" THE STORY OF MY HEARTS 273 



even for those who seem to have the right to 

 lead, the fact that we are born into the ideas of 

 our time, as well as into its creeds and tradi- 

 tions, is a dire obstacle to clearness of vision. 

 We are surrounded, from birth upwards, by 

 a network of ideas, many false, many con- 

 ventional, many mere prejudices. But, such 

 as they are, they tear the flesh if we try to 

 break through them ; by reason of these 

 bonds we cannot march straight, we cannot 

 see clearly. Education, reading, the litera- 

 ture, and the common talk of the day, so far 

 from helping us, seem only to raise up thicker 

 clouds about us which we cannot disperse, 

 neither can we pass through them. 



Does, then, this act of superlative courage, 

 demanded by fearless inquiry, always lead the 

 man who has achieved it towards atheism or 

 agnosticism? Not so. The history of the 

 Churches shows that there have been many 

 men who have embarked upon such an inquiry 

 honestly and boldly, and have come out of it 

 armed and strengthened with a natural religion 

 upon which they have been able to graft a 

 Christianity far deeper, stronger, arid more real 



18 



