32 Teachings of Thomas Huxley 



unless carefully watched, he will probably obey 

 these promptings and justify himself in their 

 execution. It is not to be forgotten that what 

 we call rational grounds for belief are often 

 merely the desire to obey certain instincts 

 which in themselves may be utterly irrational. 

 These are frequently due to a faulty interpre- 

 tation by the senses of the significance of per- 

 cepts which are either incapable of correction 

 or are allowed to go uncorrected. For example, 

 a superstitious man while passing a graveyard 

 on a dark night sees a white object which mem- 

 ory of something he has heara or read inter- 

 prets to him as a ghost Imagination runs 

 riot, and, courage failing, he takes to his heels, 

 feeling sure that he is pursued and can only 

 outdistance the ghost by his superior fleetness. 

 The impression is uncorrected and he remains 

 a believer in ghosts his life long, unless some 

 one can induce him to investigate and prove 

 to himself that his ghost was only a white 

 gravestone. This is a familiar example of what 

 anyone may experience, in lesser degree, per- 

 haps, each day of his life, and when a false 

 impression is incapable of correction it becomes 

 deeply rooted in experience as a false but firm 

 belief. 



MIRACLES. 



Right at this poict it seems apropos to take 



