,this is one of a series of evidential  
books drawn up at the   instance of the 
,christian ,evidence ,society4          
,,god ,,and ,,the ,,world  ,a ,,survey  
,,of ,,thought   ,,by  ,,arthur ,w4     
,,robinson1 ,d4,d41   ,warden of the    
,college of ,allhallows ,barking        
,with a ,prefatory ,note by ,,sir       
,,oliver ,,lodge     ,,london3          
,,society ,,for ,,promoting ,,christian 
,,knowledge  ,,northumberland ,,avenue1 
,w4,c41 #dc ,,queen ,,victoria ,,street1
 ,e4,c4  ,,brighton3 #abi ,,north       
,,street  ,,new ,,york3 ,e4 ,s4 ,,gorham
  #aiac     ,,contents                  
,,page         ,,prefatory ,,note  4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4     #e   
,,introduction  4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4     #g     ,i4 ,,the      
,,older ,,orthodoxy 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4    #ac    ,,ii4 ,,the       
,,progress ,,of ,,discovery 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4    #ba   ,,iii4           
,,theological ,,difficulties  4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4    #bg    ,,iv4 ,,the   

,,counter-,,arguments 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4    #cg     ,v4 ,,the        
,,counter-,,arguments 7continued7 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4    #df    ,,vi4 ,,the         
,,counter-,,arguments 7continued7 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4    #ec   ,,vii4 ,,later       
,,science 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4    #fh  ,,viii4 ,,later         
,,science 7continued7 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4    #gf    ,,ix4 ,,later ,,science 
7continued7 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4     
#hg        ,,conclusion  4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4    #ih     #e  
,,prefatory ,,note  ,i have read what   
,dr4 ,arthur ,robinson has written1 and 
find it a most interesting1 singularly  
fair1 and ,i may add1 within its limits1
 able and comprehensive survey of the   
thoughts of the past and passing age4 ,i
 commend it to the coming generation as 
a useful means of acquiring some notion 
of the main puzzles and controversies of
 the strenuous time through which their 
fathers have lived4  ,fossil remains of 
these occasionally fierce discussions   

they will find embedded in literature2  
and although we are emerging from that  
conflict1 it can only be to find fresh  
opportunities for discovery1 fresh      
fields of interest1 in the newer age4   
,towards a wise reception of these      
discoveries1 as they are gradually      
arrived at in the future1 this little   
book will give some help4  ,,oliver     
,,lodge4     #g  ,,god ,,and ,,the      
,,world    ,,introduction  ,a man1 so it
 has been said1 is distinguished from   
the creatures beneath him by his power  
to ask a question4  ,to which we may add
 that one man is distinguished from     
another by the kind of question that he 
asks4  ,a man is to be measured by the  
size of his question4  ,small men ask   
small questions3 of here and now2 of    
to-day and to-morrow and the next day2  
of how they may quickest fill their     
pockets1 or gain another step upon the  
social ladder4  ,great men are concerned
 with great questions3 of life1 of man1 
of history1 of ,god4  ,so again1 the    

size of an age can be determined by the 
size of its questions4  ,it has been    
claimed that the age through which we   
have passed was a great age1 and tried  
by this test we need not hesitate to    
admit the claim4  ,it was full of       
questions1 and they were great          
questions4  ,as never before1 the eyes  
of men strained upwards and backwards   
into the dim #h recesses of the past to 
discover something1 if it might be1 of  
the beginnings of things3 of matter and 
life2 of the earth and its contents2 of 
the solar system and the universe4  ,we 
know with what interest inquiries of    
this sort were regarded1 and how ready  
the people were to read the books that  
dealt with them2 to attend lectures and 
discussions about them1 and to give     
their money for the purposes of such    
research4  ,it was a great age that     
could devote itself so eagerly to       
questions of this importance and        
magnitude4  ,but as men cannot live upon
 appetite1 so neither can they be for   

ever satisfied with questions4  ,hence  
it follows that a period of questioning 
is ordinarily followed by another1 in   
which the accumulated information is    
sorted and digested and turned to       
practical account2 a time in which      
constructive work is attempted1 and some
 understanding is arrived at as to the  
relation that exists between the old    
knowledge and the new4  ,it looks as if 
we were nearing such a time1 when1 for a
 while at all events1 there will be a   
pause for reconsideration and           
reconstruction1 and the human spirit    
will gather strength and confidence     
before again setting out upon its quest 
of the ,infinite4 ,already we are asked 
to give attention to statements that are
 intended to review the whole situation 
and to summarise1 provisionally at #i   
all events1 the results that have been  
attained4  ,each of these attempts will1
 in its turn1 be superseded by something
 that is wider in its outlook and wiser 
in its verdicts4  ,this little book is  

an effort of this nature1 and it is     
offered in the hope that it may serve   
some such useful and temporary purpose4 
,much more competent writers than its   
author might well apologise for         
consenting to enter upon the task which 
he has been invited to undertake4  ,all 
that he can say1 by way of excuse for   
his boldness in complying1 is that for  
many years he has endeavoured to follow 
the trend of modern thinking1 and that  
the growing interest with which he has  
done this encourages him to hope that he
 may be able to make what he has to tell
 about it both intelligible and         
interesting to others4 ,he does not     
imagine that he can escape mistakes1 and
 he will most gladly submit himself to  
the correction of others who know better
 and see more clearly than he does4  ,he
 only begs that those who disagree with 
his judgments will try to give him      
credit for a sincere desire to be true  
to facts1 and to welcome the light1 from
 whatever quarter it may have come4     

,when we speak of the age that is       
passing1 we shall have in mind what may 
roughly be reckoned as the last hundred 
years4  ,that space includes1 for those 
of us who are not in our first youth1   
the time of our #aj parents1 and even1  
it may be1 of our grandparents4  ,the   
period has a certain distinctiveness of 
character in spite of superficial       
diversities4  ,it was marked1 as we have
 said1 by the intelligence and vigour of
 its questionings4  ,it was a time of   
intellectual movement and turmoil4  ,it 
witnessed a succession of wonderful     
discoveries leading on to ever bolder   
investigations4  ,rapid generalisations 
were advanced1 to be often as quickly   
abandoned4  ,only by degrees was it     
possible to see the new facts in their  
proper proportion and significance4     
,nor was it at all easy for men to keep 
their discussions free from heat and    
bitterness1 when the most deeply-rooted 
convictions appeared to be assailed1 and
 the most sacred associations to be     

regarded as of little account4  ,looking
 back1 as we can1 it is possible to see 
that in spite of the eddies and         
backwaters a steady progress was made4  
,and it is of that progress that it will
 now be our endeavour to speak4  ,we    
know how it has happened to us over and 
over again in our own individual        
experiences to have been made conscious 
of a gradual modification of our        
opinions as new evidence has reached us1
 and we have had time to relate it to   
our previous understanding and          
knowledge4 ,we have had our first       
thoughts1 and our second thoughts1 and  
then there have come third thoughts1    
which were the ripest #aa and soundest  
of all4  ,just such a process of which  
we can mark the stages in ourselves is  
to be seen on a larger scale--in bigger 
print1 as it were--in the thought       
movements of an age4  ,in the case of   
the period which we are to review1 the  
three stages have been more than        
commonly clear1 as we shall aim to shew 

in the survey we are to make4  ,we shall
 begin with the ,first thoughts1 which  
were those of what may be termed the    
older orthodoxy4  ,these were very      
generally accepted2 indeed1 they were   
regarded as for the most part beyond the
 reach of serious contradiction4  ,then 
we shall pass to the ,second thoughts1  
which were forced upon an astonished and
 bewildered generation by the onslaughts
 upon traditional views that were made  
from the side of physical science4  ,for
 fifty years or more the debate went on1
 with challenge and counter-challenge1  
and much noise and dust of controversy4 
,they were great days1 and in them great
 men fought with great courage in great 
issues4  ,we shall seek to do justice to
 both sides1 to those who dared to      
proclaim and suffer for the new1 and to 
those who shewed an equal courage in    
their resolute determination to be loyal
 to what they held to be the truth of   
the old4  ,then1 finally1 it will be our
 difficult task to discriminate between 

the surging thoughts of that #ab second 
period and those of the ,third stage1   
through which we are advancing1 and to  
shew what can already be made out of a  
common ground of agreement and          
co-operation1 now much more likely to be
 reached than could at one time have    
been foreseen by the most optimistic    
imagination4     #ac  ,,chapter ,i      
,,the ,,older ,,orthodoxy  ,never had   
there been greater unanimity of opinion 
in ,england in regard to the religious  
interpretation of the world than that   
which prevailed at the beginning of the 
nineteenth century4  ,the excesses on   
the ,continent which had accompanied the
 advocacy of free thought had disposed  
men's mind to fall back upon authority1 
and most of all in matters that affected
 the basis on which the continuance of  
social order and moral conduct depended4
  ,the general position was clearly     
apprehended1 and was accepted as if     
beyond dispute4  ,men spoke and thought 
of the ,order of ,nature4  ,the world   

was a ,cosmos1 a regulated system4      
,order implied an ,orderer4  ,it was    
regarded by them as obvious that there  
must have been a ,first ,cause1 a great 
,architect and ,maker of the ,universe4 
,they agreed with ,aquinas that things  
which have no perception can only tend  
toward an end if directed by a conscious
 and intelligent being4  ,therefore     
there is an #ad ,intelligence by which  
all natural things are ordered to an    
end4#a  ,they were fully prepared to    
endorse the indignant protest of ,bacon3
 ,i had rather believe all the folly of 
the ',legend1' and the ',talmud1' and   
the ',alcoran1' than that this universal
 frame is without a mind4#b  ,in fact no
 other hypothesis seemed to them        
thinkable4  ,if at any time they felt a 
need for a more elaborate justification 
of their conviction1 they had it ready  
to their hand in the familiar argument  
from design4  ,paley1 when he set this  
out in his famous ,natural ,theology    
7#ahjb71 was only expressing with       

conspicuous ability the view that was   
then accepted in all circles from the   
highest to the lowest4  ,he was         
preaching to those who were already in  
the fullest accord with his doctrine4   
,they followed with eager approbation   
his reasoning about the watch that he   
supposed himself to have found on the   
heath4  ,according to his assumption he 
had never seen a watch made1 nor known  
of anyone capable of making such a      
thing4  ,he concludes1 nevertheless1    
that it must have been made by someone4 
,there must have existed1 at some time1 
and at some place or other1 an artificer
 or artificers who formed it for #ae the
 purpose which we find it actually to   
answer2 who comprehended its structure1 
and designed its use4 ,neither would it 
invalidate our conclusion that the watch
 sometimes went wrong1 or that it seldom
 went exactly right4  ,the purpose of   
the machinery1 the design and the       
designer1 might be evident in whatever  
way we accounted for the irregularity of

 the movement1 or whether we could      
account for it at all4  ,nor would it   
bring any uncertainty into the argument 
if there were a few parts of the watch  
concerning which we could not discover1 
or had not yet discovered1 in what      
manner they conducted to the general    
effect2 or even some parts concerning   
which we could not ascertain whether    
they conducted to that effect in any    
manner whatever4  ,least of all could it
 be sufficient to explain that the watch
 was nothing more than the result of the
 laws of metallic nature4  ,it is a     
perversion of language to assign any law
 as the efficient operative cause of any
 thing4  ,a law presupposes an agent1   
for it is only the mode according to    
which our agent proceeds3 it implies a  
power1 for it is the order according to 
which that power acts4  ,without this   
agent1 without this power1 which are    
both distinct from itself1 the law does 
nothing1 is nothing4  ,from the watch we
 are led on to the eye1 which exhibits a

 skill of design not less1 but far      
greater1 #af than that of the man who   
gave us the telescope4  ,then follows a 
detailed examination of the use of the  
various bodily organs1 the contrivances 
to be met with in vegetables and        
animals1 the marvellous adaptations of  
anatomical structure1 the provisions for
 the flight of birds1 and for the       
movements of fishes2 with instances of  
arrangements to suit particular         
conditions--the long neck of the swan1  
the minute eye of the mole1 the beak of 
the parrot1 the sting of the bee--all   
furnishing an ever accumulating body of 
irrefutable evidence to attest the      
existence and operation of an           
intelligent ,author of ,nature4  ,that  
these arrangements had been expressly   
intended to meet the circumstances of   
each particular case was assumed as     
necessarily involved in the acceptance  
of any design at all4  ,it is           
interesting to observe that ,paley did  
not think it improbable that the ,deity 

may have committed to another           
being--nay1 there may be many such      
agents and many ranks of them--the task 
of drawing forth special creations out  
of the materials ,he had made and in    
subordination to ,his rules4  ,this1 he 
thought1 might in some degree account   
for the fact that contrivances are not  
always perfected at once1 and that many 
instruments and methods are employed4   
#ag  ,of the goodness of the ,creator no
 manner of doubt was entertained4  ,for 
proof of it attention was called to the 
fact that in a vast plurality of        
instances in which contrivance is       
perceived1 the design of the contrivance
 is beneficial1 and to the further fact 
that the ,deity has superadded pleasure 
to animal sensations beyond what was    
necessary for any other purposes or when
 the purpose1 so far as it was          
necessary1 might have been effected by  
the function of pain4  ,venomous animals
 there were1 no doubt1 but the fang and 
the sting may be no less merciful to the

 victim1 than salutary to the devourer2 
and it was to be noted that whilst only 
a few species possess the venomous      
property1 that property guards the whole
 tribe4  ,then again1 before we condemn 
the ordering whereby animals devour one 
another we must consider what would     
happen if they did not4  ,is it to see  
the world filled with drooping1         
superannuated1 half-starved1 helpless   
and unhelped animals1 that you would    
alter the present system of pursuit and 
prey8  ,a hare1 notwithstanding the     
number of its dangers and its enemies1  
is as playful an animal as any other4   
,it is a happy world after all4  ,the   
air1 the earth1 the water teem with     
delighted existence4  ,in a spring noon1
 or a summer evening1 on whichever side 
,i turn my eyes myriads of happy beings 
crowd upon my #ah view4  ',the insect   
youth are on the wing4'  ,swarms of     
new-born flies are trying their pinions 
in the air4 ,their sportive motions1    
their wanton mazes1 their gratuitous    

activity1 their continual change of     
place without use or purpose1 testify   
their joy1 and the exultation which they
 feel in their lately discovered        
faculties4444  ,the whole winged insect 
tribe1 it is probable1 are equally      
intent upon their proper employments1   
and under every variety of constitution1
 gratified1 and perhaps equally         
gratified1 by the offices which the     
,author of their nature has assigned to 
them4  ,where it might have been        
imagined that there were to be seen     
miscarriages of the ,creator's          
intentions1 these were to be attributed 
to the presence and influence of        
mysterious forces of evil4  ,such       
attempts to hinder or frustrate the     
workings of good might be part of a     
purpose of good because they only       
afforded fresh opportunities for a      
display of the ,divine wisdom1 whose    
ordinary interventions were accepted as 
,providences1 whilst ,miracles supplied 
the rarer exhibitions of its power4     

