Chapter 8 No.8

P. 331, lines 15–16.-A kind of undefined, but nevertheless potent and serviceable, religion.

The Rev. Henry Scott Jeffreys, of Sendai, contributed a paper, entitled "Some of the Native Virtues of the Japanese People," to the Japan Evangelist. The following are some, out of many, exceedingly significant admissions:-"After seven years' residence among this people, I wish to place on record my humble testimony to their native virtues. I refer to virtues that belong to the Japanese people without reference to their faith. In this connection it may be said that perhaps the most remarkable part is their devotion to ethics alone, utterly divorced from religion. They love virtue for its own sake, and not from fear of punishment or hope of reward.... They have eliminated from their system of ethics not only heaven and hell, but God also.... To be sure, there are religions (so-called), both native and foreign; but they have little effect upon the popular conscience.... The conversion of this people to the Christian faith is a most complex and perplexing problem; not because they are so bad, but because they are so good."

P. 334, lines 29–31.-Crime and bad lives will be the measure of a State's failure.

It is customary to scout the idea of State control as the panacea for social evils. One is warned against grandmotherly legislation, interference with the liberty of the private individual, etc. I may be permitted, therefore, to give an illustration of its beneficial effect. The Gothenburg system, by which the liquor traffic is judiciously controlled, has, in spite of all opposition, fought its way victoriously, and is now adopted, although partly modified, in most towns in Sweden, and also in Norway and Finland. Thus the evil effects of drink have been considerably mitigated; intemperance, pauperism, and vice have been reduced. Would not legislation of this nature for the removal of England's greatest curse be far better than half-hearted measures that are palliative rather than remedial? Now that the Church has taken up the temperance cause, could she not bring her great influence to bear towards the introduction of some such system, pitting herself against vested interests? Remarkable work is being carried on by the Danish temperance societies on the basis of allowing their members to regard beer of low alcoholic strength as a temperance beverage. Australia has been watching New Zealand in the matter of drink reform, and the Government of New South Wales, at any rate, has found it necessary to fulfil pledges given at the last general election, with the result that, among a certain class, there is an immense diminution in the temptation to drink. Where the nature of the case demands it, more drastic remedies must be applied. Thus Belgium has forbidden the very presence of absinthe within her borders, and in Switzerland-in some of the cantons, at all events-the authorities have made up their minds to prohibit the manufacture and sale of absinthe. Even in China an edict has now been promulgated for the abolition of the use of opium, and an anti-opium movement is spreading which bids fair to embarrass the interested abettor of the vice-a Christian Government.

In their volume, The Making of the Criminal (Macmillan & Co.), Messrs. C. E. B. Russell and L. M. Rigby confirm the now generally accepted view that it is, as a rule, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one that the habitual criminal is made, and show that juvenile crime is a product of the wretched economic, social, and family condition in which so many unhappy children are born and have to live. The criminal is also recruited, as Dr. W. D. Morrison points out (in a review of their book appearing in the Tribune, December 12th, 1906), from those whose home and social antecedents may be good enough, but who are themselves either mentally or physically below the average of the general community, and who, therefore, when times are bad, drift insensibly into crime. When to all this unfavourable environment we add an unfavourable heredity, we get a conjunction of circumstances against which it is quite impossible for the unfortunate to contend, even though he be aided by the "gift of freewill" and by all the intercessory prayers of the Churches. The Borstal system and other remedies recommended in The Making of the Criminal are excellent in their way, but can be regarded only as palliatives. They deal with the criminal after he has been made. What is wanted is, to quote Dr. Morrison, "a wise and progressive statesmanship which will cut off crime at its roots-a statesmanship which will devote itself with care and foresight to ameliorating the whole material and moral conditions of existence of the workman, the woman, and the child." And this statesmanship will take an enlightened view of the population question, recognising that it is in the diminution of the struggle for existence, not in the rise of the birth-rate, that the material and moral condition of the people can be ameliorated.

P. 336, note.-Psychical research will lead to the discovery of a complete and scientific method for the toughening of our moral fibres.

A quarter of a century ago Proctor remarked (see pp. 203–4 of his essays, Rough Ways Made Smooth) that the phenomena of hypnotism "promise to afford valuable means of curing certain ailments, and of influencing in useful ways certain powers and functions of the body." He recognised "possibilities which, duly developed, might be found of extreme value to the human race." Since these words were uttered this branch of science has not stood still, and there seems every prospect that his prophecy will be fulfilled in the near future. There are now cliniques for hypnotic treatment in France (Dr. Bérillon's in Paris, for example), Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, and America. "The commencement of the present revival of hypnotism in England, from its medical side, was apparently due to Dr. Lloyd Tuckey, who happened to be in the neighbourhood of Nancy in August, 1888, and visited Liébeault out of curiosity" (see p. 35 of Dr. Milne Bramwell's Hypnotism: Its History, Practice, and Theory [Alexander Moring, Hanover Square, London; 2nd ed., 1906]).

The following are some of the facts about the matter which should be clearly understood and widely made known:-

(1) "The object of all hypnotic treatment ought to be the development of the patient's control of his own organism" (see p. 436 of Hypnotism: Its History, Practice, and Theory).

(2) The hypnotic control may be obtained without any effort on the part of the operator, the effort formerly supposed to be required being purely imaginary, and the hypnotic state being, in fact, obtained without any operation whatever. Indeed, it has now been found that for curative purposes the "suggestion" may be conveyed without throwing the patient into the hypnotic condition, and that anyone not absolutely an idiot or insane may be amenable to the treatment.

(3) "Both 'Scientist' [the author is speaking of Christian Scientists] and Suggestionist also use the same method for creating belief-namely, Assertion.... Assertions are not made clumsily, ignorantly, and at random, as assertions are in our daily intercourse, but are made skilfully, with a purpose, and with a knowledge of the effects they will produce" (see p. 9 of the late Richard Harte's The New Psychology; or, The Secret of Happiness [Fowler & Co., London and New York]). Is this one of the reasons why the believer is able to continue a believer in spite of all disproof? Certainly he is constantly repeating assertions, and sometimes these must get through to his subliminal consciousness-his subjective mind.

(4) Auto-suggestion. The suggestion should be made when you are composing yourself to sleep. Dr. Bramwell tells me that the best time is on first waking in the morning, before dozing off again.

(5) "Many cases of functional nervous disorder have recovered under hypnotic treatment after the continued failure of other methods.... Further, the diseases which frequently respond to hypnotic treatment are often those in which drugs are of little or no avail. For example, what medicine would one prescribe for a man who, in the midst of mental and physical health, had suddenly become the prey of an obsession?" (see p. 435 of Hypnotism: Its History, Practice, and Theory).

(6) "The volition is increased and the moral standard raised" (see p. 437 of Hypnotism, etc.). "Experience proves that 'principles' instilled into anyone while in the hypnotic condition become irrevocably [?] fixed in the mind" (p. 3 of Richard Harte's Hypnotism and the Doctors). Thus degenerates, dipsomaniacs, morphinomaniacs, kleptomaniacs, sexual perverts, and other unfortunates, may be reclaimed.

(7) "'Suggestion' is of universal application, and of incalculable power for good in almost every department of human life.... The three principal ways in which suggestion (which has been called 'the active principle' of hypnotism) affects human beings beneficially, in addition to curing diseases, are: By facilitating education; by preventing crime, and reforming the criminal; and by raising the general standard of manliness-of courage, of independence of character, and of respect for self and others" (ibid, pp. 2–4).

Note.-"The Medical Society for the Study of Suggestive Therapeutics" was constituted at the close of 1906. Let us hope that it will soon rival the flourishing French Société d'Hypnotisme et de Psychologie.

