250 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



overtopped. Different spiritual climates are neces- 

 sary for the healthy existence of these two classes of 

 men; and different climates must be accorded them. 

 The history of humanity, however, proves the experi- 

 ence of the second class to illustrate the most pervading 

 need. The world will have a religion of some kind, 

 even though it should fly for it to the intellectual 

 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 mo- 

 ments ' of clearness and vigour,' shall be the stable and 

 permanent possession of purer and mightier minds 

 than ours purer and mightier, partly because of their 

 deeper knowledge of matter and their more faithful 

 conformity to its laws. 



