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BRITISH ASSOCIATION, MEETING AT EXETElt. 287
even the last link of the chain ; a stage where furthei* progress is un-
attainable, and we can only refer the highest law at which we stopped
to the fiat of an Almighty Power. To assume the contrary as a
matter of necessity is, practically, to remove the First Cause of all to
an infinite distance from us. The boundaiy, however, between what
is clearly known and what is veiled in impenetrable darkness is not
ordinarily thus sharply defined. Between the two there lies a misty
region, in which loom the ill-discerned forms of links of the chain
which are yet beyond ns. But the general principle is not affected
thereby. Let us fearlessly trace the dependence of link on link as far
as it may be given to us to trace it, but let us take heed that in thus
studying second causes Ave forget not the Fii-st Cause, nor shut our
eyes to the wonderful proofs of design which, in the study of organized
beings especially, meet us at every turn.
Wholesome Effects of Scientific Inquiry.
Truth, we know, must be self-consistent, nor can one truth contra-
dict another, even though the two may have been arrived at by totally
different processes,—in the one case, suppose, obtained by sound
scientific investigation, in the other case taken on trust from duly
authenticated witnesses. Misinterpretations of course there may be
on the one side or on the other, causing apparent contradictions.
Every mathematician knows that in his private work he will occa-
sionally by two different trains of reasoning anive at discordant con-
clusions. He is at once aware that there must be a slip somewhere,
and sets himself to detect and correct it. When conclusions rest on
probable evidence, the reconciling of apparent contradictions is not so
simple and certain. It requires the exercise of a calm, unbiassed
judgment, capable of looking at both sides of the question ; and often-
times we have long to siispend our decision, and seek for further
evidence. None need fear the effect of scientific inquiry carried on in
an honest, truth-loving, humble spirit, which makes us no less ready
frankly to avow our ignorance of what we cannot explain than to
accept conclusions based on sound evidence. The slow but sure path
of induction is open to us. Let us frame hypotheses if we will : most
useful are they when kept in their proper place, as stimulating inquiry.
Let us seek to confront them with observation and experiment, thereby
confirming or upsetting thcui as the result may prove ; but let us