e forest only in his own addled
imagination, and that it is just as it was.'"

"Yes; but the new weapons will not be so easily evaded as those
of a past age."

"Will they not? We shall see. You must not prophesy; in that,
you know, you do not believe."

"No; but nevertheless we shall see so-called sacred dogma and
history exploded, for Mr. Newman--"

"Thinks so, of course; and he must be right, because he has never
been known to be wrong in any of his judgments, or even to vary
in them. But we have had enough, I think, of these subjects this
evening, and it is too bad to give you only a controversial welcome.
I want to have some conversation with you about very different
things, and more pleasant just now. We shall have plenty of
opportunity to discuss theological points."

To this Fellowes assented: they resumed general conversation, and
I finished my letters.

----

July 3. We were all sitting, as on the previous day, in the library.

"Book-faith!" I heard Harrington say, laughing; "why, as to that I must
needs acknowledge that the whole school of Deism, 'rational' or
'spiritual,' have the least reason in the world to indulge in
sneers at book-faith; for, upon my word, their faith has consisted
in little else. Their systems are parchment religions, my friend,
all of them;--books, books, for ever, from Lord Herbert's time
downwards, are all they have yet given to the world. They have ever
been boastful and loud-tongued, but have done nothing; there are no
great social efforts, no organizations, no practical projects,
whether successful or futile, to which they can point. The old
'book-faiths' which you venture to ridicule have been something at
all events; and, in truth, I can find no other 'faith' than what is
somehow or other attached to a 'book,' which has been any thing
influential. The Vedas, the Koran, the Old Testament Scriptures,--
those of the New,--over how many millions have these all reigned!
Whether their supremacy be right or wrong, their doctrine true
or false, is another question; but your faith, which has been
book-faith and lip-service par excellence, has done nothing that I
can discover. One after another of your infidel Reformers passes
away, and leaves no trace behind, except a quantity of crumbling
'book-faith.' You have always been just on the eve of extinguishing
supernatural fables, dogmas, and superstitions,--and then
regenerating the world! Alas! the meanest superstition that craw