EDITOR'S TABLE. 



843 



possessed of such overweening self-con- 

 fidence. The ancient Greeks looked 

 upon a character of this kind as proba- 

 bly predestined by the gods to a tragic 

 end; and the experience of mankind 

 has, on the whole, tended to show that 

 their presentiment in such cases was not 

 without foundation. Courage we ad- 

 mire, fidelity to principle we admire, 

 resolute statesmanship we admire; but 

 the determination of one man to impose 

 his will upon a nation resembles mad- 

 ness rather than the exercise of any 

 noble quality. It is hard for us in Amer- 

 ica to conceive how such a dream could 

 have entered the head of any presuma- 

 bly sane man. 



It is worth while, perhaps, to take 

 this opportunity of asking the question 

 why it is thought so very necessary 

 to make special provision by law for 

 the teaching of theological doctrines. 

 The question is just as pertinent in this 

 country as in any other; for there are 

 many here who think such provision 

 should be made, and who, if they could 

 command a majority of votes for the 

 purpose, would quickly make it. Only 

 one answer can be given, and that is 

 that the feeling of the promoters of 

 such legislation is, that unless the doc- 

 trines in which they are interested are 

 arbitrarily and compulsorily taught, 

 they will have no chance of obtaining 

 a lodgment in the minds of the rising 

 generation. Faith in the home as a cen- 

 ter of religious teaching seems to have 

 almost wholly died out, and faith in the 

 Church to be nearly as low ; consequent- 

 ly the state is asked to step in and take 

 up the task of inculcating the cardinal 

 doctrines of Christian theology. As we 

 pointed out last month, however, the 

 inability of the state to do anything of 

 the kind is an accepted conclusion with 

 nearly all intelligent observers of the 

 events of the time, "What we may now 

 further point out is that, were the state 

 to attempt it, its success would mean 

 before long the intellectual and even 

 rehgious atrophy of the nation. Im- 



agine for one moment the success of 

 Emperor "William's attempt. In twenty 

 or thirty years the great bulk of the 

 adult population would have gone 

 through the official theological mill. 

 All intellects would have been bowed 

 to the official explanation — unanswera- 

 ble because official — of the being and 

 attributes of God. All would have 

 bowed to the official proofs of the im- 

 mortality of the sonl. All would have 

 accepted the official indorsement of 

 ecclesiastical miracles, and the official 

 interpretation of church history. All 

 would have adjusted themselves to the 

 principal historic creeds. No doubt 

 some would have been brought up as 

 Protestants, and some as Catholics ; but 

 as in each case the teaching was official, 

 the effiect would probably be to create a 

 kind of imbecile readiness to admit as 

 equally true the most contradictory posi- 

 tions. It is impossible, we maintain, for 

 any person capable of reflection not to 

 see that such a system of education 

 would mean the death of all personal 

 interest in, or apprehension of, the truths 

 or doctrines inculcated. The being of 

 God can not be proved in the same man- 

 ner as the laws of chemistry ; the latter 

 admit of demonstrative proof, nobody 

 asks for more than demonstration, and 

 so long as demonstration is reached no 

 one objects to the road by which it is 

 reached; the former does not admit of 

 demonstrative proof in the same sense, 

 and everything depends upon the way 

 in which such proofs as it does admit of 

 are presented. Official teachers would, 

 however, have to put forward their offi- 

 cial proofs as demonstrative, and the 

 effect would either be to deaden intel- 

 lects or to turn out hypocrites by the 

 thousand. The one and only guarantee 

 for the vitality of theological beliefs is 

 perfect freedom on the part of those 

 who teach them and equal freedom on 

 the part of those who learn them. Give 

 to the individual intellect an infinite 

 outlook upon the great problems of ex- 

 istence, and a reverential acceptance of 