P. 337, lines 5–6.-It is the quality, not the quantity, of our children that we have to keep to the forefront.

"This is the great problem in a nutshell: to improve the quality and diminish the quantity of mankind-that is, in proportion to the means of securing for each a truly human life." "Is not the quality rather than the quantity of children the thing to be aimed at?" (Mona Caird and Lady Grove on "The Position of Women," see pp. 118 and 128 of the Fortnightly Review for July, 1905). Besides, "if we continued to maintain the high birth-rate of the mid-Victorian epoch, it is certain that, in the course of a few generations, there would be no elbow-room left in our little islands. Already, indeed, Great Britain is, from many points of view, over-populated. If all the people who are now crowded together in the slums of our great towns were scattered over the country, there would be practically no country left. England would have become a vast suburb. That is not an ideal to which any patriotic Englishman would care to look forward. Space and quiet are essential for the development of some of the best qualities of human beings, and those persons who too hastily regret a decline in the birth-rate must explain how they propose to reconcile these essentials with an unlimited increase of our present population" (The Daily Graphic, August 7th, 1905, art. "A Declining Birth-rate").

Over-population spells strife, squalor, vice, crime-misery. Dr. Barnardos and "General" Booths may get over the "unemployed" difficulty by schemes for emigration to Canada and elsewhere; but this is, at best, only a very temporary remedy. As it is, thousands of white men are living and dying in climates for which they are unadapted; while in some cases-in certain portions of Africa, for example-they are ousting and making life a burthen to the races that are adapted. We have only to look far enough ahead to discover that the time must come when the world would so teem with human-kind that even a Bishop of London or a President Roosevelt would have to cry "Hold! Enough!"

At the present moment this problem presses for a very early solution in India. For many months in the year, as I have again and again seen with my own eyes, masses of the agricultural population are entirely without employment. Hence the constantly recurring famines, or partial famines, in years of bad or indifferent rainfall. The population problem, being intimately connected with many another problem, is one of the utmost gravity; but, so long as men hold that to increase and multiply is the command of God and a duty we owe to the State, it will never be rightly, never be sensibly, solved. P.S.-Millions are starving in China now (February, 1907).

P. 345, line 3.-The Moral Instruction League.

The object of the Moral Instruction League (19, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.) is to introduce systematic non-theological moral instruction into all schools, and to make the formation of character the chief aim of school life. Their contention is-and it seems a wise one-that ethical principles on which we all agree should not be associated in the schools of the State with theological principles on which we all differ. Already certain education authorities are providing for systematic moral instruction of a purely secular nature. In the West Riding scheme it is expressly stated that it is to be "part of the secular instruction," while the Cheshire scheme emphatically lays down that the moral instruction must be non-theological. The authorities of Groton, Blackpool, Norwich, York, and elsewhere, have supplied all the teachers of their schools with copies of the Moral Instruction League's Graduated Syllabus of Moral Instruction for Elementary Schools. The West Riding Education Authority has adopted the Syllabus, and it is now in use in the 1,270 schools, Provided and Non-Provided, of that authority. In addition to these, numerous education authorities have decided to make provision for moral instruction a part of the secular instruction in their schools.

So much that is untrue has been said about the results of a purely secular education by its strenuous opponents that it is high time for the real truth to be known. This my readers will find in Mr. Joseph McCabe's tractate, The Truth About Secular Education: Its History and Results (Watts & Co., 1906, paper covers, 6d.).

Among some excellent works intended to assist parents and teachers in the non-theological character-training of children, I may mention F. J. Gould's The Children's Book of Moral Lessons, in three series (Watts & Co.), Hackwood's Notes of Lessons on Moral Subjects, Alice Chesterton's The Garden of Childhood (Sonnenschein), Dr. Felix Adler's The Moral Instruction of Children (Edward Arnold), the Moral Instruction League and also the Leicester Syllabus, and A. J. Waldegrave's A Teacher's Handbook of Moral Lessons (Sonnenschein). Dr. F. H. Hayward's Secret of Herbart, a powerful appeal to the teacher on the scope and urgency of his moral mission, is now re-issued at 6d. (Watts). The translation of Dr. F. W. F?rster's Lebenskunde, a book replete with illustrative matter for the teacher, has been undertaken by the Moral Instruction League. Mr. W. M. Salter's essay, "Why Live a Moral Life?" is of exceptional merit. This and other ethical essays may be obtained from the Secretary of the Union of Ethical Societies, 19, Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C.; price one penny each. One of the most important contributions to ethical sociology that has appeared for many years is a work in two vols. entitled Morals in Evolution (Chapman & Hall; 1906), by Mr. L. T. Hobhouse. I venture to predict that it will ere long be recognised as the standard work on the subject. Mr. Hobhouse, it should be noted, never wavers in his assertion of the supremacy of ethics over all phases of religion.

P. 350, line 15.-The practices of the Latin and Greek Churches.

Diaries recounting the sights seen by a lord of high degree in 1465 were published in 1851 by the Literary Society of Stuttgart. They include an interesting account of all the shrines and relics seen during his travels through Western Europe. The account of the relics which he saw in our own Canterbury Cathedral admits of no curtailment: "First we saw the head-band of the Blessed Virgin, a piece of Christ's garment, and three thorns from His Crown; then we saw the bedstead of St. Thomas and his brain, and the blood of St. Thomas and of St. John the Apostles. We saw also the sword with which St. Thomas of Canterbury was beheaded; the hair of the Mother of God, and a part of the Sepulchre. There was also shown to us a part of the shoulder of the Blessed Simeon, who bore Christ in his arms; the head of the blessed Lustrabena; one leg of St. George; a piece of the body and the bones of St. Lawrence; a leg of the Bishop of St. Romanus; a cup of St. Thomas, which he had been accustomed to use in administering the Sacrament at Canterbury; a leg of the Virgin Milda; a leg of the Virgin Eduarda. We also saw a tooth and a finger of St. Stephen the Martyr; bones of the Virgin Catherine, and oil from her sepulchre, which is said to flow to this day; hair of the blessed Virgin [sic!] Magdalene; a tooth of St. Benedict; a finger of St. Urban; the lips of one of the infants slain by Herod; bones of the blessed Clement; bones of St. Vincent. Very many other things were also shown to us, which are not set down by me in this place." Very many other things have also been shown to me during my travels abroad (from St. Anne de Beaupré in Quebec to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem) which are not set down by me in this place, and I may say that the grotesqueness of the frauds that are perpetrated is only equalled by the gross ignorance and credulity of the worshippers. The number of these "relics" scattered over Christendom must amount to thousands upon thousands. To stop the traffic in them, there is now a regulation that if you buy a relic you commit mortal sin. The relics are still sold, however; only the price is said to be for the frame or for the trouble, or something to that effect. For a description of La Bottega del Papa (the Pope's shop) or La Santa Bottega (the Holy Shop) see Dr. Robertson's book, The Roman Catholic Church in Italy. Regarding the early Church, see Bible Myths, pp. 434–40.

