32 DARWINIAN AND SPENCERIAN 



it is never sure of anything.' The scientific worker knows 

 full well that his methods are not infallible, but he also 

 knows that, however imperfect the methods and results, 

 there is an infallibihty underl5^ng them — he knows that 

 his labours are making for the infallible truths underlpng 

 Nature's methods. Moreover, his confidence in his 

 methods is such that he is justified in his behef that there 

 are none other open to intellectual beings of finite intelli- 

 gence. He might say of them as does Touchstone of 

 Audrey : — ' A poor . . . thing, sir, but mine own ' ; never- 

 theless he may confidently challenge the history of the 

 intellectual development of the human race to produce 

 evidence of any mastery over Nature or any real knowledge, 

 of Nature's mode of working having been acquired by any 

 other methods than those of observation, experiment, 

 induction, and deduction. 



I feel that an apology is due even for attempting the 

 vindication of the scientific method before this audience, 

 but in a country which is not yet pervaded by the spirit 

 of Science there is no doubt that our cause suffers con- 

 siderably from the imposition by an unscientific pubhc 

 of a false standard of finality. The lability — ^the adapta- 

 bility, the unlimited receptiveness of Science for new truths 

 by which her triumphant progress is secured is not 

 sufficiently realized. It is the unscientific laity and not 

 the high priests of Science who from time to time endea- 

 vour to invest her generalizations with the authority of 

 ecclesiastical dogmas, and then, because with the progress 

 of discovery correction or modification is found to be 

 necessary, declare that Science as a cult is unworthy of 

 confidence. The history of scientific progress is summed 

 up in a few terse phrases : Method indisputably sound ; 

 information imperfect, but constantly approximating 

 towards greater perfection ; conclusions dependent upon 

 information available. 



Judged by these criteria the statement that Darwin's 

 work is representative of the highest appHcation of the 

 scientific method is simply the assertion of a truism. 



