Ernestwasverymuchimpressed。
“Asformencuringthemselves。”continuedPryer，“theycannomorecuretheirownsoulsthantheycancuretheirownbodies，ormanagetheirownlawaffairs。Inthesetwolastcasestheyseethefollyofmeddlingwiththeirowncasesclearlyenough，andgotoaprofessionaladviserasamatterofcourse；surelyaman’ssoulisatonceamoredifficultandintricatemattertotreat，andatthesametimeitismoreimportanttohimthatitshouldbetreatedrightlythanthateitherhisbodyorhismoneyshouldbeso。WhatarewetothinkofthepracticeofaChurchwhichencouragespeopletorelyonunprofessionaladviceinmattersaffectingtheireternalwelfare，whentheywouldnotthinkofjeopardisingtheirworldlyaffairsbysuchinsaneconduct？”
Ernestcouldseenoweakplaceinthis。Theseideashadcrossedhisownmindvaguelybeforenow，buthehadneverlaidholdofthemorsettheminanorderlymannerbeforehimself。Norwashequickatdetectingfalseanalogiesandthemisuseofmetaphors；infacthewasamerechildinthehandsofhisfellowcurate。
“Andwhat。”resumedPryer，“doesallthispointto？Firstly，tothedutyofconfession——theoutcryagainstwhichisabsurdasanoutcrywouldbeagainstdissectionaspartofthetrainingofmedicalstudents。Grantedtheseyoungmenmustseeanddoagreatdealwedonotourselveslikeeventothinkof，buttheyshouldadoptsomeotherprofessionunlesstheyarepreparedforthis；theymayevengetinoculatedwithpoisonfromadeadbodyandlosetheirlives，buttheymuststandtheirchance。Soifweaspiretobepriestsindeedaswellasname，wemustfamiliariseourselveswiththeminutestandmostrepulsivedetailsofallkindsofsin，sothatwemayrecogniseitinallitsstages。Someofusmustdoubtlesslyperishspirituallyinsuchinvestigations。Wecannothelpit；allsciencemusthaveitsmartyrs，andnoneofthesewilldeservebetterofhumanitythanthosewhohavefalleninthepursuitofspiritualpathology。”
Ernestgrewmoreandmoreinterested，butinthemeeknessofhissoulsaidnothing。