point involving some difficult casuistry. The orthodox may be safely trusted to give all necessary emphasis to that aspect of the question which is least favorable to full utterance of thought. That class, in particular, which is accustomed to argue by a sneer, is most emphatic upon the wickedness of their opponents in using the same weapons. I simply take note of the fact, which all will admit, that the employment of such poisoned arrows should be forbidden on all sides; but I confess that to me the most serious danger does not appear to be that an excessive love of truth and plainness of speech will ever become unduly prevalent.

Buoyancy of spirit and confidence in the approaching decease of the devil are indeed only too likely to be checked by the considerations to which I have referred. I can not, for my part, understand how the frame of mind which is eager for proselytes should survive very early youth. I would not conceal my own views, but neither could I feel anxious to thrust them upon others; and that, for the very simple reason that conversion appears to me to be an absurdity. You can not change a man's thoughts about things as you can change the books in his library. The mind is not a box, which can have opinions inserted and extracted at pleasure. No belief is good for anything which is not part of an organic growth and the natural product of a man's mental development under the various conditions in which he is placed. To promote his intellectual activity, to encourage him to think, and to put him in the way of thinking rightly, is a plain duty; but to try to insert ready-made opinions into his mind by dint of authority is to contradict the fundamental principles of free inquiry. Persons who believe in miraculous intervention, and the magical efficacy of special beliefs, may consistently compass sea and land to make one proselyte; they may scatter tracts, hoping that the sight of a text will upset the convictions of a lifetime, or, as some fanatics are said to do, baptize the dying infants of the heathen to give them a passport to heaven. But the man who counts upon no supernatural assistance can only endeavor to help his fellow creature by stimulating any faint spark of intellectual activity-a task which is generally difficult enough for any human power. Nor, again, is it possible to overlook or deny the fact that there is simply no answer to the question which will determine however illogically-the choice of many most amiable and excellent people. If a man will not abandon a religion till he has another to put in its place, we must confess that his demand

can not be met. The creed of the future, whatever it may be, exists only in germ. You can not give to a believer anything in place of his cult, of the sacred symbols which reflect his emotions, of the whole system of disciplined and organized modes of worship, of prayers, of communion with his fellows, which to him are the great attractions of his religion. You can not even tell him what system is likely to replace them hereafter, or whether human nature is so constituted that it will be able simply to drop the old without replacing it by anything directly analogous. And, therefore, you must admit that for the present a man who would abandon the old doctrines is compelled to stand alone. He must find sufficient comfort in the consciousness that he is dealing honestly with his intellect; he must be able to dispense with the old consolations of heaven and hell; he must be content to admit explicitly that the ancient secret has not been revealed, and to hold that people will be able to get on somehow or other, even if the most ignorant and stupid cease to consider it a solemn duty to dogmatize with the utmost confidence upon matters of which the wisest know absolutely nothing and never expect to know anything. Undoubtedly this is to accept a position from which many people will shrink; and it is pleasanter to the ordinary mind to reject it summarily as untenable, or to run up some temporary refuge of fine phrases and try to believe in its permanence. I only say that I do not see how an honest dissenter from the orthodox opinions can act otherwise.

How we are to act in regard to individuals is a problem which admits of much casuistry, and in regard to which I can only express the belief that such problems generally solve themselves pretty easily for people who are true to themselves and gentle to their neighbors. The duty of those who take any part in forming what is called public opinion is less complex. It resolves itself into a simple acceptance of the undeniable facts. It is impossible to overlook the distinction between philosophical speculation and the propagation of a new creed. If a man is not a St. Paul or even a St. John the Baptist, he should not take the tone of an apostle or a prophet. He may fully believe in the soundness of the doctrines which he preaches, and believe in their ultimate victory; but he may equally recognize the undeniable fact that he is at most only contributing to lay the philosophical basis of a religion, not propagating a fully developed religion. The part is strictly subordinate, though it may be essential. The utmost that he can do is to help to clear the air from effete superstitions, to extricate

