A mirror of Shalott

“I maintain,” said Monsignor with a brisk air of aggressiveness, and holding his pipe a moment from his mouth, “I maintain that agnosticism is the only reasonable position in these matters. Your common agnostic is no agnostic at all; he is the most dogmatic of sectarians. He declares that such things do not happen, or that they can be explained always on a materialistic basis. Now, your Catholic——”Father Bianchi bristled and rolled his black eyes fiercely. If he had had a moustache he would have twirled it.We were sitting in the upstairs sala of the presbytery attached to the Canadian Church of S. Filippo in Rome. It had been a large, comfortless room, stone floored, stone walled, and plaster ceilinged, but it had been made possible by numerous rugs, a number of armchairs, and an English fireplace.