THE MODEEN SKEPTIC 107 



the old Greek, " to conduct -women and the gross 

 multitude, and to render them holy, pious, and up- 

 right by the precepts of reason and philosophy ; 

 superstition or the fear of the gods must be called 

 in aid, the influence of which is founded on fiction 

 or prodigies. For the thunder of Jupiter, the aegis 

 of Minerva, the trident of Keptune, the torches and 

 snakes of the Furies, the spears of the gods adorned 

 with ivy, and the whole ancient theology are all 

 fables which the legislators who formed the political 

 constitution of states employ as bugbears to over- 

 awe the credulous and simple." 



But from the point of view of the individual, of a 

 serene, well-balanced, well-ordered life, reason is the 

 best. " Prove all things, hold fast that which is 

 good," is the voice of the cool, disinterested reason, 

 directed to the individual. And when one sets out 

 to prove all things, what guide can he have other 

 than reason ? This is " the light that lighteneth 

 every man that cometh into the world," this and 

 conscience ; but in the region of speculative opinion 

 and belief, conscience plays a very subordinate part. 

 " To reconcile theory and fact," says Cardinal New- 

 man, " is almost an instinct of the mind." It cer- 

 tainly is in our day, more so, probably, than ever 

 before. No intelligent man can now conscientiously 

 humble his reason before his faith, as good Sir 

 Thomas Browne boasted he could. He said, " Men 

 that live according to the right rule and law of 

 reason, live but in their own kind, as brutes do in 

 theirs." He said we are to believe, " not only above 



