72 THE LIGHT OF DAY 



may be defined as belief without proof in matters 

 where proof is demanded and is within reach. Faith 

 is belief without proof in matters where proof is im- 

 possible. Mankind have always been very credu- 

 lous ; credulity is easy ; we all have to fight against 

 it. But faith, as Dr. Fisher insists, is not easy ; it 

 requires a strong effort of the will. Children are 

 very credulous ; they believe whatever we tell them 

 without proof. Indeed, they do not yet know what 

 proof is. So with savage tribes, though with them 

 credulity mainly runs into superstition. Credulity 

 is the basis of superstition. When the mysterious, 

 the preternatural, is brought into matters within 

 reach of investigation, and the event or occurrence 

 is referred to anti-mundane agencies, as in the case 

 of haunted houses, etc., that is one form of super- 

 stition. 



When Professor Bryce was about to ascend Mount 

 Ararat, he was told by the people at its base that 

 the ascent was impossible ; that no human being 

 would be permitted to behold the top of the sacred 

 mountain. For all that, the plucky traveler thought 

 he would put the matter to the test. He procured 

 guides and set out. His guides failed him long be- 

 fore the summit was reached, but he pushed on 

 alone, and scaled the peak. When he returned and 

 had an interview with one of the religious dignita- 

 ries in a village near by, and his guide told the 

 priest that the Englishman had been to the top of 

 Ararat, the priest smiled loftily and said it was im- 

 possible — no man had ever been to the top of the 



