THE proximate origin of the foregoing slight article, and probably the 

 remoter origin of the next following one, was this : Some years ago, a 

 day of prayer and humiliation, on account of a bad harvest, was ap 

 pointed by the proper religious authorities ; but certain clergymen of the 

 Church of England, doubting the wisdom of the demonstration, declined 

 to join in the services of the day. For this act of nonconformity they 

 were severely censured by some of their brethren. Rightly or wrongly, 

 my sympathies were on the side of these men ; and, to lend them a help 

 ing hand in their struggle against odds, I inserted the foregoing chapter 

 in the little book mentioned on the title-page. Some time subsequently 

 I received from a gentleman of great weight and distinction in the scien 

 tific world, and, I believe, of perfect orthodoxy in the religious one, a 

 note directing my attention to an exceedingly thoughtful article on 

 Prayer and Cholera in the Pall Mall Gazette. My eminent correspondent 

 deemed the article a fair answer to the remarks made by me in 1861. 

 I also was struck by the temper and ability of the article, but I could 

 not deem its arguments satisfactory, and, in a short note to the editor of 

 the Pall Mall Gazette, I ventured to state so much. This letter elicited 

 some very able replies, and a second leading article was also devoted to 

 the subject. In answer to all, I risked the publication of a second letter, 

 and soon afterward, by an extremely courteous note from the editor, the 

 discussion was closed. 



Though thus stopped locally, the discussion flowed in other directions. 

 Sermons were preached, essays were published, articles were written, 

 while a copious correspondence occupied the pages of some of the re 

 ligious newspapers. It gave me sincere pleasure to notice that the dis 

 cussion, save in a few cases where natural coarseness had the upper 

 hand, was conducted with a minimum of vituperation. The severity 

 shown was hardly more than sufficient to demonstrate earnestness, while 

 gentlemanly feeling was too predominant to permit that earnestness to 

 contract itself to bigotry or to clothe itself in abuse. It was probably 

 the memory of this discussion which caused another excellent friend of 

 mine to recommend to my perusal the exceedingly able work which in 

 the next article I have endeavored to review. 



