TYNDALVS REPLY TO HIS CRITICS. 425 



of science breaking in upon the minds of the youth of Ireland, and 

 strengthening gradually to the perfect day, as a surer check to any 

 intellectual or spiritual tyranny which might threaten this island than 

 the laws of princes or the swords of emperors. Where is the cause of 

 fear ? We fought and won our battle even in the middle ages ; why 

 should we doubt the issue of a conflict now ? " 



This passage also was deemed unnecessarily warm, and I therefore 

 omitted it. It was an act of weakness on my part to do so. For, 

 considering the aims and acts of that renowned and remorseless or- 

 ganization which for the time being wields the entire power of my 

 critic's Church, not only resistance to its further progress, but, were 

 it not for the intelligence of Roman Catholic laymen, positive restric- 

 tion of its present power for evil, might well become the necessary at- 

 titude of society as regards that organization. With some slight ver- 

 bal alterations, therefore, which do not impair its strength, the passage 

 has been restored. 



My critic is very hard upon the avowal in my preface regarding 

 atheism. But I frankly confess that his honest hardness and hos- 

 tility are to me preferable to the milder but less honest treatment 

 which the passage has received from members of other churches. He 

 quotes the paragraph, and goes on to say : " We repeat this is a most 

 remarkable passage. Much as we dislike seasoning polemics with 

 strong words, we assert that this apology only tends to affix with 

 links of steel to the name of Prof. Tyndall the dread imputation against 

 which he struggles." 



Here we have a very fair example of subjective religious vigor. 

 But my quarrel with such exhibitions is that they do not always rep- 

 resent objective fact. No atheistic reasoning can, I hold, dislodge 

 religion from the heart of man. Logic cannot deprive us of life, and 

 religion is life to the religious. As an experience of consciousness, it 

 is perfectly beyond the assaults of logic. But the religious life is often 

 projected in external forms I use the word in its widest sense by no 

 means beyond the reach of logic, which will have to bear and to do 

 so more and more as the world becomes more enlightened compari- 

 son with facts. The subjective energy to which I have just referred 

 is also a fact of consciousness not to be reasoned away. My critic 

 feels, and takes delight in feeling, that I am struggling, and he ob- 

 viously experiences the most exquisite pleasures of " the muscular 

 sense" in holding me down. His feelings are as real as if his imagi- 

 nation of what mine are were equally real. His picture of my " strug- 

 gles " is, however, a mere phantasm. I do not struggle. I do not 

 fear the charge of atheism ; nor should I even disavow it, in refer- 

 ence to any definition of the Supreme which he, or his order, would 

 be likely to frame. His " links" and his " steel" and his " dread im- 

 putations " are, therefore, even more unsubstantial than my " streaks 

 of morning cloud," and they may be permitted to vanish together. 



