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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tination is to be confronted with facts ; 

 and if they can not abide the test we 

 let them go. Some of our theological 

 brethren are given to gloating over the 

 mistakes made by scientific men, and 

 point with triumph to the wrecks of 

 scientific theory that lie along the high- 

 way of the world's thought. There is 

 little justification for the triumph. No 

 scientific theory ever perished except to 

 give birth to a better. It would be 

 nearly as sensible to take a man to some 

 ancient cemetery and taunt him with 

 the number of his dead ancestors. Id hu- 

 manity is the living germ which persists 

 from age to age, though the generations 

 of men fall like the shed leaves of the 

 oak, and so with science: theories and 

 systems may fail though not till they 

 have served their purpose but science 

 as a method, as a principle, as a power 

 survives, and from generation to gen- 

 eration admits us into ever more inti- 

 mate recesses of Nature's temple. The- 

 ology, too, it is sometimes said, is pro- 

 gressive, and, in a certain sense, doubt- 

 less it is. But in what does its progress 

 chiefly consist if not in giving up a fruit- 

 less contest with science, and recogniz- 

 ing the perfect independence of the lat- 

 ter as an interpreter both of Nature and 

 of man? If theologians are wise they 

 will not only renounce forever the an- 

 cient conflict, but they will endeavor to 

 make an ally of science and to impress 

 upon it, to the utmost of their power, a 

 moral aim. The business of science is 

 not to deprive the world of religion, but 

 rather to make religion possible for all 

 men by removing the intellectual diffi- 

 culties that have in the past more or less 

 hindered its acceptance by enlightened 

 minds. When the voice of authority is 

 no longer raised to stifle intellectual in- 

 quiry, science will cease altogether to 

 wear a negative aspect, and will gain 

 universal recognition as the great con- 

 structor of whatever is sound in knowl- 

 edge or of practical value in life ; while 

 religion will embrace the emotions and 

 convictions that come to man from the 



contemplation of the all-comprehending 

 universe and its Transcendent Cause. 



INDIVIDUALITY FOR WOMAN. 

 As a general thing, when the impor- 

 tance of individuality has been insisted 

 on, the individuality in view is that of 

 man. It is he who has been exhorted 

 to assert himself, to be true to his opin- 

 ions, to live his own life ; the exhorta- 

 tion has not been to any great extent 

 addressed to his wife or his sisters. 

 Enough for them if they can be so for- 

 tunate as to minister not unworthily to 

 some grand male individuality. "Wom- 

 en, however, though not particularly in- 

 vited to the lecture, have been listening 

 to it, and what people do not always 

 do with lectures or sermons are apply- 

 ing it to themselves. The best of them 

 are now aspiring also to be individuals. 

 They want to think, to feel, to know, to 

 do something as of themselves, and-, if 

 possible, to think clearly, to feel truly, to 

 know surely, and to do efficiently. St. 

 Paul said that a woman should not be 

 suffered to teach : what would he say if 

 he could attend an annual meeting of 

 our National Educational Association, 

 and see to what an extent woman has 

 become the teacher of the youth of the 

 nation ? He said that if a woman wanted 

 any information on doctrinal or religious 

 matters she should go home and ask her 

 husband. The husband of to-day knows 

 more about business than he does of the- 

 ology ; and few wives, indeed, would 

 think of consulting their husbands on 

 the latter subject. In any case the con- 

 ditions have totally changed since these 

 dicta were uttered. Woman has access 

 now to something wider than domestic 

 teaching. The world of science and lit- 

 erature is open to her, and the need of 

 depending solely upon her male relatives 

 in intellectual matters is not very often 

 felt. Among all the changes that mark 

 our modern time we consider this one 

 of the most important. The elevation 

 of woman means the elevation of man. 

 Many persons have distressed themselves 



