70 Journal of the Mitchell Society. [Nov. 



and dead were dissected at the Alexandrian school, it was not 

 until the fifteenth century that the popes overcame popular pre- 

 judice about the sancit y of the dead body and issued edicts per- 

 mitting- dissection. The following- century, Vesalius arose, 

 and then Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood. Greek 

 philosophers first endeavored to place science upon a purely 

 rational basis and they were accused of impiety. To be sure, 

 it may be said that such impeachments have not ceased to 

 sound for over two thousand years and cost the lives of many 

 g-ood and noble men. The church considered Galileo and sim- 

 ilar workers as rank heretics. Certain scientific endeavors 

 were tolerated, and the knowledg-e gained confined within mon- 

 astic walls. In the hearts of some was that yearning- to make 

 known the truths they had dreamed; and monks like Roger 

 Bact>n, Basil Valentine and Berthold Schwartz put forth writ- 

 ings so mysterious as to be incomprehensible to many, but 

 having- hidden realities not previously made known. 



Science was centuries acquiring its natural voice. In the 

 dark ag-es only a small band of learned folk made itself known, 

 yet the voice of Kepler, saying "The scientist's highest privi- 

 lege is to know the mind and think the thougts of God," 

 sounded three centuries ago, has echoed with increasing rever- 

 berations to our own time. Science, harassed by ding-dong, 

 useless and unnecessary authority, was driven into rigid pious 

 paths. As the very spirit of science is inquiry, it lives upon 

 liberty and would not be bound by authoritative misconcep- 

 tions. It is not strange, then, that in a democracy of thought 

 permitting the widest range of opinions men should have been 

 borne away to the other extreme, and such catching expression 

 as ''every one for himself and no god for any one," became 

 prevalent. "Scientific arrogance" was a pet expression of 

 theologians who trespassed none the less than had the scien- 

 tists. "The abuse heaped upon Newton for substituting 

 blind gravitation for an intelligible Deity" that John Fiske 

 tells about, was nothing in comparison with the subsequent 

 treatment of geologists by theologians for disturbing the 



