Its revolt on behalf of emancipation was courageous and sincere.

The patriotism which inspired it recognized the need of justifying its protestantism by a better conception of democracy.

But the heresy was as incoherent and as credulous as the antithetic orthodoxy.

It sought to accomplish an intellectual revolution without organizing either an army or an armament--just as the pioneer democrat expected to convert untutored enthusiasm into acceptable technical work, and a popular political and economic atomism into a substantially socialized community.

In its meaning and effect, consequently, the revolt was merely negative and anti-national.