CHAPTER VII.
THERE ENTERETH THE SERPENT OF INAPPRECIATION For the young rector of St.Antipas there followed swift, rich, high-coloured days--days in which he might have framed more than one triumphant reply to that poet who questioned why the spirit of mortal should be proud, intimating that it should not be.
Also was the handsome young rector's parish proud of him; proud of his executive ability as shown in the management of its many organised activities, religious and secular; its Brotherhood of St.Bartholomew, its Men's Club, Women's Missionary Association, Guild and Visiting Society, King's Daughters, Sewing School, Poor Fund, and still others; proud of his decorative personality, his impressive oratory and the modern note in his preaching; proud that its ushers must each Sabbath morning turn away many late-comers.

Indeed, the whole parish had been born to a new spiritual life since that day when the worship at St.
Antipas had been kept simple to bareness by a stubborn and perverse reactionary.

In this happier day St.Antipas was known for its advanced ritual, for a service so beautifully enriched that a new spiritual warmth pervaded the entire parish.

The doctrine of the Real Presence was not timidly minced, but preached unequivocally, with dignified boldness.
Also there was a confessional, and the gracious burning of incense.

In short, St.Antipas throve, and the grace of the Holy Ghost palpably took possession of its worshippers.