P. 359, lines 7–10.-Some of our greatest divines ... condemn obscurantism and the odium theologicum.

We have a striking example of this in Dean Farrar's tractate, The Bible and the Child (James Clarke & Co., 1897). The passage runs as follows: "There are a certain number of persons who, when their minds have become stereotyped in foregone conclusions, are simply incapable of grasping new truths. They become obstructionists, and not infrequently bigoted obstructionists. As convinced as the Pope of their own personal infallibility, their attitude towards those who see that the old views are no longer tenable is an attitude of anger and alarm. This is the usual temper of the odium theologicum. It would, if it could, grasp the thumbscrew and the rack of medi?val Inquisitors, and would, in the last resource, hand over all opponents to the scaffold or the stake. Those whose intellects have been thus petrified by custom and advancing years are, of all others, the most hopeless to deal with. They have made themselves incapable of fair and rational examination of the truths which they impugn. They think they can, by mere assertion, overthrow results arrived at by the life-long inquiries of the ablest student, while they have not given a day's serious or impartial study to them. They fancy that even the ignorant, if only they be what is called orthodox, are justified in strong denunciation of men quite as truthful, and often incomparably more able than themselves. Off-hand dogmatists of this stamp, who usually abound among professional religionists, think that they can refute any number of scholars, however profound and however pious, if only they shout 'Infidel' with sufficient loudness."

P. 367, lines 21–2.-Did not slavery flourish side by side with the Christian Church?

Serfdom in England was fully extinguished only in 1600, and the Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies was passed only in 1833. For eighteen long centuries Christianity countenanced the atrocious inhumanities of the slave trade. The very irons used by the native chiefs for shackling the prisoners when handing them over to the Christian traders were made in Birmingham, and the greatest horrors of slavery have been exhibited only under the rule of the Christian slave-owner. We can form some idea of the inhumanity then displayed from the treatment of the coloured races by the white man in Africa to-day. Read, for instance, the accounts of the Congo atrocities, or of the German Colonial scandals. Read, again, some home-truths about our own Colonies in Labour and other Questions in South Africa, by Medicus (T. Fisher Unwin, 1903). The white man has indeed a burden to bear-the burden of his own iniquity. Regarding negro slavery, Dr. Westermarck clearly shows (in his work, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas) that "this system of slavery, which, at least in the British Colonies and the slave States, surpassed in cruelty the slavery of any pagan country, ancient or modern, was not only recognised by Christian Governments, but was supported by the large bulk of the clergy, Catholic and Protestant alike."

P. 368, lines 25–8.-The Christian Church has been more cruel and shed more human blood than any other Church or institution in the world. Let the Jew bear witness among the crowd of victims.

History is repeating itself to-day, and my previous allusions to the present situation in Russia are all too brief. I would ask my readers kindly to put to themselves the following crucial questions: To what party do the religious bigots and their partisans belong? Is it not to the reactionary party, the party that sets its face against reform? On what do the reactionaries chiefly rely for the retention of their hold upon the bulk of the people? Is it not on a peasantry wallowing in ignorance and steeped in superstition? What are the actual instruments employed for maintaining their power? Do they not consist of corrupt officials and cruel Cossacks? Who are responsible for shameless acts of persecution, and, indeed, very largely for all the bloodshed, strife, and anarchy? Is it not the orthodox Church and her supporters? Is it too much to say, with the Rev. J. Lawson-Forster, that "the Russian Church has become the tool of murderers"? (Mr. Lawson-Forster expressed himself in these words when presiding at the great public meeting held at the Brondesbury Synagogue to protest against the recent outrages in Russia.) To what party do the Freethinkers belong? Are they not all, everyone of them, adherents of the party desirous of reform and of religious toleration? With regard to religious persecution generally, Christians might study with advantage Buckle's History of Civilisation in England, or Lecky's History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, or C. T. Gorham's Faith: Its Freaks and Follies (Rationalist Press Association), or the latest work on the subject, Religious Persecution, by E. S. P. Haynes (Duckworth; a revised edition has now been issued by the R. P. A. at 6d.). Few realise that the favourite method for overcoming the scruples of the heretic-torture-was used in England so late as 1640.

Pp. 371–2, lines 31 and 1–3.-History, viewed as a whole, is nothing but a succession of struggles for existence among rival nations.

If Major Murray had stopped short at offering us a somewhat highly coloured picture of the past and present conditions ruling among Christian nations, and at inculcating the necessity of our being in readiness to face the inevitable, few of us would be found to quarrel, in the main, with his conclusions. But when he tells us that "Peace never has been, and never will be [italics are mine], as long as the passions of mankind endure, more than a lull between the storms of war," then the better-informed and peace-loving Rationalist will beg to differ with him. He feels that this gospel of universal hatred is being carried too far. Never is a very long time. Major Murray says: "No great nation will ever submit to arbitration any interest that it regards as absolutely vital." Did not our British forefathers think, and with more reason, that "men of honour" could settle their disputes only by the duel? May we not trust that the decisions of learned and unbiassed judges will be equitable, and therefore that their acceptance will redound to the honour of the great nations concerned?

Natural selection, or, as we have elsewhere called it, natural murder, ceased to have full power over men on the day that man commenced to control his environment. Since then he has been constantly engaged in making nature do some work for him, in altering the environment in which he finds himself instead of letting it alter him. Now that he is equipped, better than ever before in his history, for this task, now that he has learnt more of the secrets of Nature-of her crude and cruel processes-is he going to acquiesce tamely, and make no use of his knowledge? Now the nature of the malady has been diagnosed, and now the proper remedies have been discovered, will he not set about the cure? Is the struggle for existence, with all its attendant horrors, to be perpetuated? Does the end-the survival of the fittest-justify the means-over-production and murder? Cannot the same and better results be attained by a process less crude, less cruel? Nature procures adaptation to existing environment by methods fraught with untold suffering for the sentient, and the obvious course is for man to reverse the process, bringing the environment into harmony with his existing constitution. Of a truth, nature is, as Major Murray reminds us, red in tooth and claw; but science is both able and willing to tame the shrew.

P. 374, lines 15–19.-The "Lord mighty in battle" is expected to take interest in bloodshed ... to fight for his people.

A parody appearing in an evening paper on November 29th, 1901, conveys a wholesome lesson on this subject. "Lest we forget," I quote it at length:-

PROCESSIONAL.

Lord God of Battles, whom we seek

On clouds and tempests throned afar,

When tired of being tamely weak,

We Maffick into deadly war;

If it should chance to be a sin,

At least enable us to win.

Give to the Churches faith to pray

For what they know they shouldn't ask,

And such abounding grace that they

May cheerfully perform the task;

Wave flags and loyally discount

That fatal Sermon on the Mount.

Give to the people strength to be

Convinced all happens for the best,

To see the thing they wish to see,

And prudently ignore the rest;

So priest and people shall combine

To gain their ends, and call them Thine.

P. 374, lines 23–4.-Its [Christianity's] impotency to carry out this, one of its chief missions.

"In no field of its work," exclaims Mr. Andrew Carnegie, "does the Christian Church throughout the whole world-with outstanding individual exceptions-so conspicuously fail as in its attitude to war. Its silence when outspoken speech might avert war, its silence during war's sway, its failure during days of peace to proclaim the true Christian doctrines regarding the killing of men, give point to the recent arraignment of the Prime Minister, who declared that the Church to-day busied itself with questions [e.g., of vestments and candles] which did not weigh even as dust in the balance compared with the vital problems with which it was called upon to deal." (See reports of the ceremony at which Mr. Carnegie was installed as Rector of St. Andrew's University.)

P. 374, lines 24–5.-Religion being frequently the actual occasion of, the strife.

From the Crusades to the Crimea, religion has continually been either directly or indirectly the cause of war. Protestants, who may be ready to excuse the wars undertaken to drive the infidels from the "Holy Land," will do well to remember that Pope Innocent III., besides proclaiming the fifth of these crusades, proclaimed also the infamous crusade against the Albigenses (who opposed the corruptions of the Church of Rome), when Simon de Montfort and the Pope's legate, at the head of half a million of men, put to the sword friend and foe, men and women, saying, "God will find his own." In the case of that mischievous and unnecessary blunder, the Crimean War, the great masses of the Russian people saw but a spirited defence of the Cross against the Crescent, wherein, from their point of view, the infidel was being supported by renegade Christians. It was an appeal to the religious emotions of the Russian peasants-an insincere appeal, as history has discovered-that lent to the last Russo-Turkish war a fictitious popularity.

