136 THE LIGHT OF DAT 



of a logical process must reach nearly the same con- 

 clusions ; but in the region of man's moral, intellec- 

 tual, and emotional nature, — in politics, in religion, 

 in metaphysics, in taste, etc., — the field is so vast and 

 complicated, there is room for so many disturbing 

 elements to come in, such as temperament, training, 

 personal bias, family, race, imagination, sentiment, 

 the time spirit, etc., that the results of reason are as 

 various as the complexions of men. What is a con- 

 vincing reason to one man is no reason at all to an- 

 other. Men draw precisely opposite conclusions from 

 the same premises. I suppose every soul builds for 

 itself, or has built for it, a house of reason in which 

 to dwell. With some it is a very frail structure, 

 and will not bear any pressure at all ; with others 

 it is much more massive and strong ; but with none 

 is it invulnerable. Some use the material which 

 others reject ; but the great mass of us, I suppose, 

 take the houses we find already built ; we are not 

 capable of building even the rudest structure for 

 ourselves. But reasons of some sort to put round 

 about us and house us from the great inhospitable 

 out of doors we must have. Most men can give 

 plenty of reasons for their religious and political 

 beliefs. You and I may not accept them, but that 

 does not invalidate them to these particular per- 

 sons. They afibrd the shelter the mind craves, and 

 that is enough. Of course there is no final rea- 

 son in these fields, no one inevitable conclusion, as 

 in mathematics. The clearest and strongest mind 

 brings the clearest and strongest reason. In the 



