1868.] NEWBERRY. — SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 281 



— That which was demonstrable. Third, — That which was 

 probable. Fourth, — That which was possible ; and fifth, — That 

 which was impossible. Of these he systematically rejected all 

 but the first and second classes. And this, in few words, has 

 been the method adopted, not only in the purification of old 

 science, but in the creation of new. 



It will be seen at a glance, that in this process all that was con- 

 trary to the order of nature (supernatural or spiritual) was 

 necessarily excluded; and it was taken for granted that the 

 mathematical or logical faculty of the human mind was capable of 

 solving all the problems of the material universe. Sir William 

 Hamilton and others have demonstrated the inadequacy of mathe- 

 matical processes as a guide to human reason, and a moment's 

 thought will show us that our boasted intellect is incapable of 

 grasping even all the material truths which are plainly presented 

 to it. To illustrate : as we scan the heavens of a clear evening, 

 we recognize the fact that we stand as it were on a point in space 

 where our field of vision is limitless ; the heavenly bodies stretch- 

 ing away into the realms of obscurity, and becoming invisible only 

 through the imperfection of our organs of vision. Bringing to 

 our aid the most powerful telescopes, we are apparently as far as 

 ever from reaching the limits of the universe; and when we 

 endeavour to conceive of such a limit, the reasoning faculty finds 

 itself incapable of grasping either of the two alternatives offered 

 to it, one or the other of which must be true. The universe 

 must be either limited or limitless. But no man can conceive of 

 a universe without a limit ; and if it be regarded as terminated 

 by definite boundaries, the imagination strives in vain to fill the 

 void which reaches beyond. In fact, we stand here face to face 

 with infinity, and recognize the fact that the infinite exists without 

 the power to comprehend it. 



The same is true of time. We cannot conceive of its beginning 

 or its end. All things which come within the scope of our 

 senses are limited in duration and circumscribed in space, and 

 though we prate flippantly of the infinite, the pretence that we 

 can grasp it is simply talk. 



Conducted on such a plan, it was inevitable that scientific in- 

 vestigations should be narrow and materialistic in their tendency. 

 No matter how strong the probability in favor of the truth of a 

 certain proposition, — though the whole fabric of society were 

 based upon its acceptance, and it formed the foundation of civil 



