Page 157 - erewhon

coexist with it, and on which I will touch later) was that
while it bore witness to the existence of a kingdom that is
not of this world, it made no attempt to pierce the veil that
hides it from human eyes. It is here that almost all religions
go wrong. Their priests try to make us believe that they
know more about the unseen world than those whose eyes
are still blinded by the seen, can ever know—forgetting that
while to deny the existence of an unseen kingdom is bad, to
pretend that we know more about it than its bare existence
is no better.
This chapter is already longer than I intended, but I
should like to say that in spite of the saving feature of which
I have just spoken, I cannot help thinking that the Erewho-
nians are on the eve of some great change in their religious
opinions, or at any rate in that part of them which finds ex-
pression through their Musical Banks. So far as I could see,
fully ninety per cent. of the population of the metropolis
looked upon these banks with something not far removed
from contempt. If this is so, any such startling event as is
sure to arise sooner or later, may serve as nucleus to a new
order of things that will be more in harmony with both the
heads and hearts of the people.

1 Erewhon