Recognized HTML document

138   ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE.   (CHAP.

notwithstanding-, my mother's strong personal religious bent. On the contrary, her influence was quite in the direction of free inquiry, in which she largely indulged herself. My school religious teaching had no effect that I can perceive, either on my intellect or imagination. Its chief result was to make me detest the drudgery of learning catechisms and sitting through dreary sermons."

[2, 3, 6, 7, 8, are children of Unitarian parents.]


Have early abandoned c),eeds.-1. "At eet. 13, I disbelieved as thoroughly as I do now in the religious creed (that of the Church of England) in which I was brought up ; and I had realised Berkeleyan idealism by my own road." [Compare this with the reply, 2, from a different correspondent in p. 130 in the section, " Intellectual interest in religious topics."] 2. " None whatever ; I have long since wholly rejected religious creeds." 3. "I gave up common religious belief almost independently from my own reflection." [This quotation is repeated