P. 375, lines 6–7.-Every Rationalist, every Freethinker, is an honest advocate of peace.

Note these lines by an eminent divine and great dignitary of the Church, Archbishop Alexander, of Armagh:-

And when I know how noble natures form under the red rain of war, I deem it true

That He who made the earthquakes and the storm perchance made battle too.

And these by the gentle Wordsworth, the poet of sweet simplicity:-

But Thy most dreaded instrument

In working out a pure intent

Is man-array'd for mutual slaughter;

Yea, Carnage is Thy daughter!

And compare: "The very ideas and efforts which have led men to struggle against the Papal Church are exactly those which are exorcising the demon of militarism from the soul of France" (Contemporary Review for January, 1905, art. "France and Rome"). Or again the following, reported in the daily papers: "A petition to stop the war between Russia and Japan owes its inception to Signor Carlo Romissi, Deputy and editor of the Secolo of Milan. The petition has penetrated into every workshop, household, and school, and roused the people to a passionate desire for peace, not only between the belligerents in the Far East, but between all nations." The Secolo is the most widely-read Freethought paper in Italy.

Though it may be a long time before our efforts are rewarded, is that any reason for not making a commencement in the right direction? Let me give an instance. The effort now being made to popularise the international language "Esperanto" is one such commencement. Could not the Church spare a little of her military ardour (exhibited in the arm-chair and pulpit) for supporting peaceful projects of this nature? This one, at any rate, among the many to be found on the Rationalist programme, is not contrary to her teaching; but I have not as yet heard of any ecclesiastical support to a scheme that will undoubtedly conduce to a better acquaintance between the peoples of different nationalities. It is Rationalist and liberal-minded philanthropists (Mr. W. T. Stead, e.g.) who are at present chiefly interested in the movement.

During the Boer War one was continually hearing declamations from the pulpit to the effect that war is a necessary evil. For instance, the late Bishop of Calcutta, Dr. Welldon, actually advocated war on the ground that it was a means of keeping a nation virile. Has the Boer War made us more virile? Whatever Imperial necessity there may have been for it, owing to blunders in the past and the existing condition of affairs, the certain effects of it, so far as we can see, have been the untimely destruction of some of the flower of our race, sorrow spread throughout the length and breadth of the land by many bereavements, the burden of a great debt, and the unemployed question rendered more acute than ever.

"The brotherhood of man is a long way off-it may never be reached; but as an ideal it is better worth having than that of half-a-dozen sullen empires, trading only within their own boundaries, and shut up behind high tariff walls over which they peer suspiciously, scanning one another's exports and imports with jealous eyes, and making from time to time fawning alliances with one rival, while harbouring enmity with another, maintaining millions of men under arms and spending millions of pounds in armaments, and all the time waiting, waiting, waiting for an affrighted sun to rise upon the day of Armageddon.... But nobler things lie before us and a brighter dawn." (See Mr. Birrell's article, "Patriotism and Christianity," in the Contemporary Review for February, 1905.)

* * *

1

To those willing to be instructed I suggest a perusal of Doane's Bible Myths and their Parallels in Other Religions (New York: The Commonwealth Company), where they will find some intensely interesting information which has been laboriously gathered from innumerable volumes, ancient and modern. The few inaccuracies occurring in it are of a trivial nature; besides, as the author invariably quotes his authorities, his statements can be verified and the trustworthiness of his authority for them ascertained. I may add that I found this work of considerable assistance at the commencement of my study of Comparative Mythology.

INDEX

A

Abbott, Dr. E. A., on the Gospels, 86–8;

on pain, 238

Acts, The, criticisms regarding, 89

Adonis, 133

?sculapius, 131–2

Agnostic Annual, The, cited, 340–3, 362, 366–7

Albigenses, 407

Alexander of Armagh, Archbishop, on war, 407

Allen, Grant, cited, 149–51, 390

Allin, Rev. T., "larger hope," 36

America, 4;

the religions of ancient, 144–7;

northern tribes, 303–4

Apocryphal Gospels, 135, 138

Apollo, 127–9

Apollonius of Tyana, 132

Apologetics, 29–36, 41–70, 71–6, 90–113, 115–21, 128–9, 156–7, 158–61, 175–96, 208–18, 220–65, 273–314, 318–23, 349–51, 357, 367, 370–1, 381, 382–4, 386–9, 391–3, 395–8, 404, 407–8

Argentine, The, 4

Aristotle, 267;

on happiness, 325–6

Armitage, Professor E., cited, 220

Arnold, Sir Edwin, cited, 188, 232

Arnold, Matthew, cited, 286–7;

definition of religion, 376

Ascension, The, 65–8, 99

Asoka, King, edicts of, 274

Athanasian Creed, 35, 101, 369, 381

Auto-suggestion, 258, 336 note, 401

Avebury, Lord, cited, 303

B

Bab, The martyrdoms, 297;

mythical version, 380

Bacchus, 127, 130, 131, 133

Balfour, A. J., his philosophical works, 34

Barnardo, The late Dr., 402

Barnes, Dr. W. E., on the Athanasian Creed, 35

Barry, Dr. W., on Renan, 23 note

Bayley, Dr., in his work Verbal Inspiration, 101

Beal, S., in his work The Romantic History of Buddha, 138, 387, 389–90

Behring, Professor, cited, 202 note

Belgium, 4, 399

Benn, A. W., cited, 346, 383, 385

Besant, Sir Walter, cited, 278

Bethesda, Pool of, 47

Bible criticism, 71–114;

a summary of, 76–90

Birmingham, Bishop of, cited, 156.

(See also Gore, Dr.)

Birrell, the Right Hon. Augustine, on Patriotism and Christianity, 374, 408

Blatchford, Robert, his attack upon religion, 10, 26;

in God and My Neighbour, 182–3, 209–10

Bonwick, James, cited, 130

Booth, "General," 402

Brath, Stanley de, cited, 337

Brinton, Dr. Daniel, cited, 133–4

Bruce, The late Rev. A. B., on Jesus, 84

Büchner, Ludwig, "Why Lead a Moral Life?" 342

Buckle, cited, 369

Buddha, remarkable parallels, 123–6;

"Christian accretions?" 136–140, 389–90;

birth, 387;

Buddhism, 277, 292, 313, 315, 344

Budge, Dr. Wallis, cited, 135, 295, 386

Bunsen, in his work The Angel Messiah, 139, 387

Butler, Bishop, in Analogy of Religion, 375

Butler, Slade, cited, 389

C

Caird, Mona, cited, 401

Calcutta, Late Bishop of, cited, 408

Callaway, Dr., cited, 134

Campbell, Rev. R. J., "New Theology," 395

Canterbury, Archbishop of, on rational thought, Preface; cited, 263

Canterbury, Dean of, on the Old Testament, 101;

cited, 319.

(See also Wace, Dean.)

Carlisle, Bishop of, on the need for an examination of evidences, 16–7.

(See also Diggle, Bishop.)

