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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the supreme end to be sought ; that it 

 is yet but partially known ; that doubt 

 respecting its received forms, and the 

 subjection of them to the most inex- 

 orable tests, is an imperative duty ; and 

 that tlie noblest mental occupation of 

 man is the free exercise of his powers 

 in questioning received beliefs, on any 

 and all subjects, and attaining to clear- 

 er, more elevated, consistent, and valid 

 opinions. It is the office of Science to 

 push destructive criticism to the utter- 

 most limit, in every direction of thought, 

 in the steadfast faith that truth will 

 thereby be the gainer, and views more 

 and more clearly established, against 

 Avhich destructive criticism will be pow- 

 erless. 



Accordingly, in every thoroughly 

 managed scientific school in the world, 

 the students are taught, first of all, to 

 be dissatisfied with things as they find 

 them are trained to skeptical habits 

 in regard to all that of which the proof 

 is not perfect ; and are, moreover, es- 

 pecially required to enforce this disci- 

 pline upon themselves by questioning 

 the evidence of their own results, and 

 by welcoming from any quarter the 

 hostile criticism that shall overthrow 

 the conclusions they suppose themselves 

 to have established. This is, perhaps, 

 an ideal to which but few scientific stu- 

 dents fully attain, both because of its 

 essential difliculty, and because scien- 

 tific education is as yet but a very par- 

 tial influence in moulding the mind ; 

 while the whole force of current and 

 traditional culture is thrown in favor 

 of a very difi'erent system of Ideals, 

 ethics, and objects, in the work of men- 

 tal cultivation. 



It is very difi'erent in the religious 

 sphere. Theology is older than science, 

 and, by the mass of the people, is re- 

 garded as a thousand times more im- 

 portant. Theological teachers have 

 been the great pioneers of education in 

 the past, and are still overwhelmingly 

 in the control of it. Among the presi- 

 dents of our colleges, where there is 



one man of science there are ten doc- 

 tors of divinity. A system of educa- 

 tion dominated by theology is one 

 which embodies the theological spirit 

 in its methods of culture. What that 

 spirit is, as respects freedom of thought, 

 and the duty of its teachers in the for- 

 mation of their opinions, we have seen 

 in the recent treatment, by large and 

 authoritative bodies, of Blauvelt, Miller, 

 and Smith. Truth was not permitted 

 to be their object. The right of private 

 judgment, and the consequent right of 

 the free expression of its results, were 

 made crimes to be punished. The lib- 

 erty to doubt, and from that starting- 

 point to go on to something more true, 

 is not only not encouraged, but is pro- 

 hibited. 



The newspapers, indeed, say, in 

 commenting upon Mr. Blauvelt's case, 

 that the ecclesiastical decision was right, 

 inasmuch as he had violated his en- 

 gagements with the Church : he agreed 

 to teach certain things, and was bound 

 by his contract. Possibly ; but we pro- 

 test against this degradation of the func- 

 tion of the teacher, especially on the 

 most important subjects, to that of 

 merely carrying out the literal stipula- 

 tions of a bargain. Commerce may re- 

 quire this, but it is not favorable to the 

 attainment of religious truth. Where 

 would the Protestant Reformation have 

 been, if this theory of religious con- 

 tracts had been strictly adhered to? 

 And what is the meaning of religious 

 liberty, if those who teach religion are 

 not to be allowed to think ? Moreover, 

 as men can no more help thinking than 

 breathing, what is to become of the re- 

 ligious conscience, if they are not al- 

 lowed to utter what they think ? 



But granting that men must fulfill 

 their obligations, the deeper question 

 then arises as to their right to assume 

 such obligations. The theological policy 

 being fixed, what right had either Blau- 

 velt, Miller, or Smith, to subject him- 

 self to it, so that by the legitimate 

 and independent exercise of his own 



