, 1879-03-02


the methods bV which mankind think i'm
purc," or attach to them anv other derogatorv |
epithet you please: but mankind VIII ocllue
you 1Or your palms, and Will reply: "lnc phi.
}osopher VINO will only breathe pure oxygen Will
die, be that walks on ono !cg, and declines to
use the other, will cut but sorry figure IN So
cietv; be that uses only one eye will never get
stcrcoscopir view Of anything. Use, man, the
compound instrument Of knowledge your nature
has provided for you, aud you will both sec anu
live" Why, even so determined u logiclnn as
t'Physicus u Is obliged sometimes to admit
that "'ths symbolic method OF reasoning IS,
from the nature Of the case, the only metnou
Of scientific reasoning which is available" And
Prof. Tvndall, in the November number OF an
other Review, after complaining that ut Is
against the rnythologic scenery Of religion tnat
Science enters her protcst," fluids himself also
obliged to mythologizc; for he adds lsevG;n .t;a
molecular motion? Suppose the leaves to 1e M
shaken from hirch-tree,,. anu, % ~
the idea, suppose each leaf" etc. And SO f1ol'
Cooke writes:
cannot agree with those who regard the wave
theory OF light as nn established principle OF eel
cnce . There il something concerned IN
the phenomena OF light which has definite allnen
sons We repr<sens ahsse AMI sre thn dad
difficult to think eltarly upon the subject without
the aid OF this wuve-theory.
In Short it is obvious that without the help
OF this mythologic poetic, l1nagc-fornling facul-
~. ali our pursuit OF truth were In vain. And
therefore, starting from tho common basis Of
confession that '' something is" VIC aEe more
than justified, VIC are obcstng NECESSARY Law OF
our nature, in asking WHAT That eternal SUD-
stratum Of existence IS, and with what NOR
bbologic aid the Imagination may best present
it for our contemplation.
But here the pure logician may perhaps re-
tort: You forget. that the conceptions men
form of things arc, at their very best, nothing
more than human. aud therefore Te:at:tr concep-
tions. tiy or fish probably sees things dill
fcrcntly. And an inhabItant Ut Mercury or
Saturu might form conception OF the universe
bearing little resemblance TO yours" Quite
true; but logicians there, too, would. probably
; be heard to complain that, colored BY saturnian
or Mcrcurian relatlvitlcs truth was sadly tnl-
pure. and was, in fact, attained by no one but
themselves. Nay, in those other worlds priests
OF logic might be found SO wrapped in super
stition as to launch epithets Of contempt on
all who approached to puncture their inflated
fallacies, and who devoutly believed that syl.
logism did not contain retito prtnc!p.l lbeggl1g
the question: neatly wrapped up IN its own
premises, and IN induction was not an appllca-
ton OF pre-exsting general idea, but down
right discovery Of absolute truth. II from such
Affections ne on earth are free. 1t fs because the
common sense OF mankind DECLARES Itself screnc-
ly content with the relative and tho human; be-
cause, while fully aware from our schoolboy
days] that ali our faculties-reason among the
rest-arc limited and earthly, we have taith
that tall is we'll " In mind, as 1t certainly is IN
matter; and because We smile at tut simplicity
Of our modern wranglcrs, VINO can only anaiyze q:
oown as far as "SoMETH1So," when their
Buddhist masters two thousand years ago hau
dug far deeper, viz: tn NoTHIN6:
The mind of the supreme Dn1dha is swift, 9ulek,
| piercing, because he is infinitely pure. MT,
existence. The peine who is .'pnrided" !" Enows
there ia no Ego. no self; all the asflictinns con
nectea with existence are overcome ~ tne pElnci
pics of existence are anhlfllated, ana lna1 auu!nl
iation Is Nirwana.
self so far justified in claiming the
! modern atheist as his ally. They are at
least travelling both together IN TIE o hfgh,Eoad
| a constructive religion. Only the atheist has
| thought it his duty to go back again to the be-
ginning, and to measure industriouslV the same
ground that the Church had gone over just :, a01
| dressed itself to man through Moses in the word
| q 1 ann or jehovah absolute existence).-Ex-
odus, vi, 3.
But perhaps the pure logician may attempt
another reply. Finding US not IN the least dis
| concerted BY hearing, once again, the familiar
truth that all our faculties are limited. be may
attempt TO shatter our serenity by an announce
| mcpt OF more novel kind uc NAV say: Not
only is the imagery with which youclothc, repre-
sent, and conceive the Sclf-existcnt merely rcla-
tive aud human, but-1ar more damnlng fact-lt
| is all q Development. 1t has all grown with the
Growth Of YOUR race Environment and hcredlty
have supplied you with all your forms of thought
| Even your conscience is nothing more than an
ncnts which, bv long inheritance, have come to
| inform us by way OF ins,1itve feeling how We
should act for the benefit OF society,""
| Be it SO. The proof has not yet been made
| out But since these evolution doctrines arc
| las Dr. Newman would say) in the air. it is
more consonant to the ruling ideas which at
| nresent dominate our imagination to conceive
things in this way. Indeed, to large and 1t-
creasing number Of Churchm,en the evolution
hypothesis appears, not only profoundly in-
nothing to shake their faith, and good deal to
confirm it. Man is What lie is, in whatever way
| he may have become SO. And how atheists can
| persuade themselves that this beautiful theory
| Of the divine method helps their denial OF a
deity, the modern school of theologians is ut u
loss to understand. For the cosmic force whom
| Christians worship has. from the very beginning,
| been represented to them, not US Il tickle, but
as continuous and law.abidfng energy, NY
| Father yorkcth hitherto" said Christ. "Not 8
sparrow fallcth to the ground,' without his
| cpcnizancc. 1.-The very hairs OF your head are
ali numbercd.'' ain Him VIC live and move and
| have our being" Pictorial expressions, no
| doubt But what words could more clearly ii1-
dicatc the unbroken continuity OF causation In
| nature than these texts from the Christian
| SCRIPTURES? And it is surely the establishment
of 4 continuous, as dstincttrom an intermittent,
| arcncy In nature which forms the leading point
of interest both to science and to the Church, at
| the prrseut cav, as against shallow dcism.
| #, therefore, . 1uau's imaginative and moral
| faculties, as we know them now, are develop
mcnt from former and !ower-yes, even from
savage, from b-stiaI, from matcrial-ante-
| cedcuts. what is that to us! Ol mans logical
mowers the self-same thing has to be said. Why,
| then, should Logic give itself such mighty airs
of superiority and forget It's equally humhle or
igins How does 1t affect the truthfu}ness III RI.
lation to man, and the trustwortlllncss, Tor al
nrast;ra1 purposes, Of our imaee-forming facul-