2^8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in contradiction to physical truth, they lie rather in another plane ; 

 they are like two lines or curves in space, which do not meet, and there- 

 fore can not cut each other. There are matters of the highest moment 

 which manifestly do lie outside the domain of physical science : the 

 possibility of the continuance of human existence in a spiritual form 

 after the termination of physical life is, beyond contradiction, one of 

 the grandest and most momentous of possibilities, but in the nature of 

 things it lies outside physics. Yet there is nothing absolutely absurd, 

 nothing which contradicts any human instinct, in the supposition of 

 such possibility ; consequently, the student of physical science, even 

 if he can not find time or inclination to look into such matters himself, 

 may well have patience with those who can. And he may easily afford 

 to be generous ; the field of physical science is grand enough for any 

 ambition, and there is room enough in the wide world both for physical 

 and for psychical research. 



In truth, a wide-spread rebellion among some of the most thought- 

 ful of mankind must be the result of any attempt to press the supposed 

 principle of uniformity to the extent of denying all facts and phe- 

 nomena which do not submit themselves. Religious faith is necessarily 

 conversant with such facts and phenomena ; and though even here a 

 familiarity with the conclusions of science may be useful in steadying 

 the mind and fortifying it against superstition, still there are super- 

 natural truths bound up with the Christian creed, toward which it 

 behooves all to bow with respect, and which can not be refuted by any 

 appeal to the uniformity of Nature. 



For Nature can only be uniform when the same causes are at work ; 

 and to declare an alleged fact to be incredible, on the ground that it 

 does not conform to the natural order of things, can only be reasonable 

 upon the hypothesis that no new influence has been introduced in ad- 

 dition to those which the natural order of things recognizes. But 

 such an influence may be found in the action of will, or of some spirit- 

 ual energy which does not exist in the ordinary natural order. 



For example, it would be unwise absolutely to deny on a priori 

 grounds the history of the stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi. There 

 are not wanting examples to show that physical results of a remark- 

 able kind can be produced by abnormal and excessive action of the 

 affections, and feelings, and imagination. Recently recorded cases 

 seem to invest even with a somewhat high probability the alleged ex- 

 perience of St. Francis. 



I am not of course committing myself to any opinion as to the 

 spiritual corollaries which may follow from an admission of the reality 

 of the stigmata ; one person may say that they have great religious 

 significance, another that they are a curious instance of the physical 

 effect of the imagination. I only argue that they must not be at once 

 brushed away in deference to some supposed law of uniformity. 



Still less is it wise to deny the possibility of events, recorded in 



