together to make his case good.

There is, perhaps, one other topic on which agnosticism may be
professed, and that is in connection with the question of what is known
as the problem of existence. We may profess our belief in the reality of
an external world, but deny that any _knowledge_ of it is possible. Here
we assert that what "substance," or "reality," or "thing in itself," is
we do not know and cannot know. But while many attempts are made under
the name of "the Absolute," etc., to identify this with "God," it is
really nothing of the kind. The belief or disbelief in an external
"reality" is a problem in philosophy, it has no genuine connection with
theology. To identify the two is a mere dialectical subterfuge. Mere
existence is an ultimate fact that must be accepted by all. It is only
on the question of its nature that controversy can arise.

Whatever may be claimed on behalf of Agnosticism, it certainly cannot be
claimed that it carries a clear and a definite meaning. As we have seen,
Professor Huxley used the word to indicate the fact that he was without
knowledge of certain things. But what things? To answer that we have to
go beyond the word itself--that is, we have to define the definition. As
it stands we may profess agnosticism in relation to anything from the
prospects of a general election within a given period to the question of
whether Mars is inhabited or not. If, then, it is said that what is
implied is that the Agnostic is without a knowledge of God, or without a
belief in God, the reply is that is exactly the position of the Atheist.
And there was no need whatever to coin a new word, if all that was
wanted was to express the atheistic position. Still less justifiable was
it to proceed to misinterpret Atheism in order to justify a departure
that need never have been made.

One cannot at this point forbear a word on Mr.--afterwards Sir--Leslie
Stephen's curious justification of his choice of the word Agnosticism.
After the enlightening remark that the word "Atheist" carries with it an
unpleasant connotation, he says:--

Dogmatic Atheism--the doctrine that there is no God, whatever may
be meant by God--is to say the least of it a rare phase of opinion.
The word Agnosticism, on the other hand, seems to imply a fairly
accurate appreciation of a form of creed already common and daily
spreading. The Agnostic is one who asserts--what no one
denies--that there are limits