.ling through the desert of nature's uiicertaiDtics to the 

 hoped for land of truth. Thomars Arnold was one of the 

 pioneers in popularizing this inductive method in the higher 

 educational iuBtitutione of England. And it is said of him 

 that, through it, he has changed the face of English edu- 

 cation. And he did this, not by what ho actually taught, 

 but by insisting on the method. He said, in substance, to 

 his students: "Your final question must not be: 'Is it eo 

 written in the British constitution, or in the thirty-nine 

 articles, but is it true? Is it, when tested by all you 

 know, bed rock fact, or a beam of basswood on a bog?' " 

 This veracioue spirit of Arnold is a characteristic of the 

 true scientist everywhere. I remember Lord Kelvin, the 

 scientific expert at the laying of the first Atlantic cable, 

 preaching to us this go-spel of science again and again, in 

 the Natural Philosophy class, Glasgow Nniversity. "Do 

 not," said he, "accept any law oe finally settled till it can 

 be verified at any time by any competent person." 



Prof. Tyndall, I think it was, who on a memorable 

 occasion lifted this method of science into distinction. At 

 a meeting of the British ABSociation for the Advancement 

 of Science, he delivered the annual address. In the course 

 of it, he let it be seen that he had accepted the doctrine of 

 the evolution of man through the lower orders of life. In 

 the discussion which followed a distinguished divine, a mati 

 of ability, and a brilliant- speaker, delivei'ed a philippic 

 against what he called, "the degrading doctrine of the 

 descent of man from an ape" — I speak from memory — and 

 wound up with a sentence to this effect. "Professor Tyn- 

 dall traces his ancestry back tO' an ape. All I can say is, 

 I do not envy his choice of a.n ancestor." Tyndall replied, 

 and, after calmly answering his critics' objections, count- 

 ered thu&: "As to the lofty sneer at my choice of an an-' 

 cestor, all I have to say is— the choice was not mine tO' 

 make. But were I asked to- choose for my ancestor a dis- 

 tinguished di\'ine, who' in the exercise of his high olBce had 

 iiised his elocpience to defame the character and work of 



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