[January, 
50 Correspondence. 
condition of the brain and nerves, and that there is no immate- 
rial agent which can supply the deficiencies of these material 
organs. 
Every medical practitioner is now a practical, if not a theo- 
retical, materialist. For the baneful effect upon Science of the 
opposite theory I need only refer to the closing, by Constantine 
the Great, of the Asclepions, or temples of Aesculapius, which 
had been converted, by the influence of Hippocrates and his 
rivals, into schools of scientific medicine. No doubt hospitals 
were founded in their stead ; but the result was the substitution, 
throughout the Byzantine Empire, of ignorant relic-mongers for 
trained physicians. 
Since Hylozoism affords the only position from which we can 
successfully deal with Nature, we must not hesitate to apply its 
conclusions to the “ Supernatural.” It is equally impossible to 
prove and to disprove the existence of an “ Infinite Mind;” but 
the doctrine of Omnipresence makes Pantheism a logical neces- 
sity, and the Pantheos must be the Substance or Noumenon of 
soul and body alike, which cannot therefore be distinct entities. 
Man is, on this hypothesis, a part of God ; but the Divinity 
actually adored (like all ideas and sensations, like the visible 
world itself) is a part of man. All adoration therefore “ becomes 
pure Hylotheism and self-worship.” Since mind is but a func- 
tion of the brain, personal immortality is clearly impossible ; but 
since we thus lose not only heaven, but hell, and no longer be- 
lieve that the vast majority of mankind are doomed to “aeonial” 
torture, it can hardly be considered that our prospers have 
altered for the worse. Death is no longer regarded as a curse, 
but as a necessary link in the chain of life ; and though the 
present Cosmos may not be immortal, the matter of which it is 
composed must be so, for every atom must retain its primal 
energies undiminished through all eternity. The death of religion 
will form a necessary era in the life of humanity ; and if nothing 
but a temporary though fearful humiliation, such as has befallen 
other nations, can arouse England from her lethargic hypocrisy, 
no true patriot should shrink from the ordeal. Evil is but good 
in the making ; and here I may appropriately refer to the quota- 
tion from Faust, upon which your reviewer animadverts. 
Throughout the drama Mephistopheles really is, as he mockingly 
describes himself, — 
“ Ein Theil von jener Kraft, 
Die stets das Bose will und stets das Gute schafft.” 
He is evidently so regarded by “ der Herr,” in the speech 
beginning — 
“ Du darfst auch da nur frei erscheinen, 
Ich habe deines Gleichen nie gehasst,” &c. 
Faust, whose aspiring nature finds no satisfaction in the dull 
