EDITOR'S TABLE. 



645 



somewhat to a too materialistic nature 

 in certain of its articles." The Adver- 

 tiser is not alone in its objection ; other 

 newspapers, both religious and secular, 

 frequently remind us that our pages 

 are " too materialistic. 1 ' As there seems 

 to be so general an agreement upon 

 this poiut, it is to be presumed that the 

 subject is perfectly understood, and we 

 have only to regret that our critics are 

 not more explicit, and do not tell us 

 exactly what they mean by materialism, 

 and point out just how far we should go 

 in that direction. If we are " too mate- 

 rialistic," how materialistic is it proper 

 we should be? 



By materialism can hardly be meant 

 in this case that speculative doctrine 

 which denies spirit, and affirms that 

 every thing is matter, because we have 

 not gone into that question at all, and 

 it is hardly to be expected that our 

 monitors would tolerate that in any 

 degree. It must, therefore, be meant 

 that we give undue prominence to ma- 

 terial subjects and material explana- 

 tions of things ; but the importance 

 they assume is certainly not our fault, 

 for we are responsible neither for the 

 existence of matter nor for the part it 

 plays in the economy of the universe. 

 Matter " mere gross, brute matter " 

 may be very undignified and objectiona- 

 ble stuff, and, if some people had been 

 consulted at the creation, perhaps it 

 would have been left out altogether. 

 But it certainly was not left out; it is 

 here, whatever it may be, the founda- 

 tion of existence, and not to be got rid 

 of. We are all made of it ; and each of 

 us has to add several pounds daily to his 

 personal stock, upon penalty of death 

 for non-compliance. The mass of man- 

 kind, moreover, are doomed to work 

 in it, shaping and transforming it in a 

 thousand ways all their lives long. The 

 very instruments and conditions of all 

 our feelings, enjoyments, and thoughts, 

 are material, while the Divine Power 

 employs matter as the great medium of 

 working out the laws of being and the 



harmonies of existence. It was said by 

 Plato that God ever geometrizes ; but 

 it is still a profounder truth that God 

 ever materializes. We, therefore, dodge 

 the criticism about being " too ma- 

 terialistic," and leave our newspaper 

 friends to settle their differences with 

 the higher powers. Science is a knowl- 

 edge of the laws of Kature, and nothing 

 remains for us but to take Nature as we 

 find it; and, as matter is mixed up 

 with every thing, we cannot ignore it. 

 There have been systems of thought in 

 which the consideration of matter was 

 allowed no place, but they have been 

 futile and fruitless ; science, on the 

 other hand, is a system of thought 

 which respects the order of things, and 

 includes matter as the first and con- 

 stant object of inquiry ; and it has 

 opened a new realm of truth, and 

 changed the course of human affairs. 

 After the world had been long domi- 

 nated by philosophies that were full of 

 contempt for matter philosophies that 

 were espoused by theology and accred- 

 ited in the great seats of learning 

 it was not surprising that science, 

 which declared matter to be an ex- 

 cellent thing, and quite fit to be studied, 

 should have been denounced and re- 

 sisted; but it is surprising that after 

 science has made an intellectual epoch, 

 and created a new and nobler future 

 for humanity by the study of the di- 

 vine laws as embodied in matter, there 

 should still be those who mumble the 

 exploded prejudices of the past, and 

 make themselves miserable about the 

 "too materialistic" tendencies of mod- 

 ern thought. Read Papillon's article 

 in the present number of the Month- 

 ly, and see what "matter" means in 

 the light of recent science. 



And, speaking of materialism, here 

 comes the London Spectator, with more 

 talk upon the subject. This journal 

 affects philosophy, and, for years, has 

 been in the habit of branding with op- 

 probrious epithets doctrines it did not 



