the cradle and ending with
the grave is merely a more or less tragic riddle without an answer: in
other words, a meaningless absurdity. I find it quite impossible to
conceive any deity or presiding genius of the universe who could be
guilty of such a colossally useless tragedy as human life would be under
those circumstances."

"I can't see it, my dear Marmion," said Brenda's father a trifle
gruffly, for he had not yet quite recovered from the disquieting
experiences of the afternoon. "What does it matter whether we live again
or not as long as we live cleanly and do our work honestly while we are
alive? Surely if we leave this world a little bit better, a little bit
richer in knowledge, than we find it, these poor little lives of ours,
such as they are, and that's not much--will not have been lived in vain.
Of course, as you know, I'm just a common, low-down materialist who
can't rise to the poetry of things as you can with this gorgeous theory
of re-incarnation of yours.

"I should very much like to believe it if I could, as I once said to an
eminent revivalist on the war-path in the States; but the trouble with a
man who is honest with himself is that he can no more make himself
believe what doesn't seem true to him than he can make himself hungry
when he isn't. All the horrible history of religious persecution is just
the story of a lot of bigots in power trying to force helpless people to
do what they couldn't do honestly. The awful part of the business is
that they were most likely all wrong, and didn't know it."

"But, at least, Professor, I hope you are able to give them credit for
honest intentions, however mistaken they might have been?" interposed
Merrill, who was the son of a country parson and had so far preserved
his simple faith intact. It may be remarked here, that Nitocris was well
aware of this, and loved her strong-souled sailor all the better for it.
Franklin Marmion did not, but then he thought any creed good enough for
"a mere fighting man."

"There were schemers and scoundrels among them on both sides, sir,"
replied the American quietly. "The temptation was too big; but I am
quite willing to allow that the majority of them, even the Inquisitors,
were honest zealots who really did think it right to produce any amount
of suffering and misery here on earth in order to get matters
straightened out, as they thought, hereafter. Charles V. was the most
enlightened monarch of his age and the worst pe