The Athanasian Creed was not
necessarily true because the fire would not light or the sword would not
cut, nor, excuse me, were all your old beliefs wrong because your prayer
was unanswered. It is an ancient story, that we cannot tell whether the
answering of our petitions will be good or ill for us. Of course I do
not know anything about such things, but it seems to me rash to suppose
that Providence is going to alter the working of its eternal laws merely
to suit the passing wishes of individuals--wishes, too, that in many
cases would bring unforeseen sorrows if fulfilled. Besides I daresay
that the poor child is happier dead than he would have been had he
lived. It is not an altogether pleasant world for most of us."
"Yes, Mr. Bingham, I know, and I daresay that I should have got over the
shock in time, only after that I began to read. I read the histories of
the religions and compared them, and I read the works of those writers
who have risen up to attack them. I found, or I thought that I found,
the same springs of superstition in them all--superstitions arising from
elementary natural causes, and handed on with variations from race to
race, and time to time.
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