EDITOR'S TABLE. 



3 6 3 



is true and what is false, on the most 

 momentous questions, and to take ab- 

 solute control of the work of educa- 

 tion, is maintained with earnest purpose 

 and unabated rigor. It was to this 

 task that the Vatican Council mainly 

 addressed itself. The increasing spread 

 of' science was the ground of alarm, 

 and against it the anathemas of the 

 Council were chiefly hurled. "With 

 these relations of the subject Mr. Glad- 

 stone has not dealt, while, to deal with 

 them broadly and thoroughly, requires 

 a mind with a very different prepara- 

 tion from his. 



The question is, first of all, an his- 

 toric one. As the future must be de- 

 termined by the tendencies of the pres- 

 ent, and as these tendencies are the 

 outcome of the past, he w r ho would 

 broadly comprehend the issues of to- 

 day must turn back and study the con- 

 tests and struggles of former genera- 

 tions through which the present state 

 of things has been reached. The Cath- 

 olic prelate of England says that we 

 are on the " eve of one of the mighti- 

 est controversies the religious world 

 has ever seen," but this cannot be an 

 uncaused result; it is rather the natu- 

 ral and necessary sequence of " one of 

 the mightiest controversies " which has 

 been agitating the world for thousands 

 of years. It is a controversy in which 

 the elements of obstruction and of ad- 

 vancement have been in play upon an 

 immense scale, which has drawn na- 

 tions into its vortex, and issued in noth- 

 ing less than the development of civili- 

 zation itself. Nothing has been more 

 wanted than a delineation of the causes, 

 the course, and the consequences of 

 this great struggle ; and this desidera- 

 tum is now supplied by the " History of 

 the Conflict between Religion and Sci- 

 ence," by Dr. John W. Draper. 



The author of this work has won a 

 world-wide reputation alike as a man 

 of science and an historian, both quali- 

 ties being required in an eminent de- 

 gree for the performance of the task. 



Dr. Draper began his scientific studies 

 in extreme youth, and they have taken 

 a wide range. Both in the field of 

 physics and in that of physiology he is 

 a master, and his eminent position as 

 an original investigator has been long 

 conceded in all civilized countries. He 

 has done his share in extending the 

 boundaries of knowledge, and his ac- 

 quaintance w r ith science is therefore 

 not at second-hand, but is thorough and 

 trustworthy. Being of a philosophic 

 cast of mind, he was early drawn to the 

 consideration of science in its historic 

 development. He thus passed to the 

 study of history, and naturally took up 

 its problems from the scientific point 

 of view ; that is, he read them in the 

 light of an extensive familiarity with 

 the laws of the natural world. His 

 " History of the Intellectual Develop- 

 ment of Europe " is a work of great 

 learning and originality, which has been 

 translated and republished in all the 

 leading civilized countries of the world. 

 That it has been highly appreciated by 

 eminent men, need hardly be said. It 

 was quoted, as we are all aware, by 

 Prof. Tyndall, in his late address be- 

 fore the British savants ; and when not 

 long ago, in Berlin, the distinguished 

 physiologist, Prof. Virchow, remarked 

 to the present writer, " Give my com- 

 pliments when you return to your emi- 

 nent countryman Dr. Draper, and say 

 to him that, when my son left home 

 to pursue his studies, the only book I 

 gave him was the ' History of the In- 

 tellectual Development of Europe.' " 



Thus prepared, Dr. Draper has en- 

 tered upon a chapter of history never 

 before systematically undertaken. His- 

 tory in relation to science has hitherto 

 been confined almost entirely to its sub- 

 ject-matter. Dr. Draper, on the other 

 hand, considers the progress of science 

 more in its human relations, or as con- 

 nected with the interests and experi- 

 ences of humanity. While others de- 

 tach it from the accompanying circum- 

 stances, he views it as dependent upon 