Carlyle, his opinions regarding historical Christianity, 23

Carnegie, Andrew, on the Christian Church, 407

Cecil, Lord Hugh, on the decay of the Faith, 2

Chaffee, General, on the intelligent Chinaman, 309 note 2

Chaillu, Du, on eating the god, 151

Chet Ram, 397

Cheyne, Canon, on Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, 78;

on the prophets, 81–2;

on Messianic beliefs, 82;

his appeal to Churchmen and scholars, 90;

on Oriental influences, 162

China, 307–11, 399

Christian Commonwealth, The, cited, 53–4

Christian scientists, 258 note 1, 389, 400

Christianity, the power for good of, 273–85;

the danger attending the overthrow of, 286–90;

the spread of, 290–96, 397–98

Christmas, remarks on the date of, 390–1

Church-goers, percentage of, 14

Church Times, The, cited, 72–4, 75–6, 109, 118–21, 211–2, 213 note

Clairvaux, Bernard of, on the immaculate conception, 69

Clarion, The, cited, 10, 39

Clarke, Dr. Samuel, in Truth and Certainty of Christian Revelation, 379

Clémenceau, G., the champion of truth, 288

Clodd, Edward, cited, 180–1, 393;

"Why Lead a Moral Life?" 343;

his diagram of development, 394

Cobden, on the attitude of the clergy, 275

Colenso, Bishop, on the Pentateuch, 351

Comte, Auguste, 7, 269, 362

Conclusions, Final, 322–3, 375–8

Confucianism, 38, 134, 308–11, 332

Confucius, birth of, 129

Conscience, 243–7

Constantine, Emperor, 291–4

Conte, Professor le, cited, 377

Contemporary Review, The, cited, 220, 374, 407, 408

Contentio Veritatis, 44–5

Conversion, 251–7

Conway, Dr. Moncure, 39;

on spiritualism, 384

Copernicus, 379

Cox, Rev. Sir G. W., cited, 133, 141

Cox, Rev. Samuel, on miracles, 51 note

Crantock, Vicar of, on the inferiority of woman, 283

Creation, Bible story of the, a myth, 71, 95–6;

irreconcilable with science, 188–97

Criminality, 333–5, 399–400

Cross, The, 133–4, 136, 146, 165, 389, 392

Cumont, Professor Franz, in Les Mystères de Mithra, 392

Cuvier, 393–4

Cyanic theory, 377

D

Daily Graphic, The, cited, 391, 401–2

Daily Telegraph, The, "Do We Believe?" 3; cited, 322 note, 391

Daniel, 81–2

Daruma, Wa, 260

Darwin, Charles, in The Descent of Man, 170, 174–5, 198–9, 203, 206–8, 228;

on natural selection, 172–3, 393;

on sexual selection, 393;

in The Origin of Species, 180; cited, 209;

belief in a deity not universal, 302–3;

autobiography, 311–12

Darwinism, 171–3

David, 81

Davids, Prof. Rhys, cited, 139–40, 387, 388

Dead, Book of the, 134

Deluge, The, 78, 95

Denmark, 4, 399

Deuteronomy, its nature, 80–1

Devil-possession, 56–7, 383

Dickinson, Lowes, on conversions, 61

Diggle, Bishop, cited, 16–7, 299, 350

Driver, Dr., in his book on Genesis, 75–6

E

Earth, The antiquity of, 379

Easter, remarks on the date of, 390–1

Ecuador, 4

Eliot, George, cited, 364

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 14, 39

Encyclo. Bib., 30; cited, 75, 162, 390;

contributors, 384–5;

notes from, 77–90

Encyclo. Brit., on Buddhism, 123 note;

on mythology, 157;

cited, 234, 246, 395

Esperanto, 408

Essenism, argument from, 162–3

Ethical societies, 336

Eucharist, The Holy, parallels, 119, 143, 145–53, 165, 168, 390, 392;

explanation of origin, 151–4

Eusebius, cited, 104, 162, 293

Evil, man not responsible, 235–40;

man responsible (?), 240–3

Evolution, the doctrine of, 169–73;

average person's ideas on, 173–5;

attitude of the Church, 175–80;

cruelty of the process, 180–8;

proofs of our origin, 197–208;

clashes with the Christian dogmas, 188–97, 208–18

Exodus, legendary, 78

Experience, Religious, 251–64

F

Fall, The, denial of, 73, 75–6, 88;

an allegory, 95;

overthrow of the doctrine of, 208–18

Farrar, Dean, concerning Josephus, 103;

on Christian accretions, 134–5;

on miracles, 383;

Jesus' birth in a cave, 386;

in The Bible and the Child, 404

Fasts, parallels, 130–1

Fathers, The Church, 88, 166, 284

Fielding, H., cited, Preface, 14 note, 361–2

First Cause, the existence of a, 221–2;

an Intelligence, 223–30;

a Beneficent Intelligence, 230–51, 264–5

Five thousand, Feeding of the, 49, 383

Flint, Dr. Robert, cited, 184–5, 222, 226, 228–9, 234, 236–7, 240, 242, 292, 298, 301–2

Fohi, the sage, 126–7

Fo-pen-Hing, 390

Forlong, General, cited, 138

Fortnightly Review, The, cited, 247, 304, 401

France, 4, 8, 407

Frauds, Pious, 92, 108, 161, 166, 403–4

Frazer, Dr. J. G., cited, 117, 147, 149–50, 151, 153, 304, 305–6

Freewill, 247–51

Friga, The goddess, 128

Froude on the Reformation, 8

Fuegians, Magic among the, 304–5

G

Galilee, The Sea of, 111

Genesis, legendary, 75, 78, 95, 178, 188–97, 349

Gerard, Father, on the gravity of the situation, 3;

on The Riddle of the Universe, 381

Germany, 4, 269, 271

Germany, Emperor of, cited, 235, 371;

alluded to, 375 note 2

Gibbon, on the prodigy of the darkness, etc., 104;

cited, 292–3, 369

Gibbon, Rev. J. Morgan, 24;

cited, 381

Gladstone, W. E., on slavery, 39–40;

on Genesis, 178, 189–95

Gloucester, The late Bishop of, on the "Higher Criticism," 100;

on evolution, 175–6

God, a personal, 230–2;

Theistic arguments examined, 219–72;

an unknown God, 376

Godet, on miracles, 49–50

Gore, Dr. (formerly Bishop of Worcester), on the Fall, 213–16.

(See also Birmingham, Bishop of.)

Gospels, The, criticisms regarding, 82–9, 97–100, 101.

(See also Bible Criticism.)

Gothenburg, remarks on the Gothenburg system, 399

Goulburn, Dean, 30

Gould, F. J., "Why Lead a Moral Life?" 341–2;

his books of moral lessons, 403

Grove, Lady, 401

H

Haddon, A. C., cited, 306

Haeckel, cited, 170–1, 201, 204, 206–7, 377, 393;

The Riddle of the Universe, 381

Hammurabi Code, The, 80;

account of, by Chilperic Edwards, 385

Harnack, Dr., 87 note;

in his book What is Christianity?, 68–9, 91–2

Harris, Rev. Charles, in his work Pro Fide, 238, 265

Harte, Richard, cited, 395, 400–1

Hartmann, cited, 211

Hastings's Dictionary, 385

Hearn, Lafcadio, in Kokoro, 329

Hegel, 271–2

Henslow, Professor George, on directivity, 225;

on natural selection, 392

Henson, Canon, on the Resurrection, 63;

cited, 94, 286, 369

Hercules, 127, 129

Hibbert Journal, The, cited, 19 and note, 63, 78, 93;

the editor questions the moral supremacy of Christendom, 332–3;

cited, 376

Higgins, Godfrey, cited, 155, 389

Hindoos, 13, 64–5, 152, 220, 255, 256, 257, 289–90, 356, 384.

(For parallels in their sacred books, see Krishna.)

