It is thus that _the very conception of a God throws a solemn responsibility after it_."[260] It is a dangerous mistake, then, to imagine either that we can ever know _that there is no God_, or that we can get rid of all responsibility by merely _doubting_ His existence.

Atheism, in so far as it is _dogmatic_, must, in his own language, "arrogate infinite knowledge as the ground of disproof;" and in so far as it is merely _skeptical_, it can afford no security against the fears and forebodings which _doubt_ on such a subject must necessarily awaken in every thoughtful mind.

And this consideration will become only the more solemn and impressive the longer we reflect upon it.

Mr.Holyoake, however, is far from being consistent in his various statements on this subject.

For not content with saying, "Most decidedly I believe that the present order of Nature is insufficient to prove the existence of an intelligent Creator," he adds that "_no imaginable order_, that no contrivance, however mechanical, precise, or clear, would be sufficient to prove it."[261] At one time he tells us that "an increasing party respectfully and deferentially avow their inability to subscribe to the arguments supposed to establish the existence of a Being distinct from Nature." At another, "We have always held that the existence of Deity is 'past finding out,' and we have held that the time employed upon the investigation might more profitably be devoted to the study of humanity." Again, "That central point in all religious belief--the existence of God--has not yet been approached in a frank spirit.