have drawn out the conclusions without proving the premises; they have asserted the premises without examining the terms. The passions of religious parties

have been roused to the utmost about words of which they could have given no explanation, and which had really no distinct meaning.”

"Les Religions," says Renan,* "comme les Philosophies, sont toutes vaines; mais la Religion, pas plus que la Philosophie, n'est vaine."

To attempt to add to, or improve on, the teaching of Christ seems vain and even arrogant. The discussions of theology are intensely interesting, no doubt; they are the science, but they are not the essence of religion. Theology is a branch of science: it is not religion. It is an exercise of the mind-religion of the heart. To confuse the two seems to me a vital error and has led to terrible results. Theological dogmas are responsible for devastating wars, for the massacre of St. Bartholomew, for the terrible death of thousands burnt at the stake, for the tortures of the Inquisition. The victims may or may not have been Christians— the Inquisitors certainly were not. Who can imagine

* Hist. du peuple d'Israël.

that Jesus would have sanctioned any of these horrors -horrors all the more detestable because they were perpetrated in the name of religion?

Of all wars, those which are falsely named religious, however much we may respect the motives which led to their being undertaken, have been amongst the most savage and relentless. The Crusades are generally spoken of as a noble self-devotion; and so in one sense they were. Many of the soldiery and some of the leaders were actuated by pure and lofty motives. But how misguided, how wicked were some of those with whom these cruel raids originated! "Think," says Schopenhauer, "think of the fanaticism, the endless persecutions, the religious wars, that sanguinary frenzy of which the ancients had no conception! Think of the Crusades, a butchery lasting two hundred years and inexcusable, its war-cry, 'It is the will of God,' its object to gain possession of the grave of one who preached love and sufferance! Think of the cruel expulsion and extermination of the Moors and Jews from Spain! Think of the orgies of blood, the inquisitions, the heretical tribunals, the bloody and terrible conquests of the

ommedans in three continents, or those of Chris

tianity in America, whose inhabitants were for the most part, and in Cuba entirely, exterminated. According to Las Casas, so-called Christians murdered twelve millions in forty years, of course all 'in majorem Dei gloriam' and for the propagation of the Gospel, and because what was not Christian was not even looked upon as human.”

Even in our own country the misuse of theology divides religion into antagonistic sects. We remember the outcry about Bishop Colenso-which was like attacking the multiplication-table; we remember the prosecution of the authors of Essays and Reviews; but we lived to see one of them Master of Balliol and another Archbishop of Canterbury.

Intensely interesting as it would be to know more of the constitution of the universe, we must be content to wait. I feel with St. Augustine: "Let others wrangle, I will wonder."

But the craving for dogmatic theology as a basis for religion exists, and we must recognise it. Now among all the Churches none seems to me to be wider, more tolerant, more progressive, more truly Catholic and Christian, than the Church of England.

"I could conceive," said Huxley, "the existence of an Established Church which should be a blessing to the community; a Church in which, week by week, services should be devoted, not to the iteration of abstract propositions in theology, but to the setting before men's minds of an ideal of true, just, and pure living; a place in which those who are weary of the burden of daily cares should find a moment's rest in the contemplation of the higher life which is possible for all, though attained by so few; a place in which the man of strife and of business should have to think how small, after all, are the rewards he covets compared with peace and charity. Depend upon it, if such a Church existed, no one would seek to disestablish it."

CHAPTER XVII.

PEACE OF MIND.

THE peace of nations is often compared to that between individuals, and no doubt the analogy is close in many respects. It is better to preserve peace than to gain a victory. But there is one very important difference. A nation, however reasonable, however just,

however unaggressive, cannot ensure peace. It is always liable to be driven into war if it is so unfortunate as to have a turbulent, ambitious, and unscrupulous neighbour.

On the other hand, no one can absolutely destroy the peace of mind of anyone but himself. No doubt it is difficult in all cases to preserve equanimity. "Better is a dry morsel," says Solomon,* "and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife." And again, "Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit." "Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."

People often make themselves miserable very unnecessarily by attaching too much importance to trifles. It sometimes happens that when the main issues of life are going well-when health is good, when one's nearest and dearest are well and happy, when one's income is sufficient, and there is really no cause for anxietysome comparative trifle, some slight (well so-named) or

* Proverbs.