Historians, The silence of, 102–5, 111

Hobhouse, L. T., his work Morals in Evolution, 403

Holland, 4

Holland, Canon Scott, on the Agnostic, 25, 367, 380–1

Holyoake, George Jacob, 282, 356

Horton, Dr., on the surrender of the old ideal, 2–3;

on miracles, 53–4

Horus, 107, 127, 130, 131, 132, 295, 388

Hoste, Rev. D. E., on devil possession, 383

Huitzilopochtli, 144

Humboldt, Alexander von, cited, 134

Hume, on Philosophy, 271

Huxley, Professor, on miracles, 41–2;

on visions, 59;

on the slow progress of pal?ontology, 171;

reply to Mr. Gladstone, 178;

denies a benevolent ruler, 181;

on Genesis, 189–90, 192–6;

on man's place in nature, 200, 204 note;

cited, 209;

on catastrophes, 235;

cited, 296;

belief in a deity not universal, 303;

his pleasure in art, 312–3;

on "cheap" Agnosticism, 318;

"Why Lead a Moral Life?" 339–40;

definition of religion, 362 note 2

Huxley, Mrs. T. H., in her poem Browning's Funeral, 355

I

Ignatius, Father, on the supernatural, 44;

his visions, 60–1

Illingworth, Dr. J. R., cited, 128–9;

in Divine Immanence, 231–3

Independent Review, The, cited, 61, 331, 353, 378

India, safety of women in, 289–90;

life in, 384;

famines, 402

Ingersoll, Colonel, 178, note

Instinct, The religious, universality of, 298–314.

(See also Experience, Religious.)

International Journal of Ethics, The, cited, 260

Intolerance, Religious, 368–70, 380–1, 404, 405

Intoxication, The religious experiences of, 261

Irish R. C. Church, 31, 382

Isaiah, 81, 82

Isis, 107, 135, 295, 388

Italy, 4, 8, 280, 408.

(See also Robertson, Dr. Alexander.)

Ito, Marquis, religion unnecessary, 344

J

James, Professor W., in The Varieties of Religious Experience, 251–5, 260–1;

cited, 396–7

Japan, 257, 259, 279–81, 287, 289, 290, 297 note, 313–4, 321–2, 328–33, 398

Japan Evangelist, The, cited, 398

Japan Times, The, cited, 329

Jeffreys, Rev. H. S., on the Japanese, 398

Jeremiah, 82

Jerome, St., on Buddha's birth, 387

Jesus Christ, according to the "higher" critics, 84–5;

picture of, 107, 386;

alleged sinlessness of, 108;

ignorance of, 109–14;

on social problems, 284;

as judge, 370;

as Prince of Peace, 370–1;

hard sayings, 33, 101–2, 270, 370.

(See also Miracles, Gospels, and Mythology, Comparative.)

Jevons, F. B., 305

Jews, victims of persecution, 289, 368;

effect of dispersion, 290

Job, 81

John, St., authorship and date of Gospel, 98

Jonah, 81;

the whale story a solar myth, 155–6

Josephus, 103–4

Joshua commanding the sun, 50–1, 52–3

Journal of Education, The, cited, 264

K

Kant, cited, 234, 247–8

Keasbey, Professor, cited, 393

Kelman, Rev. John, in Ideals of Science and Faith, 22

Kelvin, Lord, on the existence of a vital principle, 18

Kepler, 379

Kingsborough, Lord, cited, 130, 133;

his work Mexican Antiquities, 388

Kingsley, Charles, on Darwin's views, 176–7;

on Cardinal Newman, 246

Kirkpatrick, Dr., on Bible criticism, 76 note;

admissions in his book The Divine Library of the Old Testament, 94–7;

on inspiration, 97

Knowling, Dr., on the Virgin Birth, 387

Krishna, remarkable parallels, 121–3;

the controversy, 136–42;

death of, 387

Kropotkin, Prince, cited, 338;

"Why Lead a Moral Life?", 343–4

L

Laing, S., cited, 338, 379;

sale of his books, 380

Laity, attitude of, 6–17

Lancet, The, cited, 202, 334

Lang, Andrew, cited, 304

Lankester, Professor Ray, supports Haeckel, 19–20;

on recent discoveries, 380, 393

Lao Kiun, the sage, 126–7

Lawson-Forster, Rev. J., on the Russian Church, 405

Lazarus, the raising of, 88

Lecky, on witchcraft, 397

Leuba, James H., on Professor James's theories, 260, 261

Liddon, Canon, on using our intellect, Preface;

on miracles, 44, 45; cited, 298, 395

Life, plan for the reproduction of, 241–2;

human sentiment as to a future, 315–6;

theories regarding, 376–7;

Family Tree of, 394

Lightfoot, Bishop, on the work called Supernatural Religion, 55–6;

on the Essenes, 162

Literary Guide, The, cited, 380

Lock, Dr., on Driver's Genesis, 75

Locke, John, cited, 244

Lodge, Sir Oliver, his religious position, 18–9, 380;

views concerning Haeckel, 19–20;

cited, 376

Loisy, Abbé, on the Resurrection, 64;

cited, 91, 92

Lombroso, Professor Cesare, on spiritualistic phenomena, 396

London, Bishop of, on the growing disbelief, 2;

on In Relief of Doubt, 381;

on miracles, 49, 50–1, 383–4;

on Bible criticism, 76;

not intellectually ashamed, 89–90;

New Testament stronger for criticism, 100;

on Mariolatry, 259;

cited, 277 note, 278, 288;

on the instinct of prayer, 298–9

Loofs, Dr., his attack on Haeckel, 20

Lourdes, 60.

(Special note on p. 69 of first edition.)

Love, Sexual, 228, 241–2, 263

Lucretius, in De Rerum Natura, 314

Luke, St., authorship and date of Gospel, 87, 98

Lundy, Rev. J. P., in Monumental Christianity, 134, 158–9

Luther, Martin, religious experiences of, 60;

Lutheran Churches, 49

Lydston, Dr., cited, 334

Lyall, Sir A. C., on magic and religion, 305

Lyell, Sir Charles, cited, 200–1, 393

M

McCabe, Joseph, defence of Haeckel, 19 note and 382;

a modern monastery, 381;

cited, 223–6, 279, 281–3, 285, 402

Macaulay, Lord, on the Roman Catholic Church, 275

McEwen, Dr., cited, 334

McGee, W. J., cited, 303–4

Mackenzie, The late Rev. H., in the Hulsean Prize Essay, 293–4, 397–8

Maclear, Dr., on The Evidential Value of the Holy Eucharist, 148

Magic, 304–7

Magus, Simon, 132

Mallock, W. H., cited, 179

Manchester, Archdeacon of, on the Fall, 216–18;

on what it is to be a Christian, 221, 395;

on revivalism, 264.

(See also Wilson, Archdeacon J. M.)

Manchester, The late Bishop of, on the sacred volume, 102

Manchester, Bishop of, on development, 391–2

Manen, Professor W. C. van, on Paul, 89

Manifesto to all the clergy of the Church of England, A notable, 211

Mansel, Dean, objections to the new interpretations of Christianity, 34–5;

on miracles, 382

Margoliouth, Rev. D. S., argument of the, 62

Mark, St., authorship and date of Gospel, 87, 97–9

Martyr, Justin, cited, 127–8, 386;

on the Mithraic communion, 392

Martyrs, the noble army of, 296–7

Mason, Canon H. J., cited, 319

Maspéro, G. C. C., cited, 281

Matthew, St., authorship and date of Gospel, 87, 97–9

Maxim, Sir Hiram, on "ecclesiastical sugar," 380

Megasthenes, 141

Mercury, 107, 127

Metchnikoff, Professor Elie, in The Nature of Man, 199, 202–3, 206, 208, 227–8;

tribute to, 202 note

Metternich Stele, 135

Mexico, The religion of Aztec, 144–7

Middleton, Conyers, on the temples of ?sculapius, 388

Mikado, The, cited, 259 note

Militarism, curses of, 372 note

Mill, John Stuart, 39;

cited, 264

Milman, Dean, cited, 127

Milton, his views, 188–9;

quoted, 196–7

Miracles, 41–70;

the fundamental, 55–70;

Harnack on, 91–2;

parallels, 121–36

Mithra, 129, 130, 132–3

Mithraism, argument from, 163–8, 392

Moabite stone, 79

Mohammedans, 255, 256, 265, 275, 303, 356.

