Page:Pontoppidan - Emanuel, or Children of the Soil (1896).djvu/282

 curate's presence, could only be regarded as a complete approbation—nay, glorification—of his actions.

"Oh, for my part, I have not the slightest confidence in this so-called 'Virgin soil, said he in a voice trembling with suppressed rage. "It appears to me, on the contrary, to be merely sterile sand, or even worse constituents, which the glorification of the masses, by means of universal suffrage brings to the surface. If the madness goes on as it has begun, I am quite prepared one fine day to see our country entirely governed by the scum of the training colleges, and cowherds."

"Oh, those are only figures of speech! Should it really prove that the masses disappoint our expectations, or—to be more candid—that we have not yet found the right means to awaken the People's dormant powers, no irremediable harm will have been done. We shall at any-rate have made—a necessary experiment."

"It seems to me that we have experimentalized enough under our new constitution. We paid dearly enough for our unhappy experiments in '64, with an accidental majority of the masses."

An icy blast seemed to pass over the bishop's face at this open allusion to the last unhappy war for which his ministry was by everyone mainly blamed. He did not change his position, but glanced once or twice uneasily at the Provst, as if he had not made up his mind how to answer