,for the rest1 it was our duty to       
remember that such difficulties as might
 still be felt must be largely the      
result of our ignorance4  ,with patience
 we should learn to know more4  ,a day  
was coming when much that is now hidden 
would be made clear1 and when the       
greatness and wisdom and justice #ai of 
the ,almighty ,ruler would be           
wonderfully and fearfully revealed4  ,it
 is not intended to suggest that there  
were no dissentients ready to bring     
forward objections to these almost      
unanimously accepted doctrines4  ,we    
know that there were such1 if only      
because it was deemed worth while to    
argue against them4  ,kepler and ,newton
 had stirred men's minds by their       
account of the prodigious scale upon    
which the mechanism of the ,universe was
 constructed1 and ,laplace had already  
enunciated the theory according to which
 the cosmic bodies were originally      
formed in obedience to the law of       
gravitation by the condensation of      

rotating nebulous spheres4  ,and there  
were those who used these discoveries of
 astronomy to cast doubts upon the      
likelihood that the ,divine attention   
would be concentrated upon the concerns 
of so tiny a speck as this planet of    
ours4  ,there were others who maintained
 that the unbroken persistency of the   
order of ,nature was evidence enough to 
shew that it had no beginning and could 
have no end4  ,against both these       
objectors the irony and the oratory of a
 ,chalmers was directed with what was   
held to be overwhelming effect4  ,if the
 telescope had shewn us wonderful       
things1 there was another instrument1 he
 said1 which had been given to us #bj   
about the same time4  ,if by the        
telescope we had been led to see a      
system in every star1 it was no less    
true that the microscope had disclosed a
 world in every atom1 thus proving to us
 that no minuteness1 however shrunk from
 the notice of the human eye1 is beneath
 the notice of ,his regard4  ,so again1 

in an oration upon ,the constancy of    
,nature1 the thesis is most eloquently  
defended that the strict order of the   
goodly universe which we inhabit is     
nothing else than a noble attestation to
 the wisdom and beneficence of its great
 ,architect4#c  ,little did men dream at
 that time of the wealth of other       
discoveries that was soon to increase   
enormously the complexity of their      
problems2 or of the inferences that     
would be drawn from them with an        
ingenuity and an assurance that would   
task to the utmost the ability and the  
patience of the defenders of the old    
beliefs4  ,it is of the new facts       
disclosed and of the further thoughts   
suggested by them that we must next     
proceed to tell4    #a ,summa1 ,i41 ii4 
#c4  #b ,essay on ,atheism and          
,superstition4  #c ,astronomical        
,discourses 7#ahag71 pp4 #hj1 #baa4     
#ba  ,,chapter ,,ii  ,,the ,,progress   
,,of ,,discovery  ,we find it hard to   
realise that not so very long ago the   

steam-engine and the electric telegraph 
were unknown2 and we are right when we  
say that life must have worn a very     
different aspect in those days4  ,it is 
scarcely less difficult for us to       
realise the change that has been wrought
 in men's thoughts since the time when  
the biological cell was unrecognised1   
and the theory of evolution had not yet 
been formulated4 ,the rapidity with     
which advances of knowledge were made in
 the physical sphere was astonishing1   
and it was only to be expected that they
 should have seemed not a little        
bewildering4  ,we must try to note the  
main steps of the movement1 giving the  
names of some of the representative     
workers and thinkers4  ,it is generally 
agreed that the foundations of modern   
chemistry were laid by ,dalton 7#ahjh74 
,he it was who revived the old atomic   
theory1 and determined the weights of   
the atoms and the #bb proportions in    
which they are combined into            
molecules--the smallest particles which 

could exist in a free condition4  ,by so
 doing he prepared the way for the      
subsequent researches of ,faraday and   
,clerk-,maxwell into the properties of  
electricity and magnetism1 and for the  
investigations by ,helmholtz and others 
into the connexion between electric     
attraction and chemical affinities4     
,the forerunner of the wonderful        
advances of modern biology was the      
,french naturalist ,lamarck 7#ahji71    
who1 in opposition to the accepted      
doctrine of separate creations1         
suggested that all the species of living
 creatures1 not excepting the human1    
have arisen from older species in the   
course of long periods of time4  ,the   
common parent forms he held to have been
 simple and lowly organisms1 and he     
accounted for the gradual               
differentiation of types by the         
hypothesis that they were the results of
 the inheritance of characteristics     
which had been acquired by continued    
use--as1 for example1 in the case of the

 giraffe who was supposed to have owed  
the length of its neck to the efforts of
 its ancestors to browse upon trees that
 were just beyond their reach4 ,he      
maintained that the changes produced in 
the parents by temperature1 nutrition1  
repeated use or disuse1 were inherited  
so that they reappeared in their        
offspring4  ,but the evidence adduced   
was #bc judged to be insufficient1 and  
the balance of scientific opinion was   
decidedly against his views4  ,lyell    
7#ahcj7 gave a new direction to the     
science of geology by accumulating      
evidence to prove the certainty of a    
natural and continuous development in   
the formation of the crust of the earth1
 thus opposing the catastrophic idea    
which had previously prevailed4  ,one   
outcome of his researches was to make it
 plain that the history of this         
development must have extended over     
enormous tracts of time4  ,more         
revolutionary still in its effects was  
the epoch-making discovery of the       

protoplasmic cell as the common element 
of life in the plant and animal world1  
made by the ,germans ,schleiden and     
,schwann 7#ahch74  ,it was this that    
first bridged over what were held to be 
the fundamental distinctions of animate 
nature1 and made possible the conception
 of a vital physical continuity which   
has since been accepted as an axiom of  
biological science4  ,by ,joule's great 
discovery 7#ahdj7 that the same amount  
of work1 whether mechanical or          
electrical1 and however expended1 always
 produced exactly the same amount of    
heat--that1 in effect1 heat and work    
were equivalent and interchangeable--the
 way was opened to the conclusion that  
the total energy of the material        
universe is constant in amount through  
all its changes4  #bd  ,a theory to     
account for the black lines crossing the
 coloured band of light1 or spectrum1   
which is obtained by passing sunlight   
through a glass prism1 originally       
suggested by ,sir ,george ,stokes1 and  

subsequently reintroduced and verified  
by the ,german chemists1 ,bunsen and    
,kirchhoff1 led to the important        
discovery that the sun and the stars are
 constituted of the very same elements  
as those of the earth beneath our feet4 
,spectrum analysis1 moreover1 soon      
detected new elements1 e4g41 helium1    
so-called because first observed as     
existing in the sun4  ,but great and    
stimulating as these discoveries were1  
their effect upon the thought of the age
 was not to be compared with that which 
was to be exercised by a theory which1  
starting in the domain of biological    
science1 soon passed on to far more     
extended applications4  ,the theory took
 its rise from a suggestion made in two 
papers1 by ,charles ,darwin and ,alfred 
,russel ,wallace1 which were read before
 the ,linnean ,society on ,july #ast1   
#aheh4  ,the ,darwinian theory--for so  
it was soon named--undertook to explain 
the formation of species by the         
principle of natural selection through  

the survival of the fittest in the      
struggle for life4#a #be ,darwin started
 from the admitted achievements of      
artificial selection2 from the results  
attained by nurserymen and cattle       
breeders1 who1 by selecting the kinds   
they wished to perpetuate1 had been able
 to vary and improve their stocks4  ,he 
conceived that a like process had been  
carried on by ,nature through vast      
spaces of time1 and that it was this    
picking1 choosing1 continuing and       
abandoning of traits and qualities which
 had resulted in the preservation of the
 types which it had been best to        
retain--the reason in all cases being   
the fitness to correspond effectively to
 the conditions prescribed by           
environment4  ,it is important to       
remember that ,darwin never claimed that
 his doctrine of evolution could account
 for the occurrence of variations4      
,that it could do so he expressly       
denied4  ,some1 he said1 in his great   
work1 ,the ,origin of ,species 7#ahei7  

have1 even imagined that natural        
selection induces variability1 whereas  
it implies only the preservation of such
 variations as arise4444  ,unless such  
occur1 natural selection can do nothing4
  ,what he saw1 and proved by an amazing
 wealth of illustrative facts1 was that 
any variation in structure or character 
which gave to an organism ever so slight
 an advantage might determine whether or
 not it would survive amid the fierce   
competition around it1 and whether #bf  
it would obtain a mate and produce      
offspring4  ,he shewed that all innate  
variations 7which are to be             
distinguished from the acquired         
characteristics upon the inheritance of 
which ,lamarck had depended7 tend to be 
transmitted1 so that in this manner a   
favourable variation might be           
perpetuated1 and in time a new species  
be developed4  ,simple as this account  
of the matter sounds when once it has   
been clearly stated1 the discovery--for 
such it was--opened an entirely new     

chapter in the history of science1      
inasmuch as it completely revolutionised
 the conceptions which had previously   
been entertained with regard to the     
relationships and the progress of all   
living things4  ,it was ,darwinism1     
accordingly1 that provided the principal
 subject of the controversy which was   
waged between the upholders and the     
assailants of the older opinions during 
the latter half of the nineteenth       
century4    #a ,the actual phrase       
,survival of the fittest was ,herbert   
,spencer's4 ,darwin had spoken of ,the  
preservation of favoured races4     #bg 
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,theological          
,,difficulties  ,we shall not exaggerate
 if we say that the chief interest      
aroused by these discoveries was a      
theological interest4  ,of course the   
men of science were keenly concerned to 
understand the new facts and the new    
interpretations1 and among them there   
were divided camps and serious          
contentions4  ,sir ,richard ,owen1 for  

instance1 was a vigorous opponent of    
,darwin's views4  ,but we cannot think  
it surprising that the men of religion  
should feel that their positions were   
not only being attacked1 but undermined2
 and that issues were being raised which
 were more vital for them than for any  
other students of the problems of       
existence4  ,when we thus speak of men  
of science and men of religion we do not
 mean to imply that there were two      
distinct classes which could be sharply 
divided4  ,by no means4  ,it was not so 
much that there were two camps as that  
there were two positions1 with much     
passing to and fro between them1 and the
 #bh keenest interest and anxiety felt  
on both sides as to what the future     
might have to bring of widening         
divergence or ultimate reconciliation4  
,there could be no doubt at all that    
most formidable questions had to be     
faced and answered4  ,these were the    
chief of them3--  ,is it any longer     
necessary1 or even possible1 to insist  

upon a ,first ,cause for all that       
exists8  ,can the argument from ,design 
be said to retain its validity as a     
proof of the working of a controlling   
,mind8 ,if we admit the evidence for the
 existence of a ,creator1 can we know   
anything about ,him8  ,can we1 in       
particular1 still assert with any       
confidence that ,he is good8  ,let us   
take the questions in order and give the
 replies that were made to them from the
 different sides4  ,and1 first of all1  
from the side of negation4  ,the number 
of those who directly denied that there 
must have been a ,first ,cause were very
 few4  ,but there were many who did     
their utmost to discredit the idea as   
due to what they held to be an          
illegitimate deduction from our limited 
human experiences4  ,others were        
disposed to quarrel with the word ,cause
 altogether1 and to dispute the         
propriety of its employment4  ,they     
wished to banish it altogether from the 
scientific vocabulary1 and to substitute

 for the terms #bi cause and effect1    
antecedent and consequent1 reducing     
causation to conjunction4  ,but it was  
generally admitted that1 where we have  
to deal with an invariable antecedent   
followed by an invariable consequent1   
nothing was to be gained by a change in 
the common phraseology4  ,john ,stuart  
,mill refused to abandon the word4      
,speaking of one who had done so1 he    
said1 ,i consider him to be entirely    
wrong4  ,the beginning of a phenomenon  
is what implies a ,cause4#a  ,there     
were1 he allowed1 permanent causes1 but1
 he added1 we can give no account of the
 origin of the permanent causes--which  
was virtually to abandon the subject as 
being beyond the domain of science4  ,in
 regard to the second question1 it very 
soon became evident that the old views  
of ,design would be subjected to the    
most incisive criticism4 ,to many it    
appeared as if the new doctrine of      
evolution had supplied an explanation   
which left no room for the recognition  

of the particular contrivances upon     
which ,paley had constructed his        
argument4  ,no one asserted this more   
strongly than ,haeckel1 the ,german     
biologist4  ,to quote his words1 ,the   
development of the universe is a        
monistic mechanical process1 in which we
 discover no aim or purpose #cj         
whatever2 what we call design in the    
organic world is a special result of    
biological agencies2 neither in the     
evolution of the heavenly bodies1 nor in
 that of the crust of our earth1 do we  
find any trace of controlling purpose4  
,nowhere in the evolution of animals and
 plants do we find any trace of design1 
but merely the inevitable outcome of the
 struggle for existence1 the blind      
controller4  ,all is the result of      
chance4  ,we ought to add that he       
somewhat qualified this last statement  
by explaining that chance itself must be
 considered as coming under the         
universal sovereignty of nature's       
supreme law4#b  ,it is not to be        

supposed that anyone was to be found who
 denied the general intelligibility of  
,nature4  ,to have done this would have 
been to reduce science to an absurdity4 
,science is bound to proceed upon the   
assumption that there are reasons for   
things4  ,moreover1 there is mind in    
man1 who is part of the order of        
,nature4  ,it follows that what is in   
the part cannot be denied to the whole4 
,all this could be freely admitted4     
,but then the question arose1 ,is mind  
the originating source of the movements 
of matter1 or is it not rather itself   
the product of them8  #ca  ,there were  
those who did not shrink from affirming 
that matter produces thought1 even as   
the liver secretes bile4  ,others       
preferred to take what seemed to be an  
intermediate course4  ,they were not    
prepared to give priority to either mind
 or matter4  ,thus ,haeckel maintained  
that matter and thought are only two    
different aspects1 or two fundamental   
attributes of an underlying something   

which he defined as substance4 ,it was  
to the action of this universal         
substance that he imagined the monistic 
mechanical process to be due4  ,he went 
so far as to state his conviction that  
not even the atom is without a          
rudimentary form of sensation and       
will4#c  ,in like manner ,tyndall had   
claimed a two-sidedness for matter1 and 
traced all higher developments back to  
the side which held in it the element of
 spirit and thought2 while admitting    
that the production of consciousness by 
molecular action is quite as            
inconceivable on mechanical principles  
as the production of molecular action by
 consciousness4#d  ,the bearing of all  
this upon the question of ,design was   
plain1 for1 if thought and intention are
 the outcome and result of the          
mechanical operations of ,nature1 it    
might well seem to follow that mind #cb 
had been removed from its high place as 
the dominant and directing power4  ,but 
these difficulties with which the       

theologian was thus confronted in       
respect of a ,first ,cause and the      
recognition of ,design1 were even less  
formidable than those which were arrayed
 under the other heads that we have     
enumerated4  ,it was ,huxley who        
invented the term ,agnosticism to       
describe the position of such of his    
contemporaries as were not inclined to  
deny that there was a great ,power at   
work behind the phenomena of the        
,universe1 but were not prepared to     
admit that this ,power could be any     
degree comprehensible by us4  ,the most 
systematic exponent of this view was    
,herbert ,spencer4  ,he allowed that we 
are obliged to refer the phenomenal     
world and its law and order to a ,first 
,cause4  ,and the ,first ,cause1 he     
said1 must be in every sense perfect1   
complete1 total--including within itself
 all power1 and transcending all law4   
,but he insisted that1 it cannot in any 
manner or degree be known1 in the strict
 sense of knowing4#e  ,elsewhere he     

suggested that it may belong to a mode  
of being as much transcending           
intelligence and will as these transcend
 mechanical motion4  ,our only          
conception of what we know as ,mind in  
ourselves is the #cc conception of a    
series of states of consciousness4      
,how1 he asked1 is the 'originating     
,mind' to be thought of as having states
 produced by things objective to it1 as 
discriminating among these states1 and  
classing them as like and unlike2 and as
 preferring one objective result to     
another4#f  ,it was by a similar line of
 reasoning that ,romanes reached the    
like conclusions4#g  ,in my opinion1 he 
said1 no explanation of natural order   
can either be conceived or named other  
than that of intelligence as the supreme
 directing cause4  ,but this cause must 
be widely different from anything that  
we know of ,mind in ourselves4  ,if such
 a ,mind exists1 it is not conceivable  
as existing1 and we are precluded from  
assigning to it any attributes4  ,it was

 obvious that1 if no satisfactory reply 
were forthcoming to such a contention1  
the very word ,theology must be         
discarded1 since there would be no      
longer any need for it1 or justification
 of its use4  ,but there was yet a      
further criticism that was supposed by  
not a few to complete the discomfiture  
of those who still clung to the         
traditional beliefs4  ,we can find it   
forcibly expressed in one of the earlier
 writings of ,romanes1 who in this case 
was endorsing the verdict of ,mill4     
,supposing the ,deity to be #cd         
omnipotent1 there can be no inference   
more transparent than that such         
wholesale suffering1 for whatever ends  
designed1 exhibits an incalculably      
greater deficiency of beneficence in the
 divine character than that which we    
know in any1 the very worst1 of human   
characters4  ,for let us pause for one  
moment to think of what suffering in    
,nature means4  ,some hundreds of       
millions of years ago1 some millions of 

millions of animals must be supposed to 
have become sentient4  ,since that time 
till the present there must have been   
millions and millions of generations of 
millions and millions of individuals4   
,and throughout all this period of      
incalculable duration1 this             
inconceivable host of sentient organisms
 have been in a state of unceasing      
battle1 dread1 ravin1 pain4  ,looking to
 the outcome1 we find that more than    
one-half of the species which have      
survived the ceaseless struggle are     
parasitic in their habits1 lower and    
insentient forms of life feasting on    
higher and sentient forms2 we find teeth
 and talons whetted for slaughter1 hooks
 and suckers moulded for                
torment--everywhere a reign of terror1  
hunger1 sickness1 with oozing blood and 
quivering limbs1 with gasping breath and
 eyes of innocence that dimly close in  
deaths of cruel torture6#h  #ce         
,huxley1 arguing to the same effect1    
concluded that since thousands of times 

a minute1 were our ears sharp enough1 we
 should hear sighs and groans of pain   
like those heard by ,dante at the gate  
of hell1 the world cannot be governed by
 what we call benevolence4#i  ,haeckel  
went so far as to propose to describe by
 the term dysteleology that part of the 
science of ,biology which collected the 
facts that gave direct contradiction to 
the idea of beneficial purposive        
arrangement4  ,such were the            
difficulties which loomed largest before
 the minds of vast numbers of thinking  
men and women1 and did much to shake the
 general confidence in religion1 in the 
years that followed the discoveries     
which culminated in the ,darwinian      
theory of evolution4  ,it must not be   
supposed that these thoughts were       
lightly entertained1 nor may we imagine 
that they gave no distress to those who 
sincerely believed that they were bound 
to accept what seemed to be their       
inevitable consequences4  ,to quote     
again from the ,candid ,examination of  

