RELIGION. 28l 



with that of all other sentient beings, and they often suffer 

 greatly without any moral improvement. This very old argu- 

 ment from the existence of suffering against the existence of 

 an intelligent First Cause seems to me a strong one ; whereas, 

 as just remarked, the presence of much suffering agrees well 

 with the view that all organic beings have been developed 

 through variation and natural selection. 



" At the present day the most usual argument for the ex- 

 istence of an intelligent God is drawn from the deep inward 

 conviction and feelings which are experienced by most persons. 



" Formerly I was led by feelings such as those just referred 

 to (although I do not think that the religious sentiment was 

 ever strongly developed in me), to the firm conviction of the 

 existence of God, and of the immortality of the soul. In my 

 Journal I wrote that whilst standing in the midst of the grand- 

 eur of a Brazilian forest, " it is not possible to give an ade- 

 quate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, admiration, and 

 devotion, which fill and elevate the mind." I well remember 

 my conviction that there is more in man than the mere breath 

 of his body. But now the grandest scenes would not cause 

 any such convictions and feelings to rise in my mind. It 

 may be truly said that I am like a man who has become 

 colour-blind, and the universal belief by men of the existence 

 of redness makes my present loss of perception of not the 

 least value as evidence. This argument would be a valid one 

 if all men of all races had the same inward conviction of the 

 existence of one God ; but we know that this is very far from 

 being the case. Therefore I cannot see that such inward 

 convictions and feelings are of any weight as evidence of what 

 really exists. The state of mind which grand scenes formerly 

 excited in me, and which was intimately connected with a 

 belief in God, did not essentially differ from that which is 

 often called the sense of sublimity ; and however difficult it 

 may be to explain the genesis of this sense, it can hardly be 

 advanced as an argument for the existence of God, any more 

 than the powerful though vague and similar feelings excited 

 by music. 



