Yea, as thou saidst of the learned heathen, [Greek text]. Yet these
disputes of theirs they call "Science"! But if any man says to the
learned: "Best of men, you are erudite, and laborious and witty;
but, till you are more of the same mind, your opinions cannot be
styled knowledge. Nay, they are at present of no avail whereon to
found any doctrine concerning the Gods"--that man is railed at for
his "mean" and "weak" arguments.

Was it thus, Father, that the heathen railed against thee? But I
must still believe, with thee, that these evil tales of the Gods
were invented "when man's life was yet brutish and wandering" (as is
the life of many tribes that even now tell like tales), and were
maintained in honour by the later Greeks "because none dared alter
the ancient beliefs of his ancestors." Farewell, Father; and all
good be with thee, wishes thy well-wisher and thy disciple.



LETTER--To Percy Bysshe Shelley



Sir,--In your lifetime on earth you were not more than commonly
curious as to what was said by "the herd of mankind," if I may quote
your own phrase. It was that of one who loved his fellow-men, but
did not in his less enthusiastic moments overestimate their virtues
and their discretion. Removed so far away from our hubbub, and that
world where, as you say, we "pursue our serious folly as of old,"
you are, one may guess, but moderately concerned about the fate of