The only future he knew of was one a belief in which had no influence on us, except for sadness.

It was a protraction only of what is worst in life; it was in no way a completion of what is best in it.
But with us the case is altogether different.

Formerly the supernatural could not be denied completely, because it was not known completely.

Not to affirm is a very different thing from to deny.

And many beliefs which the positivists of the modern world are denying, the positivists of the ancient world more or less consciously lived by.
Next, there is this point to remember.