EDITOR'S TABLE. 



495 



which he was accountable ; whereupon 

 they suspended him from the author- 

 ized ministerial function. 



And now there comes report of 

 another case of specially remarkable 

 features, in Scotland. A distinguished 

 divine has been condemned by his 

 church for heresy in contributing a 

 valuable and important article to an 

 influential publication. The great issue 

 comes out here in a conspicuous and 

 somewhat startling way. It is useless 

 to deny that the most remarkable thing 

 about this age is the activity of inquiry, 

 and the progress of knowledge. More 

 and more, people will scan their tradi- 

 tions, overhaul their opinions, and in- 

 vestigate their truth ; and every subject 

 upon which they can hold opinions is 

 undergoing this inexorable revision. 

 The consequence is, that errors are 

 sifted out, beliefs that fail to stand the 

 test are gradually corrected, and knowl- 

 edge is steadily extended. These pro- 

 cesses are so real and so rapid that 

 great works, which represent the gen- 

 eral state of thought at one time, in a 

 few years require extensive readjust- 

 ment. The eighth edition of the " En- 

 cyclopfedia Britannica," which was 

 published in 1857, was a comprehensive 

 and faithful representation of the state 

 of general thought at that time. But 

 the numerous and important advances 

 of knowledge made since have left it 

 so far behind that it became necessary 

 to reconstruct it. This is now being 

 done, and several volumes have ap- 

 peared. Among other subjects to be 

 dealt with was the Bible ; and, strange 

 to say, there has been a great deal of 

 progress and modification of opinion 

 in regard to the origin, interpretation, 

 and history, of this important work, 

 within the last twenty years. The edi- 

 tors were responsible before the world 

 for the honest and faithful treatment 

 of the subject. There could be no 

 flinching from the duty of a thorough 

 statement upon the subject here, any 

 more than in the departments of physical 



science. Very naturally the ablest and 

 best-equipped student was sought to 

 deal with so delicate and critical a sub- 

 ject. Prof. Eobertson Smith, of the 

 Theological Seminary at Aberdeen, was 

 selected for the duty. It cannot for a 

 moment be supposed that a gentleman 

 of position and ability, such as would 

 be chosen for this work, and writing 

 for the thinkers of the world in so 

 distinguished a publication as the "En- 

 cyclopjedia Britannica," would fail to 

 treat the subject with the severest care, 

 in the genuine spirit of truth- seeking, 

 and with all the honor of the most 

 elevated scholarship. And such is the 

 character of the essay. It is written 

 with masterly ability, and is so full of 

 interesting and impoi'tant information 

 with which evei'ybody should be famil- 

 iar, that we shall print it in full in the 

 next number of The Popular Science 

 Supplement. Yet the Free Church of 

 Scotland has been thrown into con- 

 sternation by the article, and Prof. 

 Smith has been summoned before the 

 General Assembly and suspended, and 

 it is reported that he is to be formally 

 " tried." Meantime, the world will be 

 interested, and will assiduously read the 

 essay. 



Now, we call attention to the con- 

 trasted policy of Science in the same 

 circumstances. If we turn to the arti- 

 cle " Chemistry," in the " Encyclopae- 

 dia Britannica," we shall see that here 

 also great advance is indicated. There 

 has, in fact, been a revolution so radi- 

 cal and complete, that those familiar 

 with the old statement may find them- 

 selves bewildered by the novelty and 

 strangeness of the presentation. Yet 

 nobody hears about any perturbation 

 or alarm in the chemical world, or 

 about Prof. Armstrong being arraigned 

 before the Chemical Society and sus- 

 pended for heretical teaching. 



Obviously there are here two intel- 

 lectual procedures, which are not only 

 different, but antagonistic. On the one 

 hand, there is recognition that truth is 



