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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



conclusion is that their liberty in the 

 matter is practically unbounded. The 

 reason ho gives will seem to some a 

 little singular, and may possibly cause 

 more or less wincing in certain quar- 

 ters ; but Mr. Mivart urges it with 

 great confidence and apparently with 

 great sincerity. Briefly stated, it is 

 this : that the highest authorities of 

 the Church were so egregiously, so os- 

 tentatiously, and so gratuitously wrong 

 in the matter of Galileo and the earth's 

 motion round the sun, that no abso- 

 lute authority can ever attach to simi- 

 lar denunciations of scientific doctrines 

 in future. Mr. Mivart brushes aside 

 the reasonings by which it has been 

 attempted to show that Galileo's con- 

 demnation was not formal. He in- 

 sists that it was as formal and em- 

 phatic as it was in the power of the 

 spiritual authorities of that day to make 

 it ; and yet, for all that, the persecuted 

 man of science was in the right and his 

 ecclesiastical judges were in the wrong. 

 He says that it was a most fortunate 

 blunder that they committed, seeing 

 that it sets Catholics free for evermore 

 to think for themselves upon all scien- 

 tific matters, without exception or re- 

 serve of any kind. As we remarked 

 above, some may not quite like the 

 manner in which Mr. Mivart sets about 

 proving his thesis ; but his argument 

 would be a difficult one to controvert. 

 Authorities who have once blundered 

 about as badly as it has ever been given 

 to human beings to blunder, can hardly 

 come forward again as supreme arbiters 

 in a question of science; and, should 

 they so come forward, even loyal sons 

 of the Church might decline to submit 

 to their decisions. 



Mr. Mivart refers to an article con- 

 tributed by an eminent Catholic theo- 

 logian, Dr. Barry, about a year ago, 

 to the " Dublin Review." On turn- 

 ing to it, we find the reverend doctor, 

 to our great satisfaction, recognizing in 

 the amplest manner the pre-eminent 

 position occupied by science in the 



modem world, and claiming the largest 

 degree of liberty for the scientific inves- 

 tigator. "Facts," he observes, "are as 

 unassailable in their way as first prin- 

 ciples ; nor can the exigencies of re- 

 ality be set aside, unless we would give 

 the men of physical science leave to 

 disown the necessities of thought? " He 

 quotes "a metaphysician of high au- 

 thority at Rome, Father Palmieri," as 

 remarking that "one of the greatest 

 calamities of the last three centuries 

 has been the neglect of the study of 

 physical science by orthodox Chris- 

 tians." It is needless to say that we 

 find ourselves heartily in accord with 

 the reverend father in this declaration. 

 Had there been more study of physical 

 science among orthodox Christians 

 during the last three centuries, the 

 cholera would not have carried off 

 eighty thousand persons in Spain this 

 year, nor would the comparatively small 

 city of Montreal in Canada have had to 

 bury small-pox victims this summer at 

 the rate of two hundred a week. The 

 reverend father holds that the Church 

 is now reaping the reward of its dis- 

 dain of science, in its loss of influence 

 over large classes that once were era- 

 braced in its obedience. All this, Dr. 

 Barry says, must be remedied. "Sci- 

 ence is the common ground " on which 

 the Church can meet its adversaries, and 

 there it must meet them. " It is our 

 duty to proclaim that we are not afraid 

 of any argument or any assemblage of 

 facts; but that we insist on giving its 

 weight to every part of the evidence." 

 Of course, the learned doctor, like the 

 valiant fighter that he seems to be, 

 hopes to overcome his adversaries. 

 With that wo are not concerned: what 

 we note with pleasure is, that such 

 strong ground should be taken up by 

 eminent theologians of the most con- 

 servative communion in Christendom, 

 in favor of a bold and thorough explo- 

 ration of the scientific field. In bo far 

 as they approach modern scientific 

 theories in a critical spirit, they will 



