The Dawn of All

by Robert Hugh Benson

  (II)

  They had to wait a few minutes in an ante-room before presentingtheir letters, as the official was engaged, and Father Jervisoccupied the time in running over again the names and historiesof three or four important personages to whom they would perhapshave to speak. He had given an outline of these at breakfast.

  There were three in particular about whom Monsignor must be informed.

  First, the King; and Monsignor learned again thoroughly of thesensational reaction which, after the humiliation of France inthe war of 1914--the logical result of a conflict between arepublicanism worked out to mediocrity and a real and vividmonarchy--had placed this man's father--the undoubted legitimateheir--upon the throne. He had died only two years ago, when theDauphin, who had ascended the throne, was just eighteen yearsold. The present King was not yet married, but there were rumoursof a love-match with a Spanish princess. He was a boyish king, itseemed, but he played his royal part with intense enjoyment anddignity, and had restored, to the delight of this essentiallyromantic and imaginative people, most of the glories of theeighteenth-century court, without its scandals. Certainly Francewas returning to its old chivalry, and thence to its old power.

  Next there was the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, CardinalGuinet, a very old ecclesiastic, very high in the counsels ofthe Church, who would almost certainly have been elected Pope atthe last vacancy if it had not been for his age. He was an"intellectual," it seemed, and, among other things, was one ofthe first physicists of Europe. He had been ordainedcomparatively late in life.

  Thirdly there was the Archbishop's secretary--Monsignor Allet--arising man and an excellent diplomatist.

  There were two or three more, but Father Jervis was content withscarcely more than recounting their names. The King's brother,and the heir-presumptive, was something of a recluse and seldomappeared at court. Of the German Emperor, Monsignor had alreadylearned, it seemed, sufficient.

  In the middle of these instructions, the door suddenly opened,and an ecclesiastic hurried in with outstretched hands, andapologies in a torrent of Latin.

  ("Monsignor Allet," whispered Father Jervis, as he appeared.)

  Monsignor Masterman stood bewildered. The dilemma had notoccurred to him; but Father Jervis, it seemed, was prepared. Hesaid a rapid sentence to the secretary, who turned, bowing, andimmediately began in English without the trace of any accent.

  "I perfectly understand--perfectly indeed. These doctors ruleus with a rod of iron, don't they? It'll be arranged directly.We all talk English here; and I'll say a word to His Eminence.The very same thing happened to himself a year or two back. Hewas forbidden to talk in French. It is astonishing, is it not?the subtlety of these doctors! And yet how natural. No twolanguages have the same mental reaction, after all. They'reperfectly right."

  Monsignor caught a glimmering of what he was at. But he thoughthe had better be cautious.

  "I'm afraid I shall give a lot of trouble," he murmured, lookingdoubtfully at this sparkling-eyed, blue-chinned young man, whospoke with such rapidity.

  "Not in the least, I assure you." He turned to the older priest."The Cardinal left here only half an hour ago. How unfortunate!He came over to arrange the final details of the disputation.You've heard of that?"

  "Not a word."

  The young prelate beamed.

  "Well, you'll hear the finest wit in France! It's for thisafternoon." (His face fell.) "But it's Latin. PerhapsMonsignor ought not----"

  "Ah! so long as he doesn't talk---!" (Father Jervis turned to hisfriend.) "I was telling Monsignor here that the doctor orderedyou to engage in no business that did not interest you; and thatLatin was rather a strain to you just now----"

  This seemed adroit enough. But Monsignor was determined to missno new experience.

  "It will simply delight me," he said. "And what is the subject?"

  "Well," said the Frenchman, "it's for the benefit of theEmperor. Two of the Parisian theologians are disputing _DeEcclesia_. The thesis of the adversary, who opens, is that theChurch is merely the representative of God on earth--a Societythat must, of course, be obeyed; but that Infallibility is notnecessary to her efficiency."

  Father Jervis' eyes twinkled.

  "Isn't that a little too pointed? Why, that's the Emperor's onedifficulty! I understand that he allows, politically speaking,the need for the Church, but denies her divinity."

  "I assure you," said the French priest solemnly, "that the thesisis his own selection. You see, he's sick of these Socialists. Heunderstands perfectly that the one sanction of human authoritymust come from God, or from the people; and he's entirely onGod's side! But he cannot see the infallibility, and therefore,as he's a sincere man---!" he ended with an eloquent shrug.

  "Well," said Father Jervis, "if the Cardinal's not here----"

  "Alas! He is back in Paris by now. But give me your letters! I'llsee that they are presented properly; and you shall receive aroyal command for the disputation in plenty of time."

  They handed over their letters; they exchanged compliments oncemore; they were escorted as far as the door of the room by theprelate, across the next ante-chamber by an imposing man in blackvelvet with a chain, across the third by a cuirassier, and acrossthe hall to the bottom of the steps by two tremendous footmen inthe ancient royal livery.

  Monsignor was silent for a few yards.

  "Aren't you afraid of an anti-clerical reaction?" he asked suddenly.

  "How do you mean? I don't understand."

