ii.] QUALITIES. U7 



formist ; 5. Wesleyan ; 6 t Catholic ; 7. Bible 

 Christian. There is much Quaker, and even 

 some Moravian blood, but there are none who 

 have sent me returns who still profess those 

 creeds. The creeds of the parents are somewhat 

 more varied than the above, and the Unitarian 

 element is stronger. 



The religious feeling of men of science is 

 necessarily of a peculiar character. Being 

 thoughtful men, they are probably more occu- 

 pied with religious ideas than the generality 

 of people ; but, being exacting of evidence and 

 questioners of authority, they sturdily object 

 to much that others accept easily. But what is 

 " religion ? " It is one of the vaguest of words. 

 Let us try to express ourselves more clearly. 

 I think we may assume that the general ten- 

 dency of scientific men is to take a "philosophic" 

 view of life ; that is, to show some disregard of 

 the petty, transient events which chiefly absorb 

 the attention of mean minds, and to feel most 

 at peace when their thoughts are reposing on the 

 larger and more enduring aspects of the moral 

 and material world. Also, it would be easy to 



