1
The Archbishop's Test
by E.M. Green
Copyright 1915
By E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
TO THE FRIEND TO WHOM I AM
INDEBTED FOR THE IDEA OF THIS BOOK
Preface
The Archbishop's Test is not a new piece of fiction: it appeared first in London in 1914, and a year later in New York, but Anglicans ever since have been discovering it and have been amazed at its timeless relevance. In recent months various periodicals have mentioned it or have quoted from it, and so sent people on fruitless searches for the book in libraries and second-hand bookstores, both in America and in England. A reprinting of The Archbishop's Test may not be justified because people are talking about the book or cannot get a copy, nor because it recalls a day long past and a country and a Church now somewhat changed, but rather because it speaks to a present condition and with a voice longing to be heard in our own time and place.
Chapter 1
"Now that all the ceremonies are over," said the chaplain, "I fear that I must remind your Grace that there is an immense accumulation of correspondence needing attention."
The Archbishop was looking out into the sunshine with a preoccupied air, and did not immediately answer; after a few minutes he said dreamily:
"Are there many letters?"
"An appalling number. Half of them are requests for your patronage of Church societies. I can answer those if you like without your troubling to read them. It is a foregone conclusion that the Archbishop is president of every Church society."
Again the Archbishop was silent--pro