Page 183 - of-human-bondage-

XXVIII

t occurred neither to Hayward nor to Weeks that the
Iconversations which helped them to pass an idle evening
were being turned over afterwards in Philip’s active brain. It
had never struck him before that religion was a matter upon
which discussion was possible. To him it meant the Church
of England, and not to believe in its tenets was a sign of wil-
fulness which could not fail of punishment here or hereafter.
There was some doubt in his mind about the chastisement
of unbelievers. It was possible that a merciful judge, reserv-
ing the flames of hell for the heathen—Mahommedans,
Buddhists, and the rest—would spare Dissenters and Ro-
man Catholics (though at the cost of how much humiliation
when they were made to realise their error!), and it was also
possible that He would be pitiful to those who had had no
chance of learning the truth,—this was reasonable enough,
though such were the activities of the Missionary Soci-
ety there could not be many in this condition—but if the
chance had been theirs and they had neglected it (in which
category were obviously Roman Catholics and Dissenters),
the punishment was sure and merited. It was clear that the
miscreant was in a parlous state. Perhaps Philip had not
been taught it in so many words, but certainly the impres-
sion had been given him that only members of the Church
of England had any real hope of eternal happiness.

1 Of Human Bondage