i8 EVOLUTION AND NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



theless, it would be a great mistake to attach 

 much weight to any views bearing on physical 

 science which have been handed down from 

 ancient times, especially if connected with any 

 of the unavoidably narrow religions then pre- 

 valent, of which, moreover, the exoteric side 

 only, as a rule, has been preserved ; the symbols, 

 without the underlying truths. It is not in- 

 tended to imply that great minds among the 

 ancients were incapable of appreciating and dis- 

 covering scientific truth, but rather that the 

 spirit of the age was opposed to physical 

 science, which was then empirical rather than 

 experimental; and as the means of diffusing 

 knowledge were also very imperfect, science 

 could not then become cumulative as it now 

 is, except to a very small extent, and within 

 very narrow limits. Consequently, the general 

 comprehension and diffusion of even the little 

 which was certainly known, was impossible, 

 and as a large amount of ancient learning 

 was kept secret, we cannot wonder at its 

 being almost completely lost during the wars 

 and revolutions which accompanied the down- 

 fall of the Eoman Empire. 



The first teachers of Christianity naturally 



