in THE SCIENTIFIC MIND 53 



whatever comes before it in the natural world and to 

 testify faithfully to what is seen. The knowledge thus 

 gained may at times appear to undermine the founda- 

 tions of belief, but that need cause no anxiety, for in 

 the course of years the truth will prevail and error will 

 be confounded, whether it comes from conviction or 

 observation. 



The dogmatism of a few generations ago, both of men 

 of science and theologians, is giving way to a more 

 liberal spirit ; and all who are searching earnestly for 

 truth are considered to be worshippers at the same 

 shrine. But any attempt to express traditional super- 

 naturalism in terms of objective reality, or to bring 

 modern science within the ambit of scriptural exegesis, 

 is to design a flimsy shelter for the destitution of the 

 semi-reasonable. Neither creed nor doctrine shall 

 place boundaries upon the field of inquiry. " Science," 

 said Carl Ernst von Baer, " is, in its source, eternal ; 

 in its operation, not limited by time and space ; in its 

 scope immeasurable ; in its problem, endless ; in its 

 goal, unattainable." The study of science creates this 

 feeling of infinite greatness in all who follow it ; and 

 though it may lead to imperfect interpretations, its 

 motive cannot be irreligious. 



By cherishing as a vital principle an unbounded spirit of 

 inquiry, and ardency of expectation, it unfetters the mind from 

 prejudice of every kind, and leaves it open and free to every 

 impression of a higher nature, which it is susceptible of receiving, 

 guarding only against enthusiasm and self-deception by a habit 

 of strict investigation, but encouraging rather than suppressing 

 everything that can offer a prospect or a hope beyond the present 

 obscure and unsatisfactory state. The character of the true 

 philosopher is to hope all things not impossible, and to believe 

 all things not unreasonable. He who has seen obscurities which 

 appeared impenetrable in physical and mathematical science 

 suddenly dispelled, and the most barren and unpromising fields 