,romanes1 we may take it that he was    
speaking for many others when he said1  
,forasmuch as ,i am far from being able 
to agree with those who affirm #cf that 
the twilight doctrine of the new faith  
is a desirable substitute for the waning
 splendour of 'the old1' ,i am not      
ashamed to confess that1 with this      
virtual negation of ,god1 the universe  
to me has lost its soul of loveliness2  
and although1 from henceforth the       
precept 'to work while it is day' will  
doubtless but gain an intensified force 
from the terribly intensified meaning of
 the words 'that the night cometh when  
no man can work1' yet when at times ,i  
think1 as think at times ,i must1 of the
 appalling contrast between the hallowed
 glory of that creed which once was     
mine1 and the lonely mystery of         
existence as now ,i find it--at such    
times ,i shall ever feel it impossible  
to avoid the sharpest pang of which my  
nature is susceptible4    #a ,logic1    
,chap4 ,v4  #b ,the ,riddle of the      

,universe1 ,chaps4 ,,xiv1 ,,xv4  #c     
,chap4 ,,xii4  #d ,fragments of         
,science1 p4 #bbb4  #e ,first           
,principles1 i41 pp4 #cc-ci4  #f        
,essays1 ,vol4 ,,iii41 pp4 #bdf1 f4  #g 
,in an essay written before #ahhi4  #h  
,a ,candid ,examination of ,theism      
7#ahgf71 pp4 #aga1 f4  #i ,nineteenth   
,century1 ,february1 #ahhh4     #cg     
,,chapter ,,iv  ,,the                   
,,counter-,,arguments  ,it must not be  
imagined that all the arguments were on 
one side4  ,far from it4  ,the defenders
 of the old faith were many1 and not the
 least able of them were drawn from the 
ranks of the men of science4  ,the list 
of scientific leaders who avowedly      
ranged themselves on the ,christian     
side1 if it were made out1 would be a   
long one4  ,it would include            
distinguished names such as those of    
,faraday1 ,joule1 the ,duke of ,argyll1 
,lord ,kelvin1 ,stokes1 ,tait1 ,adams1  
,clerk ,maxwell1 ,salmon1 ,cayley1 and  
,pasteur4  ,and others would have to be 

added who1 after contending for a while 
as materialists or agnostics1 ultimately
 changed their attitude and joined the  
supporters of ,theism4  ,haeckel frankly
 admitted that there were such          
defaulters from his cause in ,germany1  
giving the names of two of the most     
famous of living scientists1 ,r4        
,virchow and ,e4 ,du ,bois ,raymond1    
amongst others4  ,on the other hand he  
recommended his readers to study the    
profound work of ,romanes1 #ch without1 
it would seem1 being aware of the       
transformation that took place in that  
thinker's opinions towards the end of   
his life4  ,we have now to indicate the 
nature of the replies that were made to 
the difficulties of which we spoke in   
our last chapter4  ,let us follow the   
order in which they were presented4     
,about the necessity for a ,first ,cause
 not much had to be said4  ,even if the 
whole course of organic development     
could be proved to have been continuous 
without a break from the first movements

 of matter1 through all the changes of  
physical life1 up to the highest        
exhibition of human powers--and no one  
ventured to say that this had been      
proved--there would still be the        
necessity for an initial impulse to set 
the process in action4  ,spencer1 as we 
have seen1 declared that there must have
 been a ,first ,cause1 and ,tyndall     
agreed that the hypothesis of ,evolution
 does nothing more than transport the   
conception of life's origin to an       
indefinitely distant past4#a  ,darwin   
himself never hesitated on this point4  
,the theory of evolution1 he insisted1  
is quite compatible with the belief in  
,god4#b  ,the words which he expressly  
added to the conclusion of the #ci      
,origin of ,species are well known4     
,after describing once again the        
production of the innumerable forms of  
being as the result of natural          
selection1 he said3 ,there is a grandeur
 in this view of life1 with its several 
powers1 having been originally breathed 

by the ,creator into a few forms or into
 one4  ,it is well also to keep on      
record the striking dictum of ,lord     
,kelvin1 addressed to the students of   
,university ,college4#c  ,science1 he   
told them1 positively affirmed creative 
power4  ,it will be remembered that we  
quoted ,mill as speaking of permanent   
causes4  ,we may be grateful to him for 
the suggestion4  ,we could not readily  
think of a better term than the great   
,permanent ,cause by which to describe1 
in modern language1 the ,i ,,am of the  
,biblical ,theology4#d  ,but1 if on this
 point there was no serious conflict of 
opinion1 it was otherwise in regard to  
the next4  ,here it did look as if the  
new discoveries might have #dj changed  
the whole situation4  ,huxley           
acknowledged that what struck him most  
forcibly on his first perusal of the    
,origin of ,species1 was that teleology1
 as commonly understood1 had received   
its death-blow at ,mr4 ,darwin's        
hands4#e  ,but ,huxley was a born       

fighter1 and he could turn his weapons  
with facility and effect against his    
friends when he thought they had        
overstated their case4  ,it is          
interesting to find him1 in #ahfg1      
criticising ,haeckel for his repudiation
 of the principle of ,design4  ,the     
,doctrine of ,evolution1 he says1 is the
 most formidable opponent of the        
commoner and coarser forms of teleology4
  ,the teleology which supposes that the
 eye such as we see it in man1 or one of
 the higher vertebrata1 was made with   
the precise structure it exhibits1 for  
the purpose of enabling the animal which
 possesses it to see1 has undoubtedly   
received its death-blow4  ,nevertheless1
 it is necessary to remember that there 
is a wider teleology which is not       
touched by the doctrine of evolution1   
but is actually based upon the          
fundamental proposition of evolution4   
,then1 referring to the appeal which had
 been made to the existence of          
rudimentary organs as discrediting      

teleology1 he says in his #da           
characteristic way3 ,either these       
rudiments are of no use to the animals1 
in which case they ought to have        
disappeared2 or they are of some use to 
the animal1 in which case they are of no
 use as an argument against teleology4#f
  ,darwin himself felt the grave        
difficulty in which the ordinary        
arguments had become involved2 but he   
was most unwilling to abandon his belief
 in ,design4  ,the old argument from    
design in nature as given by ,paley1 he 
wrote1 which formerly seemed to me so   
conclusive1 fails now that the law of   
natural selection has been discovered4  
,we can no longer argue that1 for       
instance1 the beautiful hinge of a      
bivalve shell must have been made by an 
intelligent being1 like the hinge of a  
door by a man4  ,on the other hand1 he  
could not shut his eyes to the fact that
 there are endless beautiful adaptations
 which we everywhere meet with1#g and to
 the further fact that the mind refuses 

to look at this universe1 being what it 
is1 without having been designed4#h  ,a 
few years later1 when ,dr4 ,asa ,gray   
had sent him from ,america a review in  
which he had written of ,mr4 ,darwin's  
great service to natural science #db in 
bringing back teleology1 on the ground  
that in ,darwinism usefulness and       
purpose come to the front again as      
working principles of the first order1  
,darwin replied1 ,what you say about    
teleology pleases me especially4#i      
,later still1 in #ahgh1 ,romanes sent   
him a copy of his ,candid ,examination4 
,darwin in his letter of acknowledgment 
wrote more than half seriously1 in the  
person as it were of an imaginary       
correspondent1 to this effect3  ,i      
should like to hear what you would say  
if a theologian addressed you as        
follows3  ',i grant you the attraction  
of gravity1 persistence of force 7or    
conservation of energy71 and one kind of
 matter1 though the latter is an immense
 addition1 but ,i maintain that ,god    

must have given such attributes to this 
force1 independently of its persistence1
 that under certain conditions it       
develops or changes into light1 heat1   
electricity1 galvanism1 perhaps into    
life4  ',you cannot prove that force    
7which physicists define as that which  
causes motion7 would invariably thus    
change its character under the above    
conditions4  ,again1 ,i maintain that   
matter1 though it may be in the future  
eternal1 was created by ,god with the   
most marvellous affinities1 leading to  
#dc complex definite compounds1 and with
 polarities leading to beautiful        
crystals1 etc41 etc4  ,you cannot prove 
that matter would necessarily possess   
these attributes4  ,therefore you have  
no right to say that you have           
demonstrated that all natural laws      
necessarily follow from gravity1 the    
persistence of force1 and existence of  
matter4  ,if you say that nebulous      
matter existed aboriginally and from    
eternity1 with all its present complex  

powers in a potential state1 you seem to
 me to beg the whole question4'  ,please
 observe it is not ,i1 but a theologian1
 who has thus addressed you1 but ,i     
could not answer him4#aj  ,the          
alternatives to ,design1 i4e41 to the   
recognition of directive activity1 would
 be ,necessity or ,chance4  ,from both  
of these the deepest instincts of       
humanity--which in such matters are as  
fully to be relied on as its logical    
faculty--strongly recoil4  ,no one has  
spoken out more strongly about the first
 than ,huxley did4  ,what is the dire   
necessity and 'iron' law under which you
 groan8 he asks4  ,truly1 most          
gratuitously invented bugbears4  ,i     
suppose if there be an 'iron' law1 it is
 that of gravitation2 and if #dd there  
be a physical necessity1 it is that a   
stone1 unsupported1 must fall to the    
ground4444  ,but when1 as commonly      
happens1 we change will into must1 we   
introduce an idea of necessity which    
most assuredly does not lie in the      

observed facts1 and has no warranty that
 ,i can discover4 ,for my part1 ,i      
utterly repudiate and anathematise the  
intruder4444  ,the notion of necessity  
is something illegitimately thrust into 
the perfectly legitimate conception of  
law2 the materialistic position that    
there is nothing in the world but       
matter1 force1 and necessity1 is as     
utterly devoid of justification as the  
most baseless of theological dogmas4#aa 
,but a dogma of ,necessity would be more
 tolerable than a doctrine of ,chance4  
,in ,lord ,kelvin's address1 to which   
reference has been made1 he declared his
 conviction that directive power was an 
article of belief which science         
compelled him to accept4  ,there was    
nothing1 he said1 between such a belief 
and the acceptance of the theory of a   
fortuitous concourse of atoms4  ,and1 in
 a letter to the ,times justifying this 
assertion1 he told how forty years      
before he had asked ,liebig1 when       
walking with him in the country1 whether

 he believed that the grass #de and     
flowers they saw around them grew by    
mere chemical forces4  ,no1 he answered1
 no more than ,i could believe that a   
book of botany describing them could    
grow by mere chemical forces4           
,discussions may continue as to whether 
what ,huxley called the wider teleology1
 or some other form of the doctrine of  
,design is to be preferred2 but         
thoughtful men are likely to agree with 
the judgment given by ,sir ,george      
,stokes--that recognised master of      
masters--when he said3 ,we meet with    
such overwhelming evidence of design1 of
 purpose1 especially in the study of    
living things1 that we are compelled to 
think of mind as being involved in the  
constitution of the universe4#ab    #a  
,fragments of ,science1 p4 #aff4  #b    
,life and ,letters1 ,i41 p4 #cjg4  #c   
,may #bnd1 #aijc4  #d ,the debate as to 
the accuracy of the ,mosaic account of  
,creation does not come directly within 
the scope of our survey2 but1           

nevertheless1 it may be worth while to  
recall the following statement in view  
of the very confident assertions that   
have often been made1 by no less an     
authority than ,romanes4  ,the order in 
which the flora and fauna are said by   
the ,mosaic account to have appeared    
upon the earth corresponds with that    
which the theory of evolution requires  
and the evidence of geology             
proves4--7,nature1 ,august #aath1       
#ahha47  #e ,lay ,sermons4  #f          
,critiques and ,addresses1 pp4 #cje1    
#cjh4  #g ,life and ,letters1 ,i41 p4   
#cji4  #h ,i41 p4 #cad4  #i ,life and   
,letters1 ,,iii41 p4 #ahi4  #aj ,life   
and ,letters of ,romanes1 pp4 #hh4  #aa 
,essay on ,the ,physical ,basis of ,life
 7#ahfh74  #ab ,gifford ,lectures       
7#ahia71 p4 #aif4     #df  ,,chapter ,v 
,,the ,,counter-,,arguments 7continued7 
,but though ,materialism had to go1     
there was a time when it seemed to many 
by no means unlikely that ,agnosticism  
might have to be accepted as its        

substitute4  ,and if that had been so   
the case would have been scarcely less  
desperate4  ,we might have been left    
with a philosophy of a kind1 but we     
should have been deprived of any object 
which could evoke within our hearts the 
trust and affection that are needed to  
sustain a religion4  ,however1 as it    
proved1 there was no great cause for    
fear4  ,agnosticism was subjected in its
 turn to the ordeal of criticism1 and   
the result proved that it had not in it 
the substance and force that could give 
it any permanent hold upon the best     
intelligence of the age4  ,if           
,agnosticism could have been content to 
confine itself to positive assertions1  
there might have been less cause to find
 fault with it4 ,but its name stood for 
negation1 and its temper was in accord  
with its name4  ,the exponents of       
,agnosticism were not #dg satisfied with
 affirming that the ,power behind       
phenomena is beyond all thought         
mysterious4  ,they insisted that it is  

unknowable1 and that not merely in the  
sense that it is incomprehensible1 not  
to be fully grasped1 but unknowable in  
the sense that nothing at all can be    
known about it4  ,and then1 having laid 
down this as their fundamental          
principle1 they proceeded at once1 with 
a strange inconsistency1 to assert that 
we can know what it is not4  ,this above
 all else1 they said1 it is not3 it is  
not personal4  ,true1 ,herbert ,spencer 
maintained that it is as far raised     
above personality as personality is     
raised above unconsciousness2 but the   
stress was laid not upon the affirmation
 of super-personality1 but upon the     
denial and rejection of anything like   
personality as we understand it4  ,the  
position was really untenable4          
,possibly1 if we could detect no more in
 ,nature than power1 we might be        
content1 intellectually1 to stop at the 
affirmation of inscrutable force4  ,but 
if there is also design1 then we are    
bound to go a step further4  ,bishop    

