(COYNE] RICHARD MAURICE BUCKE— A SKETCH 187 



scientist, who was at the same time a philosopher and a mystic, to 

 fcientific collation and comparison, and to the inductive process of 

 reasoning. 



As a compilation of recorded cases, aside altogether from the 

 theory based upon them, the book possesses a distinct value and is of 

 remarkable interest. 



T]ie theory itself is attractive. Whether it is borne out by the 

 facts cited, the reader must decide for himself. It is at any rate 

 suggestive. As a contribution to the literature of the subject, it occu- 

 pies a unique place. The ultimate conclusions, if a consensus should 

 be arrived at, will be of inestimable moment to the human race. 

 Among other results will be, perhaps, a final reconcilement of the long 

 struggle between science and religion, 



28. 



In the mountains of Montana, more than a year before the book 

 went to press, the author's eldest son, Maurice, had been thrown from 

 his vehicle in a runaway accident, dashed against a rock, and instantly 

 killed. He was thirty-one years of age, but had already reached 

 eminence in his profession, that of a mining engineer. A British 

 Columbia paper described him as " a man of exceptional attainments, 

 genial, courteous, pure and thoroughly incorruptible." To the dead 

 son, the volume is dedicated. There are few more pathetic words in 

 all literature. Few sons ever had so noble an epitaph. But the 

 bitter pain is not the last word. The confident assurance of speedy 

 reunion sustains and consoles. Then the great mystery of death, 

 sorrow and suffering, will be solved. '' We shall clearly see that all 

 were parts of an infinite plan, which was wholly wise and good." Those 

 who would know the intensity of the religious sentiment which domin- 

 ated the soul of Eichard Maurice Bucke will read the tender and beau- 

 tiful words of the dedication with admiration as well as sympathy. 



According to Bucke, cosmic consciousness is a nascent faculty, 

 showing itself principally in exalted human personalities, with excep- 

 tional development of all the ordinary human faculties, with exceptional 

 physique, beauty of build and carriage, exceptionally handsome features, 

 exceptional health, exceptional sweetness of temper, exceptional mag- 

 netism, and exceptional moral nature. 



An interesting feature of the book is the manner in which the 

 author's expert knowledge of alienism is brought in to illustrate the 

 development and devolution of function. Devolution being most active 

 in the latest forms, insanity and genius develop side by side in increas- 



