CHARACTERISTICS, 127 



" Mesmerism and Spiritualism," and had devoted a large 

 amount of time and thought to the investigation of " spiri- 

 tualistic" phenomena, both at his own house and at the 

 houses of other friends, such as Mr. Robert Chambers and 

 Mr. A. R. Wallace. Then came vaccination, vivisection, 

 the germ theory of disease, on all of which he entered with 

 a certain eagerness which showed an unabated activity for 

 thought, an unwearied zeal for what he believed to be the 

 public good. It was his earnestness for this cause which 

 sometimes lent a touch of asperity or intellectual scorn 

 towards forms of error (as he regarded them) which had 

 no legitimate ground, and might, in his judgment, be 

 noxious to physical or mental health. If ever he yielded 

 to the temptation to speak ex cathedra in the name of 

 science — a habit which he deplored when he observed it 

 in others — It was in dealing with doctrines and practices 

 which appeared to him rooted in incurable prepossession, 

 and maintained against overwhelming evidence. Here his 

 intellectual tolerance found its limits. He was ardent, and 

 hence sometimes unguarded in controversy ; but none 

 could enter into dispute with him, and not feel that he 

 sought no personal triumph, but only desired the establish- 

 ment of the truth. This quality of his mind revealed itself 

 especially In the essays on religious philosophy, which he 

 contributed to the Modern Review in the years 1880 and 

 onwards. They bear the impress of a calm and weighty 

 judgment, which has faced all issues without fear ; they 

 are the deliberate outcome of long and patient thought, 

 lifted above passion or prejudice, and anxious only to know 

 things as they are, to " see life steadily, and see it whole." 



In August, 1882, Dr. Carpenter was able to realize a 

 long-cherished wish to visit Canada and the United States. 

 Accompanied by his wife, he passed from Quebec through 

 Montreal, the home of the last years of his brother, Dr. P. 



