and not to doubt, the information which they receive from those 
in whom they have confidence. 
We may remark, in conclusion, that St. Augustine has long 
ago drawn attention to this difference between the spirit of 
philosophy and the spirit of Christianity. In the “Encli. ad 
Laurentium,” he notices how the x\cademics withheld their 
assent from things which other men believed, on the ground 
that truth and error were mixed up beyond the possibility of 
discrimination. But with us, he says (apud nos), faith is the 
essential condition. Nor is faith misplaced if it be reposed in 
the Lord of the Universe. When we say “ipse dixit,” we do 
not mean Pythagoras, or men of like reputation in the present 
day : we mean Him in whom are hid all the treasures of 
wisdom and knowledge. 
I have drawn attention, afresh, to the argument from 
authority, not because the statements of the Old Testament 
appear to me in themselves incredible, but because, “ of late 
years infidelity has assumed an unprecedented tone of defiance 
to all authority, human and divine.” It is not that there is 
any real opposition between Science and Revelation ; but men at 
the present day sometimes speak and write as if, in the matter 
of religion, we could get rid, or ought to get rid, of authority. 
But this is not the case even with science. Scientific men may 
test the facts of science, and have their own experience for the 
corroboration of those facts. But the great bulk of mankind 
cannot do this. They have neither the leisure nor the training 
which might enable them to accomplish this confirmatory pro- 
cess. The consequence is, that they have to rest upon the 
authority of scientific men. If physical science is to be our 
guide, the exponents of its meaning will be those who 
have given most attention to that study. Those, therefore, 
who decry authority are re-asserting its validity. There may 
be a change of masters, but there must always be a reliance, 
more or less unquestioning, upon the word and authority of 
others. It is not the province of the biblical interpreter to 
deny or to suppress this truth out of compliment to unbelievers. 
It is not the duty of the Christian inquirer to leave the vantage- 
ground of authority, or to depreciate its value, because it is 
offensive to certain men by whom the Scripture is little valued. 
Undue concession is a thing for which we get no thanks, even 
from those whom we would conciliate, and is accepted only as 
a sign of weakness. I cannot forbear adding a few remarks 
which appeared on this subject some little while ago in a public 
print. They refer to the tone of a book assailing Christianity, 
and point o\it how, even by unbelievers, one authority is sub- 
stituted for another, anil how what is condemned in our case is 
