At first sight this strange development might appear to be wholly out of keeping with the spirit of an age which may reasonably be described as materialistic. The appalling failure of organized Christianity to avert or shorten the War, the diseased growths which have fastened upon our music, art, and drama, the waste and extravagance in our social life, the cruel self-seeking of our international conduct――these and other influences of the War-period and its aftermath have provided a fitting inspiration for large sections of our population which appear to have little taste for much beyond the life-purpose of Mr. Wells’ hero “to put one’s hands on the dibs, and have a good time.” But history has demonstrated in the case of individuals and nations alike that material and even intellectual progress does not necessarily eliminate superstition. The sceptical Julius Caesar crawled up the steps of the Capitol to avert the jealous wrath of the gods; the Renaissance was responsible for two centuries of witch-burning. And so we find that side by side with the weakening of moral and religious sanctions a widespread spirit of credulous and uncritical belief pervades the community. The vast developments in the circulation of cheap newspapers while adding enormously to the information of the public on current events, has also led our less educated citizens in general to accept what they see in print. During the War-fever even men of recognized position whose training might, one would think, have instilled into them some measure of intellectual caution, have exhibited amazing credulity. The late Bishop of Carlisle, and the Editor of _Punch_ are typical of thousands of our fellow-citizens, clerical and lay alike, who accepted without question such grotesque fabrications as the German “Corpse Factory” or the “Crucified Canadian.” Stories embodied in the _Bryce Report_ and similar publications were received without any misgiving or discrimination by ninety-nine per cent. of our population. The nebulous story of the singularly inefficient “Angels of Mons” formed the text of lay and ecclesiastical addresses. The national mind, carefully tutored by the fraud or stupidity of controlled journalism, was ready when the War ceased to exchange the material horrors of this world for the spiritual excitements of the next.