REV. MARTINEAU AND BELFAST ADDRESS 265 



most pervading need. The world will have religion of 

 some kind, even though it should fly for it to the intel- 

 lectual whoredom of ' * spiritualism. ' ' What is really wanted 

 is the lifting power of an ideal element in human life. But 

 the free play of this power must be preceded by its release 

 from the practical materialism of the present, as well as 

 from the torn swaddling bands of the past. It is now in 

 danger of being stupefied by the one, or strangled by the 

 other. I look, however, forward to a time when the 

 strength, insight, and elevation which now visit us in 

 mere hints and glimpses, during moments "of clearness 

 and vigor," shall be the stable and permanent possession 

 of purer and mightier minds than ours purer and might- 

 ier, partly because of their deeper knowledge of matter 

 and their more faithful conformity to its laws. 



SCIENCE VI 12 



