MISFOKTUNE OP BEING IN ADVANCE OF THE AGE. 267 



even appears to hold, conflict with, or only appear to con- 

 flict with, the current creeds and unproved dogmas of theo- 

 logical belief, his character is privately attacked, and the 

 minds of the female members of his family (who can rarely 

 understand science, but are easily influenced by feeling 

 and religious emotion) are perverted, and his home happi- 

 ness injured. In other instances, his means of living are 

 diminished. It may, therefore, be considered an unfortu- 

 nate coincidence for the investigator, if his hypotheses are 

 much in advance of his time, and especially if either they 

 or the facts he discovers happen to conflict with current 

 theological beliefs. It is worthy of notice that every great 

 pioneer of science, including even Newton himself, has 

 been and still is accused, by the ignorant, of holding false 

 opinions and beliefs, even in cases where those beliefs have 

 been proved to be true ; but how can those who are igno- 

 rant of science measure the minds of philosophers ? Re- 

 treating dogmatism continually says to the scientific 

 investigator, ' Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther ;' but 

 science keeps marching on. 



Sympathy, which is so highly essential to the develop- 

 ment of genius in the arts, especially that of music, has 

 less scope in original scientific research, because relatively 

 few persons can understand or appreciate it. Scientific 

 research also is a kind of employment in which a man 

 must work almost alone, and pursue his studies in perfect 

 seclusion and quiet. 



The spirit which persecuted scientific men is not even 

 now quite dead, especially in those who subjugate reason 

 to emotion ; and as its cause is ignorance, it is impossible 

 for it to die out, so long as there remains such absence of 

 knowledge of science, and of the nature of demonstrable 

 knowledge, by influential classes of persons, and by 

 teachers of the masses. It is not many years ago that 



