INTRODUCTION, xxix 



more carefully or deeply, saw in all created things, 

 even in what was apparently the most insignificant, 

 evidences of the power and wisdom and goodness of 

 God, which to him were simply overwhelming. 1 And 

 the immortal Pasteur, whose recent death a whole 

 world mourns, whose exhaustive study of nature has 

 been a subject of universal comment and admiration, 

 did not hesitate towards the end of his glorious ca- 

 reer to declare, that careful and profound study in- 

 spires in one the deepest and the most childlike faith, 

 a faith like unto that of a people who are proverbial 

 for the earnestness and simplicity of their religious 

 spirit, the faith of the pious and unspoiled inhabi- 

 tants of Catholic Brittany. 2 



In one of his sublime pensfcs, Pascal, applying 

 the method of Descartes to the demonstration of 

 faith, and causing this instrument of science to con- 

 found all false science, declares that " we must be- 

 gin by showing that religion is not contrary to rea- 

 son ; then that it is venerable, to give respect for it ; 

 then to make it lovable, and to make good men hope 

 that it is true ; then to show that it is true." 3 Some- 



1 In the introduction to his " Systema Naturae," the Swedish 

 botanist writes: " Deum sempiternum, immensum, omniscientem, 

 omnipotentem, expergefactus a tergo transeuntem vidi et ob- 

 stupui. Legi aliquot ejus vestigia per creata rerum, in quibus 

 omnibus, etiam in minimis ut fere nullis, quae vis ! quanta sap- 

 ientia ! quam inextricabilis perfectio ! " 



2 '' Quand on a bien e"tudie"," the renowned savant avers, 

 " on revient a la foi du paysan breton. Si j'avais etudie plus en- 

 core, j'aurais la foi de la paysanne bretonne." 



3 " II faut commencer par montrer, que la religion n'est 

 point contraire a la raison; ensuite qu'elle est venerable, en 

 donner respect ; la rendre ensuite aimable, faire souhaiter aux 

 bons qu'elle fut vraie ; et puis, montrer qu'elle est vraie." 



