The times., 1901-04-14


! is possibly the comment which he
/ makes upon the SpencerIan theory that
/ the spiritual is the Unknowable. He
/ says:
The true remedy for the evil Tof agnosticiSnl
! was TO give mp such abstract ways of thinking
and learn to think things together in other
words, to recognize the organic relation OF the
inner and outer life. and to explain the parts
! by the whole, and not the whole by the arti-
hcially severed parts
1t is a little curious to see how un-
| mistakably all these different writer's,
each man of mark in his own line.
recognize the essential unity of all
/ thought in every line of experience
and imagination, and the absolute ne
cessity Of reconciling the varying as
poets of existence and thus solving the
eternal riddle of the painful earth" /"
In the Hegelian philosophy, as opposed
to that Of Kant. we have revival of
the idealistic philosophy, whose very
essence is the search for unity, for cen-
trality, for that governing thought
which the religious call God.
Another great nineteenth century
| movement is touched upon in the two
following papers, on Medicine" and
Surgery" by William Osler and DR..
W. W. Keen, respectively. This is the
humanitarian movement. We find dis
cussed in these the growth of pre-
ventiye medicine, which arises from the
study Of bacteria and chemistry, and
again proves the strength of the new
alliance of the sciences; in the second
paper is given the history of vaccina-
ton, of anesthetics, and of antiseptic
treatment IN the study of both these
branches of the science of healing, it
will be observed, more and more at
tention is given to preventive measures,
and to the general welfare. Mankind
is not content with curing the wealthy
and great; there must be care for the
Commonwealth. The oneness of the hu-
man race, the way in which all are
bound UP together for good or i'll. has
been discovered, practically, within
hundred years.
The next two papers are also akin in
subject. The first, on Electricity" is
by Prof Elihu Thomson. and the sec
ond, on Physics" by Thomas c. Men
denkaH The material progress Of the
century has been sort of intoxicating
draughC TO the nations of the world gen
orally. and it has had its different ef-
feet on each. Some have been stupefied
and other exhilarated. The things
which have been done are so mar
velous that it seems a if nothing were
impossible. The achievements of the
electrician are familiar TO everyone, for
they have come TO pass almost within
one generation. In the realm of physics
We have four tremendous discoveries,
now such commonplace truths that few
people realize that they were net al
ways known 10 man. The first was the
discovery Of the nature of heat-that it
was a form Of molecular motion and
not substance in itself The second
was the principle of the conservation
of energy, and here we have the sci
entists discovering once more their in
terdependence. Prof Mendenhan points
out the fact that without the recog-
milton Of the principle Of the conserva-
ton of energy chemistry would be an
impossible science; and he might have
added that evolution would also be i'm
possible. The third great event in the /
history Of physics in the last century
was the revival and establishment of |
the wave theory Of light and the fourth |
was the discovery Of the relation be !
tween electricity and magnetism-a dis !
covery upon which most of the useful /
electrical inventions depend
The essay on Warfare" is the work /
Of Sir Charles Dixie, and that on War |
Ships" by Captain Mahan Warfare /
has naturally been dependent more or |
less on all the sciences, and scientific I
warfare has practically brought the !
world TO a state Of armed peace, since
strife is no longer a matter Of indi-
vidual bravery. but Of carefully calcu-
lated resources. The way in which all
branches Of human activity are being
brought under the domain Of acknowI-
edged law is strikngly shown in these
two papers. The change has been
tremendous one. and so unprecedented
IN its nature that, as one cannot but
notice. even these two acknowledged
authorities would hardly be able to say
what the next development viii Ie
Crlike other sciences, that of warfare
must iiilotfN III IT'S grow IN toward
certainty and the union
IF forces, reach a point where it will
ease. In the paper on Engineering"
)y Thomas c. Clarke We find an ac-
.ount Of some Of the causes which have
10 the present perfection
n warlike appliances, and also the
statement that the tremendous devel-
,pmcnt of material prosperity was
.aused by this same tendency toward
lnion, which produced the alliance of
cientsts, inventors, and engineers--of
he imagination, the brain, and the
land, the forth-leaping soul, the busy
nind, and the skillful hand.
The paper on Literature" is by An a..
rev Lang. and though he confines
himself in the main to a catalogue Of
he great writers Of the age, it Is to be
.oted that the great literary work !
f the nineteenth century is the novel. {
Il other words the record Of the evolu- }
Ion Of a human soul. Here we have
nee more the influence of the evolution r
rinciple. Logic was in the air. The /
IAN whose creative genius is wholly {
must sut be logical. and
hus we have, not great imaginative
oems, not Wild romances, not great !
ralnas. but realistic novels and ac- 4
urAte histories. This much one may (
lean from the somewhat brief and