Thesameisthecaseintheworldofmaterialisticscience，whereweseeagreatpaucityofreallylearnedmenandahostofskin—deepscientists，whoyetdemandeachandalltoberegardedasArchimedesandNewtons。Asabovesobelow。Scholarswhopursueknowledgeforthesakeoftruthandfact，andgivetheseout，howeverunpalatable，andnotforthedubiousgloryofenforcingontheworldtheirrespectivepersonalhobbies——maybecountedonthefingersofonehand：whilelegionisthenameofthepretenders。Inourday，reputationsforlearningseemtobebuiltbysuggestiononthehypnoticprinciple，ratherthanbyrealmerit。Themassescowerbeforehimwhoimposeshimselfuponthem：hencesuchagalaxyofmenregardedaseminentinscience，artsandliterature；andiftheyaresoeasilyaccepted，itispreciselybecauseofthegiganticself—opinionatedandself—assertionof，atanyrate，themajorityofthem。Oncethoroughlyanalyzed，however，howmanyofsuchwouldremainwhotrulydeservetheappellationof\"wise\"eveninterrestrialwisdom？Howmany，weask，oftheso—called\"authorities\"and\"leadersofmen\"wouldprovemuchbetterthanthoseofwhomitwassaid——byone\"wise\"indeed——\"theybeblindleadersoftheblind\"？Thattheteachingsofneitherourmodernteachersnorpreachersare\"wisdomfromabove\"isfullydemonstrated。Itisprovednotbyanypersonalincorrectnessintheirstatementsormistakesinlife，for\"toerrisbuthuman，\"butbyincontrovertiblefacts。WisdomandTrutharesynonymousterms，andthatwhichisfalseorwell—knownrepresentativeoftheChurchofEngland，thattheSermonoftheMountwould，initspracticalapplication，meanutterruinforhiscountrylessthanthreeweeks；andifitisnolesstrue，asassertedbyaliterarycriticofscience，that\"theknellofCharlesDarwinismisrunginMr。A。R。Wallace’spresentbook，\"（1）
aneventalreadypredictedbyQuatrefages——thenwearelefttochoosebetweentwocourses。WehaveeithertotakebothTheologyandScienceonblindfaithandtrust；or，toproclaimbothuntrueanduntrustworthy。Thereishowever，athirdcourseopen：topretendthatwebelieveinbothatthesametime，andsaynothing，asmanydo；butthiswouldbesinningagainstTheosophyandpanderingtotheprejudicesofSociety——andthatwerefusetodo。Morethanthis：wedeclareopenly，quandmeme，thatnotoneofthetwo，neitherTheologistnorScientist，hastherightinthefaceofthistoclaim，theonethathepreachesthatwhichisdivineinspiration，andtheother——exactscience；sincetheformerenforcesthat，whichisonhisownrecognition，pernicioustomenandstates——
i。e。theethicsofChrist；andtheother（inthepersonoftheeminentnaturalist，Mr。A。R。Wallace，asshownbyMr。SamuelButler）teachesDarwinianevolution，inwhichhebelievesnolonger；ascheme，moreover，whichhasneverexistedinnature，iftheopponentsofDarwinismarecorrect。
Nevertheless，ifanyonewouldpresumetocall\"unwise\"or\"false\"theworld—chosenauthorities，ordeclaretheirrespectivepoliciesdishonest，hewouldfindhimselfpromptlyreducedtosilence。TodoubttheexaltedwisdomofthereligionofthelateCardinalNewman，oftheChurchofEngland，oragainofourgreatmodernscientists，istosinagainsttheHolyGhostandCulture。WoeuntohimwhorefusestorecognizetheWorld’s\"Elect。\"
Hehastobowbeforeoneortheother，though，ifoneistrue，theothermustbefalse；andifthe\"wisdom\"ofneitherBishopnorScientistis\"fromabove\"——whichisprettyfairlydemonstratedbythistime——