t the sense of
power that such knowledge must give. "Ah!" he said, "much of what I have
told you is not proved, it is only suspected. We are very much in the
dark about these things yet. Probably if a physicist of a hundred years
hence could overhear me, he would be amazed to think that a sensible man
could make such puerile statements. Power--no, it is not that! It rather
makes one realise one's feebleness in being so uncertain about things
that are absolutely certain and precise in themselves, if we could
but see the truth. It is much more like the apostle who said, 'Lord, I
believe; help Thou my unbelief.' The thing one wonders at is the courage
of the men who dare to think they KNOW."

In one region I own that I dread and dislike the tyranny of the
specialist, and that is the region of metaphysical and religious
speculation. People who indulge themselves in this form of speculation
are apt to be told by theologians and metaphysicians that they ought
to acquaint themselves with the trend of theological and metaphysical
criticism. It seems to me like telling people that they must not ascend
mountains unless they are accompanied by guides, and have studied the
history of previous ascents. "Yes," the professional says, "that is just
what I mean; it is mere foolhardiness to attempt these arduous places
unless you know exactly what you are about."

To that I reply that no one is bound to go up hills, but that every
one who reflects at all is confronted by religious and philosophical
problems. We all have to live, and we are all more or less experts in
life. When one considers the infinite importance to every human spirit
of these problems, and when one further considers how very little
theologians and philosophers have ever effected in the direction of
enlightening us as to the object of life, the problem of pain and evil,
the preservation of identity after death, the question of necessity and
free-will, surely, to attempt to silence people on these matters because
they have not had a technical training is nothing more than an attempt
wilfully to suppress evidence on these points? The only way in which it
may be possible to arrive at the solution of these things is to know
how they appeal to and affect normal minds. I would rather hear the
experience of a life-long sufferer on the problem of pain, or of a
faithful lover on the mystery of love, or of a poet on the influence of
natural beauty, or of an unselfish and humble