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278
Hereditary Genius
in his nature, and the signs of its action are as unmistakeable as those
of any other actions, made known to us through the medium of the
senses. The religious man would further dwell on the moral doctrine
of the form of creed that he professes; but this we must eliminate
from the discussion, because the moral doctrines of the different
forms of creed are exceedingly diverse, some tending to self-culture
and asceticism, and others to active benevolence; while we are
seeking to find the nature of a religious disposition, so far as it is
common to all creeds.
The sceptic takes a position antagonistic to that which I have
described, as appertaining to the religious man. He acknowledges the
sense of an indwelling Spirit, which possibly he may assert to have
himself experienced in its full intensity, but he denies its objectivity.
He argues that, as it is everywhere acknowledged to be a fit question
for the intellect to decide whether other convictions, however
fundamental, are really true, or whether the evidences of the senses
are, in any given case, to be depended on, so it is perfectly legitimate
to submit religious convictions to a similar analysis. He will say that a
floating speck in the vision, and a ringing in the ears, are capable of
being discriminated by the intellect from the effects of external
influences; that in lands where mirage is common, the experienced
traveller has to decide on the truth of the appearance of water, by the
circumstances of each particular case. And as to fundamental
convictions, he will add, that it is well known the intellect can
successfully grapple with them, for Kant and his followers have
shown reasons—to which all metaphysicians ascribe weight—that
Time and Space are, neither of them, objective realities, but only
forms, under which our minds, by virtue of their own constitution, are
compelled to act. The sceptic, therefore, claiming to bring the
question of the objective existence of the Spirit of grace under
intellectual examination, has decided—
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