230 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sistencc of matter weight is aniiihilatcd 

 and created by distance and proximity to 

 the earth. 



Physical science relates only to the lim- 

 ited and conditioned, because its proofs are 

 limited. The unlimited persistent is be- 

 yond the realm of physical sense and ex- 

 perimental proof. Hence, only abstract, 

 ideal force persists, and is known to per- 

 sist, not from our experiences with per- 

 ceived forces, but only because mind, he- 

 redity, ajid mental experiences, evolve the 

 conception of ultimate, absolute principles, 

 and forbid the conception of their annihi- 

 lation. 



Proper discrimination, exactly expressed, 

 between perceptions of the finite and con- 

 ditioned, and conceptions of the persistent 

 and absolute, rids science from the odium 

 of materialism, and other fallacies, and 

 makes the persistence of force not a new 



theory, but what it was ever conceived to 

 be the principle of potency causality 

 an attribute of the ever-existing I Am. 



Alleged infallibility of spectrum analysis 

 of suns and nebulce, billions of miles dis- 

 tant, when, for terrestrial use, the Director 

 of the United States Mint says, " it cannot 

 be trusted," shows the present tendency to 

 sacrifice logical mental conceptions to mere 

 physical sense. 



Religious superstitions, in their conflict 

 with science, will not succumb to sophis- 

 try : but, let scientific, physical facts be 

 fortified with careful experimental verifica- 

 tion, and hypotheses with pure logic, and 

 give mind, though it be " discerned in mat- 

 ter," its fair share of the universe, and 

 both superstitious bigotry and fallacious 

 dogmas will surely disappear. 



A. Arnold. 

 Tenaflt, N. J., February 20, 1875. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



DRAPER AXB HIS CRITICS. 



DE. DRAPER has reason for grati- 

 tude to his friends, and doubly so 

 to his enemies. He wrote a bold book 

 upon a subject never before separately 

 treated, and by a large portion of the 

 press it lias been received with favor as 

 a valuable and important contribution 

 to the serious thought of the time. The 

 interest in the subject, the reputation 

 of its author, and the cordial commenda- 

 tion of many critics, were certain to se- 

 cure the work a fair measure of success ; 

 but, on the other hand, a considerable 

 number of writers were enraged by it, 

 and, with the usual folly of passion, have 

 execrated it into about thrice the cix*- 

 culation that it would otherwise have 

 had. It is to be hoped they will learn 

 that things are often overruled, in this 

 world, to ends not contemplated by their 

 contrivers. This, however, lends no ex- 

 cuse to bad practices, and those who 

 have unscrupulously attacked Dr. Dra- 

 per's work are to be held to account 

 for it, just the same as if they had not 



overreached themselves in the result 

 aimed at. 



The honest and intelligent criticism 

 of his book will, no doubt, be respect- 

 ed by its author, and objections to its 

 reasonings and conclusions will proba- 

 bly be taken into careful consideration ; 

 while, if convinced of their validity, he 

 maybe expected to indicate it in future 

 editions of the volume. But by a very 

 considerable portion of the religious 

 press, and by many secular journals, 

 the editors of which know where to 

 flatter and where to abuse, with a view 

 to brisk sales, the book has been vehe- 

 mently denounced. Scribner''s Monthly, 

 for example, published in March an ad- 

 mirable article on the "Indecencies of 

 Criticism," and the same number con- 

 tained a " criticism ". of Dr. Draper's 

 work, illustrating them so perfectly as 

 to raise the suspicion that such was its 

 design. The frothy invective that has 

 been copiously poured out under the 

 name of criticism is, of course, not 

 worth noticing; nor shall we trouble 

 ourselves with the various petty objec- 



