40 



remodelled and altered what may be termed the 

 intellectual ethics of men, what are among the 

 moral convictions most fondly held by barbarous 

 and semi-barbarous people. 



They are the convictions that authority is the 

 soundest basis of belief; that merit attaches to a 

 readiness to believe ; that the doubting disposition 

 is a bad one,. and scepticism a sin ; that when good 

 authority has pronounced what is to be believed, 

 and faith has accepted it, reason has no further 

 duty. There are many excellent persons who yet 

 hold by these principles, and it is not my present 

 business, or intention, to discuss their views. All 

 I wish to bring clearly before your minds is the 

 unquestionable fact, that the improvement of 

 natural knowledge is effected by methods which 

 directly give the lie to all these convictions, and 

 assume the exact reverse of each to be true. 



The improver of natural knowledge absolutely 

 refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For 

 him, scepticism is the highest of duties ; blind 

 faith the one unpardonable sin. And it cannot 

 be otherwise, for every great advance in natural 

 knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of 

 authority, the cherishing of the keenest scepticism, 

 the annihilation of the spirit of blind faith ; and 

 the most ardent votary of science holds his firmest 

 convictions, not because the men he most vein -rates 

 hold them; not because their verity is testified 

 by portents and wonders; but because his ex peri- 