(At the Delhi Durbar, p. 17 of first edition.)

Mooney, G., cited, 304

Moore, Rev. Herbert, in The Christian Faith in Japan, 313–4, 329–30

Moorhouse, Rev. A., on "The Inspiration of the O. T.," 93–4

Moral instruction, Systematic, note on, 345–6

Moral Instruction League, cited, 345;

objects of, 402–3

Morality, "Why Lead a Moral Life?", 323–45;

when Rationalism paramount, 365–7

Moray, Bishop of, on the danger of extending sympathy to the Agnostic, 381

Morison, James Cotter, on miracles, 42–3

Morley, John, cited, 347, 348

Morrison, Dr. W. D., cited, 399–400

Moses, 51, 74–5, 78–9, 96–7

Mozley, Dr., on miracles, 382

Müller, Professor Max, cited, 117–8, 138, 158, 343

Murray, Major Stewart, cited, 371–2;

views commented upon, 405–6

Music, emotion excited by, 261–3

Mysticism, 251–7

Myth, The solar, 154–9

Mythology, Comparative, 115–68

N

Naruse, Professor Jinzo, on the position of women, 279–80

Nature, cruelty of, 180–8, 235–40, 406

Newman, Cardinal, cited, 210, 245–7, 344–5, 383

Newman, Francis William, 246–7

Newton, 379

Nineteenth Century and After, The, cited, 31 note, 167–8, 178 note, 181, 290, 331, 338 note, 339, 344, 389

Nitobe, Professor Inazo, cited, 134;

in Japan by the Japanese, 328–9;

in Bushido, 330 note 1

Nordau, Max, cited, 315

O

Odin, 128

Okakura, Professor, cited, 344

Oldenberg, Professor H., cited, 306

Origin, Our animal, 197–208

Orr, Dr. James, cited, 176

Osiris, 129, 132, 295

Owen, Sir Richard, 393

P

Packard, Professor, cited, 393

Paine, Thomas, 178 note

Paley, cited, 42, 229–30

Pali inscriptions, 79

Parallels, in ancient religions, 121–42;

in primitive beliefs, 142–54;

in solar myths, 154–62;

in Essenism and Mithraism, 162–8

Parkhurst, Dr., cited, 133

Parsees, 13, 356

Patriarchs, unhistorical, 77–8

Pattison, Rev. Mark, cited, 3–4

Paul, St., witness of, 56–9;

genuineness of the Epistles of, 89–90;

teaching of, 284, 316

Pausanias, cited, 131–2

Peace, 276, 370–5.

(See also War.)

Pentecost, gifts at, 98

Persecution, 292, 294, 351, 368–9, 397, 398.

(See also Tolerance and Intolerance.)

Perseus, 127

Peru, The religion of ancient, 147

Peters, Dr., in his book The Early Hebrew Story, 78

Petrie, Flinders, cited, 281 note

Pfleiderer, cited, 139

Philo, 83–4, 112

Philosophy, Note on, 266–72

Picton, J. Allanson, cited, 340–1

Pitakas, The, 139

Pithecanthropus erectus, 393

Plato, 128

Plutarch, cited, 130

Pobiedonostseff, 289

Poor, Churches' interest in the, 37–8, 367–8, 382

Prayer, 258–61, 298–14, 335–7, 400–1

Proctor, on hypnotism, 400

Progressive revelation, The theory of a, explained, 115–21;

remarks upon, 142–3, 150–1, 156–60, 166, 320, 348

Prometheus, 133, 134

Prophecy, destructive criticisms concerning, 73–4, 95–7

Psalms, The, a composite book, 81, 97

Psychical Research, Society for, cited, 61, 258 note, 315–6;

spiritualistic phenomena, 395–6;

phenomena of hypnotism, 400–1

Pusey, Dr., cited, 30, 35

Q

Quetzalcoatl, 128, 130, 133

R

Rainbow, 51–2

Rationalism, definition of, 339 note 2;

the outlook for, 365–75

Rationalist Press Association, 3, 28 note;

memorandum of, 339 note 2

Reade, Winwood, cited, 181–2, 297, 354

Red Sea, The crossing of the, 51, 78

Relics, Faked, 80, 403–4

Renan, his conclusions, 23

Resurrection, The, 56–65;

attacks upon, 72–3;

the Higher Critics on, 85–6, 113–4;

parallels 122, 124, 132, 134, 141, 147, 150, 155, 165, 390–1

Revelation, Book of, 90, 370

Revivalism, 263–4

Ripon, Bishop of, cited, 63, 332

Roberts, Evan, 60

Robertson, Dr. Alexander, cited, 245 note, 382, 404

Robertson, J. M., cited, 137–8, 144–7, 163–6

Robinson, Canon C. H., cited, 82, 112, 156

Robinson, Dr. J. Armitage, cited, 94, 97–9, 106, 108.

(See also Westminster, Dean of.)

Romanes, cited, 209

Romissi, Signor Carlo, cited, 408

Roosevelt, President, 180, 402

Rosetta stone, 79

Russia, 4;

"miracle" witnessed in, 67

Russian Church, conduct of the, 289, 405, 407

S

Salisbury, Bishop of, on religious indifference, 2

Sanday, Dr., cited, 48, 69–70

Scepticism, new outburst of, 25–9

Schiller, F. C. S., cited, 315–16

Schmiedel, Professor, cited, 85–7

Science, advance of, 4–5, 379;

not reconciled with Christianity, 17–25, 41–2, 157, 188–97, 222, 239

Science, "Christian," 110 note, 258 note 1, 388–9, 400

Scottish Churches, 31

Senart, cited, 138–9, 140

Sermon on the Mount, 98–9

Seydel, cited, 139

Shebbeare, Rev. C. J., cited 93

Shinto, 313–4, 359 note, 390

Sinclair, Archdeacon W. M., cited, 109–10

Situation, The gravity of, Chap. I.

Slavery, 39–40, 404

Smith, Dr. A. H., in Chinese Characteristics, 307–11

Smith, Rev. George Adam, cited, 111

Smith, Rev. David, cited, 48, 67, 110

Smith, Mr. W., in his Dictionary, 53, 385

Smith, Professor W. R., cited, 143

Social problems, 367–8, 399–402

Socrates, 129

Spain, 4

Spencer, Prof. Baldwin, cited, 304

Spencer, Herbert, cited, 152–4, 286–7, 360;

ethical philosophy, 338

Spinoza, cited, 231

Stanbridge, cited, 153

Standard, The, cited, 211 note, 380, 396

Stanton, Mrs. Cady, cited, 282

Stead, Mr. W. T., 408

Stephen, Sir Leslie, 45, 356;

cited, 342–3, 359–60, 364–5

Storr, Rev. V. F., on Genesis, 349

Strange, T. Lumsden, cited, 64–5.

(See 384.)

