“You have given many branches to the vine planted by Christ,” observed Moodie.  “Perhaps you admit the Church of Rome, to be one that still bears fruit.”

“To drop the figure of the vine, I will answer you by saying, that it is possible for a Romanist to be a Christian.”

“Are Christianity and idolatry one and the same?” said Moodie, indignantly.

“Do you know how many dogmas the Kirk and Rome hold in common?” answered L’Isle.  “If you set down each article of Christian doctrine in the order of its importance and certainty, you may travel the same road with the Romanist a long way; nor is it easy to prove that Rome does not hold to all Christian truths.”

Moodie rose from where he sat and stretched forth a protesting hand.  But he saw that protest was useless here, so he withdrew to the shade of another tree, and sat down to think what he should do for Lady Mabel’s safety.  To refresh himself and sharpen his wits, he took more than one draught from the bottle.  The wine being old, mild and delicate in flavor, he classed it in the same category with small beer, far underrating its beguiling potency.  This vinho maduro, the vino generoso of the Spaniard, was that which maketh glad the heart of man, being of a choice vintage from a famous vineyard.  It was rich, oily and deceiving.

“Had Moodie not been too impatient to stay with us longer,” said L’Isle, “he might have heard me admit, that though the Church of Rome has kept the truth, it has not been content with it, but has mingled with it so large a mass of falsehood, that the truth it teaches is no longer pure.  It has not thrown away the God-given treasure, but it has piled over it such an ever accumulating heap of rubbish that it is not easily found.  It may have guarded the fountain of life-giving waters, but has so hedged it in with a labyrinth of superstitions and ceremonial rites, that it is almost inaccessible to the flock.”

“Call Moodie back, and redeem yourself in his opinion,” said Mrs. Shortridge.  “He is now mourning over your approaching conversion to Rome.”

“It is useless,” said Lady Mabel.  “Moodie sets no value on half-truths.”

“Moodie denies there being any Christianity left in Popery,” said L’Isle.  “I assert that there is many a thorough, though unconscious Papist among Protestants.  Popery is not so much an accidental bundle of errors, as a spontaneous and necessary growth from corrupt human nature.  Thus many a charity, with us, originates in the hope of atoning for sins; many seek salvation through vicarious but human means; many a sectarian, especially among women is not so much the member of a church, as the follower of an idolized man.  There are Protestant popes, whose words are bulls in their little popedoms, and Protestant saints who, unlike those of Rome, are canonized in life by their handful of followers.”