"the logical result of a philosophical humility." A fair account of the
Agnostic position is then given, after which it is severely observed
that "the better feelings of man contradict these sophisms." In proof
of this, his Grace cites the fact that in Paris, the "stronghold of
Atheistical philosophy," the number of burials that take place without
religious rites is "a scarcely appreciable percentage." We suspect the
accuracy of this statement, but having no statistics on the subject by
us, we are not prepared to dispute it. We will assume its truth; but
the important question then arises--What kind of persons are those who
dispense with the rites of religion? Notoriously they are men of
the highest intellect and character, whose quality far outweighs the
quantity of the other side. They are the leaders of action and thought,
and what they think and do to-day will be thought and done by the masses
to-morrow. When a man like Gambetta, occupying such a high position and
wielding such immense influence, invariably declines to enter a church,
whether he attends the marriage or the funeral of his friends, we
are entitled to say that his example on our side is infinitely more
important than the practice of millions who are creatures of habit
and for the most part blind followers of tradition. The Archbishop's
argument tells against his own position, and the fact he cites, when
closely examined, proves more for our side than he thought it proved for
his own.

Atheism is disrelished by his Grace even more than Agnosticism. His
favorite epithet for it is "dogmatic." "Surely," he cries, "the boasted
enlightenment of this century will never tolerate the gross ignorance
and arrogant self-conceit which presumes to dogmatise as to things
confessedly beyond its ken." Quite so; but that is what the theologians
are perpetually doing. To use Matthew Arnold's happy expression, they
talk familiarly about God as though he were a man living in the next
street. The Atheist and the Agnostic confess their inability to fathom
the universe and profess doubts as to the ability of others. Yet they
are called dogmatic, arrogant, and self-conceited. On the other hand,
the theologians claim the power of seeing _through_ nature up to
nature's God. Yet they, forsooth, must be accounted modest, humble, and
retiring.

"O wad some pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!"

These abominable Atheists are by no me