Page:Distinguished Churchmen.djvu/410

 358 DISTINGUISHED CHURCHMEN

twentieth verses of the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, as follows :

&quot; For that which befalleth the sons of men be- falleth beasts ; even one thing befalleth them ; as the one dieth so dieth the other ; yea, they have all one breath ; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast : for all is vanity.

&quot; All go unto one place ; all are of the dust and all turn to dust again.&quot;

Archdeacon Taylor listened with patience, but finding that the quotation finished thus abruptly, rose and pointed out to Mr Bradlaugh that he had unfairly dealt with the portion of Scripture he had chosen, inasmuch as he had omitted to quote the succeeding verse. This he read, amid the breath less attention of the audience, as follows : &quot; Who knoweth the spirit of man that goetk upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth ? &quot; and the distinctions were duly empha sised. &quot; Now, sir, &quot;said Archdeacon Taylor, look ing Bradlaugh squarely in the face, &quot;either you knew that verse was there, or you did not. If you did not know it was there what was that ? Ignor ance ! If you did know it was there, and suppressed it what was that ? Dishonesty ! On which horn of the dilemma are you to be impaled ? &quot; And the alternative charge of &quot; ignorance &quot; or &quot;dishonesty &quot; was driven home by Dr Taylor bringing his hand down with a bang upon the table.

Mr Bradlaugh, be it said, did truly find himself

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