Jula Ward Howe, Reminiscences: 1819-1899

[310] endeavored to obey one of his rules, by having a philosophy of my own. Among my later productions was an essay entitled ‘Distinctions between Philosophy and Religion.’ This was suggested by a passage in one of Spinoza's letters, in which he says to his correspondent, ‘I thought that we were to correspond upon matters of philosophy. I find that instead of these you propose to me questions of religion.’ On reading this sentence I felt that, in the religious teaching of our own time, the two were apt to be confounded. It seemed to me that even Theodore Parker had not always distinguished the boundary line, and I began to reflect seriously upon the difference between a religious truth and a philosophical proposition.

I confess that my nearer acquaintance with the philosophers, ancient and modern, inspired me at this time with the desire of contributing something of my own to the thought of the ages. The names of certain essays of mine, composed after the series just mentioned, and never put into print, will serve to show the direction in which my efforts were tending. Of these, ‘Polarity’ was the first, ‘Limitation’ the second. Then followed ‘The Fact Accomplished,’ ‘Man a priori and aposteriori,’ and finally, ‘Ideal Causation,’ which marked my last step in this progress. These papers were designed to interest the studious