THE    VALLEY    OF   BLESSING  333

inevitably,  they  interact  constantly,  and  contribute
in  common  to  many  movements.  On  the  other
hand,  the  reason  for  this  interdependence  exhibits
every  sign  of  extreme  subtlety  —  it  has  been  stated
in  most  various  and  conflicting  forms.  I  am  in-
clined to  believe  that,  in  the  present  state  of  socio-
logical knowledge,  a  general,  though  not  necessarily
vague,  description  must  suffice.  A  religion  and
(if  you  please)  a  secular  polity  agree  in  one  conspic-
uous quality.  They  evince  a  formative  tendency
that  no  contingent  events  serve  to  explain.  The
controlling  force  in  both  attaches  to  a  metahistorical
element.  It  attests  the  operation  of  a  power  that
cannot  be  referred  to  single  individuals  as  their
attribute.  It  is  impossible  to  track  the  state  to
contingent  events,  or  to  abstract  statements  of  belief,
any  more  than  the  church.  And,  all  things  con-
sidered, it  seems  possible  that  we  know  this  power
best  in  group-life,  even  if,  as  also  seems  possible,
any  particular  group  illustrates  aspects  of  the  whole,
and  perhaps  hides  the  complete  verity.  For  example,
in  the  eighteenth  century,  many  rationalistic  critics
of  religion  were  pleased  to  identify  it  with  priest-
craft. It  was  an  evil  in  their  eyes,  but  not  unmixed.
Bad  as  the  ally  of  superstition  against  enlightenment,
it  might  be  good,  notwithstanding,  as  "a  bridle  in


334     MODERN   THOUGHT    AND   THE    CRISIS    IN    BELIEF

the  mouth  of  the  sensual  mob."  Jejune  as  these
notions  appear  now,  they  held  a  modicum  of  truth.
