THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 411 



have not dealt with matters such as these for nineteen centuries 

 without learning something. Take our advice and leave it 

 alone." l 



And really, as a matter of common sense, granted 

 that there is anything in Sir Oliver Lodge's views, the 

 subject is one on which the Catholic Church should be heard. 

 To put it mildly, they are not novices. And the subject 

 really is in their line. It may, perhaps, not have occurred 

 to him that (in his own words) to believe everything or to 

 believe nothing are the two most logical attitudes on the matter 

 in question. 2 



The Catholic, also, will be interested in Sir Oliver Lodge's 

 final assertion of the existence of a transcendent God. He will 

 congratulate Sir Oliver on his power of reasoning, It happens 

 to be one of the latest defined dogmas of the Catholic Church 

 that the existence of God can be inferred by man's natural 

 reason. That Sir Oliver has come to the same conclusion is a 

 matter for congratulation. Many (like the writer), whose 

 intellect fails to follow the course of reasoning in such high 

 matters, will envy him his perspicacity and intellectual power. 

 But, if he is convinced so far, why does he not drop all these 

 attempts at amateur theology and see what Rome has to teach 

 him ? It is really the most logical course. One of our most 

 prominent journalists once said : 



11 It may be, Heaven forgive me, that I did try to be original, 

 but I only succeeded in inventing all by myself an inferior copy 

 of the existing traditions of civilised religion. The man from 

 the yacht thought he was the first to discover England ; I 

 thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a 

 heresy of my own ; and when I had put the last touches to it, I 

 discovered that it was orthodoxy." 3 



1 In fairness to the Catholics, it should be said that I have never heard of any 

 objection from that quarter to psychological research. 



2 Not having the position or the world-wide repute of Sir Oliver Lodge, I think 

 it desirable to state explicitly what should be obvious from the whole discussion, 

 that I am not, in this article, compromising any reputation I may possess as a 

 writer on philosophy and matters scientific by expressing positive opinions on 

 matters of religion. I am merely putting forward points of view. The " religion 

 of all sensible men " is certainly the standpoint of this article. But if the " boss 

 scientist " will introduce matters like this into his address, what can the critic do 

 but write journalese ? 



3 Orthodoxy, by G. K. Chesterton, p. 17. 