,harvey ,goodwin expressed this exactly 
when he said3 ,purpose means person4    
,no doubt personality in the ,creator   
must be something far higher and fuller 
than personality in the creature4  ,the 
,german philosopher ,lotze was speaking 
the truth when he declared that to all  
finite minds #dh there is allotted but a
 pale copy of personality2 the          
finiteness of the finite1 being not a   
producing condition of personality1 as  
has often been maintained1 but a limit  
and hindrance of its development4       
,perfect personality1 he said1 is in    
,god alone4#a  ,to most of us it may    
sound paradoxical to urge that the full 
,christian doctrine of the ,three       
,persons in the ,godhead is really less 
difficult intellectually than the       
doctrine that the ,divine ,being        
consists of an isolated unit4  ,this was
 the contention of the ,greek ,fathers  
of the ,church1 whose acute and subtle  
minds anticipated not a few of the      
objections which we have had to         

encounter in our days4  ,we cannot      
elaborate the statement here1#b but it  
is to the point to observe that the     
doctrine of the ,trinity in ,unity      
removes from the ,christian believer    
that which to ,spencer was one of the   
greatest obstacles in the way of the    
acceptance of the idea of a ,divine     
,personality2 for it relieves him from  
the necessity of imagining a subject    
without an object1 since in the         
,christian view the highest life in the 
universe is a social life1 #di in which 
thought is for ever communicated with   
unbroken harmony of feeling and will4   
,but the inadequacy of ,agnosticism was 
to be seen not only on the intellectual 
side4  ,its practical effects were      
necessarily determined by its negations4
  ,since we could know nothing of the   
ultimate power1 it was plainly our      
wisdom to turn our attention elsewhere4 
,it followed that1 if morality was to be
 upheld1 it must be based upon other    
than the familiar sanctions4  ,for      

awhile it was enthusiastically promised 
that this could and should be done4     
,but the event proved otherwise4        
,towards the end of his life1 ,herbert  
,spencer was constrained to admit this4 
,now that 444 ,i have succeeded in      
completing the second volume of ,the    
,principles of ,ethics 444 my           
satisfaction is somewhat dashed by the  
thought that these new parts fall short 
of expectation4  ,the doctrine of       
,evolution has not furnished guidance to
 the extent that ,i had hoped4#c  ,and  
this moral failure of the system pointed
 yet deeper to its essential weakness4  
,it deliberately ignored the profoundest
 needs and capacities of our nature4    
,the need is the need for ,god1 and for 
,one who1 though greatly above us1 is   
yet within our reach1 and ready to give 
us ,his friendship4  ,thou #ej hast made
 us for ,thyself1 and our heart is      
restless until it rests in ,thee4  ,that
 cry of ,st4 ,augustine has found its   
echo in unnumbered souls1 and our       

humanity will never be satisfied while  
it is offered no more than an impalpable
 abstraction for the contentment of its 
craving4  ,allusion has been made to the
 fact that ,romanes in his latter days  
was led to abandon the negative attitude
 which he had taken in his earlier life4
  ,the story of the change is to be     
found as told by himself in the volume  
of ,life and ,letters edited by his     
widow1 and in the ,notes which he left  
behind him4  ,these he had written in   
preparation for a book which was to have
 been entitled3 ,a ,candid ,examination 
of ,religion4#d  ,it is evident that no 
consideration weighed more with him than
 this witness of the deeper needs of the
 soul4  ,we have seen with what sorrow  
he had accepted as a young man the      
conclusions to which he had found       
himself driven when ,theism seemed no   
longer a possible belief4  ,after his   
change he admitted that he had failed to
 recognise an important element in his  
treatment of the problem4  ,when ,i     

wrote the preceding treatise ,i #ea did 
not sufficiently appreciate the immense 
importance of human nature in any       
enquiry touching ,theism4  ,but since   
then ,i have seriously studied          
anthropology 7including the science of  
comparative religions71 psychology1 and 
metaphysics1 with the result of clearly 
seeing that human nature is the most    
important part of nature as a whole     
whereby to investigate the theory of    
,theism4#e  ,the outcome of his study   
was to convince him of two things4  ,the
 first was that1 if the religious       
instincts of the human race point to no 
reality as their object1 they are out of
 analogy with all other instinctive     
endowments4  ,elsewhere in the animal   
kingdom we never meet with such a thing 
as an instinct pointing aimlessly4#f    
,and this first conviction was only the 
preparation for a second4  ,speaking    
again of his ,candid ,examination of    
,theism1 he says3 ,in that treatise ,i  
have since come to see that ,i was wrong

 touching what ,i constituted the basal 
argument for my negative conclusion 444 
,reason is not the only attribute of    
man1 nor is it the only faculty which he
 habitually employs for the             
ascertainment of truth4  ,moral and     
spiritual faculties are of no less      
importance in their respective spheres1 
even of everyday life2 faith1 trust1    
taste1 etc41 are #eb as needful in      
ascertaining truth as to character1     
beauty1 etc41 as is reason4#g  ,he put  
the same thing with even more of the    
note of personal experience when he     
wrote to ,dean ,paget of ,christ ,church
 within three months of his death3      
,strangely enough for my time of life1  
,i have begun to discover the truth of  
what you once wrote about logical       
processes not being the only means of   
research in regions transcendental4#h   
,in all this he was following1 as he    
knew1 in the steps of ,pascal1 who had  
devoted the whole of the first part of  
his treatise to the argument from the   

condition of man's nature without ,god1 
and then had appealed to that nature for
 its positive testimony to the reality  
of the spiritual4 ,the heart has its    
reasons that the reason does not know4  
,agnosticism appeared dressed in the    
garb of an exceeding reverence1 but1 on 
closer acquaintance1 it became evident  
that its acceptance would mean the      
cheapening of life by banishing from it 
the ,divine personality1 and robbing the
 human of the qualities that give it its
 greatest worth4  ,happily the disaster 
has been averted1 and there are not many
 now who would seriously undertake its  
defence4    #a ,microcosmus 7,e4,t471   
,,ii41 p4 #fhh4  #b ,those who may      
desire to see the matter clearly and    
ably handled would do well to read the  
,essay on ,the ,being of ,god1 in ,lux  
,mundi1 by ,aubrey ,moore4  #c ,preface1
 ,vol4 ,,ii4 7#ahic74  #d ,these notes  
were sent by ,mr4 ,romanes' desire after
 his death1 in #ahid1 to ,bishop ,gore1 
and have been published by him in a     

sixpenny volume under the title of      
,thoughts on ,religion4  #e ,p4 #aed4   
#f ,p4 #hb4  #g ,pp4 #aaa1 f4  #h ,life 
and ,letters1 p4 #cge4     #ec          
,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,the                  
,,counter-,,arguments 7continued7  ,we  
have still to see how the last of the   
difficulties of which we have spoken was
 treated4  ,it was a difficulty which   
could not be regarded with indifference4
  ,for what would it avail to shew that 
men had a right to cherish the belief in
 ,power1 and ,purpose1 and ,personality1
 unless they could also be assured that 
the ,orderer of the world is good8      
,nay1 might they not feel1 if there were
 no such assurance1 that it would be    
better to be altogether without ,his    
presence and influence8 ,on a matter so 
vital to happiness and well-being the   
mere possibility of a doubt was torment 
enough4  ,what was there to be said to  
bring relief to the mind and heart when 
charges were made against the           
benevolence and beneficence of ,nature's

 ways8  ,what satisfactory account could
 be given of the waste and cruelty which
 were seen to abound on every hand8     
,the more clear the certainty that there
 is design in the ,universe1 the more   
urgent became #ed the question as to the
 character of that design1 and of the   
motives that prompt it4  ,so long as the
 difficulty remained unrelieved1 the    
thoughts of many of the most sensitive  
minds in regard to ,theism were held in 
suspense4 ,the shadow of misgiving was  
felt to be creeping over the mind of the
 age1 like the gloom of an approaching  
eclipse1 even before the arrival of the 
,darwinian hypothesis4  ,in words too   
well known to need repeating1 ,tennyson 
had given utterance to the half-realised
 anxiety of his contemporaries in the   
stanzas of his ,in ,memoriam1 published 
in #ahej4  ,what the finer spirits were 
already beginning to feel was soon to be
 proclaimed1 in terms which could not   
fail to be understood by the multitude1 
as an inevitable truth brought to light 

by scientific enquiry4  ,we have seen   
how it was stated with the passion of   
eloquence by ,huxley and ,romanes4  ,and
 ,darwin1 with all his detachment and   
philosophic calm1 was at times deeply   
affected by the seriousness of the      
problem which he had done so much to    
bring into prominence4  ,it is plain    
that he did his very utmost to retain   
the hopeful view1 and to put the most   
consoling interpretation he could upon  
the disquieting facts4  ,he had no      
difficulty in shewing that the wholesale
 destruction of living organisms was    
imperatively #ee necessary4  ,there is  
no exception to the rule1 he said1 that 
every organic being naturally increases 
at so high a rate that1 if not          
destroyed1 the earth would soon be      
covered by the progeny of a single      
pair4#a  ,the truth of this has been    
demonstrated again and again4  ,a pair  
of rabbits1 for example1 would in the   
most favourable circumstances increase  
in four or five years to a million4     

,the roe of a cod may contain eight or  
nine millions of eggs4  ,more appalling 
still1 the female of the common flesh   
fly will at one time deposit #bj1jjj    
eggs4 ,at this rate of increase it has  
been calculated that1 in less than a    
year1 a single pair would produce enough
 flies1 if these were not devoured by   
their natural foes1 to cover the whole  
surface of the globe to the depth of a  
mile and a quarter6  ,but all this does 
not1 of course1 make it clear why in a  
beneficently ordered world such a       
necessity of slaughter should ever have 
been allowed to arise4  ,darwin1 as we  
have said1 tried hard to take the most  
favourable view of the whole process4   
,he thus concluded his chapter on the   
struggle for existence2 ,when we reflect
 on the struggle1 we may console        
ourselves with the full belief that #ef 
the war of nature is not incessant1 that
 no fear is felt1 that death is         
generally prompt1 and that the vigorous1
 the healthy1 and the happy survive and 

multiply4  ,and these are the words with
 which he concluded the ,origin of      
,species3 ,thus from the war of nature1 
from famine and death1 the most exalted 
object we are capable of conceiving1    
namely the production of the higher     
animals1 directly follows4  ,but a year 
or two later he shewed that his mind was
 by no means at rest on the matter1 by  
writing in this strain to his friend    
,asa ,gray3  ,i own that ,i cannot see  
as plainly as others do1 and as ,i      
should wish to do1 evidence of design   
and beneficence on all sides of us4     
,there seems to me too much misery in   
the world4  ,i cannot persuade myself   
that a beneficent and omnipotent ,god   
would have designedly created the       
,ichneumonidae with the express         
intention of their feeding within the   
living bodies of caterpillars1 or that a
 cat should play with mice4444 ,i am    
inclined to look at everything as       
resulting from designed laws1 with the  
details1 whether good or bad1 left to   

the working out of what we may call     
chance4  ,not that this notion at all   
satisfies me4444 ,let each man hope and 
believe what he can4  ,certainly ,i     
agree with you that my views are not at 
all necessarily atheistical4#b  #eg     
,happily there were others who were able
 to see their way somewhat further than 
this4  ,romanes1 in a paper which he    
read before the ,aristotelian ,society  
in #ahhi1 shewed that he was            
reconsidering his position4  ,he        
questioned whether the assertion1 made  
by a speaker in a previous discussion1  
that the fair order of ,nature is only  
acquired by a wholesale waste and       
sacrifice1 could be accepted as strictly
 true1 for how can it be said that1 in  
point of fact1 there has been a waste1  
or has been a sacrifice8  ,clearly such 
things can only be said when our point  
of view is restricted to the means      
7i4e41 the wholesale destruction of the 
less fit72 not when we extend our view  
to what1 even within the limits of human

 observation1 is unquestionably the end 
7i4e41 the causal result in an ever     
improving world of types74#c  ,he had   
intended to write more fully on the     
subject1 but did not live to do so4  ,we
 only know that on the ,sunday before   
his death he did express to ,bishop     
,gore his entire agreement with a       
statement that had been made a short    
time before by ,professor ,knight1 in   
his ,aspects of ,theism1 to the effect  
that ,a larger good is evolved through  
the winnowing process by which physical 
nature casts its weaker products #eh    
aside1 etc4#d ,we cannot suppose that1  
if he had lived1 he would have been     
content to have left the argument thus4 
,that the end justifies the means1 is   
scarcely a doctrine which can be        
accepted as the last word of an ethical 
defence of the constitution of the      
world4  ,no doubt there were further    
pleas to be put in1 and we shall do well
 to give them their full value4  ,there 
is the contention that the pleasures of 

life as a whole outweigh the sum of its 
evils4  ,this was maintained1 and we    
need not hesitate to say successfully   
maintained1 by ,lord ,avebury1 and not  
by him alone4  ,indeed ,darwin had      
emphatically said1 ,according to my     
judgment happiness decidedly prevails4#e
  ,then there has always been urged the 
undoubted fact that pain1 if an evil1 is
 yet the minister of good4  ,browning's 
optimism may have carried him too far   
when he laid it down that when pain ends
 gain ends1 but it is not to be         
questioned that men have profited by    
sufferings1 and that they have had to   
thank their pains1 if only because these
 have served to protect them from yet   
greater misfortunes4  ,there is a true  
wisdom in the moral of the old fable of 
the blacksmith1 who prayed to heaven    
that the fire might not burn his        
fingers1 to discover that as #ei a      
result it had charred his hand to the   
bone4  ,medical science has had much to 
say with regard to the salutary office  

of pain4  ,it has gone so far as to     
assert that1 the symptoms of disease are
 marked by purpose1 and the purpose is  
beneficent4  ,nay more1 the processes of
 disease aim not at the destruction of  
life1 but at the saving of it4#f  ,none 
the less1 with what might seem a        
splendid inconsistency1 the medical     
profession devotes itself untiringly to 
the alleviation of the symptoms and to  
the eradication of disease4  ,again1 we 
may be thankful to be assured that1     
whatever be the case with man1 the lower
 organisms feel pain less than he does1 
and much less than he is often wont to  
imagine that they feel it4  ,this has   
been argued again and again by the      
veteran naturalist ,wallace1 whose right
 to speak on the subject no one is      
likely to dispute4  ,in his recently    
published book1 ,the ,world of ,life1 he
 has devoted a whole chapter to         
answering the question1 ,is ,nature     
cruel8 and it is due to him1 as well as 
to the importance of the problem1 that  

we should carefully note what he has    
said4  ,the following quotations may be 
taken as sufficiently indicating his    
position4  ,the widespread idea of the  
cruelty of ,nature is #fj almost wholly 
imaginary4#g  ,our whole tendency to    
transfer our sensations of pain to the  
other animals is grossly misleading4#h  
,no other animal needs the              
pain-sensations that we need2 it is     
therefore absolutely certain--on        
principles of evolution--that no other  
possesses such sensations in more than a
 fractional degree of ours4#i  ,in the  
category of painless or almost painless 
animals1 ,i think we may place almost   
all aquatic animals up to fishes1 all   
the vast hordes of insects1 probably all
 mollusca and worms2 thus reducing the  
sphere of pain to a minimum throughout  
all the earlier geological ages1 and    
very largely even now4#aj  ,the purpose 
and use of all parasitic diseases is to 
seize upon the less adapted and less    
healthy individuals--those which are    

slowly dying and no longer of value in  
the preservation of the species1 and    
therefore to a certain extent injurious 
to the race by requiring food and       
occupying space needed by the more      
fit4#aa  ,speaking of the               
vicious-looking teeth and claws of the  
cat tribe1 the hooked beak and          
prehensile talons of birds of prey1 the 
poison fangs of serpents1 the stings of 
wasps and many others1 ,dr4 ,wallace #fa
 writes2 ,the idea that all these       
weapons exist for the purpose of        
shedding blood or giving pain is wholly 
illusory4  ,as a matter of fact1 their  
effect is wholly beneficent even to the 
sufferers1 inasmuch as they tend to the 
diminution of pain4  ,their actual      
purpose is always to prevent the escape 
of captured food--of a wounded animal1  
which would then1 indeed1 suffer useless
 pain1 since it would certainly very    
soon be captured again and be devoured4 
,all conclusions derived from the       
house-fed cat and mouse are             

