She felt her heart confronted with a new, an
immediate issue, and suddenly afraid. It shrank from the
charge for which it longed, and would have fled; yet,
paralysed with delight, it kept time with her sauntering
feet.
They talked of the sermon, which had been strongly tinged
with the issue of the day. Dreamer as he was by temperament,
Finlay held to the wisdom of informing great public
questions with the religious idea, vigorously disclaimed
that it was anywhere inadmissible.
"You'll have to settle with the Doctor, Mr Finlay," Lorne
warned him gaily, "if you talk politics in Knox Church.
He thinks he never does."
"Do you think," said Finlay, "that he would object to--
to one's going as far afield as I did tonight?"
"He oughtn't to," said Lorne. "You should have heard him
when old Sir John Macdonald gerrymandered the electoral
districts and gave votes to the Moneida Indians. The way
he put it, the Tories in the congregation couldn't say
a word, but it was a treat for his fellow Grits."
Finlay smiled gravely. "Political convictions are a man's
birthright," he said. "Any man or any minister is a poor
creature without them. But of course there are limits
beyond which pulpit influence should not go, and I am
sure Dr Drummond has the clearest perception of them.
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