38 



by their noble audacity been receding for three hundred 

 years. Grorgons and chimeras dire that once threatened 

 them have vanished into thin air, but other hobgoblins, 

 with shapes and sounds portentous, still dispute their ad- 

 vance. Yet the brave band moves on, and never so 

 bravely as now. When protoplasm, the nebular hypoth- 

 esis, evolution, monads and the origin of life have van- 

 ished as shadows or are organized into substantial shapes, 

 there will be other Gogs and Magogs to dispute the way. 

 Of this boundary line Agassiz. speaking of Humboldt, 

 said : " Like a true philosopher he knew that the time had 

 not yet come for a scientific investigation into the origin 

 of all things. Before he attempted to discuss the direct ac- 

 tion of a Creator in bringing about the present condition of 

 the universe, he knew that the physical laws which gov- 

 ern the world must be understood ; that it would be a 

 mistake to ascribe to the agency of a supreme power oc- 

 currences and phenomena which could be deduced from 

 the continued agency of natural causes. Until some limit 

 to the action of these causes has been found, there is no 

 place in a scientific discussion, as such, for the considera- 

 tion of the intervention of a Creator. But the time is 

 fast approaching and, indeed, some daring thinkers have 

 actually entered upon the question. Where is the line 

 between the inevitable action of raw and the intervention 

 of a higher power? Where is the limit ? '' 



This solemn question remains unanswered. But that 

 fearless band, undismayed by dogma or tradition, vet in 

 the reverence and awe which Agassiz felt, presses on — 

 and on — and on. Even now it is in the cloud that en- 

 wraps in mystery the mountain tops of thought, from out 

 of which to us all comes a voice of admonition saying : 

 " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where- 

 on thou standest is holy ground." 



