70 PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC EEALISM u 



that the occurrence of a " catastrophe " l involves 

 a breach of the present order of nature that it is 

 an event incompatible with the physical laws 

 which at present obtain. He seems to be of 

 opinion that " scientific reason " lends its authority 

 to the imaginative supposition that physical law 

 will prevent the occurrence of the " catastrophes " 

 anticipated by an unscientific apostle. 



Scientific reason, like Homer, sometimes nods ; 

 but I am not aware that it has ever dreamed 

 dreams of this sort. The fundamental axiom of 

 scientific thought is that there is not, never has 

 been, and never will be, any disorder in nature. 

 The admission of the occurrence of any event 

 which was not the logical consequence of the 

 immediately antecedent events, according to these 

 definite, ascertained, or unascertained rules which 

 we call the " laws of nature," would be an act of 

 self-destruction on the part of science. 



" Catastrophe " is a relative conception. For 

 ourselves it means an event which brings about 

 very terrible consequences to man, or impresses 

 his mind by its magnitude relatively to him. But 

 events which are quite in the natural order of 

 things to us, may be frightful catastrophes to other 

 sentient beings. Surely no interruption of the 



1 At any rate a catastrophe greater than the flood, which, as 

 I observe with interest, is as calmly assumed by the preacher to 

 be an historical event as if science had never had a word to say 

 on that subject 1 



