THE MINISTRY OF NATURE. 249 



that Science is most worthily pursued when our 

 aims are in harmony with the Scriptures, and 

 our investigations transfigured and controlled by 

 reverence for true religion. This involves no 

 sacrifice of freedom in the use of our intellectual 

 powers, nor will it produce mental stagnation or 

 paralysis by imposing unnatural restraints or de- 

 grading limitations upon thought. That so-called 

 free-thought, the temerity of which is its only 

 excellence, and which is displayed chiefly in un- 

 provoked assaults upon whatsoever is holy and 

 venerable, is more remarkable for its freedom than 

 for its thoughtfulness. All thought that deserves 

 the name has its necessary laws, to offend against 

 which is unsafe. If the processes of reasoning 

 have to be conducted in harmony with certain 

 forms of thought, it is not inconsistent with true 

 intellectual freedom to carry on the study of nature 

 along those lines which are laid down in the Sacred 

 Volume, the evidences of whose Divine origin and 

 authority are so numerous and overwhelming. The 

 proper aim of science is to establish truth upon 

 secure foundations, not to buttress fascinating 

 theories. When men of science, therefore, permit 

 themselves to revel in mere speculations that they 

 know to be unfriendly to religion, they leave their 

 rightful sphere and violate the laws of thought. 

 The scientific method of seeking truth is not the 

 bending of facts to upset what has already been 

 sufficiently demonstrated, but it is the observation 

 of phenomena for the purpose of inferring new 

 generalizations. For example, the naturalist who 