fallacious4#ab  ,finally he concludes by
 inveighing against the ludicrously     
exaggerated view adopted by men of such 
eminence and usually of such calm       
judgment as ,huxley--a view almost as   
far removed from fact or science as the 
purely imaginary and humanitarian dogma 
of the poet3    ',the poor beetle1 that 
we tread upon1   ,in corporal sufferance
 finds a pang as great   ,as when a     
giant dies4'   ,whatever the giant may  
feel1 if the theory of ,evolution is    
true1 the 'poor beetle' certainly #fb   
feels an almost irreducible minimum of  
pain1 probably none at all4#ac  ,we may 
add to all these considerations the     
further fact that we are constantly     
finding out that things have their use  
which had been too hastily assumed to be
 mere blots upon ,nature4  ,the desert  
and the volcano1 for instance1 have     
often been regarded in that light4  ,but
 we have lately been assured that both  
are needed for the supply of atmospheric
 dust1 which is a necessary condition of

 the rain-fall2 so that they are really 
essential to life upon the planet4      
,beyond question1 then1 there is very   
much to be said in mitigation of the    
terrible difficulty occasioned by what  
appear to be the havoc and the          
prodigality of ,nature4  ,and yet--when 
all has been said--a residuum does      
remain of inexplicable misery and       
distress1 and there are times when we   
are all of us constrained to cry out    
with ,darwin that it is too much1 and to
 ask whether there is not some further  
clue to the mystery4  ,and then it may  
well be that there comes to our mind an 
answer that has been given from the very
 first moment at which human beings have
 thought at all4  ,it is an answer which
 has seemed inevitable alike to the     
simplest and the wisest4  #fc  ,carlyle 
once told of two ,scottish peasants who 
found themselves for the first time at  
,ailsa ,crag4  ,they stared in          
astonishment at the great               
sea-precipices4  ,at last one said to   

the other3 ,eh1 ,jock1 ,nature's        
deevilish6#ad  ,that was the view taken 
by the primitive races of the world1 as 
their worships and incantations bore    
witness4  ,it is a view which cannot be 
lightly dismissed as having nothing at  
all in its support4  ,we may minimise   
the evil that is at work around and     
within us as we will1 but1 when we have 
done our utmost1 we shall be unlike the 
vast majority of our race if we are not 
compelled to admit that there is that in
 the world which it is quite impossible 
to ascribe to the immediate action of an
 entirely good and beneficent ,god4  ,is
 it then to be thought incredible that  
the order of the world should have been 
interfered with1 at an early stage in   
its development1 in such a way that the 
disarrangement was left to work out its 
fatal mischief by means of the very     
constancy of the great system of laws   
which make for a regular development8   
,how this might conceivably have        
occurred has been set out by an         

anonymous writer in a remarkable book   
which ought to be better known than it  
is4  #fd ,it was published some years   
ago1#ae and bears the suggestive title  
of ,evil and ,evolution4 ,the author    
maintains that the original motive in   
all living things was self-preservation 
for self-realisation2 and that this     
elementary law was in itself necessary  
and good1 the essential condition of    
progress4 ,but just as we to-day know   
well how hard it is to draw the line    
which distinguishes a right self-seeking
 from the wrong1 so it has been from the
 outset4  ,the distinction is a fine    
one1 and the balance is easily upset4   
,we have but to suppose that this       
perversion of the right and lawful      
happened at an early stage1 to see that 
nothing more would have been required to
 account for the subsequent heritage of 
woe4#af  ,after speaking of the innocent
 kind of comparative strife that we see 
in the fields and forests around us1 in 
which there may be nothing that we      

cannot reconcile with the perfect       
beneficence of the ,great #fe ,designer 
and ,creator1 this writer goes on to    
say3 ,but the moment that evolution has 
attained that point at which the        
struggle begins to involve pain and     
unhappiness1 it becomes quite another   
matter4  ,the moment that rudimentary   
but happy and congenial life begins to  
be overshadowed by fear1 or debased by  
conscious cruelty1 the moment that      
process of evolution begins to evolve   
not only cruel selfishness in its most  
odious forms1 but deceit and artifice   
and treacherous cunning in the warfare  
which one animal wages with another1    
then ,i think you may be certain of one 
of two things--either the ,creator is   
not all-benevolent1 or that that scheme 
is somehow working out as ,he never     
intended it should3 there must have been
 some disturbing and hostile            
influence4#ag  ,this is well put1 but   
the interest of the book chiefly        
consists in its attempts to show in     

detailed instances how things that are  
evil may have been made so4  ,the author
 boldly argues that1 if the normal      
course had been followed1 birds and     
beasts of prey and venomous reptiles    
would never have been evolved4          
,evolutionists1 he says1 are agreed that
 it is just the fierce struggle of      
created things that has produced these  
birds and beasts of prey1 and that there
 can be #ff little doubt that it is the 
malignity of the struggle that has      
produced the venom of so many           
reptiles4#ah  ,instances are given in   
which such venom may now be developed as
 the result of rage or terror in an     
otherwise harmless animal4  ,a few years
 ago it was reported that the late ,m4  
,pasteur 'cultivated' the poison of     
human saliva to such a point that he was
 able to produce with it many of the    
effects of the most virulent snake      
poisons4#ai ,had they not been inflamed 
by the terror of the struggle for       
existence1 tigers and hyaenas1 vultures 

and sharks1 ferrets and polecats1 wasps 
and spiders1 puff-adders and skunks     
might have turned their undoubted       
abilities in other more desirable       
directions4#bj  ,again1 it is the       
perpetual effort1 generation after      
generation1 through long ages1 to repair
 the mischief inflicted by enemies1 that
 accounts for the fecundity of the      
codfish and other creatures4  ,the more 
prolific it becomes1 the more enemies it
 can feed2 and the more they multiply1  
the more prolific it grows4  ,a vicious 
circle indeed6  ,even earthquakes1      
storms1 droughts1 deluges1 are explained
 as due to a certain want of balance and
 failure in adjustment4#ba  ,certainly1 
if we had to choose between the idea #fg
 of a careless or indifferent ,god1 and 
the belief in a ,god who has given us   
ample proofs of a generally beneficent  
purpose1 but who has1 for reasons of the
 meaning of which we as yet can have    
only the vaguest conceptions1 allowed   
,himself to be hindered and thwarted on 

the way to ,his goal1 with results of   
suffering to ,himself even greater than 
those endured by ,his creatures2 if     
these were the alternatives before us1  
there can scarcely be one of us who     
would hesitate to say towards which of  
them his reason and conscience would    
confidently point him4    #a ,origin of 
,species1 ,chap4 ,,iii4  #b ,life and   
,letters4  #c ,thoughts on ,religion1   
pp4 #ib1 f4  #d p4 #id4  #e ,life and   
,letters1 ,i41 p4 #cji4  #f ,address by 
,sir ,frederick ,treves at the          
,edinburgh ,philosophical ,institution1 
,october1 #aije4  #g p4 #chj4  #h p4    
#cgg4  #i p4 #cha4  #aj p4 #cge4  #aa p4
 #chc4  #ab p4 #cgg4  ,among the        
illustrations that have been adduced of 
the insensibility of the lower          
organisms1 none perhaps is more         
extraordinary than this3 ,a crab will   
continue to eat1 and apparently relish1 
a smaller crab while being itself slowly
 devoured by a larger                   
one6--7,transactions of ,victoria       

,institute1 ,vol4 ,,xxv41 p4 #beg74  #ac
 p4 #chd4  #ad ,william ,allingham's    
,diary1 p4 #bbf4  #ae ,in #ahif1 by     
,messrs4 ,macmillan4  #af ,in one       
instance1 at least1 ,darwin had pictured
 in his imagination the steps by which a
 strange and odious instinct may have   
been developed from comparatively       
innocent beginnings4  ,he was referring 
to the ejection by the young cuckoo of  
its companions from the nest4  ,i can   
see no special difficulty in its having 
gradually acquired1 during successive   
generations1 the blind desire1 the      
strength and structure necessary for the
 work of ejection4  ,the first step     
towards the acquisition of the proper   
instinct might have been mere           
unintentional restlessness on the part  
of the young bird4--,origin of ,species1
 p4 #bjj4  #ag ,pp4 #ace1 f4  #ah ,p4   
#adb4  #ai ,p4 #adc4  #bj ,p4 #add4  #ba
 ,p4 #bcb4     #fh  ,,chapter ,,vii     
,,later ,,science  ,the position1 as we 
have described it1 was that which may be

 said to have existed up to about twenty
 years ago4  ,since then much new light 
has come4  ,indeed1 ,lord ,kelvin1      
speaking at ,clerkenwell on ,february   
#bfth1 #aijd1 is reported in ,the ,times
 to have said1 referring to the         
extraordinary progress of scientific    
research1 that it had1 perhaps1 been    
even more remarkable and striking at the
 beginning of the twentieth century than
 during the whole of the nineteenth4    
,let us take first that which he had    
more particularly in mind1 the advance  
in the knowledge of the constitution of 
,matter4  ,in an address delivered      
before the ,british ,association at     
,bradford in #ahgc1 ,clerk ,maxwell had 
stated the conclusions to which science 
had1 up to that time1 been led in its   
investigations of matter4  ,throughout  
the natural universe it had been shewn1 
by ,spectrum ,analysis1 that matter is  
built up of #fi molecules4  ,these      
molecules1 according to the most        
competent judgment1 were incapable of   

sub-division without change of          
substance1 and were absolutely fixed for
 each substance4  ,a molecule of        
hydrogen1 for example1 whether in       
,sirius1 or in ,arcturus1 executes its  
vibrations in precisely the same time4  
,the relations of the parts and         
movements of the planetary systems may  
and do change1 but the molecules--the   
foundation-stones of the natural        
universe--remain unbroken and unworn4   
,as a result of this1 it was maintained 
that the exact equality of each molecule
 to all others of the same kind gives   
it1 as ,sir ,john ,herschel has well    
said1 the essential character of being a
 manufactured article1 and precludes the
 idea of its being eternal and          
self-existent4  ,not that science is    
debarred from studying the internal     
mechanism of a molecule which she cannot
 take to pieces 444 but1 in tracing back
 the history of matter1 science is      
arrested when she assures herself1 on   
the one hand1 that the molecule has been

 made1 and on the other that it has not 
been made by any of the processes we    
call natural4  ,so the case had stood   
for some while until science1 through   
its indefatigable inquirers1 shewed that
 it was in very deed not debarred from  
studying the internal mechanism of a    
molecule1 nor1 perhaps1 from taking it  
to pieces4  ,in #ahie came the #gj      
discovery of the ,x-rays by ,rntgen in  
,germany1 to be followed in a year by   
,becquerel's discovery of spontaneous   
radio-activity1 and in a couple of years
 by the remarkable further discovery1   
made by ,madame ,curie1 of what was     
termed radium1 a substance that went on 
producing heat de novo1 keeping itself  
permanently at a higher temperature than
 its surroundings1 and spontaneously    
producing electricity4  ,this in itself 
was a new fact of extraordinary         
interest4  ,for long1 discussion had    
been waged between two departments of   
scientific inquirers4  ,the geologists  
and biologists had demanded hundreds1   

and perhaps thousands1 of millions of   
years to allow for the developments with
 which they were concerned4  ,the       
physicists1 led by ,lord ,kelvin1       
refused to admit the demand1 claiming   
that it could be proved mathematically  
that it was impossible that the sun     
could have been giving out heat at its  
present rate for more than a hundred    
million years1 at the very outside4     
,the appearance of radium robbed this   
argument of its cogency4  ,it is true   
that an examination of the sun's        
spectrum has not1 as yet1 revealed any  
radium lines1 but it is well known that 
helium1 a transformation product of     
radium1 is present in it4  ,and this    
modification of our views as to the #ga 
probable age of our solar system was far
 from being the only result of this     
latest discovery4  ,investigations which
 followed into radio-activity led the   
,cambridge professors1 ,larmor and      
,thomson1 to conclude that electricity  
existed in small particles1 which were  

called electrons4#a  ,these seem to be  
the ingredients of which atoms are made4
  ,a molecule is composed of two or more
 atoms4  ,that of hydrogen1 for example1
 has two2 that of water three2 and so on
 up to a thousand or more4  ,molecules  
are very small4  ,if a drop of water    
were magnified to the size of the globe1
 the molecules would be seen to be less 
than the size of a cricket ball6  ,atoms
 are much smaller4  ,the atoms in a drop
 of water outnumber the drops in an     
,atlantic ,ocean4  ,electrons are much  
smaller still--about a                  
thousand-million-million times smaller  
than atoms4#b  ,within the atom         
thousands or tens of thousands of these 
electrons are moving in orderly         
arrangement1 at terrific speed1 round   
and about one another4  ,the amount of  
energy required to build up a molecule  
of any degree of complexity is very     
great1 and it is #gb by the breaking    
down of complex molecules into simple   
ones that all our mechanical work is    

done4  ,and this is not all1 for not    
only can the molecule be thus broken in 
pieces1 but the atom itself is capable  
of disintegration4 ,although we do not  
know how to break atoms up1 they are    
liable every now and then themselves to 
explode1 and so resolve themselves into 
simpler forms4  ,atoms of matter are not
 the indestructible and immutable things
 they were once thought4#c  ,the idea of
 the amount of energy thus revealed as  
available for all kinds of active work  
is so vast as to baffle calculation and 
even imagination4  ,it has been said    
that there is energy enough in fifteen  
grains of radium1 if it could all be set
 free at once1 to blow the whole        
,british ,navy a mile high into the air4
  ,the thought that we are thus         
encompassed on every side by pent up    
potentialities of force1 which if       
uncontrolled might at any moment work   
our destruction1 may well deepen in us  
the sense of the need1 not only for an  
originating1 but for a continually      

directing mind to superintend the       
conduct of the universe4  ,we have      
referred to more than one change of view
 to which the new discoveries have led4 
,we shall doubtless find that there are 
other scientific theories #gc which will
 have ere long to be modified4 ,already 
it is recognised that the arguments of  
,lord ,kelvin 7he was then ,sir ,william
 ,thomson7 and of ,clerk ,maxwell1 which
 were based upon calculations as to the 
dissipation of energy1 can scarcely     
remain unaffected by what we now know1  
and suspect1 of the crumbling and       
re-forming of atoms4  ,and there are    
hints abroad of even more revolutionary 
suggestions4  ,if there has been one    
principle more imperatively and         
unanimously insisted upon than another1 
it has been the uniformity of ,nature's 
laws4  ,what then are we to make of a   
remark like the following1 made by      
,professor ,j4 ,j4 ,thomson1 perhaps    
only half-seriously1 to the ,british    
,association at ,cambridge1 in #aijd8   

,there was one law1 he said1 which he   
felt convinced nobody who had worked on 
this question--the radio-activity of    
matter--would ever suggest1 and that was
 the constancy of ,nature4  ,not less   
startling is it to be told that a       
question may yet be raised which will   
challenge the conception of a           
luminiferous aether1 which for half a   
century has dominated physical science4 
,it is possible1 so we are informed1    
that the field of electro-magnetic      
energy surrounding an electric charge in
 motion moves with it1 and that the     
vibrations of light travel through this 
moving #gd field1 instead of through an 
ocean of stagnant aether4#d  ,one       
further quotation of singular interest  
may be added4  ,it is taken from an     
address to students by the ,president of
 the ,institution of ,mining and        
,metallurgy4#e  ,twenty years ago1 he   
said1 the idea held that inorganic      
chemistry was almost a dead             
science--dead in the sense of being     

apparently completed in many of its     
aspects1 and that its records could be  
safely confided to the encyclopaedia4444
  ,a modified conception of life is now 
becoming co-extensive with the whole    
range of our experience4  ,even a simple
 inorganic crystal does not spring ready
 formed from its solvent1 but first     
passes through phases of granulation and
 striation comparable with those which  
characterise the beginnings of vital    
growth4  ,metals exhibit in some        
respects phenomena similar to those     
possessed by organised beings4  ,thus1  
they show fatigue under long continued  
stress1 and they recover their strength 
with rest4  ,they are also susceptible  
to certain of the poisons which destroy 
organic life4  ,matter1 broadly1 is no  
longer merely dead masonry from which   
the edifice to shelter life #ge is      
constructed1 but also appears to be the 
reservoir of that energy which is       
developed1 altered and drawn into       
vitality itself4444 ,the                

indestructibility of matter bids fair to
 become relegated to the museum of      
outworn theories2 and with it will      
probably go our present conceptions as  
to the conservation of energy4  ,it is  
clear1 then1 that the tasks awaiting the
 students of physical science are likely
 to be as arduous1 and we may hope as   
full of reward1 as they have been at any
 time in the past4  ,meanwhile1 it does 
look as if there were truth in ,mr4     
,balfour's remark that ,matter is not   
merely explained1 but is explained      
away4#f    #a ,the weighing and         
measuring of the electron were first    
announced by ,professor ,thomson to the 
,british ,association meeting at ,dover1
 in #ahii4  #b ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4  #c 
,sir ,oliver ,lodge4  ,life and ,matter1
 p4 #bh4  #d ,whetham4  ,the            
,foundations of ,science1 p4 #ej4  #e   
,h4 ,l4 ,sulman1 at the ,sir ,john ,cass
 ,institute1 ,november #bith1 #aiaa4  #f
 ,presidential ,address to ,british     
,association1 #aijd4     #gf  ,,chapter 