Streatfield, Rev. G. S., cited, 177

Sudja, reported miracle at, 67

Summary, A, 317–23

Sumner, Archbishop, 200–1

Supernatural Religion, the work called, 55–6;

the author cited, 340, 363–4

Suyematsu, Baron, cited, 330–1

Swedenborg, Emanuel, 59–60

T

Tablet, The, cited, 3

Tacitus, The celebrated passage in, 103, 385–6;

cited, 132

Taoism, 134, 308

Taylor, Jeremy, 37 note

Temperance, legislation required, 399

Temple, Archbishop, cited, 175, 370–1

Ten Commandments, Tables containing the, 79–80

Tennyson, quoted, 378

Tertullian, cited, 389, 392

Tezcatlipoca, 145

Theism defined, 219–72

Theodosius, Emperor, 292, 294

Thompson, Sir Henry, in his essay The Unknown God, 376

Thorne, Guy, in When it was Dark, 287–9

Tolerance, Religious, 16, 24–5, 30, 35–6, 359, 380–1

Tolstoi, Leo, his renunciation of Christian dogmas, 23

Topinard, Dr. Paul, cited, 266–70

Torrey, Dr., 24, 178

"Tradition," thoughts on, 105–7

Trench, Archbishop, 383

Trevelyan, G. M., cited, 353, 378

Tribune, The, cited, 399

Trine, Ralph Waldo, on character building, 259–60

Truth, The, "should it be told?" 346–65;

ultimate truth, 361, 377–8

Tsar, The, 375

Tylor, cited, 211 note

U

Urquhart, Rev. John, in his pamphlet Roger's Reasons, 72, 178, 191.

(A reply to "Roger" appeared on pp. 208–9 of the first edition of this book.)

V

Valentinian, Emperor, 294

Vaughan, Father Bernard, cited, 235

Veda, Hymns of the, 141

Vegetation gods, 148–51

Vespasian, Emperor, 132

Virgin-birth, 19, 68–70, 72, 83–4, 99;

parallels, 121, 126–9, 133, 295, 387, 388

Vishnu Purana, cited, 387

Visions, 56, 58–62, 251–7

Voysey, Rev. Charles, cited, 4, 368

W

Wace, Dean, cited, 71–2, 166, 190–1, 210, 349–50.

(See also Canterbury, Dean of.)

Wade, Sir Thomas, cited, 307

Waggett, Rev. P. N., cited, 21–2, 226, 229–30, 249–50

Wallace, Dr. Alfred Russel, cited, 19 note, 183–4, 186–7, 342

War, Outlook regarding, 370–5, 405–8.

(See also Peace.)

Warschauer, Dr., cited, 30 note, 186, 277, 299, 311

Weismann, cited, 173, 261 note, 398

Wells, H. G., cited, 334, 337 note

Welsh, Rev. R. E., cited, 185–6, 381–2

Wesley, John, 61

Westcott, Bishop, cited, 33, 52–3, 290–1, 293, 295–6, 383

Westermarck, Dr., cited, 404–5

Westminster, Dean of, cited, 35, 63, 177–8.

(See also Robinson, Dr. J. A.)

Whitworth, The late Rev. W. A., cited, 290

Williams, Professor Monier, cited, 122, 123, 141

Wilson, Archdeacon, cited, 13, 66–7, 94, 367.

(See also Manchester, Archdeacon of.)

Winchester, Bishop of, cited, 72–5

Woman, Christianity the best friend of, 277–85;

the piety and pliability of, 293–4

Wordsworth, on the Author of Carnage, 407

Z

Zola, the champion of truth, 288

Zoroaster, 127, 130

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SELECTIONS FROM A FEW (OF MANY) PRESS OPINIONS ON EARLIER EDITIONS.

"Written in a temperate spirit."-Times.

"A well-presented and interesting survey."-Daily Telegraph.

"A freshly thought-out discussion of the whole subject. A temperate and well-reasoned study."-Scotsman.

"A comprehensive survey of many perplexing problems ... full of cogent criticism and stimulating suggestion."-Tribune.

"An absolutely sincere and sympathetic contribution to the controversy of our time."-Morning Post.

"There is much in this work that deserves close study."-Daily Mail.

"It is a very full, lucid, and candid work."-Morning Leader.

"Evidence on both sides is lucidly set forth."-Daily Graphic.

"By an able critic ... is written with moderation and in a spirit of reverent inquiry ... is manifestly honest, and the tone is dignified and courteous."-Yorkshire Post.

"There is considerable novelty in his presentation of his case. He writes without bitterness or acrimony, exhibiting, indeed, in his treatment a scholarly mind."-Academy.

"I am glad to see a second and revised edition."-T. P.'s Weekly.

"Mr. Vivian's excellent book."-Observer.

"Deserves attentive consideration."-John Bull.

"A careful and thorough perusal of this book has led us to admire the industry, carefulness, and lucidity of the writer."-London Argus.

"All we can do is to commend this book to the serious attention of all who have the welfare of Christianity-not mere dogma-at heart."-Public Opinion.

"A clever and lucid statement of Rationalism."-Review of Reviews.

"Every competent critic seems to have recognised the book as one of the few which immediately command recognition, and which are unhesitatingly added to our classics."-Westminster Review.

"Illusions must be grappled with and exhibited as such before people can be got to discard them. And as a guide to the performance of that office Mr. Vivian's book is the best that can be named."-Albany Review.

"Candid and conscientious."-London Quarterly Review.

"The arguments of Agnosticism very clearly put."-Guardian.

"Mr. Vivian does not aim at bespattering his opponents with mud."-Christian Commonwealth.

"Ought to be carefully studied by preachers."-Christian World.

"Is well worth reading by all who have to do with unbelief."-Methodist Times.

"It is a frank and full inquiry into the grounds of modern unbelief, and a masterly plea for candour in Christian thought."-Christian Advocate.

"Calmly-reasoned criticism.... Writes in excellent style."-Clarion.

"Mr. Vivian's book is an admirable reply to When it Was Dark."-New Age.

"An interesting and instructive book."-Positivist Review.

"This book does much to show where rationalism can rightly influence both our creed and our conduct."-Light (devoted to the interests of psychical research).

"I am recommending it to everybody who is interested in the religious problems of the hour."-The Reader.

"Comprehensive in scope, judiciously written, and embodying an admirable selection of facts."-Literary Guide.

"The book is written with marked ability."-Teacher.

"Philip Vivian is a clear thinker, who has made a special study both of Christian evidences and of comparative religions."-Journal of Education.

"Comprehensive, systematic, and strenuous ... based on much knowledge ... very capable."-Educational Times.

"Exhaustive ... up-to-date ... claims the respect of thinking people, and demands the prayerful attention of all Christian teachers."-Bombay Gazette.

"Any earnest, thoughtful man may read the volume with considerable profit."-Daily Mail, Brisbane.

"Thoughtful and evidently earnest work."-Herald, Melbourne.

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"Well arranged and well written, and adding to-day's conclusions to the polemics of the past."-Bulletin, Sydney.

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"A healthy tonic for parsons and Churches."-Cape Times.

"A very stirring book."-Star, Johannesburg.

"Many of its chapters are of great interest."-African Monthly.

"Mr. Vivian has brought to his task wide reading and a clear, judicial mind; nor has he feared to follow his investigation to a logical end."-World, Toronto.

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"A work of unusual clearness, dealing with the entire question of the so-called conflict between religion and science."-American Review of Reviews.

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Page Source Correction

iii, iii [Not in source] §

74 " [Deleted]

114 ' "

186 . ,

199 antonishing astonishing

221, 243, 281, 292, 292, 307, 308, 308, 310, 313 [Not in source] .

344 philistine Philistine

365 tempation temptation

402 Gorton Groton

407, 412, 412, 412, 413, 415 [Not in source] ,