Life — January 3, 1907 — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Guilty or Not Guilty >* By Grace Chapman Spader “T HAVE come to a decision.” The Rey, Crabtree Cunningham was one of the most advanced clergymen in the Episcopal Church. His sermons, liberal almost to a fault, had attracted widespread attention. Indeed, some of the elderly ladies in his parish had long held up their hands in horror at his utterances. But, generally speaking, his attitude had been viewed with more complacency than criticism—it had led him perhaps into higher flights of iconoclasm than would have been the case had he been called to account by the authorities. The fact is, that owing to the more liberal position of the age, the Rey. Crabtree Cunningham had been permitted to go his own way, and his confidence in himself had kept pace with his utterances. As he came into the house, therefore, and greeted his wife, there was a sense of determination about him—a new note of resolution in his ascetic face that Mrs. Cunningham noticed instantly. “I hope,” she said, with wifely concern, “that you have done nothing without consulting’me.” Her husband smiled confidently. “My dear,” he said, ‘a higher power than you is in charge of my conscience.” She looked at him with alarm. “You mean”—— He parted the folds of his clerical coat, motioning to her to be seated as he arranged himself in his favorite chair. Then, selecting a straw-tipped cigarette from his case he lighted it earnestl. “T want to explain this whole thing to you,” he said, ‘so that you may see it in its true light. “In the first place, you must understand that wherever my conscience directs me I must go, regardless of consequences. Now, for some time I have been convinced that certain traditions which have lingered in our prayer-book, and which have, I might say, incrusted the vitality of our religion, should be done away with. No answer, for example, has ever been made to Hume’s argument against miracles. ‘The Doctrine of the Atonement is to my mind false. I believe that our Lord is in one sense the most divine person I know, but not in the sense that it is laid down in the prayer-book. ©The recent case of Dr. Crapsey lends an unusual interest to this story. “What is a person in my position to do? Filled as I am with the intense desire to preach a gospel to my fellow men— God knows they need it enough—immured as I have been in the Church and accustomed to its ritual, how can I be false to it now when it needs my help more than ever? It seems to me that my duty is to remain here, and to use all the energy that I possess to bring about in the Church those reforms which are necessary.” The Rev. Crabtree Cunningham’s wife put her hand upon his arm. “My dear,” she said, ‘I have heard this before. You forget that I have listened weekly to your sermons. It is one thing, however, to talk and another thing to act. I want to know what you have done.” The Rev. Crabtree Cunningham possessed the usual clerical mind. It was impossible for him, in other words, ty boil himself down. He had to take his own time to explain his position. “Wait!” he exclaimed, with a superior smile. “You are anticipating me. If I were alone in this new propaganda, if I were a pioncer blazing out a new faith, then, indeed, I might hesitate. I might wait until ntly and thoroughly IT had succeeded in bringing over a few recruits to my own position.” He rubbed his hands feclingly. “But,” he continued, ‘much to my surprise, much to my joy, much to my supreme edification, this has already been done for me. Without realizing it before, I recently dis- covered that the way had been paved and that the action which I have determined upon has been made easy for me by the trend of public opinion.” Mrs. Crabtree Cunningham was getting more uneasy than ever. She restrained herself, however, and while her face gathered intensity, with an effort she sat with folded hands and looked at her husband with a show of patience. “T suppose,” she said, “I shall have to wait until you tell me the story, but couldn’t you, dear, indicate by word or sign whether you have actually done anything or not?” “What I have done,” replied the Rev. Crabtree Cunning- ham, “remains with my conscience, my God and myself. Before I tell you what I have done I must prepare your mind. Now for facts. This story continued on page 32 comicbooks.com