GO 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



self other than myself, which speaks to me in 

 the voice of conscience, than doubt or disproof 

 of the wave-theory of light can put out the noon- 

 day sun. 



One such theory is defended in the discourse 

 here dealt with, and, if I may venture to say so, 

 is not quite sufficiently distinguished from the 

 facts which it is meant to explain. The theory 

 is this : that the voice of conscience in my mind 

 is the voice of a conscious being external to me 

 and to all men, who has made us and all the world. 

 When this theory is admitted, the observed dis- 

 crepancy between our moral sense and the gov- 

 ernment of the world, as a whole, makes it neces- 

 sary to suppose another world and another life in 

 it for men, whereby this discord shall be resolved 

 in a final harmony. 



I fully admit that the theistic hypothesis, so 

 grounded, and considered apart from objections 

 otherwise arising, is a reasonable hypothesis and 

 an explanation of the facts. The idea of an ex- 

 ternal conscious being is unavoidably suggest- 

 ed, as it seems to me, by the categorical impera- 

 tive of the moral sense ; and, moreover, in a way 

 quite independent, by the aspect of Nature, which 

 seems to answer to our questionings with an 

 intelligence akin to our own. It is more reason- 

 able to assume one consciousness than two, if 

 by that one assumption we can explain two dis- 

 tinct facts ; just as if we had been led to assume 

 an ether to explain light and an ether to explain 

 electricity, we might have run before experiment 

 and guessed that these two ethers were but one. 

 But since there is a discordance between Nature 

 and conscience, the theory of their common ori- 

 gin in a mind external to humanity has not met 

 with such acceptance as that of the divine ori- 

 gin of each. A large number of theists have 

 rejected it, and taken refuge in Manichseism and 

 the doctrine of the Demiurgus in various forms ; 

 while others have endeavored, as aforesaid, to 

 redress the balance of the old world by calling 

 into existence a new one. 



It is, however, a very striking and significant 

 fact, that the very great majority of mankind 

 who have thought about these questions at all, 

 while acknowledging the existence of divine be- 

 ings and their influence in the government of 

 the world, have sought for the spring and sanc- 

 tion of duty in something above and beyond the 

 gods. The religions of Brahmanism and of Buddh- 

 ism, and the moral system of Confucius, have 

 together ruled over more than two-thirds of the 

 human race during the historic period ; and in 

 all of .these the moral sense is regarded as aris- 



ing indeed out of a universal principle, but not 

 as personified in any conscious being. This vast 

 body of dissent might well, it should seem, make 

 us ask if there is anything unsatisfying in tlA 1 

 theory which represents the voice of conscience 

 as the voice of a god. 



Although, as I have said, the idea of an ex- 

 ternal conscious being is unavoidably suggested 

 by the moral sense, yet, if this idea should be 

 found untrue, it does not follow that Nature has 

 been fooling us. The idea is not in the facts, 

 but in our inference from the facts. A mirror 

 unavoidably suggests the idea of a room behind 

 it ; but it is not our eyes that deceive us, it is 

 only the inference we draw from their testimony. 

 Further consideration may lead to a different in- 

 ference of far greater practical value. 



Now, whether or no it be reasonable and 

 satisfying to the conscience, it cannot be doubted 

 that theistic belief is a comfort and a solace to 

 those who hold it, and that the loss of it is a 

 very painful loss. It cannot be doubted, at 

 least by many of us in this generation, who 

 either profess it now, or received it in our child- 

 hood and have parted from it since with such 

 searching trouble as only cradle-faiths can cause. 

 We have seen the spring sun shine out of an 

 empty heaven, to light up a soulless earth ; we 

 have felt with utter loneliness that the Great Com ■ 

 panion is dead. Our children, it may be hoped, 

 will know that sorrow only by the reflex light of 

 a wondering compassion. But to say that the- 

 istic belief is a comfort and a solace, and to say 

 that it is the crown or coping of morality, these 

 are different things. 



For in what way shall belief in God strength- 

 en my sense of duty ? He is a great one working 

 for the right. But I already know so many, and 

 I know these so well. His righteousness is un- 

 fathomable ; it transcends alt ideals. But I have 

 not yet fathomed the goodness of living men 

 whom I know r still less of those who have 

 lived, and whom I know. And the goodness of 

 all these is a striving for something better; now 

 it is not the goal, but the striving for it, that 

 matters to me. The essence of their goodness 

 is the losing of the individual self in another 

 and a wider self; but God cannot do this; his 

 goodness must be something different. He is 

 infinitely great and powerful, and he lives forever. 

 I do not understand this mensuration of good- 

 ness by foot-pounds, and seconds, and cubic miles. 

 A little field-mouse, which busies itself in the 

 hedge, and does not mind my company, is more 

 to me than the longest ichthyosaurus that ever 



