222 Instinctive Belief of CHAP. 



cannot be reasonable, because, by the terms of the 

 case, it is not based on evidence, but on the absence 

 of evidence. 



When we consider the powers of man's mind with 

 the view of forming an idea of the possibilities of 

 religious knowledge, we must observe that all know- 

 ledge of mere Nature is, for this purpose, of altogether 

 secondary not to say infinitely small importance, 

 in comparison with our knowledge of Mind. The 

 instinct which teaches us the existence of a sentient 

 and mental nature, like our own, in our fellow-men, 

 is obviously of a higher kind than the instincts which 

 teach the existence of self and of the external world. 

 Yet it is properly an instinct : it is indeed of a more 

 purely instinctive nature than those others, because 

 it contains no logical element. If any man were to 

 believe that he was the only sentient being in the 

 universe, and that all the men around him were but 

 moving masks, this would no doubt be conclusive 

 proof of insanity ; yet, unlike the belief in the 

 existence of self and of the external world, such a 

 belief would contradict no logical principle, and its 

 falsity could not be demonstrated. This instinct 

 appears to show itself in children from the earliest 

 dawn of intelligence, and it begins in the animal 

 creation ; for we cannot doubt that gregarious 

 animals understand the feelings of other animals of ' 

 their own species by instinctive sympathy, just as we 

 ourselves do. This belief, no doubt, is produced by 

 the sight of .its objects, that is to say, of other beings 



