372 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



crease of our knowledge of those cir- 

 cumstances that necessarily engender it. 

 In England a speech like this would, 

 no doubt, have raised a storm of theo- 

 logical indignation. In Germany the 

 clergy is distinguished by its absence 

 from scientific meetings. The separa- 

 tion of natural science and orthodoxy is 

 complete, and no opposition was there- 

 fore ofiered to these remarks." 



The tendency of English science to 

 occupy itself more or less with religious 

 questions has several causes. In the 

 first place, there is a large and cultivat- 

 ed clerical class whose professional du- 

 ties are nominal, and who devote them- 

 selves earnestly to scientific studies. 

 These mingle in the scientific societies 

 and associations, and bring with them 

 the bias of theological doctrine. Much 

 money has, moreover, been expended 

 in England, in the way of prizes, to be 

 given to writers for making scientific 

 books, for the advancement of theologi- 

 cal views ; and, as shown by the Bridge- 

 water treatises, some of the most emi- 

 nent and influential scientific men have 

 sanctioned this practice, which has been 

 much imitated by others of inferior 

 ability. Such a course could hardly 

 fail to arouse reaction and stimulate 

 controversy. But, besides these causes, 

 a cause still more efiicient has been in 

 operation there, in the rise of a school 

 of psychology, that has brought old and 

 fundamental theological doctrines and 

 dogmas into the arena of scientific scru- 

 tiny, so that scientific men, in the per- 

 formance of their duty as investigators, 

 find themselves brought into collision 

 with the " defenders of the faith." 



But, while English science is much 

 complicated with theology, it is but 

 very little affected by politics. On the 

 other hand, the political perturbations 

 of German thought are deeply felt in 

 its scientific assemblages. "While Eng- 

 lish science is laboring to fr^e itself 

 from undue theological influence, Ger- 

 man science is struggling for freedom 

 of thought from undue political influ- 



ences. This was the burden of the 

 opening addresses of the September 

 meeting. The Association was formed 

 upward of half a century ago, and the 

 writer in Nature says that politics en- 

 tered into the intentions of its founder 

 the celebrated Oken, Professor of Zo- 

 ology at Jena as well as of many of its 

 original members. " "When German uni- 

 ty was nothing but a treasonable aim 

 of persecuted patriots, every meeting 

 of Germans from diff'erent states served 

 to spread and to give fresh vigor to this 

 aim, and was in itself a protest against 

 the division into small states of the 

 common country, and against persecu- 

 tions such as Oken himself has had to 

 suff'er. Ay, and even now, when the 

 old wishes have been fulfilled, and no 

 division separates government and na- 

 tion, remains of the old political under- 

 current can still be traced in some of 

 these meetings." 



The interest of German men of sci- 

 ence in political subjects is, therefore, 

 an incident of the disturbed condition 

 of the people, rather than any tendency 

 to the purely scientific study of political 

 and social problems. 



"We have a great amount of decla- 

 mation on the dignity of mind, but we 

 shall have a rational appreciation of 

 that dignity just in proportion as we 

 understand the laws of mind : what we 

 need, therefore, is a broader and clearer 

 apprehension of mental science. The 

 attention of students of this subject is 

 called to the weighty and suggestive ar- 

 ticle which opens the present number of 

 The Monthly, on " The Comparative 

 Psychology of Man." It treats of a phase 

 of the subject of great moment, but 

 hitherto only slightly regarded. It will 

 be evident to all readers that the view 

 taken by the writer is one that must 

 be permanently recognized in future 

 if mental phenomena are to be inter- 

 preted on strict scientific principles. 

 But the article, moreover, remarkably 



