98 THE DOCTRINE OF DESCENT, ETC. 



the best answer to this question. And just as these 

 "Vicars of God on earth" did, so did their subordi- 

 nates and accomplices, so, too, haveThe orthodox priests 

 of other sects done ; never failing to set the practice of 

 their own course of life in the strongest possible con- 

 trast to those noble doctrines "of Christian love which 

 were constantly on their lips. 



And as with Christianity so it is with every other 

 religious and moral doctrine which ought to have 

 proved its power in the wide domain of practical 

 philosophy, in the education of youth, in the civilisa- 

 tion of nations. The theoretic kernel of this doctrine 

 may always and everywhere stand in the most glaring 

 contradiction to its practical working-out, testifying to 

 the endless inconsistency of human nature : but what 

 can all this matter to the scientific inquirer? His 

 sole and only task is to seek for truth and to teach 

 what he has discerned to be the truth, indifferent as 

 to what consequences the various parties of state or 

 church may happen to draw from it. 



