A PROFESSION FOR THE FEW.

Is the younger generation irreligious? Doubtless the external forms of worship are dying out, and along with them is passing away the pious belief in arbitrary dogma. But do these symptoms really signify that science and philosophy are taking the place of religion? Do they not rather denote a change in the outward manifestations of religious spirit, while this very spirit itself remains unimpaired? The instinctive belief in an Unknowable is deep-rooted in every human being. In an unconscious way even the most skeptical scientist is religious.

To set forth this inner feeling in words, however, to formulate it so that it may crystallize in the minds of others, is a task which, as Dr. Fitch points out, requires both imagination and real religious experience. For, the existence of God cannot be proved either by pure reason, or by physical sense perception. Goethe said: "The universe, divided by reason, leaves a remainder," and it is this residue which must be explained by religious faith.