' Rivarol as 'the science
of serving the _unknown_.' La Bruyere as 'the respectful fear of the
unknown.' Du Marsais, as 'the worship of the _unknown_, and the practice
of all the virtues.' Walker as 'Virtue founded upon reverence of the
_unknown_, and expectation of rewards or punishments: a system of divine
faith and worship as opposed to other systems.' De Bonald as 'Social
intercourse between man and the _unknown_.' Rees as 'the worship or
homage that is due to the _unknown_ as creator, preserver, and with
Christians as redeemer of the world.' Lord Brougham as 'the subject of
the science called Theology:' a science he defines as 'the knowledge and
attributes of the _unknown_;' which definitions agree in making the
essential principle of religion a principle of ignorance. That they are
sufficiently correct definitions will not be disputed, and upon them the
Atheist is satisfied to rest his case. To him the worship or adoration
of what is confessedly _unknown_ is mere superstition; and to him
professors of theology are 'artists in words,' who pretend to teach what
nobody has any conception of.
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