1882.] Editors 7 able. 48/ 



with apart from matter, some monists conceive of it as an inde- 

 pendent thing, which is, however, unable to manifest itself except 

 through matter. Such a belief is simply a degradation of the 

 supernatural half of a dualist's belief. According to it, that 

 which to a dualist is the soul, the emanation from an omnipotent 

 deity, is a slave of matter. Such conceptions arise from the gross 

 ideas of matter that have so long prevailed. The true concep- 

 tion of matter is " everything that exists." Under the monistic 

 idea, as under the dualistic, the belief in supreme and subordinate 

 spirits may exist, but the spiritualist who is a monist must concede 

 the materiality of his supposed spirits. Under the monistic idea 

 a future life is as possible as under the dualistic, but future con- 

 sciousness must be accompanied by the matter which exhibits it, 

 and the future existence of an individual must be a mental con- 

 tinuation of his present mentality. The Buddhistic idea of Nir- 

 vana, or of a state of generalized blessedness, an absorbption into 

 an ocean of conscious matter, may be logically held by a monist; 

 whether he can find peace in believing in an eternity of existence, 

 coupled with annihilation of individuality, is another question. 

 To be consistent, every monist must, when he speaks of con- 

 sciousness, use that term in an abstract sense, as a certain force- 

 quality of highly organized matter. 



To conclude, the shades of belief possible are almost endless, 

 and the positive proof or disproof of most of them is impossible. 

 It would be well, therefore, for all who have the slightest claim to 

 the possession of a high degree of consciousness, who claim to 

 be intelligent or civilized, to make a broad distinction between 

 proved facts and theoretical doctrines, and to have too much 

 charity to be prejudiced against, and still less to discriminate 

 against, those whose honest doctrines differ from their own. At 

 the same time the faith of the truly scientific mind will be in har- 

 mony with proved facts, and he will be at any time ready to sur- 

 render a belief in deference to such facts. 



EDITORS' TABLE. 



editors: a. s. Packard, jr., and e. d. cope. 



~~— The mortal remains of Charles Darwin lieby the side of those 



° f Sir Isaac Newton, in Westminster Abbey. A great nation in 



0In g n °mage to the name and fame of the world-renowned nat- 



Ural 'st, ha,s thus expressed its judgment of the true place he 



