602 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



construction of Bach's fugues, or supplied the missing harmony to the 

 original scoi-e of the " Messiah." For a correct exegesis of the Apoc- 

 alypse, or the Book of Joh, we should not go to the scientist, hut to 

 the trained and acute Biblicist; and when our thoughts are turned 

 toward the sources and interpretations of natural phenomena, to whom 

 shall we look for direction and guidance, but to those who have made 

 these phenomena their life-long study? "Every one for his own." 



If the destruction of these more recent theories, or their immediate 

 and unreserved acceptance, were our only alternative, there might be 

 some excuse for attacking them, even with the very unsuitable and 

 impotent weapons with which most of us are furnished. But why can 

 we not suifer ourselves to "make haste slowly" in regard to these 

 questions which are so difficult, and, in a certain sense, so remote ? 

 The most enlightened scientists hold their views not rigidly, but flex- 

 ibly, expecting them to undergo various modifications, as truth is 

 gradually unsealed and error eliminated. They invite both scrutiny 

 and correction ; and, when argument is met by argument, proof with 

 counter-proof, when premises are shown to be false, methods insuffi- 

 cient, or inferences illogical, none are more ready and generous in 

 acknowledgment of mistakes. The absence of assertion is particu- 

 larly noticeable in their writings. Their opinions are frequently pref- 

 aced with such phrases as " So far as I can discover," " Is it not prob- 

 able," "Are we not justified in believing; " thus appealing to the in- 

 telligence and discernment of the reader, instead of seeming to com- 

 pel his acquiescence. Darwin's first words in the second volume of 

 the "Descent of Man" are, "I have fallen into a serious and unfortu- 

 nate error; " and he frankly states that his explanation of certain coin- 

 cidences is wholly erroneous. Does this candid admission detract 

 from his general trustworthiness ? Certainly not, to the equally can- 

 did reader. In summing up the main conclusions at the close of this 

 elaborate work, he alludes to the still higher destiny which man may 

 hope for in the distant future; but he instantly checks the incipient 

 speculation with the characteristic utterance of the true devotee of 

 science : " But we are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only 

 w^th the truth as far as our reason allows us to discover it. I have 

 given the evidence to the best of my ability." 



These untiring students ask only unrestricted right of search and 

 freedom of discussion. Shall this modest request be practically de- 

 nied them ? Shall the w r eak timidity and the unreasoning hostility 

 of the sixteenth century forever repeat themselves in the presence of 

 a fresh idea? Verily, a stranger in the world of thought fares hard at 

 our hands. We are forgetful to entertain it until its wings appear, 

 and that is not Scriptural hospitality. 



Tyndall beautifully says : " Science desires not isolation, but freely 

 combines with every effort toward the bettering of man's estate. The 

 lifting of the life is the essential point." Are the sarcasms of the 



