64 Remarks on the Theories of PT. n. 



pression, ' analogous to though superior to that of 

 human reason.' Now I do not wish to apply to 

 Mr. Darwin hard names, or to carry his principles 

 beyond any limits within which he himself desires 

 to confine them. I cannot, however, affix any other 

 term to these doctrines than that they contain a 

 profession of pure atheism : the words < atheism ' or 

 * atheist ' do not occur in Mr. Darwin's works, but 

 the idea seems to me to be clearly presented to the 

 mind. In the passage which I have just quoted, he 

 seems to reject altogether all belief in the agency of 

 a higher power, ' superior but analogous to ' our own 

 faculties of human reason and will ; yet it is precisely 

 this conception which can alone enable the human 

 mind to attain any idea of the nature of Grod. 



Man's faculties are limited, and however wide and 

 comprehensive may be their range, he cannot form 

 notions of which the materials are quite beyond his 

 knowledge or experience. It is only by looking 

 inwards, and forming an ideal conception of a Being 

 possessing those qualities in their highest perfection, 

 which man only possesses in a very incomplete and 

 defective degree, that we are at all enabled to realise 

 to ourselves the nature of the Almighty. It is per- 

 fectly true that the Deity may possess other attri- 



