The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-04-13

Sss an with tho prrtcnsons made in the name
ot.cence The men whom he regards as the
,bsratnns Of science. and the notions which he
.ocords as the auackcries OF science. receive no
marcy at his hands. There Ia n clever dodge
nv which scient.fi' men exclude from their men
Ial horizon vast array Of questions full Of per
plexity and dismay to them and when they at
TEMPT TO foist in upon the mind those purely
negative conclusions of theirs they should be
made clearly to understand that they are guilty
Of n very impudent interference with human
freedom. d" | doubt not" he Rravcly says. that
here are az many foolish scientific men, In pro.
norton to the whole number of tho adherents
of science. rs there are foolish religious men,"
Even MIR. Darwin Is not spared by Mr.
James who holds that II monkey evolves man.
Il can only be by virtue OF man first involving
monkey: and that TO account for man on mon
key principles near or remote. without first
accounting for monkey on distinctivcly human
principles, would he to leave our poor ancestral
monkey himself unaccounted for: that TO- II
would practically be to defy him. To attempt
explaining evolution by involution, man by
monkey. is papable quibble and. to the eye
OF philosophy. is a downright witches Sabbath
Of science. Sabbath. nevertheless. which Mr.
Herbert Spencer is content and proud TO cane
tiy. The obvious phiosophic objection to re-
cent scientific speculations ie not that they tend
toiuvalidatc the current religious dogmas re-
spectng creation. but that they substitute for
them a scientific doRmatsm. not half 30 re-
spectacle In itself to begin with. and which n II
should ever become established in popular re-
gardwould be- fatal to the very conception Of ere
alton. and hence to the dignity OF human nature
That religious men should be frightened by
the yagaries OF modern scientific thought is
amazing. and shows that their faith Is founded
but upon the shifting sands. 1t seems very odd
g. Mr.. James that any one should be at all dis
concerted 10y Prof Huxley's facts. for they are
properly irrelevant to philosophy; and he is
heartily amused by the extravagant intellectual
conclusions dcduced from them by Prof Hux-
ley. The realm Of philosophy is invariably
soul. or inward consciousness: the realm OF
science is as invariably ody. or outward sense
Science is never life. but Is at most the moon lit
shadow Of life projected upon our understand
ins. and the method Of the ono is no less dis
proportionate to that Of the other than earth 10
dlsproportonate TO heaven. /. for my part"
says Mr.. James. am thoroughly sick and tired
OF regulating my intellectual life on any prin-
ciule OF scientific gertrude. because this in the
long run is 10 make sense the Arbtsr OF
the mind" What does II matter to me
that some eold-booded priR or pedant
Is able to demonstrate the scientific untruth
OF my belief Have | ever pretended that 1t
4
not know in all my bones that the tendency OF
science. and the whole current Of mems serye
opinion. run directly counter TO it2 Do you
think love II any the less on that account. or
that my fierce relish for 1t is not all the while
Quickened and fomented 10y this popular and
scientific indifference to it2" Mere learning Of
any kind is not in itself an object OF admiration
20 Mr. james. who caustically remarks that
nothing is more common than for very
4
ccpt perhaps. than for very knowing man to
be very unlearned one: and II learning
should ever supersede knowledge. or claim
identity with IT, the world would be in its
dotage. and would wag infinitely worse than II
has ever done hitherto.
III establishing his own deity, Mr.. James takes
opportunity Of assailinR other deties. He says
that IN many mems minds the great Creator has
sunk into a mere moral pedagogue intent upon
publicly v!ndicaing his own paltry self-conse-
Quence by rewarding his friends and punish
ing his enemies. Mr.. James proclaims not only
his lack Of respect but his adherence for an
idle or luxurious deity deity. for example.
who. though himself armed with all might and
Rarlanded with the obseduious homage OF
i raven could yet be content to see his earthly
creatures wallowing In natural Ignorance.
Indulgence. and iniamy. without even for
moment sacrificing or postponinR the
allurements Of his voluptuous Incidence to
their efiectual relief. The deity OF Mr.. James
IA described IA free from posturing and trick
cry. from susceptibility to mans praises or af-
fronts rs the Al-and-in-All the individual sub
stance and the universal form. Il cling" he
exclaims. with even a passionate intellectual
gratitude to the revelation ofthe divine name in
Jesus Christ because he alone in history shows
me the divine inAnitude or perfection. actually
blent or identified. in his dying and risen per-
son with human nature-my own nature as
man-and 50 forever disenthralls me 10 my own
Consciousness. from the pungont damnation
wrapped w in my own odous and imbecie
selihOod."
Now then after passing through the whrl OF
fierce polemics in religion and science with
which Mr.. Henry James eXcites the students Of
THE book, what Is the sum aud substance OF II
a. applied 10 life? He answers this inquiry by
saying that the idea Of the life he himself coyets
or a-plres to is that Of free. enforced. ire
n"'tiye. spontaneous goodness. realizable only
through the divine reconstruction OF his ma
ture He is fully persuaded that no man. not a
simpieton in all spiritual regards. will ever
acknowledge a heaven OF which he himself Is
Mt his own sole ST. Peter. nor any hell Of which
h. is not his own jealous and exclusive turnkey.
In several parts OF the book he refers with
satisfaction to the promise Of certain public
forces in the United States In the Revolution
Of tue founders Of this republic they merely
designed 10 free themselves from political vas
salage 10 England; but they did far more than
this. for in disowning as they resolutely did
a. authoritative Church and consecraed
State. they managed quite unconsciousy
T. swing clear not only Of political
and 'e.rslasll'Hl EE-Hnl but Of literal Chris
t'udom as we'll. winch derives It's form or quail
~ from these two disOwned institutions eX-