,,viii  ,,later ,,science 7continued7   
,we have spoken of what science has     
recently been doing in the investigation
 of the constitution of matter2 we have 
now to talk of its researches into the  
nature of ,life4  ,the discovery that   
all plant and animal life is developed  
from living cells was made1 as we have  
already stated1 more than seventy years 
ago4 ,since then our knowledge of the   
formation and history of these cells has
 been continually growing4  ,the size of
 cells varies1 but as a rule they are   
very minute4  ,they consist of what is  
termed protoplasm4  ,at one time it was 
supposed that protoplasm was            
structureless4  ,now it is known that   
the protoplasmic cell contains a nucleus
 and a surrounding body4  ,moreover1 the
 nucleus1 or small spot in the centre1  
has within it a spiral structure of a   
very complicated kind4  ,every cell is  
derived from a pre-existing cell by a   
process of division1 the two resulting  
cells being apparently identical with   

the parent cell4  #gg ,the cells possess
 the power of assimilating other cells  
or fragments of cells4  ,as they grow   
they move and go in search of food and  
light and air and moisture4  ,they      
exhibit feeling1 and shrink as if in    
pain4 ,spots specially sensitive to     
vibrations become eyes and ears2 and    
thus the various organs and faculties   
are evolved under the stimulating       
influence of environment4  ,the         
progress1 so far as it is physical1 can 
be traced from the lowest blue-green    
algae right up to man4  ,and all        
throughout1 in so far as their chemical 
composition is concerned1 the           
constituent elements of the living      
structure are the same4  ,it is said to 
be practically impossible to distinguish
 between the cells of a toadstool and   
those of a human being4  ,but when all  
this has been explained1 we have still  
left one great question unanswered4     
,how is the protoplasm made8  ,is there 
any connexion of development to be      

traced whereby life can be shewn to have
 arisen from inorganic matter8          
,protoplasm1 under analysis1 is found to
 consist of some of the commonest       
elements on the earth's surface1 such as
 carbon1 hydrogen1 oxygen1 nitrogen1 and
 phosphorus4  ,apart from its very      
complicated structure1 its contents are 
not hard to provide4  ,and we know that 
there was a time when it must of        
necessity have been formed out of that  
which was not living1 #gh for there was 
a time when our globe was in a state of 
incandescent heat in which no life that 
we know could possibly have existed4    
,more than this we cannot say4  ,sir    
,william ,thomson1 as ,president of the 
,british ,association in #ahga1         
suggested that a germ of life might have
 been wafted to our world on a          
meteorite2 but to say that is obviously 
only to banish the problem to a greater 
distance4#a  ,huxley had1 in #ahfh1     
invented the name ,bathybius to describe
 the deep-sea slime which he held to be 

the progenitor of life on the planet4   
,but later on he frankly confessed that 
his suggestion was fruitless1           
acknowledging that the present state of 
our knowledge furnishes us with no link 
between the living and the not-living4  
,and so the problem remains4  ,sir      
,edward ,schfer1 indeed1 has laid it    
down that we are compelled to believe   
that living matter must have owed its   
origin to causes similar in character to
 those which have been instrumental in  
producing all other forms of matter in  
the universe2 in other words1 to #gi a  
process of gradual evolution1#b but he  
can throw no further light on the       
process and its stages4  ,sir ,oliver   
,lodge is but speaking the admitted     
truth when he says that ,science1 in    
chagrin1 has to confess that hitherto in
 this direction it has failed4  ,it has 
not yet witnessed the origin of the     
smallest trace of life from dead        
matter4#c  ,no doubt there are many who 
are hopeful that it may yet be possible 

to discover a way by which a cell1      
discharging all the essential functions 
of life1 can be constructed out of      
inorganic material2 or1 at least1 that  
it may be possible to frame an          
intelligible hypothesis as to how this  
might have been done under conditions   
which long ago may have been more       
favourable than our own4  ,but1 on the  
other hand1 there are not a few who have
 quite deliberately abandoned any       
expectation of the kind4 ,this was made 
plain by some of the expressions of     
adverse opinion which were elicited by  
,sir ,edward ,schfer's address4  ,of    
these the following may be given as     
specimens3 ,the more they saw of the    
lower forms of life1 the more remote    
seemed to become the possibility of     
conceiving how life arose4#d  #hj  ,he  
could not imagine anything happening in 
the laboratory1 according to our present
 knowledge1 which would bring us any    
nearer to life4#e  ,living protoplasm   
has never been chemically produced4     

,the assertion that life is due to      
chemical and mechanical processes alone 
is quite unjustified4  ,neither the     
probability of such an origin1 nor even 
its possibility1 has been supported by  
anything which can be termed scientific 
fact or logical reasoning4#f  ,the      
phenomena of life are of a character    
wholly different from those which are   
presented by matter viewed under any    
other aspect1 mechanical1 electrical1   
chemical1 or what not4  ,it is beside   
the question to point to the fact that  
in ,nature 'new elements are making     
their appearance and old elements       
disappearing1' for though we may        
speculate as to the manner of formation 
of uranium and thorium1 and though the  
production of radio-active matters in   
,nature at the present time and always  
seems to be a well-established fact1    
such phenomena have not even an analogy 
with those of a living being1 however   
humble4#g  ,it cannot be surprising that
 those who believe #ha the door to be   

shut1 so to speak1 in the direction of  
any theory of development through       
mechanical and chemical agencies alone1 
should look elsewhere for the solution  
of a problem which science is bound to  
do its very utmost to solve4  ,this is  
what1 as a matter of fact1 is happening2
 and it is of the very deepest interest 
to observe the nature of the suggested  
explanation4  ,it is no other than a    
revived form of the ancient doctrine of 
a vital force1 which we had imagined to 
have been finally discarded4  ,there is 
this difference1 however1 and it is     
all-important4  ,the force is not1 as   
formerly supposed1 some unique kind of  
energy2 is not1 indeed1 energy at all4  
,but we shall do best to state the new  
doctrine in the words of its leading    
exponents4  ,professor ,anton ,kerner1  
one of the most distinguished ,german   
writers on ,botany1 in his ,natural     
,history of ,plants1 speaking of the    
chemical explanation1 says3 ,it does not
 explain the purposeful sequence of     

different operations in the same        
protoplasm without any change in the    
external stimuli2 the thorough use made 
of external advantages2 the resistance  
to injurious influences2 the avoidance  
or encompassing of insuperable          
obstacles2 the punctuality with which   
all the functions are performed2 the    
periodicity which occurs with the       
greatest regularity under constant      
conditions of environment2 #hb nor1     
above all1 the fact that the power of   
discharging all the operations requisite
 for growth1 nutrition1 renovation and  
multiplication is liable to be lost4    
,and then he gives his opinion thus3 ,i 
do not hesitate again to designate as   
vital force this natural agency1 not to 
be identified with any other1 whose     
immediate instrument is the protoplasm1 
and whose peculiar effects we call life4
  ,sir ,oliver ,lodge is1 perhaps1 the  
most uncompromising advocate of the     
newer vitalism in ,england4  ,the       
following striking quotations will set  

forth his views3  ,life1 he maintains1  
is no more a function of matter than the
 wind is a function of the leaves which 
dance under its influence4#h  ,if it    
were true that vital energy turned into1
 or was anyhow convertible into1        
inorganic energy1 if it were true that a
 dead body had more inorganic energy    
than a live one1 if it were true that   
'these inorganic energies' always1 or   
ever1 'reappear on the dissolution of   
life1' then1 undoubtedly1 cadit         
quaestio1 life would immediately be     
proved to be a form of energy1 and would
 enter into the scheme of physics4      
,but1 inasmuch as all this is           
untrue--the direct contrary of the      
truth--,i maintain that life is not a   
form of #hc energy1 that it is not      
included in our present physical        
categories1 that its explanation is     
still to seek4  ,it appears to me to    
belong to a separate order of existence1
 which interacts with this material     
frame of things1 and1 while there1      

exerts guidance and control on the      
energy which already exists4#i  ,life   
does not add to the stock of any human  
form of energy1 nor does death affect   
the sum of energy in any known way4#aj  
,life can generate no trace of energy1  
it can only guide its transmutations4#aa
  ,my contention then is--and in this   
contention ,i am practically speaking   
for my brother physicists--that whereas 
life or mind can neither generate energy
 nor directly exert force1 yet it can   
cause matter to exercise force on       
matter1 and so can exercise guidance and
 control2 it can so prepare any scene of
 activity1 by arranging the position of 
existing material1 and timing the       
liberation of existing energy1 as to    
produce results concordant with an idea 
or scheme or intention2 it can1 in      
short1 'aim' and 'fire4'#ab  ,it is     
impossible to explain all this fully by 
the laws of mechanics alone4#ac  ,on a  
stagnant and inactive world life would  
be #hd powerless3 it could only make dry

 bones stir in such a world if it were  
itself a form of energy4  ,it is only   
potent where inorganic energy is        
mechanically 'available'--to use ,lord  
,kelvin's term--that is to say1 is      
either potentially or actually in       
process of transfer and transformation4 
,in other words1 life can generate no   
trace of energy1 it can only guide its  
transformation4#ad  ,life possesses the 
power of vitalising the complex material
 aggregates which exist on this planet1 
and of utilising their energies for a   
time to display itself amid terrestrial 
surroundings2 and then it seems to      
disappear or evaporate whence it        
came4#ae  ,to these voices from ,germany
 or ,england we can add that of ,m4     
,bergson from ,france4  ,in many        
respects1 as he says1 he is at one with 
,sir ,oliver ,lodge4  ,if he goes beyond
 him1 it is mainly in these ways4  ,he  
emphasises the element of ,freedom1 the 
power of choice as shewn by every living
 thing4  ,it appears1 he says1 from the 

top to the bottom of the animal scale1  
although the lower we go1 the more      
vaguely it is seen4  ,in very truth1 ,i 
believe no living organism is absolutely
 without the faculty of performing      
actions and moving spontaneously2 for we
 see that even in the vegetable world1  
where #he the organism is for the most  
part fixed to the ground1 the faculty of
 motion is asleep rather than absent    
altogether4  ,sometimes it wakes up1    
just when it is likely to be useful4    
,and this is not all4  ,what is         
specially characteristic of ,m4 ,bergson
 is the insistence that this power of   
choice is an evidence of ,consciousness4
  ,life1 he declares1 is nothing but    
consciousness using matter for its      
purposes4  ,there is behind life an     
impulse1 an immense impulse to climb    
higher and higher1 to run greater and   
greater risks in order to arrive at     
greater and greater efficiency4         
,obviously there is a vital impulse4#af 
,life appears in its entirety as an     

immense wave which1 starting from a     
centre1 speeds outwards1 and which on   
almost the whole of its circumference is
 stopped--that is1 as he explains1 by   
matter--and converted into oscillation2 
at one point the obstacle has been      
forced1 the impulsion has poured freely4
  ,it is this freedom that the human    
form registers4  ,everywhere but in man 
consciousness has had to come to a      
stand2 in man alone it has kept on its  
way4  ,man continues the vital movement 
indefinitely1 although he does not draw 
along with him all that life carries in 
itself4  ,on other #hf lines of         
evolution there have travelled other    
tendencies which life implied--the      
reference is more especially to powers  
of instinct as distinguished from those 
of intelligence--and of which1 since    
everything interpenetrates1 man has     
doubtless kept something1 but of which  
he has kept only a little4#ag  ,perhaps 
the most astonishing thing about ,m4    
,bergson's philosophy is his unreadiness

 to allow that the consciousness1 which 
he says is everywhere at work1 has any  
deliberate purpose in its working4  ,mr4
 ,balfour has called attention to the   
unsatisfactoriness of what he described 
as too hesitating and uncertain a       
treatment4#ah  ,but1 in spite of so     
serious an omission1 we may be glad to  
believe1 with our acute                 
statesman-critic1 that there is         
permanent value in his theories4  ,if   
they indicate at all the direction in   
which scientific thinking is to move1 we
 shall soon have travelled a very long  
distance from the days in which it was  
imagined that all vital phenomena might 
be accounted for on merely materialistic
 and mechanical lines4    #a ,to this   
'meteorite' theory the apparently fatal 
objection was raised that it would take 
some sixty million years for a meteorite
 to travel from the nearest stellar     
system to our earth1 and it is          
inconceivable that any kind of life     
could be maintained during such a       

period4--,schfer4  #b ,presidential     
,address to ,british ,association1 at   
,edinburgh 7#aiab74  #c ,man and the    
,universe1 p4 #bd4  #d ,prof4 ,wager4   
#e ,dr4 ,j4 ,s4 ,haldane4  #f ,dr4 ,a4  
,r4 ,wallace4  ,article in ,everyman1   
,october #ahth1 #aiab4  #g ,sir ,william
 ,tilden4  ,letter to ,the ,times1      
,september #ith1#aiab4  #h ,life and    
,matter1 p4 #ajf4  #i ,pp4 #acb1 f4  #aj
 ,p4 #aeh4  #aa ,p4 #afj4  #ab ,pp4     
#afd1 f4  #ac ,p4 #aff4  #ad ,p4 #afj4  
#ae ,p4 #aih4  #af ,lecture at          
,birmingham1 ,may1 #aiaa4  #ag ,creative
 ,evolution1 p4 #bhj4  #ah ,hibbert     
,journal1 ,october1 #aiaa4     #hg      
,,chapter ,,ix  ,,later ,,science       
7continued7  ,the leaders of the        
scientific thought of last century would
 have been vastly surprised if they     
could have foreseen the results of the  
investigations which were to be made    
into the constitution of matter and the 
nature of life2 but not even these would
 have amazed them so much as would other

 investigations that were to be carried 
out in a yet deeper and more mysterious 
region of experience4  ,perhaps it was  
because science had been so busy about  
the more external things1 that it had   
seemed to have no time to spare for the 
thorough consideration of that which is 
more truly vital to man than the matter 
which obeys or opposes him1 or even than
 the physical life which enables him to 
act1 in so far as he can1 as its master4
  ,it was strange that the last thing to
 be thought of should be his own        
personality1 himself2 the innermost     
workings of his soul4  ,but if this     
profoundest problem has been neglected1 
it is to be neglected no longer4        
,psychology has #hh already made good   
its claim to be respectfully regarded as
 one of the sciences4  ,it is too early 
to speak with any great certainty of the
 results that it has achieved1 though   
these are probably more substantial than
 is commonly supposed4  ,anyhow1 it will
 be best that1 as before1 we should give

