748 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tain departments of thought where 

 there are facts and phenomena to be 

 known, and knowledge is to be ex- 

 tended, they are denounced as impi- 

 ous intruders ; and we can no more say 

 that the mind is free in its action when 

 loaded with execration for taking this 

 or that course, than we can say that 

 the body is free in its movements when 

 loaded with chains. Prof. Tyndall came 

 to this country to lecture upon physics. 

 He stuck strictly to his text, and raised 

 no questions in regard to the scope of 

 scientific inquiries. But he was not let 

 alone. At the banquet he received be- 

 fore leaving us, he was lectured upon 

 the subject of the limits of science, and 

 in the name of religion was bidden to 

 keep in his place, and not attempt to 

 solve the great questions of the origin 

 and end of the world by running his 

 head into the mud of mere physical 

 speculation. Those things, he was told, 

 are not for science, but belong to philos- 

 ophy and revelation. The fundamen- 

 tal question of the Inaugural Address 

 was thus here publicly thrust upon him 

 from the religious side, and he was in- 

 structed what it was proper and what 

 it was not proper for him to do as a 

 scientific inquirer. Both the wisdom 

 of the instructions and the propriety of 

 giving them were extensively indorsed 

 by the press of the country. Prof. 

 Tyndall was, therefore, not let alone, 

 and left free to pursue his course as a 

 scientific man, but his course was dic- 

 tated to him by the party that does not 

 make science its business. His critics 

 now have their reply, and we hope it 

 is satisfactory. That he has not minced 

 matters, but has met the issue manfully 

 and squarely, we think is to the credit 

 of the side he represents. 



In wholesome contrast to the time- 

 serving lamentations above quoted, we 

 give some passages from an editorial in 

 Church and State^ a religious newspa- 

 per, which shows a heartier apprecia- 

 tion of Prof. Tyndairs work : 



" It is one of the most conspicuous bene- 

 fits of the study of physical science, that its 

 most difficult and fundamental problems may 

 be approached with absolute honesty. To 

 find out the exact truth, whatever it may be, 

 and to give it accurate expression, is the very 

 business of science. The most skillful and 

 successful investigators are always search- 

 ing for new facts, by which their own provi- 

 sional conclusions and workiug hypotheses 

 may be either verified or corrected. They 

 are so far from resenting new discoveries, 

 that they themselves expose to view the 

 weak places in their theories and generaliza- 

 tions, with the very object of calling univer- 

 sal attention to their weakness. They under- 

 stand no triumph except the triumph of see- 

 ing for themselves, and helping other peo- 

 ple to see, tJiat which is. 



" It is surely a gain to theology and reli- 

 gion that the most influential thinkers of 

 our time— for it would be idle to deny that 

 'science' is the fashion — are pledged, not 

 only by their own high character, but by the 

 very nature of their pursuits, to absolute 

 truthfulness, and to the most unflinching 

 courage. Even Biblical intei-pretation would 

 gain largely — and has, in fact, achieved all 

 its modern triumphs by its adoption of an 

 inductive method. Instead of setting out 

 with certain authorized dogmas, and finding 

 ' proofs ' for them, somewhere or other, in 

 the sacred Scriptures, our modern scholars 

 set out with some book of Scripture, ascer- 

 tain its authorship, its date, the readers for 

 whom it was intended, the circumstances 

 in which it appeared, and its actual mean- 

 ing. 



"And when we approach the ultimate 

 problems, not only of religion, but even of 

 life, it is well that we should be made to un- 

 derstand what the issues really are ; and 

 Prof. Tyndall has rendered us this service in 

 his address to the British Association — an ad- 

 dress so brilliant and noble that we have to 

 lay it aside for a while, and come back to it, 

 for sober criticism, in a calmer mood. No 

 doubt, on both sides, it will be misrepre- 

 sented, but there it is — stating questions 

 that must be answered, facts that must be 

 accepted and included in any theory either 

 of mind or matter. We shall hope to give 

 a fuller account of it before long ; but its 

 concluding words are worthy of the most 

 solemn consideration of all of us who love 

 the truth, however widely we may differ iu 

 our conclusions from Prof. Tyndall him 

 self." 



