X. 



APOLOGY FOR THE BELFAST ADDRESS. 



1874. 



THE world has been frequently informed of late 

 that I have raised up against myself- a host of ene- 

 mies; and considering, with few exceptions, the deliv- 

 erances of the Press, and more particularly of the re- 

 ligious Press, I am forced to admit that the statement 

 is only too true. I derive some comfort, nevertheless, 

 from the reflection of Diogenes, transmitted to us by 

 Plutarch, that ' he who would be saved must have 

 good friends or violent enemies; and that he is best off 

 who possesses both.' This ' best ' condition, I have 

 reason to believe, is mine. 



Reflecting on the fraction I have read of recent 

 remonstrances, appeals, menaces, and judgments cov- 

 ering not only the world that now is, but that which is 

 to come I have noticed with mournful interest how 

 trivially men seem to be influenced by what they call 

 their religion, and how potently by that 'nature' which 

 it is the alleged province of religion to eradicate or 

 subdue. From fair and manly argument, from the ten- 

 derest and holiest sympathy on the part of those who 

 desire my eternal good, I pass by many gradations, 

 through deliberate unfairness, to a spirit of bitterness, 

 which desires with a fervour inexpressible in words my 

 eternal ill. Now, were religion the potent factor, we 

 might expect a homogeneous utterance from those pro- 



