Show S 01 ENCE A 0 RELI the Cli chapter apter of a 9 rles of articles ill by dr phillips agnosticism exi the terni term agnostic nostic 0 used in bon to the gnostics agnostics of the early christian church provinces of science and philosophy we have just passed through another school cycle at the close of which the mere routine of the ped aggiman is accustomed to give way to jie the more ponderous tb thoughts of scho school oland and college trustees with most commendable zeal these latter usually endeavor to impress the timid youth who with hesitant feel feeling in g blands on oa the threshold of the unknown and unknowable with various lessons and calculated to be a source of strength and guidance in the 10 approaching struggle Anio amongst the addresses recently delivered was waa a most scholarly one by mr R W young delivered at the B D Y college closing exercises that discourse however was waa marred by an attempted explanation lofald of abid warning against borne bome ot of the principles advocated by the late prof huxley I 1 refer mure more particularly to tue me statement in re agnosticism ajr young asserted I 1 I 1 I 1 doctrines is that thai one can not rest assured of the fidelity of ones wife and children childr rn etc elu I 1 have had occasion in thess these colu column before to express regret that prominent educators educator should without uny any ible reason deliberately ibera tely misrepresent the words and ideas idas af leading scientists and it really seems that after all S such u h sentiments sentiment are usually based upon prejudiced statements of others rattier rather thin than upon a proper conception of the teal real sentiments senti ments of these philosophers based upon a close study of their works this conclusion seems all the more just when one ona considers that mr You youngs rigs theory of the origin of the term I agnostic is evidently taken from so some m e other source than huxley himself the originator of the term it u is dimply not a fact that the vord void is weed based upon the unknown god or of the greeks but to quote huxley in contradistinction to the gnostics agnostics of the early christian church agnosticism he be says again is of the essence of science whether ancient or modern it simply means that a man shall not say gay lie he klows or believes that which lie he has no ground grounder grounds for fr professing to adov or believe agnosticism simply says that we hiow abow nothing of what may be beyond phenomena how shamefully untrue it is to accuse c huxley ok of doctrines which will lead to the suspicion of the fidelity of ones wife is shown by the fact that referring to the question of deity lie he uses the following language in III essays on controvert ed questions to suppose that in all the universe there is no being as infinitely more capable of controlling controlling matter as aa man inan is more than a black beetle 0 abot in only absurd but speaking of the doctrine of final cause prof husley says critiques and addresses page perhaps tho most remarkable service to t the philosophy of biology is the of teleology and morphology and the explanation nf the facts of both dr alexander winchell after concluding a most moat eloquent plea for the existence of deity states laws and forces dagil page this conception of supreme intelligent power enthroned at the foundation lead head of phenomena and displaying its activity in force acting upon atoms and aggregates of matter doff does not lot bigl digl differ er from the conceptions set forth gy by huxley tyndall and bubois 1 rey raymond mond the same au an hor mode of conservation of the world page the second school represented by quell puch emit ent thinkers as huxley owen and baden powell deny the tate distinction between matter and firce farce and regard both as phenomenal manifestations of some unknown substratum a in supra ira material physia identical with lith tic he divine substance I 1 think enough has been written above to die disprove prove the gross I ross aud unwarranted charge made made before a youthful and as far as such matters are coi berned inex inexperienced perill audi ened against prof huxley we are all equally attempting 0 to cleave through the dense darkness which environs us ua to reach the truth of things and no man ever tried this more faithfully and assiduously than prof huxley that we live in a universe of phenomena is generally admitted we find rooted in universal belief a conviction that all these changes are Fevers severally the of appropriate causes it is a law of mind to look upon every ever phenomenon as an effect and to coupe effect with cause it is the province of science and scientists to classify these and thence to formulate laws and from observed uniformities lift the veil from the past and perhaps also from the future It is th iha province of philosophy to pass beyond the phenomena and enquire dot cot the antecedent but the and from cause causa to cause ard to final cenusa tion when it has attained to this last philosophy becomes theology theology e therefore in its truest sense is is the fruitage of science and philosophy though i carcheri car chers after truth may bs be ranged as scientists scientist philosophers or theologians it is seldom el that either shuts himself closely in his own field indeed it would be a great misfortune for either to restrict his investigations to a single field this I 1 practice 0 begets indifference to certain classes of data and ends in bigotry misunderstanding and hostility our c common aumon natu nature re covers in each individual the whole 0 ground around and it seems to me narrow and pernicious bious for the truth seeker to tie himself up to a single method I 1 do not think a more stinging get courteous rebuke was ever administered to those who like sir mr young hurl indiscriminately unfounded charges against these great modern scientists than that of prof tyndall in an address de livered two months subsequently to his famous belfast manifesto raising the question whether there are not in nature manifestations of knowledge an and d skill superior to mans he replied my friends the profet profession sion of that atheistic agnosticism with aich I 1 am so lightly and so frequently charged would be an impossible answer to this question |