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man's egotism and that hope which springs eternal in the human breast.”
This was the last utterance he ever made on that subject, and yet to those who knew him best
Dana was throughout life, both by example and precept, the steadfast friend of true religion.
Leading himself a clean, wholesome, and upright life, in which every appetite and passion was held in absolute subjection to his own will, as became an honest gentleman and true philosopher, he never hesitated to rebuke intolerance, persecution, espionage, or any other sort of interference with personal liberty and personal responsibility, whether it was conducted under the cover of religion, philosophy, or secular government.
He made the
Sun from the start a forum in which every form of religious belief could state its views and have an unbiassed and patient hearing, and some of the most learned and instructive discussions of the times, in the search for truth, were given to the world through its columns by
Goldwin Smith and other occasional and regular contributors.
From one of its earliest and most notable articles I quote as follows:
There is nothing more derogatory to the character of the human race, there is nothing more painful and humiliating to contemplate, there is no darker page in history, than the persecutions, the imprisonments, the cruelties, the tortures, the murders which have been inflicted in the hallowed name of religion.
O Christ, all suffering and merciful One,
What damning deeds have in Thy name been done.
And again:
... The Americans are a proud-spirited, independent, liberty-loving people.
They will tolerate no such superintendence,
