galton.org 277
an instance of eminent merit of the worldly sort, which we Englishmen
honour six days out of the seven - many scandals, many a disgrace, but
not, on the other hand, a single instance known to me of eminently
prayerful qualities. Four at least of the existing ducal houses are unable to
claim the title of having been raised into existence through the devout
habits of their progenitors, because the families of Buccleuch, Grafton, St.
Albans, and Richmond were thus highly ennobled solely on the ground of
their being descended from Charles II and four of his mistresses, namely,
Lucy Walters, Barbara Villiers, Nell Gwynne, and Louise de Querouaille.
The dukedom of Cleveland may almost be reckoned as a fifth instance.
The civil liberty we enjoy in England, and the energy of our race, have
given rise to a number of institutions, societies, commercial adventures,
political meetings, and combinations of all sorts. Some of these are
exclusively clerical, some lay, and others mixed. It is impossible for a
person to have taken an active share in social life without having had
abundant means of estimating for himself, and of hearing the opinion of
others, on the value of a preponderating clerical element in business
committees. For my own part, I never heard a favourable one. The
procedure of Convocation, which, like all exclusively clerical meetings, is
opened with prayer, has not inspired the outer world with much respect.
The histories of the great councils of the Church are most painful to read.
There is reason to expect that devout and superstitious men should be
unreasonable; for a person who believes his thoughts to be inspired,
necessarily accredits his prejudices with divine authority. He is therefore
little accessible to argument, and he is intolerant of those whose opinions
differ from his, especially on first principles. Consequently he is a bad
coadjutor in business matters. It is a common weekday opinion of the
world that praying people are not practical.
Again, there is a large class of instances where an enterprise on behalf
of pious people is executed by the agency of the profane. Do such
enterprises prosper beyond the average? For instance, a vessel on a
missionary errand is navigated by ordinary seamen. A fleet, followed by
the prayers of the English nation, carries reinforcements to quell an Indian
mutiny. We do not care to ask whether the result of these prayers is to
obtain favourable winds, but simply whether they ensue in a propitious
voyage, whatever may be the agencies by which that result was obtained.
The success of voyages might be due to many other agencies than the
suspension of the physical laws that control the winds and currents; just as
