454
ESSAYS ON LIBERTY
problems which affect the doctrines of religion, and none of theln are hostile to it in their solution. But this is not the difficulty which is usually felt. A political principle or a scientific discovery is more commonly judged, not by its relation to religious truth, but by its bearings on some manifest or probable religious interests. A fact may be true, or a law may be just, and yet it may, under certain conùitions, involve some spiritual loss. And here is the touchstone and the \vatershed of principles. Some men argue that the object of govern- ment is to contribute to the salvation of souls; that certain measures may imperil this end, and that therefore they must be condemned. These men only look to interests; they cannot conceive the duty of sacrificing them to independent political principle or idea. Or, again, they will say, " Here is a scientific discovery calcu- lated to overthrow many traditionary ideas, to undo a prevailing system of theology, to disprove a current inter- pretation, to cast discredit on eminent authorities, to compel men to revise their most settled opinions, to dis- turb the foundation on which the faith of others stands." These are sufficient reasons for care in the dispensation of truth; but the men \ve are describing will go on to say, " This is enough to thro\v suspicion on the discovery itself; even if it is true, its danger is greater than its value. Let it, therefore, be carefully buried, and let all traces of it be swept a wa y ." A policy like this appears to us both \vrong in itself and derogatory to the cause it is employed to serve. It argues either a timid faith which fears the light, or a false morality which would do evil that good might come. How often have Catholics involved themselves in hopeless contradiction, sacrificed principle to opportunity, adapted their theories to their interests, and staggered the \\TorId's reliance on their sincerity by subterfuges which entangle the Church in the shifting sands of party \varfare, instead of establishing her cause on the solid rock of principles! How often have they clung to some plausible chimera which seemed to serve their cause, and nursed an artificial
