Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-03-27

apprehension Of these things which
knowledge hna bestowed On minds
not otherwise Of extraordinary
comnass. thai we touch the over.
whelming fact ~ with our
hand, The aopen secret" from this
polnt Of View, II u constant Vision. Ana
science holds the glass through whieh
we study and take II In. Microscope
telescope, spcctfoscOpe anu thelr
like are the mountaineering inAini.
mcnts which, II they have not thrust
hack the "thrcshcld q sens.bility' nor
disclosed new senses, have, AT AL
events, brought Us closer than the hu-
man spirit ever stood before 10 the
boundaries OF matter. The veil which
hangs between the seen and unseen
may still bc lnipcnctrahle, bus " W he.
coming translucent. Our heightened
senses perceive light whore there was
only darkness. The rlnd u the COM
monplacc grows thinner Materiallsm
Itself N ON IT, knees before the mystery
which, With siammcting iin anu
double tongue, II calls "the Unknow-
able" So Intoxicated are men with
the wine Of this bewildcring science
that the formerly dend--coming thing
known ~ Nature has become 10 them n
living miracle; and Lotto aud Hefbcft
spencer, the transccndcnialist and the
agnosilc, agree Ia declaring that "lliu"
rather than "mattcrn Il the root worn,
the Alpha aud Omega, OF all our
knowledge. There IN beginning 10 be
an lnductivc, thoroughly ascefiaintd,
experimental science Of life. Modern
biology proceeds, not ON hearsay nor
tradition, not by porting over moth
eaten receipts for cufiug gCut by snake
stone, aud for mixing nausc0us com.
pounds on the principle that what Is
abnormal must needs be cillcaciOus,
but by letting the phenomena tell their
own story, without fear or favor.
HIpothoses non lingo" said tho great
Newton, content TO dismiss cycle and
cplcyclc, 10 look nj the facts aud allow
them In suggest tho meaning that was
IN them. Newton, Indeed, was FAR
from unwilling to make cx-
pcrlmcDts; and every expert.
ment may be called gucss,
n provisional hypothesis. But II mus,
10 provisional, not dogmatic. The
world of life n "a wonder and mys.
terry; hut II IL not contradiction, not
an insolublc enigma without n mean.
NtAt hilN VI mum W
II, then we should feel perpciuaily
talked rs we tried 10 measure IT, con.
tents aud scan their laws. But science
tcstlilus that our mind II Mt home
everywhere In nature. Orion aud tho
ncbulc when cfOss-cxnmined 10y the
spectroscopc utter language rs intell.
glhle In the astronomer ~ that which
the flame Of a Stcarine candle uttcfz 10
| tH.s sslaana.al I'M lut.sf. n GOAL
l. no less strange anu familiar n story
than In the meteorites which fall upon
our earth from we know not whence.
This stars IN their courses otcy the law
Of gravitaiion which, a. nnthcmatl.
cal formula, II not more pr'eter.human,
however astonishing In height aud
depth, than the multiplication
table learnt by child Of six years
old. Mans mind IL part Of nature.
sciencc,i II VIII lie granted on all hands,
IL the revelation, not complete nor ade.
quatc, yet effectively valid, Of uni.
versc which exists and has existed. IL
j. not merely an ordered dream, for IL
predictions may be verified, as they
constantly are. The guarantee Of IL
possessing tho known and not simply
the Imagined IN that II forelclisa future
which by due experiment We can al
once make the present. II facts 10
nscertalncd wetc not knowledge but n
delusion, the whole mind OF men
would lie unhinged, reason would be
thrown oil liz balance, and absolute
self'devonriug skepticism would reign
over the mental chaos. On this now
universal admission take my stand.
| am n firm believer In the objective
validity OF that kind OF knowledge
termed science, which Is founded, 1
repeat, neither on huarsay nor on the
manipulation Of abstract formulas, but
on observation, experiment and reason
Ing verified by these. And seeing the
progress which has followed our deal.
Ing with matter and life Ia obedlcnc.
10 such methods, | ask myself, IN Il not
possible TO deal with religion In a SINH.
lar way? There l. mn inductivc basis
" astronomy, geology, chemistry,
dynainics, biology. Is thore an Undue
tive basis Of religion? Can we prove
the Immortality OF the soul, the law OF
Righteousness, the existence Of God, rs
Newton proved the law OF gravitation,
or M Pastcur has shown that spontano.
Gus generation does not take place.
Have wo any good reason for siippos-
Ing the truths OF natural religion 10 be-
so utterly different texture from these
truths that the universe, searched Into
exlerimeninlly, Will furnish no token
Of them. ! cannot believe that the
mind has been thus strangely con.
siructcd. Logic IL one, not divided
against Itself aud where there Il reality
COMPREHENSIVE TO the Intellect there
may he induction. Rev. VDl. BarTy.
~ ho Catholic World for March.