  Then Monsignor launched out. He had accepted by now the theorythat he had had a lapse of memory, and that so far as hisintellect was concerned, he was practically a man of a centuryago, owing to the history he had happened to be reading shortlybefore his collapse; and he talked therefore from that standpoint.

  He produced, that is to say, with astonishing fluency all thosearguments that were common in the mouths of the more seriousanti-clericals of the beginning of the century--the increase ofReligious Orders, the domineering tendency of all ecclesiasticsin the enjoyment of temporal power, the impossibility ofcombating supernatural arguments, the hostility of the Church toeducation--down even to the celibacy of the clergy. He paused forbreath as they turned out of the great gateway.

  Father Jervis laughed aloud and patted him on the arm.

  "My dear Monsignor, I can't compete with you. You're tooeloquent. Of course, I remember from reading history that thosethings used to be said, and I suppose Socialists say them now.But, you know, no educated man ever dreams of such arguments; norindeed do the uneducated! It's the half-educated, as usual, who'sthe enemy. He always is. The Wise Men and the shepherds bothknelt in Bethlehem. It was the bourgeois who stood apart."

  "That's no answer," persisted the other.

  "Well, let's see," said the priest good-humouredly. "We'll beginwith celibacy. Now it's perfectly true that it's thought almost adisgrace for a man not to have a large family. The average iscertainly not less than ten in civilized nations. But for allthat a priest is looked upon without any contempt at all. Why?Because he's a spiritual father; because he begets spiritualchildren to God, and feeds and nourishes them. Of course to anatheist this is nonsense; and even to an agnostic it's a verydoubtful benefit. But, my dear Monsignor, you must remember thatthese hardly exist amongst us. The entire civilized world ofto-day is as absolutely convinced of Heaven and Grace and theChurch, and the havoc that Sin makes not only as regards the nextworld but in this--so absolutely convinced that he understandsperfectly that a priest is far more productive of general goodthan a physical father possibly can be. It's the priest who keepsthe whole thing going. Don't you see? And then, in a Catholicworld, the instinct that the man who serves the altar should bewithout physical ties--well, that's simply natural."

  "Go on. What about education?"

  "My dear friend," said Father Jervis. "The Church controls thewhole of education, as she did, in fact, up to the very time whenthe State first took it away from her and then abused her forneglecting it. Practically all the
scientists; all thespecialists in medicine, chemistry, and mental health;nine-tenths of the musicians; three-quarters of theartists--practically all those are Religious. It's only theactive trades, which are incompatible with Religion, that are inthe hands of the laity. It's been found by experience that noreally fine work can be done except by those who are familiarwith divine things; because it's only those who see things allround, who have, that is to say, a really comprehensiveintuition. Take history. Unless you have a really close grasp ofwhat Providence means--of not only the End, but the Means bywhich God works; unless you can see right through things to theirIntention, how in the world can you interpret the past? Don't youremember what Manners said about Realism? We don't wantmisleading photographs of externals any more. We want Ideas. Andhow can you correlate Ideas, unless you have a real grasp of theCentral Idea? It's nonsense."

  "Go on with the other things."

  "There's a lot more about education. There's the graduatededucation we have now (entirely an ecclesiastical notion, by theway). We don't try to teach everybody everything. We teach acertain foundation to every one--the Catechism, of course, twolanguages perfectly, the elements of physical science, and agreat deal of history. (You can't understand the Catechismwithout history, and _vice-versa_); but after that we specialize.Well, the world understands now----"

  "That's enough, thank you. Go on with the other things."

  Father Jervis laughed again.

  "We're nearly home. Let's turn in here, and get into the gardensfor a bit. . . . Well, I think you'll find that the root of allyour difficulties is that you seem not to be able to get intoyour head that the world is really and intelligently Christian.There are the Religious Orders you spoke of. Well, aren't theactive Religious Orders the very finest form of association everinvented? Aren't they exactly what Socialists have always beencrying for, with the blunders left out and the gaps filled in? Assoon as the world understood finally that the active ReligiousOrders could beat all other forms of association at their owngame--that they could teach and work more cheaply andeffectively, and so on--well, the most foolish PoliticalEconomist had to confess that the Religious Orders made for thecountry's welfare. And as for the Contemplative Orders----"

  Father Jervis' face grew grave and tender.

  "Yes?"

  "Why, they're the princes of the world! They are models of theCrucified. So long as there is Sin in the world, so long mustthere be Penance. The instant Christianity was accepted, theCross stood up dominant once more. . . . And then . . . thenpeople understood. Why, they're the Holy Ones of theuniverse--higher than angels; for they suffer. . . ."

  There was a moment's silence.

  "Yes?" said Monsignor softly.

  "My dear Monsignor, just force upon your mind the fact that theworld is really and intelligently Christian. I think it'll allbe plain then. You seem to me, if I may say so, to be fallinginto the old-fashioned way of looking at 'Clericalism,' as itused to be called, as a kind of department of life, like Art orLaw. No wonder men resented its intrusion when they conceived ofit like that. Well, there is no 'Clericalism' now, and thereforethere is no anti-Clericalism. There's just religion--as a fact.Do you see? ... Shall we sit down for a few minutes? Aren't thegardens exquisite?"