NEW CHAPTERS IN THE WARFARE OF SCIENCE. 7 



indignity, and only escaped persecution for sorcery by yielding 

 to the ecclesiastical spirit of the time, and working finally in 

 theological channels by scholastic methods. 



It was a vast loss to the earth ; and certainly, of all organiza- 

 tions that have reason to lament the pressure of ecclesiasticism 

 which turned Albert the Great from natural philosophy to theol- 

 ogy, foremost of all in regret should be the Christian Church, and 

 especially the Roman branch of it. Had there been evolved in 

 the Church during the thirteenth century a faith strong enough 

 to accept the truths in natural science which Albert and his com- 

 peers could have given, and to have encouraged their growth, 

 this faith and this encouragement would to this day have formed 

 the greatest argument for proving the Church directly under 

 divine guidance ; they would have been among the brightest 

 jewels in her crown. The loss to the Church by this want of 

 faith and courage has proved in the long run even greater than 

 the loss to science.* 



The next great man of that age whom the theological and eccle- 

 siastical forces of the time turned from the right path was Vin- 

 cent of Beauvais. During the first half of the twelfth century he 

 devoted himself to the study of Nature in several of her most in- 

 teresting fields. To astronomy, botany, and zoology he gave 

 special attention, but in a larger way he made a general study of 

 the universe, and in a series of treatises undertook to reveal the 

 whole field of science. But his work simply became a vast com- 

 mentary on the account of creation given in the book of Genesis. 

 Beginning with the work of the Trinity at the creation, he goes 

 on to detail the work of angels in all their fields, and makes 

 excursions into every part of creation, visible and invisible, but 

 always with the most complete subordination of his thought to 

 the literal statements of Scripture. 



Could he have taken the path of experimental research, the 

 world would have been enriched with most precious discoveries ; 



* For a very careful discussion of Albert's strength in investigation and weakness in 

 yielding to scholastic authority, see Kopp, Ansichten iiber die Aufgabe der Ghemie von 

 Geber bis Stahl, Braunschweig, 1875, pp. 64 et seq. For a very extended and enthusiastic 

 biographical sketch, see Pouchet. For comparison of his work with that of Thomas Aquinas, 

 see Milman, History of Latin Christianity, vol. vi, p. 461. " H etait aussi tres-habile dans 

 les arts mecaniques, ce que le fit soup9onner d'etre sorcier" (Sprengel, Histoire de la 

 Medecine, vol. ii, p. 389). For Albert's biography treated strictly in accordance with ecclesi- 

 astical methods, see Albert the Great, by Joachim Sighart, translated by the Rev. T. A. 

 Dickson, of the Order of Preachers, published under the sanction of the Dominican censor 

 and of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, London, 1876. How an Englishman like 

 Cardinal Manning could tolerate among Englishmen such an unctuous glossing over of his- 

 torical truth is one of the wonders of contemporary history. For choice specimens see 

 chapters ii and iv. For one of the best and most recent summaries, see Heller, Geschichte 

 der Physik, Stuttgart, 1882, vol. i, pp. 179 et seq. 



