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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 3a

Introduction

Introduction.

This is pre-eminently a Scientific age. Almost every week I witnesses some new discovery or the introduction of a new invention. It is not an easy matter, in fact, to keep pace with the almost magic strides which Science-is taking to-day. Wonder follows upon wonder, and there is not much risk in advancing the belief that we have at last entered upon a Golden Age which, in the brilliancy of its Scientific achievements, will far and away eclipse any similar development since the world first started on its, possibly, unending career of evolutionary progress.

In all its varied ramifications Science is shedding lustre on the times in which it is our privilege to live, greatly ameliorating the material conditions of existence and facilitating intercourse between the nations of the earth; and at the same time lifting men to a higher plane of mental thought, and by illumining their minds and augmenting their knowledge of Natural laws, is giving a potent stimulus to that spirit of inquiry without the exercise of which there can be no advance in the more important spheres of human action. Doubt spells inquiry, and inquiry spells progress. Hence all the most progressive minds of all the ages have been doubters and, consequently, inquirers, and it is along that path alone that has come all that accumulation of knowledge in the domains of Science, Philosophy, and Religion which is the fortunate inheritance of the present generations of men.

The leaders of these movements have, of course, been derided, scoffed at and persecuted, and in very many instances have been tortured and subsequently put to death rather than act the part of traitor to their conscience, be false to what they believed to be true, stiflers of the voice of duty, and disloyal to their God. The spirit—divine in its origin—which influenced those men, lives on, and is to-day manifesting itself in the unpopular declarations of some of the most eminent minds of the twentieth century. They are fighting for what they believe to be Truth, and though at times discouraged when "facing fearful odds," the hope of ultimate victory is a constant spur to continued persistence. They know that—

Truth crushed to earth will rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers.

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You cannot kill Truth. It would not be Truth if you could. Truth is everlasting. It springs from God Himself and is equally enduring. It is only error that fails to survive. As old Gamaliel, the tutor of the illustrious Paul, expressed it in New Testament phraseology two thousand years ago, when Peter and the others were arraigned before the Ecclesiastical Court of that day for the heresy they were alleged to have preached—"And now I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them alone; for if this counsel, or this work be of men, it will come to nought; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God Himself."

He was a fine old philosopher was Gamaliel, and we, in our day, would do well to emulate his example of broad-minded toleration when encountering those with whose Scientific, Philosophic or Religious views we happen to be at variance. Unhappily, there is too much of the opposite spirit displayed in these so-called tolerant times, and amongst no section of the community do you find it more prominently in evidence than amongst many of those who profess to be followers of the Prince of Peace, whose precepts they cordially endorse, but whose example of love and forbearance they so often fail to reproduce. In spite of the opposition of the past, however, Science has continued to push its way to the front and will unquestionably continue to advance, notwithstanding the bitterest bigotry of the narrowest minds and all the jeers and ridicule it may yet have to encounter.

I am led to make these remarks because of the nature of some of the facts I propose to submit in the course of this treatise, and of the unreasoning and illogical antipathy sometimes exhibited towards those who feel they are neither degrading themselves, nor belittling their Creator, by obeying the command of the Master—"Seek and ye shall find"—no matter along what channel their investigations may lead them. But before alluding further to this particular phase of the subject—the Transcendental phase—let us briefly review some of the other marvellous Scientific developments which have in recent years arrested the attention of intelligent and thoughtful men, and which appear almost miraculous in their mysterious detail.