bailey] THE SCIENCE-SPIRIT IN A DEMOCRACY 3 



And if in the truth there is no secrecy, so the science-method 

 is not a secret method. It is not a subject for underhand dealing. 

 Its very essence is of openness, straightforwardness, integrity. 

 It always makes for understanding. If there were no intrigues 

 of diplomacy there would be no international wars. 



Every discovery of new truth, however near or remote, is 

 an example in intellectual poise. It is a contribution to self- 

 mastery, a reason for independence. The greater the number of 

 discoveries, the wider their range, the more widespread their 

 publication, the greater will be the independent thinking of the 

 people; and finally the intellectual attitude will express itself in 

 political practice. 



It is our privilege, as it should be our joy, to open the minds 

 of the blessed young to these great satisfactions and these sweet 

 influences. We begin with them before the regular scientist 

 has them: let us prepare them well for him. So early may some 

 of us have them that we may breed a habit of thought that will 

 last through life : what a blessing is a stabilizing habit of thought 

 that lasts through life ! 



The science-spirit removes at once the fear of truth and the fear 

 of dogma and the fear of nature. Ignorance is always bondage, 

 and it is the truth that shall make you free. 



Its Significance to a Free People 



For an investigator we want a man or a woman who is free- 

 minded and who searches without making promises. For a public 

 officer we want a person who thinks as we do : this is what politi- 

 cal parties mean. If we were scientific, we would want an officer 

 merely because he were best qualified. Our method of government 

 rests on this partisanship, — on my side and your side, the pros 

 and cons, the ins and outs, the saints and sinners, the democrats 

 and republicans. It is said that in the nature of things and in the 

 quality of the human mind, the life of the race must be partisan. 

 We are told that there is good and evil, a proposition, however, 

 not capable of proof; that there is day and night, but the day and 

 the night both are continuous and they merely pass over us where 

 we stand; that there is up and down, but not one of us knows 

 at this moment whether he is on his head or on his feet. The 

 processes of nature are all continuous and we interpret the con- 

 trasts as if thev were essential differences in substance. 



