Thoughts on Religion | Page 8

this
consideration in mind, I feel sure that he cannot properly complain of
my not having done my utmost in this case to define as sharply as
possible the character and the limits of this margin.
'§ 7. And now, in conclusion, I feel it is desirable to state that any
antecedent bias with regard to Theism which I individually possess is
unquestionably on the side of traditional beliefs. It is therefore with the

utmost sorrow that I find myself compelled to accept the conclusions
here worked out; and nothing would have induced me to publish them,
save the strength of my conviction that it is the duty of every member
of society to give his fellows the benefit of his labours for whatever
they may be worth. Just as I am confident that truth must in the end be
the most profitable for the race, so I am persuaded that every individual
endeavour to attain it, provided only that such endeavour is unbiassed
and sincere, ought without hesitation to be made the common property
of all men, no matter in what direction the results of its promulgation
may appear to tend. And so far as the ruination of individual happiness
is concerned, no one can have a more lively perception than myself of
the possibly disastrous tendency of my work. So far as I am
individually concerned, the result of this analysis has been to show that,
whether I regard the problem of Theism on the lower plane of strictly
relative probability, or on the higher plane of purely formal
considerations, it equally becomes my obvious duty to stifle all belief
of the kind which I conceive to be the noblest, and to discipline my
intellect with regard to this matter into an attitude of the purest
scepticism. And forasmuch as I am far from being able to agree with
those who affirm that the twilight doctrine of the "new faith" is a
desirable substitute for the waning splendour of "the old," I am not
ashamed to confess that with this virtual negation of God the universe
to me has lost its soul of loveliness; and although from henceforth the
precept to "work while it is day" will doubtless but gain an intensified
force from the terribly intensified meaning of the words that "the night
cometh when no man can work," yet when at times I think, as think at
times I must, of the appalling contrast between the hallowed glory of
that creed which once was mine, and the lonely mystery of existence as
now I find it,--at such times I shall ever feel it impossible to avoid the
sharpest pang of which my nature is susceptible. For whether it be due
to my intelligence not being sufficiently advanced to meet the
requirements of the age, or whether it be due to the memory of those
sacred associations which to me at least were the sweetest that life has
given, I cannot but feel that for me, and for others who think as I do,
there is a dreadful truth in those words of Hamilton,--Philosophy
having become a meditation, not merely of death, but of annihilation,
the precept know thyself has become transformed into the terrific oracle

to OEdipus--
"Mayest thou ne'er know the truth of what thou art."'
This analysis will have been at least sufficient to give a clear idea of the
general argument of the Candid Examination and of its melancholy
conclusions. What will most strike a somewhat critical reader is
perhaps (1) the tone of certainty, and (2) the belief in the almost
exclusive right of the scientific method in the court of reason.
As evidence of (1) I would adduce the following brief quotations:--
P. xi. 'Possible errors in reasoning apart, the rational position of Theism
as here defined must remain without material modification as long as
our intelligence remains human.'
P. 24. 'I am quite unable to understand how any one at the present day,
and with the most moderate powers of abstract thinking, can possibly
bring himself to embrace the theory of Free-will.'
P. 64. 'Undoubtedly we have no alternative but to conclude that the
hypothesis of mind in nature is now logically proved to be as certainly
superfluous as the very basis of all science is certainly true. There can
no longer be any more doubt that the existence of a God is wholly
unnecessary to explain any of the phenomena of the universe, than
there is doubt that if I leave go of my pen it will fall upon the table.'
As evidence of (2) I would adduce from the preface--
'To my mind, therefore, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that,
looking to this undoubted pre-eminence of the scientific methods as
ways to truth, whether or not there is