My old friend, John Brayne, had gathered some remarkably choice spirits together on the occasion of my last visit to Hadlands old manor. John Brayne is an old Catholic in every sense except that associated with Jansenism, but he has the habit of renewing his youth, like the eagle, and he always manages to keep pace with the ‘young thought’ which pours itself out in places where our rising men foregather, and they foregather very readily on John Brayne’s hospitable hearth, and bring him up to date when they consider it necessary. Sometimes the necessity has been known to arise, and then old Mr. Brayne illustrates his point with a story that is generally well worth recording. The following is quite a typical one.

We were discussing the progress of Catholicism, and someone asked our host what he considered to be the chief obstacle to the advance of the faith amongst educated folk. We all awaited the answer with interest, for in some ways old John Brayne is the youngest of us all.