low for the Divine Reason. St. Thomas goes on to praise the useful function of science which delivers men from fantastic superstitions such, for example, as astrology1. The attitude of the Church towards science is, then, very far from hostile; and if we have seemed in these pages to take up a position of distrust and defence, it is not of true science that we are distrustful, but of the misuse of it, attempted by many popular writers. Our first object has been the vindication of religion, but our second has been the vindication of science itself as against extravagant fantasies.

Mathias Claudius writes at the end of a passage in which he makes appeal to Bacon, Boyle, and Newton2:

"I do not deny, Andres, that I find great joy in the words of Francis Bacon, of Robert Boyle, of Isaac Newton. Not indeed, for the sake of religion; religion can neither gain nor lose at the hands of scientists, be they great or small. But I feel cheered by this spectacle of men of much industry and resolution, men who have grown grey in the service of science, and who know more of nature and the ways of nature than all the world beside. ... I feel cheered to see men of such character and genius, not priding themselves on their wisdom, but, hat in hand, humble and eager to learn, drawing close to the altar of the sublime mysteries of God. I feel cheered, Andres, and I recover all my old enthusiasm for learning, which crowns her servants with the richest gifts without allowing their reason to be clouded by pride, and themselves to be degraded to foolish scoffers and mockers. And it has an amazingly different effect, Andres, to see, on the other side, the crowds of light sciolists defiling by, their hats on their heads, their noses contemptuously in the air. . . .'

More than one savant has bitterly lamented the ill repute into which science has been brought by "scientists" 2 Werke VI, Wien 1844, 161.

1 Contra Gentiles lib. 2, cap. 2 3.

of this stamp. We have quoted Joseph Hyrtl to this effect. We may well conclude with the words of another Austrian master who regards science, not as something to be excused and defended, but as the most effective of all weapons for the overthrow of materialism. Andreas Von Baumgartner says 1:

"Natural science is able, above all, to expose the contradictions of materialism, and to show its untenableness, whether it has sprung from the soil of history, or from that of philosophy, or some other science. This consideration should suffice to dissipate the anxiety of those who regard the study of nature as fraught with peril to the young. In point of fact, science, rightly directed, is the best and most stable barrier against error; and, more than any other branch of learning, it leads us to recognise the universe as the temple of the Almighty."

We agree; but the "right direction" is to be found. only in a solid discipline in philosophy.

1 V. p. 295.

LIST OF NAMES.