moral truths from the misleading associations with which they have been entangled, and to encourage, as far as in him lies, the spread of truths which may find embodiment in any fresh developments of thought. The vast and enormously complex processes which are taking place can not be governed and regulated by any single mind. A man who fancies that he can dictate a complete system to the world only shows that he is arrogant to the verge of insanity. Some little may be done by any honest thinker-by any one who really aims at advancing inquiry, instead of trying to throw dust in people's eyes. He may help, according to the measure of his powers, to stimulate the impulses which are on the side of free thought, and which are the best guarantee for a healthy instead of a morbid development. It is not merely the right but the duty of every one competent to the task to do what in him lies to strengthen the fitful and uncertain influence of a sound intellect upon the vast and intricate jumble of conflicting opinions in the world at large. The man of sense will probably condemn him, if good sense is taken to mean an enlightened regard for our own private interest; for certainly such advocacy is often very unwelcome to the world. But if good sense means chiefly a sound estimate of a man's real position and talents, and a judicious application of his talents to honorable ends, a sensible man will surely approve of every vigorous exposition-not given in an irritating and insulting spirit-of the truths which must be the groundwork of a satisfactory religion; for the degree in which that mysterious creed of the future is founded upon tenable and verifiable philosophy must be the measure of its success in laying down permanent principles for the regulation of human conduct. Modest expectations and calm estimates of a man's real value to the world are not productive of any high degree of enthusiasm; but perhaps, in the long run, they are useful qualities.

LESLIE STEPHEN.

MCCLELLAN'S LAST SERVICE TO THE REPUBLIC.

PART II.

THE battle of Antietam had been fought and won, on the 17th of September, 1862. General Lee had retreated across the Potomac on the night of the 18th. General McClellan, for reasons which we have detailed in our former paper, had determined that in the condition of his army after the battle an immediate advance into the enemy's country was impracticable; and, moreover, he had reached the utmost limit from which, according to the only order that he then held, he could be justified in offensive movements. He had fought the battle of Antietam for the defense of Washington; in command of "the troops for the defense of the capital," as the order of September 2d was framed; and even by this construction of his authority he had taken upon himself a vast responsibility. The President, on the 1st of October, had visited the scene of the battle, learned the exhausted and destitute condition of the army, told General McClellan that he should not be ordered to move until he was ready, and voluntarily promised that he should be continued in command.

There now arose a very extraordinary condition of things. A general was in the field, at the head of an army of nearly one hundred thousand men, awaiting orders. But that army needed indispensable supplies, before it could be put in motion in pursuit of the enemy, and many of its departments required reorganization. It had, too, to perform the duty of guarding the passes of a long reach of the Potomac against a new invasion of Maryland and a sudden descent upon Washington. The higher officials at the seat of Government, who had the control of military affairs, began at an early period after the battle of Antietam to call in question the truth of

ERRATUM.-On page 309 of the "Review," for "northern Maryland" read “southern Maryland."

General McClellan's representations, that he was not receiving the supplies which he needed to enable him to execute an order to advance into the enemy's country, where he could not anticipate that his march would not be opposed. Under all ordinary circumstances, a government would unhesitatingly accept the representations of a general in the field, situated as McClellan then was, respecting the condition of his army and the possibility of an advance. Of all the military men who were in high commands during any part of our late war, McClellan was peculiarly fitted to know at all times the condition of his troops. His accomplishments as an organizer were very remarkable; his habits of attention to the wants of his troops were unceasing; and he never relaxed his vigilant oversight of details of a minute character. Nor were his ability and judgment as a strategist inferior to his powers as an organizer. All this was well known to the authorities in Washington. Without the existence, therefore, of some very extraordinary reason, furnishing a motive, good or bad, for not trusting General McClellan as Mr. Lincoln had voluntarily promised on the field of Antietam to trust him, it is very difficult to account for the fact that an issue was gotten up in the counsels at Washington respecting the truth of General McClellan's representations of the condition of his army.

From the 11th to the 28th of October, General McClellan constantly complained in his dispatches that his requisitions for supplies had not been met, so as to render it practicable for him to advance into the enemy's country upon an aggressive campaign. It is well known that there has been an assertion, transmitted from that day to this, that everything which he had asked for had been forwarded; and it has been charged that it was in consequence of a constitutional indecision and want of vigor that he did not cross the Potomac in pursuit of Lee at least as early as the 10th of October. Perhaps one half of the nation to-day believe this to be true, because it was officially asserted. It is certainly untrue. The question is a question of fact, to be judged upon evidence; and to be judged upon principles of belief such as we apply to any disputed matter of history. In that manner we shall examine this assertion.

We have presented to our readers, from President Lincoln's own lips, indubitable proof that the army was in no condition to move on the 1st of October. We shall now descend into details, and shall show that General McClellan was right in saying, as he did in his report, that, down to the 28th of October, his army still lacked the very supplies which were essential to any general move