3 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ion that those studies afford the best discipline, in which the mind is 

 brought into contact with outward realities a view which has late- 

 ly been put forth with new force by my friend Canon Kingsley. You 

 know that Canon Kingsley has acquired great reputation as an his- 

 torian. He held the Professorship of History at the University of 

 Cambridge for many years, and, in fact, has only recently withdrawn 

 from it. Canon Kingsley also early acquired a considerable amount 

 of scientific culture, and he has always been particularly fond of Natu- 

 ral History. Now, he lately said to the working-men of Bristol that 

 he strongly recommended them to cultivate Science, rather than 

 study History; having himself almost withdrawn from the study of 

 history, for this reason, that he found it more and more difficult to 

 satisfy himself about the truth of any past event ; while, on the other 

 hand, in the study of science, he felt that we were always approaching 

 nearer to the truth. A few days ago I was looking through a maga- 

 zine article on the old and disputed question of Mary Queen of Scots, 

 which crops up every now and then. She is once more put upon her 

 trial. Was Mary Queen of Scots a vicious or a virtuous woman ? 

 The question will be variously answered by her enemies and by her 

 advocates ; and I believe it will crop up to the day of doom, without 

 ever being settled. Now, on the other hand, as we study scientific 

 truth, we gain a certain point, and may feel satisfied we are right up 

 to that point, though there may be something beyond; while the ele- 

 vation we have gained enables us to look higher still. It is like 

 ascending a mountain ; the nearer we get to the top, the clearer and 

 more extensive is the view. I think this is a far better discipline to 

 the mind than that of digging down into the dark depths of the past, 

 in the search for that which we cannot hope ever thoroughly to bring 

 to light. It so happened that only a fortnight ago I had the oppor- 

 tunity of asking another of our great historians, Mr. Froude, what he 

 thought of Canon Kingsley's remark. He said, "I entirely agree with 

 it ; " and, in some further conversation I had with him on the subject, 

 I was very much struck with finding how thoroughly his own mind 

 had been led, by the very important and profound researches he has 

 made into our history, to the same conclusion the difficulty of arriv- 

 ing at absolute truth upon any historical subject. Now, we do hope 

 and believe that there is absolute truth in Science, which, if not at 

 present in our possession, is within our reach ; and that, the nearer we 

 are able to approach to it, the clearer will be our habitual perception 

 of the difference between the real and the unreal, the firmer will be 

 our grasp of all the questions that rise in the ordinary course of our 

 lives, and the sounder will be the judgment we form as to great politi- 

 cal events and great social changes. Especially will this gain be ap- 

 parent in our power of resisting the contagious influence of " Mental 

 Epidemics." 



