}yHAT K^'OW LEDGE IS OF MOST ]yORTHf 279 



Correct judgment with regard to all surrounding things, events, and 

 consequences, becomes possible only through knowledge of the way in 

 which surrounding phenomena depend on each other. JSTo extent of 

 acquaintance with the meanings of words, can give the power of form- 

 ing correct inferences respecting causes and effects. The constant habit 

 of drawing conclusions from data, and then of verifying those con- 

 clusions by observation and experiment, can alone give the power of 

 judging correctly. And that it necessitates this habit is one of the 

 immense advantages of science. 



Not only, however, for intellectual discipline is science the best; 

 but also for moral discipline. The learning of languages tends, if 

 anything, further to increase the already undue respect for authority. 

 Such and such are the meanings of these words, says the teacher or 

 the dictionary. So and so is the rule in this case, says the grammar. 

 By the pupil these dicta are received as unquestionable. His constant 

 attitude of mind is that of submission to dogmatic teaching. And a 

 necessary result is a tendency to accept without inquiry whatever is 

 established. Quite opposite is the attitude of mind generated by the 

 cultivation of science. By science, constant appeal is made to 

 individual reason. Its truths are not accepted upon authority 

 alone; but all are at liberty to test them — nay, in many cases, 

 the pupil is required to think out his own conclusions. Every step 

 in a scientific investigation is submitted to his judgment. He is not 

 asked to admit it without seeing it to be true. And the trust in his 

 own powers thus produced, is further increased by the constancy with 

 which Nature justifies his conclusions when they are correctly drawn. 

 From all which there flows that independence which is a most valuable 

 element in character. Nor is this the only moral benefit bequeathed 

 by scientific culture. When carried on, as it should always be, as 

 much as possible under the form of independent research, it exercises 

 perseverance and sincerity. As says Professor Tyndall of inductive 

 inquiry, ' ' it requires patient industry, and an humble and conscientious 

 acceptance of what Nature reveals. The first condition of success is 

 an honest receptivity and a willingness to abandon all preconceived 

 notions, however cherished, if they be found to contradict the truth. 

 Believe me, a self-renunciation which has something noble in it, and of 

 which the world never hears, is often enacted in the private experience 

 of the true votary of science." 



Lastly we have to assert — and the assertion will, we doubt not, cause 

 extreme surprise — that the discipline of science is superior to that of 

 our ordinary education, because of the religious culture that it gives. 

 Of course we do not here use the words scientific and religious in their 

 ordinary limited acceptations ; but in their widest and highest accepta- 

 tions. Doubtless, to the superstitions that pass under the name of 



