that part of knowledge which
ultimately corresponds to the physical sciences. There must be a certain
harmony between beliefs and realities in regard to knowledge of ordinary
matters of fact, if only because such harmony is essential to the life
of the race. Even an ape must distinguish poisonous from wholesome food.
Beliefs as to physical facts require to be made articulate and distinct;
but we have only to recognise as logical principles the laws of nature
which we have unconsciously obeyed and illustrated--to formulate
dynamics long after we have applied the science in throwing stones or
using bows and arrows. But what corresponds to this in the case of the
moral and religious beliefs? What is the process of verification? Men
practically are satisfied with their creed so long as they are satisfied
with the corresponding social order. The test of truth so suggested is
obviously inadequate: for all great religions, however contradictory to
each other, have been able to satisfy it for long periods. Particular
doctrines might be tested by experiment. The efficacy of witchcraft
might be investigated like the efficacy of vaccination. But faith can
always make as many miracles as it wants: and errors which originate in
the fancy cannot be at once extirpated by the reason. Their form may be
changed but not their substance. To remove them requires not disproof of
this or that fact, but an intellectual discipline which is rare even
among the educated classes. A religious creed survives, as poetry or art
survives,--not so long as it contains apparently true statements of fact
but--so long as it is congenial to the whole social state. A philosophy
indeed is a poetry stated in terms of logic. Considering the natural
conservatism of mankind, the difficulty is to account for progress, not
for the persistence of error. When the existing order ceases to be
satisfactory; when conquest or commerce has welded nations together and
brought conflicting creeds into cohesion; when industrial development
has modified the old class relations; or when the governing classes have
ceased to discharge their functions, new principles are demanded and new
prophets arise. The philosopher may then become the mouthpiece of the
new order, and innocently take himself to be its originator. His
doctrines were fruitless so long as the soil was not prepared for the
seed. A premature discovery if not stamped out by fire and sword is
stifled by indifference. If F