198 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



reason is found for putting the civilized intellect out of court alto- 

 gether. The verdict of the stupid, ferocious savage, who makes an 

 idol out of a bit of wood and a red rag, and then pacifies its spite by- 

 slaughtering fowls or prisoners in its honor, is not at first sight superior 

 to that of the modern philosopher ; but the philosopher is " one-sided." 

 This, however, is beside the point. It is clear that modern tendencies 

 have penetrated into the hostile camp. It is the much-abused philoso- 

 pher who has taught us to take a new interest in the lower religions of 

 the world instead of summarily rejecting them as the work of devils. 

 The mere fact that we have risen to such a conception as that of a 

 comparative study of religion is certainly not sufficient by itself to con- 

 fute the pretensions of what claims to be an exclusive revelation. It 

 is possible to adapt the old to the new beliefs by the methods of which 

 Dr. Newman's argument is an example. After Mr. Darwin and his 

 followers have traced out the resemblance between men and monkeys 

 with the utmost j)ossible clearness, it is always possible for a dogma- 

 tist to discover some good reason why the transition should have 

 required a miraculous intervention. In the same way, the analogies 

 which the philosopher may discover between the various religions of 

 the world will never convince him that his own special creed is not of 

 supernatural origin, though the others which resemble it so strangely 

 are traceable to the spontaneous working of the human intellect. A 

 very little dexterity is required to raise the resemblance to that point 

 at which it becomes an argument for the reasonableness of the sup- 

 posed revelation, and is yet no argument against its supernatural char- 

 acter. Admit your naked savage to prove that man has a need for 

 the belief in Atonement, but do not let him be produced as evidence 

 that the belief finds its most congenial element and grows to the 

 largest dimensions in a debased and torpid intellect. By such logical 

 manipulation as this, the accumulation of uncomfortable facts may 

 long be rendered harmless. It all depends upon the way in which you 

 look at things. The acute thinkers who have helped to elaborate any 

 ancient system of thought have always provided a proper set of pigeon- 

 holes in which inconvenient facts may be stowed away. It is long be- 

 fore the facts become weighty enough to break down the framework. 

 But no agent is so powerful in bringing about the change as the subtle 

 and penetrating influence of a new method. It may not follow logi- 

 cally that because catastrophes have been banished from geology, and 

 the series of animated beings has been proved to be continuous, there- 

 fore the same conceptions should be applied to the religious beliefs of 

 mankind. And yet nobody can doubt that in practice the influence 

 would be unmistakable. The burden of proof would be shifted, and 

 that in itself makes an amazing difference. The popular belief has 

 hitherto been that, unless you could prove the contrary, it would be 

 reasonable to suppose that the transition from monkey to man involved 

 a sudden leap. If it came to be the popular belief that, unless you 



