anxious were we that no one should be
54:02
Speaker 1: deprived of it. Huh, said the Reverend Octagon. Again, of course,
54:09
Speaker 1: as you are on the spot, I cannot contradict. You
54:13
Speaker 1: tell me too, said I. Why you shut the doors
54:17
Speaker 1: and allowed none to depart before the more solemn part
54:20
Speaker 1: of the services. I saw several most anxious to go away,
54:24
Speaker 1: and others fidgeting much because replied the curate. All should
54:30
Speaker 1: stay and worship. Those who depart show great irreverence toward
54:34
Speaker 1: the solemn service. But does it not show greater irreverence
54:39
Speaker 1: to detain the unwilling. In my time we bade all
54:42
Speaker 1: depart who were not prepared to communicate faithfully and devoutly,
54:47
Speaker 1: and diligent. Care was taken that there should be no
54:49
Speaker 1: irreverent gazers, even in the vicinity of the Holy place.
54:54
Speaker 1: No need of keeping people in by force. We were
54:57
Speaker 1: only too anxious to get rid of those who did
54:59
Speaker 1: not wish to re In my day, it was esteemed
55:03
Speaker 1: too high a privilege to be forced upon any one.
55:07
Speaker 1: But you would not send those away who have communicated
55:09
Speaker 1: earlier and wished to mingle their intercessions with the rest
55:14
Speaker 1: by no means. Let them stay and take their share
55:18
Speaker 1: in the priesthood of the people and in offering the
55:20
Speaker 1: holy sacrifice. But how said my friend, You don't mean
55:26
Speaker 1: to deny that the consecration is affected by the words
55:28
Speaker 1: of institution pronounced by the priest. No, but I deny
55:34
Speaker 1: it is entirely and alone. We always esteemed it affected
55:38
Speaker 1: by three things. The pronunciation of the words of Institution,
55:42
Speaker 1: the prayer of the Holy Ghost, called the invocation, which
55:46
Speaker 1: came after the prayer of Consecration, and which I perceive
55:49
Speaker 1: you omit, and the amen of the people with us.
55:54
Speaker 1: All three were necessary, and so you will see if
55:57
Speaker 1: you read the liturgy of Saint James which was used
56:00
Speaker 1: at Jerusalem. Oh, dear me, said the curate, this is
56:06
Speaker 1: entirely a new light. And I thought, if we went
56:09
Speaker 1: in for old Sarum, we were sure to be all right.
56:14
Speaker 1: And I thought our incomparable liturgy was the model of
56:17
Speaker 1: all the primitive liturgies, said the shade of the Reverend
56:20
Speaker 1: Edward's starch as it floated down the strand. No altar,
56:27
Speaker 1: no sacrifice, none of your popery down with it, all,
56:31
Speaker 1: muttered the two spies, still skulking round a corner. I
56:37
Speaker 1: was fairly puzzled as I thought over all the divisions
56:39
Speaker 1: of the most learned church in the most religious country
56:43
Speaker 1: in the world. Certainly the Blessed Cyril would have been
56:46
Speaker 1: lost in amazement. And as for me, I could not
56:50
Speaker 1: find anything like the grandeur of Holy Cross Church. In
56:53
Speaker 1: the year three forty seven or thereabouts. One idea struck
56:58
Speaker 1: me as I prepared for flight, leaving the astonished octagon
57:02
Speaker 1: standing on the pavement. As none of the examples I
57:05
Speaker 1: saw are exactly like what each professed to be the
57:09
Speaker 1: image of primitive Christianity? Would it not be better to
57:13
Speaker 1: leave off biting and devouring one another and to work
57:17
Speaker 1: back by degrees to primitive models. I shall be most
57:21
Speaker 1: happy to come and show them my experiences of the same.
57:25
Speaker 1: But I do not for a moment suppose anybody will
57:28
Speaker 1: take my advice. After all, I am only a ghost.
57:35
Speaker 1: End of chapter four An end of Only a Ghost
57:40
Speaker 1: Byarrhanius the Deacon, written by Sabine bearing Gold