VIIL] THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF POSITIVISM. 129 



to see the study of the biological sciences laid down as an 

 essential part 01 the prolegomena of a new view of social 

 phenomena. Nothing could be more satisfactory to a wor 

 shipper of the severe truthfulness of science than the attempt to 

 dispense with all beliefs, save such as could brave the light, and 

 seek, rather than fear, criticism ; while to a lover of courage and 

 outspokenness, nothing could be more touching than the placid 

 announcement on the title-page of the &quot; Discours sur 1 Ensemble 

 du Positivisme,&quot; that its author proposed 



. &quot; Reorganise!-, sans Dieu ni roi, 



Par le culte syst&natique de PHumanite&quot;,&quot; 



the shattered frame of modern society. 



In those days I knew my &quot; Faust &quot; pretty well, and, after 

 reading this work of might, I was minded to chant the well- 

 known stanzas of the &quot; Geisterchor &quot; 



&quot;Weh! Weh! 

 Die schone welt. 

 Sie stiirzt, sie zerfallt 

 Wir tragen 



Die Trummern ins Nichts hiniiber 

 Machtiger 

 Der Erdensohne 

 Prachtiger, 

 Baue sie wieder 

 In deinem Busen baue sie auf.&quot; 



Great, however, was my perplexity, not to say disappointment, 

 as I followed the progress of this &quot; mighty son of earth &quot; in his 

 work of reconstruction. Undoubtedly &quot; Dieu &quot; disappeared, but 

 the &quot; Nouveau Grand-fitre Supreme,&quot; a gigantic fetish, turned 

 out brand-new by M. Comte s own hands, reigned in his stead. 

 &quot;Roi&quot; also was not heard of; but, in his place, I found a 

 minutely-defined social organization, which, if it ever came into 

 practice, would exert a despotic authority such as no sultan has 

 rivalled, and no Puritan presbytery, in its palmiest days, could 

 hope to excel. While as for the &quot; culte syste matique de 

 I Humanite,&quot; I, in my blindness, could not distinguish it from 



K 