 some characteristic statements of the  
investigators themselves1 rather than   
attempt to make unauthorised summaries  
of our own4  ,and1 first of all1 ,sir   
,oliver ,lodge shall tell us what he    
understands by the ,soul4  ,the soul is 
that controlling and guiding principle  
which is responsible for our personal   
expression and for the construction of  
the body1 under the restrictions of     
physical condition and ancestry4 ,in its
 higher developments it includes also   
feeling and intelligence and will1 and  
is the storehouse of mental experience4 
,the body is its instrument and organ1  
enabling it to receive and to convey    
physical impressions1 and to affect and 
be affected by matter and energy4#a     
,how the soul acts by means of the body 
is thus explained4  ,the brain is the   
link between the psychical and the      
physical1 which in themselves belong to 
different orders of being4#b  #hi  ,a   
portion of brain substance is consumed  
in every act of mentation4#c  ,destroy  

certain parts of brain completely1 and  
connexion between the psychic and the   
material regions is for us severed4     
,true2 but cutting off or damaging      
communication is not the same as        
destroying or damaging the communicator2
 nor is smashing an organ equivalent to 
killing the organist4#d  ,m4 ,bergson   
does not differ from this when he says  
that1 the soul--essentially action1     
will1 liberty--is the creative force par
 excellence1 the productive agent of    
novelty in the world4  ,he goes on to   
speak of the way by which souls have    
been differentiated and raised to       
self-conscious existence4  ,the history 
of this great effort is the very history
 of the evolution of life on our planet4
  ,certain lines of evolution seem to   
have failed4  ,but on the line of       
evolution which leads to man the        
liberation has been accomplished and    
thus personalities have been able to    
constitute themselves4#e  ,like many    
another1 ,m4 ,bergson cannot bring      

himself to believe that death is to be  
the end of all that has been thus       
painfully achieved during this process  
of attainment4  ,when we see that       
consciousness is also memory1 #ij that  
one of its essential functions is to    
accumulate and preserve the past1 that  
very probably the brain is an instrument
 of forgetfulness as much as one of     
remembrance1 and that in pure           
consciousness nothing of the past is    
lost1 the whole life of a conscious     
personality being an indivisible        
continuity2 are we not led to suppose   
that the effect continues beyond1 and   
that in this passage of consciousness   
through matter 7the passage which at the
 tunnel's exit gives distinct           
personalities7 consciousness is tempered
 like steel1 and tests itself by clearly
 constituting personalities and         
preparing them1 by the very effort which
 each of them is called upon to make1   
for a higher form of existence8#f  ,but 
the psychologist has yet more to tell us

 about the nature of personality4       
,although helped to distinctiveness of  
self-conscious expression by means of   
its experience of the struggle under    
present material conditions1 it is not  
the whole of it that can be thus        
expressed4  ,in fact its present        
physical embodiment is but partially    
adequate to the task4  ,in other words1 
cerebral life represents only a small   
part of the mental life4  ,one of the   
rles of the brain is to limit the vision
 of the mind1 to render #ia its action  
more efficacious#g--more efficacious1   
that is to say1 for such uses as are of 
value for survival and success under our
 existing conditions4  ,it is to        
,frederick ,myers that we have chiefly  
owed the conception of the subliminal or
 subconscious mind4  ,the full report of
 his researches is given in the two     
volumes of his work on ,human           
,personality and its ,survival of       
,bodily ,death 7#aija74  ,he it was who 
invented the word telepathy to express  

the fact that mental action can be      
exerted at a distance4  ,and it was he  
who brought for the first time the      
phenomena of clairvoyance and           
apparitions under thorough examination  
by the employment of the most exacting  
tests4  ,along such lines he was led to 
the conclusion1 now largely accepted1   
that the conscious self is only a       
fraction of the entire personality1 the 
fraction being greater or less according
 to the magnitude of the individual4    
,by means of this subconscious part of  
our being we are1 he held1 brought into 
touch with one another and are capable  
of attaining a knowledge which may      
greatly transcend that which comes to us
 through our ordinary channels of       
communication4  ,in the case of genius  
we watch the emergence of exceptional   
#ib potentialities1 which may serve as  
the promise and pledge of what the      
future has in store for us all4  ,one   
day like some winged insect we shall    
pass to a condition beyond that of the  

life we now know1 and then we may hope  
that what we can regard as larval       
characters of special service in the    
present stage of existence1 will prove  
to have been destined to be discarded1  
or modified almost out of recognition1  
in proportion as a higher state is      
attained4#h  ,this recognition of the   
existence within human nature of such   
capacities and powers1 however          
imperfectly developed and understood1   
would greatly help us to deal with many 
mysteries of experience that have       
hitherto seemed completely beyond the   
purview of a strict scientific research4
  ,the ,american psychologist1 ,william 
,james1 has done good service to this   
highest department of critical inquiry  
in his well-known work on ,varieties of 
,religious ,experience4  ,a single      
extract may suffice to illustrate his   
position1 and to shew what may yet lie  
before those who are prepared to press  
on in the direction in which he was able
 to point4  ,the further limits of our  

being plunge 444 into an altogether     
other dimension of existence from the   
sensible and merely 'understandable' #ic
 world4444  ,so far as our ideal        
impulses originate in this region 7and  
most of them do originate in it1 for we 
find them possessing us in a way for    
which we cannot articulately account7 we
 belong to it in a more intimate sense  
than that in which we belong to the     
visible world444  ,when we commune with 
it1 work is actually done upon our      
finite personality1 for we are turned   
into new men444  ,i call this higher    
part of the universe by the name of     
,god4#i    #a ,man and the ,universe1 p4
 #gh4  #b ,p4 #ia4  #c ,life and        
,matter1 p4 #ajg4  #d ,man and the      
,universe1 p4 #ic4  #e ,lecture at      
,university ,college1 ,october1 #aiaa4  
#f ,birmingham ,lecture1 ,may1 #aiaa4   
#g ,bergson4  ,presidential ,address to 
,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,may1
 #aiac4  #h ,op4 cit41 ,i41 p4 #ig4  #i 
,pp4 #eae1 f4     #id  ,,note  ,since   

the preceding chapters were written1 the
 meeting of the ,british ,association   
has been held at ,birmingham            
7,september1 #aiac74  ,its interest was 
unusually great inasmuch as the         
,president's address and the principal  
discussions were occupied with the most 
critical and debatable scientific       
questions of the present moment4  ,the  
following extracts will give a general  
idea of the line taken at the outset by 
the ,president1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4    
,theological controversy is practically 
in abeyance just now4  ,it is the       
scientific allies1 now1 who are waging a
 more or less invigorating conflict     
among themselves1 with philosophers     
joining in4  ,ancient postulates are    
being pulled up by the roots4  ,the     
modern tendency is to emphasise the     
discontinuous or atomic character of    
everything4 ,the physical discovery of  
the twentieth century1 so far1 is the   
electrical theory of matter4  ,so far   
from ,nature not making jumps1 it       

becomes doubtful if she does anything   
else4  ,the corpuscular theory of       
radiation is by no means so dead as in  
my youth we thought it was4 ,but ,i     
myself am an upholder of ultimate       
continuity1 and a fervent believer in   
the aether of space4  #ie  ,i have been 
called a vitalist1 and in a sense ,i am2
 but ,i am not a vitalist if vitalism   
means an appeal to an undefined 'vital  
force' 7an objectionable term ,i have   
never thought of using7 as against the  
laws of chemistry and physics4  ,there  
is plenty of physics and chemistry and  
mechanics about every vital action1 but 
for a complete understanding of it      
something beyond physics and chemistry  
is needed4 ,no mathematics could        
calculate the orbit of a common         
house-fly4  ,i will risk the assertion  
that life introduces something          
incalculable and purposeful amid the    
laws of physics2 it thus distinctly     
supplements those laws1 though it leaves
 them otherwise precisely as they were  

and obeys them all4  ,the ,loom of ,time
 is complicated by a multitude of free  
agents who can modify the web1 making   
the product more beautiful or more ugly 
according as they are in harmony or     
disharmony with the general scheme4 ,i  
venture to maintain that manifest       
imperfections are thus accounted for1   
and that freedom could be given on no   
other terms1 nor at any less cost4  ,i  
will not shrink from a personal note    
summarising the result on my own mind of
 thirty years of experience of psychical
 research1 begun without                
predilection--indeed1 with the usual    
hostile prejudice4  ,the facts so       
examined have convinced me that memory  
and affection are not limited to that   
association with matter by which alone  
they can manifest themselves here and   
now1 and that personality persists      
beyond bodily death4  #if  ,of the      
debates on the subsequent days those on 
,radiation and ,the ,origin of ,life    
were1 perhaps1 the most remarkable4  ,at

 the former the point at issue was the  
amount of truth contained in ,planck's  
famous hypothesis that energy was       
transferred by jumps instead of in a    
continuous stream4  ,sir ,joseph ,larmor
 evidently expressed the prevailing     
opinion when he said that some advance  
in that direction had become necessary1 
and old-fashioned physicists like       
himself had either to take part in it or
 run the risk of becoming obsolete4     
,for the discussion about ,life1 the    
three sections of ,physiology1 ,zoology1
 and ,botany were combined4  ,professor 
,moore stood stoutly for the older      
views1 and believed that he could       
demonstrate a step which connected      
inorganic with organic creation4  ,then 
he gave an abstruse and highly technical
 account of a process by which in       
solutions of colloidal ferric hydroxide1
 exposed to strong sunlight1 compounds  
could be formed similar to those to be  
found in the green plant4  ,with a      
proper grouping of molecules it might be

 imagined how colloidal aggregates      
appeared1 and eventually organic        
colloids which acquired the property of 
transforming light energy into chemical 
activity4  ,the speakers who followed   
seemed to be agreed that1 even were such
 potentially living matter to be        
produced1 we should have reached1 not   
the discovery of the secret of life1 but
 only the construction of its physical  
vehicle4  ,professor ,hartog strongly   
protested against the notion that there 
was a consensus #ig of opinion among    
biologists that life was only one form  
of chemical and physical actions which  
could be reduced in the laboratory4  ,he
 wished it to be understood that the    
preponderance of weight among scientific
 men was opposed to such a position4    
#ih  ,,conclusion  ,it is dangerous to  
generalise2 and1 when as in this survey 
we are attempting to indicate broadly   
the trend of the thought of an age1 we  
have more than ordinary need to be on   
our guard lest we should sacrifice truth

 to the desire for a seeming            
completeness of logical presentation4   
,for fear1 then1 of misunderstanding1   
let it be clearly remembered that in    
what has been said we have had no wish  
to suggest that all minds have moved at 
the same pace1 or even in the same      
direction2 but only that certain strong 
tendencies were observable1 which gave  
colour and character to the mental      
stream at the particular stages in its  
course4  ,it is with a full sense of the
 possibility of exaggeration1 and of the
 necessity of holding the balance even1 
that we shall now make our final attempt
 to sum up as concisely as possible what
 we have been able to gather in regard  
to the thought-movement of the period we
 have had under review4  ,there can be  
no danger of misstatement in saying     
that1 all throughout1 the chief thoughts
 of the time were intensely occupied    
with #ii the greatest of all questions1 
those about ,,god ,,and ,,the ,,world4  
,and1 further1 it has not been difficult

 to perceive that there have been three 
distinct stages in the sequence of these
 thoughts4  ,in the first stage we can  
see1 as we look back1 that the          
,religious feeling was dominant1 while  
the scientific temper could scarcely    
have been said to exist2 certainly it   
did not exist upon any extended scale4  
,but1 though the desire to be reverent  
was widespread1 we are bound to allow   
that the ideas about ,god were somewhat 
crudely conceived4  ,as a legacy1 no    
doubt1 from the ,deistic controversies  
of the preceding century1 the general   
thought did not rise above the notion of
 a ,supreme ,mechanist and all-powerful 
,ruler of all things4  ,the ,divine     
,being was regarded as having originated
 the universe by a fiat of ,his will1   
fashioning its several contents one     
after another as ,he pleased1 and       
appointing that each and all should be  
subjected to the laws ,he had ordained2 
always reserving to ,himself the right  
to intervene by some signal display of  

wisdom and power1 when such intervention
 was required1 either to remedy a       
defect1 or yet further to set forth ,his
 glory4  ,men were very ready to admit  
the idea of the ,supernatural1 but it   
was in the merely superficial and       
popular sense of power working without  
means1 rather than what we now #ajj feel
 to be the far truer sense of superhuman
 knowledge of means1 and power to use   
them4#a  ,it followed1 and this was the 
weakest point in the ,paleyan system of 
,natural ,theology1 that ,god's action  
was looked for not in the normal1 but in
 the exceptional processes of ,nature4  
,the need of the ,divine was only felt  
when no other explanation was           
forthcoming2 with the result1 of course1
 that as other explanations were found1 
the necessity for recognising its       
operation grew ever less and less4      
,and1 even apart from such a            
consequence1 the effects of the         
conception could not be otherwise than  
injurious to religious faith2 for1 as it

 has been truly and reverently observed1
 a theory of occasional intervention    
implies as its correlative a theory of  
ordinary absence4#b  ,as to knowledge of
 the ,world1 there was scarcely any at  
all1 according in our present           
understanding of such knowledge4  ,not  
everybody1 of course1 accounted for the 
existence of fossils by supposing that  
they were the casts from which the      
,almighty had designed ,his creatures1  
or possibly the ,devil's #aja attempts  
to imitate ,his works2 but the          
prevailing ideas were of the most       
primitive kind4  ,even ,paley could give
 us no better explanation of certain    
rudimentary anatomical organs1 than by  
suggesting that the creature in whom    
they were found had been so far         
constructed before it was decided what  
its sex should be6  ,we can see that if 
any real progress in knowledge was to be
 made1 a change of a very radical order 
had to come4  ,and it did come4  ,the   
second stage was ,scientific rather than

 religious4  ,the thought of ,god       
occupied a less prominent place in      
proportion as men's minds were yielded  
to the attraction of the new studies4   
,this was partly due1 as we have already
 explained1 to the fact that causes were
 found to account for the phenomena     
which had previously1 for the lack of   
the understanding of such causes1 been  
attributed to the immediate exercise of 
supernatural power4  ,partly1 also1 it  
was due to a growing distrust of human  
ability1 which resulted from the belief 
that this was nothing more than a recent
 development from a lower animal        
ancestry4  ,a mind thus originated was  
supposed to be debarred from forming any
 trustworthy notion of the nature of a  
,first ,cause which had operated1 if at 
all1 at some point infinitely distant in
 the long succession of ages4  ,the main
 work of this stage was to prosecute    
#ajb research into the elaborated       
mechanism1 or as men soon came to prefer
 to think of it1 the developing growth  

of the world4  ,and wonderful1 beyond   
all anticipation1 was the success which 
rewarded the pains that were lavishly   
bestowed upon the inquiry4  ,small      
marvel was it that some men's heads were
 well-nigh turned1 and that to many it  
seemed little less than certain that    
science had dispensed with the          
supernatural altogether2 and that it    
only required time1 and no great length 
of time1 to secure universal acceptance 
for the materialistic explanations which
 were destined1 as they supposed1 to    
leave no mysteries of life unsolved4    
,but such persons had reckoned with a   
too hasty and superficial knowledge of  
the data involved4  ,little by little   
the counter-criticisms produced their   
effect4  ,the idea of a ,first and      
,permanent ,cause was shewn to be as    
indispensable as ever2 not1 indeed1 as  
an influence to be pushed far back1 and 
to be thought of as acting either once  
or occasionally4  ,a truer reading of   
the meaning of what had been discovered 

led to the grateful acknowledgment that 
,darwinism has conferred upon philosophy
 and religion an inestimable benefit by 
shewing us that we must choose between  
two alternatives3 either ,god is        
everywhere present in ,nature1 or ,he is
 nowhere4#c #ajc ,so1 again1 with       
,design4  ,the earlier notion of the    
separate manufacture of species and of  
special adaptations to particular ends  
had to give way to a larger conception  
of the growth and gradual correlation of
 the parts and functions of a stupendous
 whole4  ,but for the attainment of this
 mighty result direction and            
superintendence are even more           
imperatively needed4  ,as it was often  
urged with good reason1 to make a world 
right off would not have been so        
marvellous an achievement as to make    
that world make itself4  ,the problem of
 ,beneficence had1 as we saw1 come to be
 so entangled with difficulties as to   
render it the most serious of all the   
problems which pressed upon the minds   

