I
dropped saying mine suddenly once for all without malice prepense, on
the night of the 29th of September, 1859, when I went on board the
Roman Emperor to sail for New Zealand. I had said them the night
before and doubted not that I was always going to say them as I
always had done hitherto. That night, I suppose, the sense of change
was so great that it shook them quietly off. I was not then a
sceptic; I had got as far as disbelief in infant baptism but no
further. I felt no compunction of conscience, however, about leaving
off my morning and evening prayers--simply I could no longer say
them.
iii
Lead us not into temptation (Matt. vi. 13).
For example; I am crossing from Calais to Dover and there is a well-
known popular preacher on board, say Archdeacon Farrar.
I have my camera in my hand and though the sea is rough the sun is
brilliant. I see the archdeacon come on board at Calais and seat
himself upon the upper deck, looking as though he had just stepped
out of a band-box. Can I be expected to resist the temptation of
snapping him? Suppose that in the train for an hour before reaching
Calais I had said any number of times, "Lead us not into temptation,"
is it likely that the archdeacon would have been made to take some
other boat or to stay in Calais, or that I myself, by being delayed
on my homeward journey, should have been led into some other
temptation, though perhaps smaller? Had I not better snap him and
have done with it? Is there enough chance of good result to make it
worth while to try the experiment? The general consensus of opinion
is that there is not.
Pages:
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302