In short, the more we consider the matter, and the more various the points from which we do so, the more plain will it become to us that the problem the present age is confronted by is an altogether unanswered one; and that the closest seeming parallels to be found amongst other times and races, have far less really of parallelism in them than of contrast. The path of thought, as it were, has taken a sudden turn round a mountain; and our bewildered eyes are staring on an undreamed-of prospect. The leaders of progress thus far have greeted the sight with acclamation, and have confidently declared that we are looking on the promised land. But to the more thoughtful, and to the less impulsive, it is plain that a mist hangs over it, and that we have no right to be sure whether it is the promised land or no. They see grave reasons for making a closer scrutiny, and for asking if, when the mist lifts, what we see will be not splendour, but desolation. Such, in brief outline, is the question we are to deal with. We will now go on to approach it in a more detailed way. FOOTNOTES: [1] Vide Sophocles, _OEdipus Coloneus_. [2] Professor Clifford, whose study of history leads him to regard Catholicism as nothing more than an 'episode' in the history of Western progress. [3] Mr. Frederic Harrison. [4] Mr. Froude, _History of England_, chap. i. [5] Wordsworth. [6] Quoted by Dr. Tyndall from Professor Blackie. [7] George Eliot. CHAPTER II. THE PRIZE OF LIFE. '_The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field._' Having thus seen broadly what is meant by that claim for life that we are about to analyse, we must now examine it more minutely, as made by the positive school themselves.