138 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



notwithstanding my mother's strong personal 

 religious bent. On the contrary, her influence 

 was quite in the direction of free inquiry, in 

 which she largely indulged herself. My school 

 religious teaching had no effect that I can per- 

 ceive, either on my intellect or imagination. Its 

 chief result was to make me detest the drudgery 

 of learning catechisms and sitting through dreary 



sermons." 



[2, 3, 6, 7, 8, are children of Unitarian 

 parents.] 



Have early abandoned creeds. 1. "At aet. 

 13, I disbelieved as thoroughly as I do now 

 in the religious creed (that of the Church of 

 England) in which I was brought up ; and 

 I had realised Berkeleyan idealism by my own 

 road." [Compare this with the reply, 2, from a 

 different correspondent in p. 130 in the section, 

 " Intellectual interest in religious topics."^ 2. 

 " None whatever ; I have long since wholly 

 rejected religious creeds." 3. "I gave up com- 

 mon religious belief almost independently from 

 my own reflection." [This quotation is repeated 



