James, appealed to by alarmed church-goers, magnanimously defended his colleague.
"He is a young man," he said; "but the root of the matter is in him. Wait: you will see." They waited, but did not see; for the young man hardened his heart, and to this day repudiates the doctrine which "sends ane to heaven and ten to hell, a' for Thy glory," as unscriptural and revolting. James himself had a naive excuse for practically banishing it from his preaching. "Ah, well!" he would say, "you see the Scriptures don't say much about it."
In relation to eternal punishment, Mr. Dale's position is that of an exegetical Darwin. He believes that hereafter the spiritually fittest will alone ultimately survive. With him the spiritual, and not the material, is the real. There is a Light which lighteth every man that cometh into this world, be he Jew or Gentile, Christian or pagan. It is a plastic theory, of which much may be made by a humane mind. Accordingly, Mr. Dale is a very cosmopolitan sort of Christian. He is a strong admirer of Mr. Moody, of Moody and Sankey fame; and he is a sworn friend, at the same time, of Mr. Crosskey, the leading Unitarian heresiarch of Birmingham.
"Of old things all are over-old,
Of good things none are good enough;
He'll show that he can help to frame
A Church of better stuff,"
The Carr's-lane congregation consists of over fifteen hundred "souls," though I fear their pastor counts them as frequently by "votes." They are largely composed of working-men and small tradesmen,—nearly all Liberals. A sprinkling are quasi-Conservatives;
