Page:Heroines of freethought (IA cu31924031228699).pdf/330

322 “There’s just the difference between us —I know why I don't do these things. I distinctly see that I can do better. I have other principles, and should sink myself by doing what I don’t recognize as the best.”

All through her works we can open the pages at random, and find passages expressive of her lack of faith in churches and creeds, similar to these quiet sarcasms, from "Felix Holt":

“There was no sign of superstition near, no crucifix or image to indicate a misguided reverence; the inhabitants were probably so free from superstition that they were in much less awe of the parson than of the overseer. Yet they were saved from the excesses of Protestantism by not knowing how to read. They were kept safely in the via media of indifference, and could have registered themselves in the census by a big black mark as members of the Church of England.”

And again: ‘‘He did not grapple with the paradox; he let it pass with all the