SCIENCE AND IDEALISM 503 



sceptics ; tlie ultimate secret of the influence of a St. Francis 

 of Assisi, of an Ignatius Loyola, of a Calvin, or of a Giotto, 

 a Michelangelo, or a Raphael — the ultimate secret of the in- 

 fluence of these men was their beUef, and the fact that into 

 aU they did and said they put their whole heart and soul. But 

 science, by its widening of the sphere of conflict and its con- 

 current inability to give to life an adequate sanction, must lead 

 to scepticism ; and the fruits of scepticism are sterUity and 

 nihilism. Sociahsm, by reducing conflict, reduces vitality ; and 

 by reducing vitaUty, reduces the value of hfe. And the develop- 

 ment of science, or rather, of that materiahst philosophy of science 

 in favour to-day, must necessarily lead to the same result ; for 

 it awakens hopes whiih it is incapable of satisfying ; it destroys 

 consolations which it is incapable of replacing ; and thus it leads 

 to scepticism as to the value of existence in general. Science 

 must therefore be corrected by ideaUsm, and vice versa. If 

 our civilisation be essentially the work of science, we must not 

 forget that ideahsm is the source from which all the energy 

 necessary to the expansion of hfe is derived. 



