Beacon Lights of History, Volume 3 part 2: Renaissance and ReformationLord, John
History
Beacon Lights of History, Volume 3 part 2: Renaissance and Reformation
Lord, John
History
shall be studied, so long as the Bible shall be the guide of life?
Is it not by deduction that we ascend from Nature herself to the
God of Nature? What is more certain than deduction when the
principles from which it reasons are indisputably established?
Is induction, great as it is, especially in the explorations of
Nature and science, always certain? Are not most of the sciences
which are based upon it progressive? Have we yet learned the
ultimate principles of political economy, or of geology, or of
government, or even of art? The theory of induction, though
supposed by Dr. Whewell to lead to certain results, is regarded by
Professor Jevons as leading to results only "almost certain." "All
inductive inference is merely probable," says the present professor
of logic, Thomas Fowler, in the University of Oxford.
And although it is supposed that the inductive method of Bacon has
led to the noblest discoveries of modern times, is this strictly
true? Galileo made his discoveries in the heavens before Bacon
died. Physical improvements must need follow such inventions as
gunpowder and the mariners' compass, and printing and the pictures
of Italy, and the discovery of mines and the revived arts of the
Romans and Greeks, and the glorious emancipation which the
Reformation produced. Why should not the modern races follow in
the track of Carthage and Alexandria and Rome, with the progress of
wealth, and carry out inventions as those cities did, and all other
civilized peoples since Babel towered above the plains of Babylon?
Physical developments arise from the developments of man, whatever
method may be recommended by philosophers. What philosophical
teachings led to the machinery of the mines of California, or to
that of the mills of Lowell? Some think that our modern
improvements would have come whether Bacon had lived or not. But I
would not disparage the labors of Bacon in pointing out the method
which leads to scientific discoveries. Granting that he sought
merely utility, an improvement in the outward condition of society,
which is the view that Macaulay takes, I would not underrate his
legacy. And even supposing that the blessings of material life--
"the acre of Middlesex"--are as much to be desired as Macaulay,
with the complacency of an eminently practical and prosperous man,
seems to argue, I would not sneer at them. Who does not value
them? Who will not value them so long as our mortal bodies are to
be cared for? It is a pleasant thing to ride in "cars without
horses," to feel in winter the genial warmth of grates and
furnaces, to receive messages from distant friends in a moment of
time, to cross the ocean without discomfort, with the "almost
certainty" of safety, and save our wives and daughters from the
ancient drudgeries of the loom and the knitting-needle. Who ever
tires in gazing at a locomotive as it whirls along with the power
of destiny? Who is not astonished at the triumphs of the engineer,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account