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Obvious typos, missing accent marks and punctuation errors corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation, spelling, translation and dates left as in the original. Two of the three items noted in the Corrigenda changed. The third item, (p. 48, line 24, omit “is.”), was not changed because there was no such word on that line. A maltese cross character, ✠, is used in the Appendices. If the font in use on the device does not support this character, it may not display correctly. Italic text is represented by underscores surrounding the _italic text_. Small capitals have been converted to ALL CAPS. Footnotes have been moved to the end of their respective chapters. Superscript characters are preceded by a ^ character.
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VICAR OF ST. JUST-IN-PENWITH AUTHOR OF “THE LIFE OF DR. TAYLOR OF ASHBURNE”
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1916
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M. JOSEPH LOTH PROFESSEUR AU COLLÈGE DE FRANCE
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF A FRIENDSHIP FROM WHICH I HAVE REAPED THE FRUITS OF DISCIPLESHIP
Sed quanquam utilitates multae et magnae consecutae sunt, non sunt tamen ab earum spe causae diligendi profectae.
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In one of the most brilliant of modern books its author[1] calls attention to the common fallacy which assumes that “if you can find a principle which gives an adequate explanation of three different facts it is more likely to correspond with the truth than three different principles which give adequate explanations of the same facts severally.”
This fallacy underlies much that is being urged in favour of a common origin for religious doctrines and methods of worship. A single source of religious belief or of religious phenomena is preferred to several sources as being more tidy and more in keeping with what we have learnt to expect in other departments of research. It may be illogical, but still it is recommended as a safe guide to the truth.