and hearts of the men of this second    
stage of thinking4  ,but here1 also1 the
 fears which were at first aroused were 
found to have been exaggerated2 and     
perhaps it is true to say that before   
the end of the century there was a      
general disposition to conclude that    
with larger knowledge we should get to  
understand the utility of much that to  
uninstructed eyes appears to be lavish  
waste and needless suffering4  ,the     
obvious fact that science could not go  
forward without a loyal belief in the   
rational intelligibility of nature gave 
justification to a corresponding belief 
in its ethical intelligibility1 even    
though in this case1 as in the other1   
the #ajd complete proofs might not be   
immediately forthcoming4  ,and there    
was1 further1 the possibility--to some  
it was more than a possibility--that    
much in the world which looks contrary  
to goodness is really to be accounted   
for as the result of a misuse of liberty
 on the part of powers and forces whose 

action has most mysteriously been       
allowed to thwart and to complicate the 
task of the beneficent ,maker of all4   
,about the third stage it is fitting    
that we should speak with more          
hesitation4  ,we are living in it1 and  
are as yet only at its beginning4 ,but  
we may hazard the prognostication that  
it will be both ,religious and          
,scientific2 and that1 as knowledge     
grows from more to more1 there will be  
found the more of reverence of which our
 modern poet sings4 ,there is reason to 
hope that the bitterness of old         
controversies will not be revived1 and  
that we have before us a time in which  
,theology and ,science will co-operate  
and no longer conflict4  ,with deepening
 insight it is becoming plainer than    
ever that the phenomena of life1 and    
even of matter1 are the expressions of a
 more than physical force4 ,evolution is
 a law under which a forward process is 
moving on1 and moving up4  ,there is an 
impulse of consciousness working from   

within1 and there is a spiritual1 as    
well as a material1 environment inviting
 #aje to correspondence with itself4    
,freedom and power of choice are        
admitted to be present in regions where 
their existence was for long most       
strenuously denied4  ,even matter may   
have its own power of insistence and    
resistance--how much more mind and will4
  ,this consideration may give us a yet 
clearer clue to the mysteries of        
failure1 miscarriage1 and waste4  ,a    
world that was to produce               
self-conscious1 self-determining        
personalities needed to have freedom    
through the whole of its development2   
and the consequent risk and possible    
cost were inevitable4  ,shall we not be 
led to admire and revere increasingly   
the wonder of it all1 as there grows    
upon us the sense of the quietness and  
gentleness1 the foresight1 and the      
infinite patience of the ,being of      
beings1 who will never obtrude ,his     
presence and action upon us1 just       

because ,he would help us to be our own1
 not dead but living1 selves1 and would 
have us rise with ,him to the highest   
things8  ,we are far from the end of our
 learning4  ,there are many enigmas yet 
to be made plain4  ,we could not wish it
 otherwise4  ,it has ever been through  
the narrow gate of difficulty that we   
have passed into the wider court of     
truth4  ,we have good cause to be       
humble1 but we have full right to be    
hopeful4  ,we must not be afraid to face
 the problems that await #ajf us1       
whatever they may be4  ,we may be       
confident that we are not to be         
deceived2 but that1 under a ,guidance   
that has never failed1 we shall at      
length be brought to see the dawning of 
the longed-for day1    ,when that in us 
which thinks with that which feels      
,shall everlastingly be reconciled1     
,and that which questioneth with that   
which kneels4    #a ,this important     
distinction was carefully drawn by the  
,duke of ,argyll in his ,reign of ,law  

7pp4 #ad1 #be71 published in #ahff4  #b 
,aubrey ,moore1 in one of a series of   
remarkable articles contributed to the  
,guardian 7,january #ahth1 #beth1       
,february #ast1 #ahhh74  #c ,aubrey     
,moore1 ,lux ,mundi4     #ajg  ,,index  
,,aether1 #gc1 #id4  ,agnosticism1 #cb1 
#df-eb4  ,aquinas1 ,st4 ,thomas1 #ac4   
,argyle1 ,george ,douglas1 ,duke of1    
#cg1 #ajj4  ,atoms1 #ba1 #ga1 #gb4      
,augustine1 ,st41 #ej4  ,avebury1 ,lord1
 #eh4   ,,bacon1 ,,lord1 #ad4  ,balfour1
 ,a4 ,j41 #ge1 #hf4  ,bathybius1 #gh4   
,becquerel1 ,a4 ,c41 #gj4  ,beneficence1
 ,divine1 #ag1 #ah1 #ec-fg1 #ajc4       
,bergson1 ,henri1 #hd-hf1 #hi1 #ij4     
,brain1 #hh1 #hi1 #ij4  ,bunsen1 ,r4    
,w41 #bd4   ,,carlyle1 ,,thomas1 #fc4   
,cause1 #bi4  ,cells1 ,the growth of1   
#gg4  ,chalmers1 ,thomas1 #ai1 #bj4     
,chance1 #cj1 #dd1 #ef4  ,consciousness1
 #he1 #hi1 #ij4  ,creation1 ,mosaic     
account of #ci4  ,creative power1       
affirmed by ,science1 #ci4  ,cruelty in 
,nature1 #cd1 #ce1 #ed-fg4  ,curie1     

,mme41 #gj4   ,,dalton1 ,,john1 #ba4    
,darwin1 ,charles1 #bd-bf1 #da-dc1 #ed1 
#eh1 #fd4  ,deserts1 ,use of1 #fb4      
,design1 ,argument from1 #ad-af1 #bi1   
#dj-de1 #ajc4  ,directive power1 #dd1   
#hc1 #ajf4  ,du ,bois ,raymond1 ,e41    
#cg4  ,dysteleology1 #ce4               
,,earthquakes1 #ff4  ,electrons1 #ga4   
,energy3   ,conservation of1 #bc1 #db1  
#ge4   ,dissipation of1 #gc4  ,evil and 
,evolution1 #fd-ff4  ,evil in ,nature1  
#ah1 #fc-fg4  ,evolution1 ,doctrine of1 
#bd1 #be1 #dj1 #ajd4   ,,faraday1       
,,michael1 #bb1 #cg4  ,first ,cause1    
#ac1 #bh1 #cb1 #ch1 #ci1 #aja1 #ajb4    
,freedom1 #hd1 #ie1 #ajd1 #aje4  ,future
 life1 #hi-ib1 #ie4   ,,geology1 #bc1   
#ci1 #gj4  ,goodwin1 ,bishop ,harvey1   
#dg4  ,gore1 ,bishop1 #ej1 #eg4  ,gray1 
,asa1 #da1 #ef4   ,,haeckel1 ,e41 #bi1  
#cj1 #ca1 #ce1 #dj4  ,haldane1 ,j4 ,s41 
#hj4  ,hartog1 ,professor1 #if4  ,heat1 
,mechanical equivalent of1 #bc4         
,helium1 #gj4  ,helmholtz1 ,h4 von1 #bb4
  ,herschel1 ,sir ,john1 #fi4  ,huxley1 

,t4 ,h41 #cb1 #ce1 #dj1 #dc1 #fa1 #gh4  
,,ichneumonidae1 #ef4  ,insensibility of
 animals1 #fj1 #fa4   ,,james1          
,,william1 #ib1 #ic4  ,joule1 ,j4 ,p41  
#bc1 #cg4   ,,kelvin1 ,,lord1 #cg1 #ci1 
#dd1 #fh1 #gj1 #gh4  ,kepler1 ,j41 #ai4 
,kerner1 ,anton1 #ha1 #hb4  ,kirchhoff1 
,professor1 #bd4  ,knight1 ,professor   
,w41 #eg4   ,,lamarck1 ,j4 ,b41 #bb1    
#bf4  ,laplace1 ,p4 ,s41 #ai4  ,larmor1 
,sir ,j41 #ga1 #if4  ,liebig1 ,j4 ,f4   
von1 #dd4  ,life3   failure to produce  
out of matter1 #gi1 #hj1 #if1 #ig4      
,meteorite theory of1 #gh1   not a form 
of energy1 #hb1 #hc4  ,lodge1 ,sir      
,oliver1 #ga1 #gi1 #hb-he1 #hh1 #hi1    
#id1 #ie4  ,lotze1 ,hermann1 #dg4       
,lyell1 ,sir ,charles1 #bc4             
,,materialism1 #dd1 #df4  ,matter1      
,disintegration of1 #gb4  ,maxwell1     
,james ,clerk1 #bb1 #cg1 #fh4  ,metals1 
#gd4  ,mill1 ,j4 ,stuart1 #bi1 #cc1 #ci4
  ,molecules1 #fi1 #ga1 #gb4  ,monism1  
#ca4  ,moore1 ,aubrey1 #dh1 #ajj1 #ajb4 
,moore1 ,professor ,b41 #if4  ,myers1   

,frederick ,w4 ,h41 #ia4   ,,nebular    
,,hypothesis1 #ai4  ,necessity1 #dc4    
,newton1 ,sir ,isaac1 #ai4   ,,organs1  
,,rudimentary1 #dj1 #da1 #aja4  ,origin 
of ,species1 #be1 #ci1 #dj1 #ee1 #ef4   
,owen1 ,sir ,richard1 #bg4   ,,paget1   
,,bishop ,,francis1 #eb4  ,pain1 ,use   
of1 #eh1 #ei4  ,paley1 ,william1 #ad-ai1
 #ajj1 #aja4  ,pascal1 ,blaise1 #eb4    
,pasteur1 ,louis1 #cg1 #ff4             
,personality3   ,divine1 #dh1 #eb4      
,human1 #hg1 #ij4  ,protoplasm1 #bc1    
#gf1 #gg4  ,psychical ,research1 #ia1   
#ie4  ,psychology1 #hg1 #ij-ib4         
,,radium1 #gj1 #gb4  ,religious         
instinct1 #ea4  ,romanes1 ,g4 ,j41      
#cc-cf1 #cg4  #ci1 #db1 #ej-eb1 #eg4    
,rntgen rays1 #gj4   ,,schafer1 ,,sir   
,,edward1 #gh4  ,schleiden1 ,m4 ,j41    
#bc4  ,schwann1 ,t41 #bc4  ,snake       
poison1 #fj1 #ff4  ,soul1 #hg1 #hh1 #hi4
  ,spectrum analysis1 #bd1 #fh4         
,spencer1 ,herbert1 #cb1 #cc1 #dg1 #di4 
,spiritual environment1 #ic1 #ajd4      
,stokes1 ,sir ,g4 ,g41 #bd1 #cg1 #de4   

,subconsciousness1 #ia1 #ib4            
,suffering1 ,divinely shared1 #fg1 #aje4
  ,sulman1 ,h4 ,l41 #gd1 #ge4           
,supernatural1 ,the1 #ii1 #ajj4         
,survival3   after death1 #hi-ib1 #ie4  
of the fittest1 #bd1 #be4   ,,teleology1
 ,,the ,,wider1 #dj1 #de4  ,telepathy1  
#ia4  ,tennyson1 ,alfred1 ,lord1 #ed4   
,thomson1 ,sir ,j4 ,j41 #ga1 #gc4       
,tilden1 ,sir ,william1 #hj4  ,treves1  
,sir ,frederick1 #ei4  ,tyndall1 ,john1 
#ca1 #ch4   ,,unbelief1 ,,distress      
,,caused ,,by1 #ce1 #cf1 #ej4           
,,variations1 #be1 #bf4  ,venomous      
animals1 #ag1 #fe1 #ff4  ,virchow1 ,r41 
#cg4  ,vitalism1 #ha-he1 #ie4           
,volcanoes1 ,use of1 #fb4   ,,wager1    
,,professor1 #gi4  ,wallace1 ,alfred    
,russel1 #ei-fa1 #hj4  ,whetham1 ,w4 ,c4
 ,d41 #gd4     ,wyman  ,sons ,ltd41     
,printers1 ,london and ,reading4        
,publications of the  ,society for      
,promoting ,christian ,knowledge4       
,modern ,substitutes for ,traditional   
,christianity4  ,by the ,rev4 ,canon ,e4

 ,,mcclure4  ,crown #hvo4  ,cloth       
boards4  #bs4 net4  ,modern             
,rationalism4  ,as seen at work in its  
,biographies4  ,by ,canon ,,henry       
,,lewis1 ,m4,a4  ,large ,crown #hvo4    
,cloth boards4  #ds4 net4  ,god and the 
,universe4  ,a ,physical ,basis for     
,religion and ,ethics4  ,by ,g4 ,w4 ,,de
 ,,tunzelmann1 ,b4,sc41 ,m4,i4,e4,e4    
,crown #hvo4  ,cloth boards4  #ds4 net4 
,christianity and ,agnosticism4  ,by    
,,henry ,,wage1 ,d4,d41 ,dean of        
,canterbury4 ,demy #hvo4  ,cloth boards4
  #bs4 net4  ,the ,name of ,god in the  
,pentateuch4  ,the ,base of ,biblical   
,criticism re-examined4  ,a ,study      
introductory and explanatory of ,exodus 
vi4 vv4 #a et seq4  ,by ,dr4 ,a4        
,,troelstra4  ,translated from the      
,dutch by ,canon ,,edmund ,,mcclure1    
,m4,a4  ,crown #hvo4  ,cloth boards1    
#bs4 net4  ,is a ,revolution in         
,pentateuchal ,criticism at ,hand8  ,by 
the ,rev4 ,,johannes ,,dahse4           
,translated by ,canon ,,edmund          

,,mcclure1 ,m4,a41 from an ,article in  
the ,neue ,kirchliche ,zeitschrift1 for 
,september1 #aiab4 ,with a ,preface by  
the ,rev4 ,professor ,,sayce1 ,d4,d4    
,small post #hvo4 ,paper cover4  #ds4   
net4  ,is ,christianity ,miraculous8    
,by ,rev4 ,c4 ,h4 ,,prichard1 ,m4,a4    
,small post #hvo4  ,cloth4  #bs4 net4   
,literary ,criticism and the ,new       
,testament4  ,by the ,rev4 ,canon ,r4   
,j4 ,,knowling1 ,d4,d4  ,second         
,edition1 ,revised4  ,crown #hvo4       
,cloth boards4 #bs4 net4  ,messianic    
,interpretation and other ,studies4  ,by
 the ,rev4 ,canon ,r4 ,j4 ,,knowling1   
,d4,d4  ,crown #hvo4  ,cloth boards4    
#bs4 #f;d4 net4  ,rational ,necessity of
 ,theism4  ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,d4        
,,kelly1 ,m4,a4  ,small post #hvo4      
,cloth boards4  #bs4 net4  ,reasons for 
,faith4  ,and other ,contributions to   
,christian ,evidence4  ,by the ,right   
,rev4 ,a4 ,f4 ,,winnington-,,ingram1    
,d4,d41 ,bishop of ,london4  ,small post
 #hvo4  ,cloth boards4  #bs4 net4       

,shall ,i ,believe8  ,by the ,rev4 ,g4  
,r4 ,,oakley1 ,m4,a41 ,b4,d4  ,small    
post #hvo4 ,cloth boards4  #bs4 #f;d4   
net4  ,evidence of ,things not ,seen1   
,the4  ,i4 ,from ,nature4  ,,ii4 ,from  
,revelation4  ,by ,j4 ,a4 ,,fleming1    
,d4,sc41 ,f4,r4,s4  ,crown #hvo4  ,paper
 cover4 #f;d4  ,cloth1 #as4  ,virgin    
,birth and the ,criticism of ,to-day1   
,our ,lord's4  ,by the ,rev4 ,canon ,r4 
,j4 ,,knowling1 ,d4,d4  ,revised        
,edition4  ,crown #hvo4  ,cloth boards4 
#as4 #f;d4 net4  ,virgin ,birth3 ,a     
critical examination of the evidences   
for the ,doctrine of the4  ,by ,,thomas 
,,james ,,thorburn1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4    
,crown #hvo4  ,cloth boards4  #bs4 #f;d4
 net4    ,,society ,,for ,,promoting    
,,christian ,,knowledge1  ,,london3     
,,northumberland ,,avenue1 ,w4,c4