mmense divergence of opinion which at the
present time is manifested with regard to it, as well as the confusing
amount of good, bad, and indifferent literature on both sides of the
controversy which is extant;--considering these things, I do not think that
the result of our inquiry can be justly complained of on the score of its
lacking precision. At a time like the present, when traditional beliefs
respecting Theism are so generally accepted and so commonly concluded, as a
matter of course, to have a large and valid basis of induction whereon to
rest, I cannot but feel that a perusal of this short essay, by showing how
very concise the scientific _status_ of the subject really is, will do more
to settle the minds of most readers as to the exact standing at the present
time of all the probabilities of the question, than could a perusal of all
the rest of the literature upon this subject. And, looking to the present
condition of speculative philosophy, I regard it as of the utmost
importance to have clearly shown that the advance of science has now
entitled us to assert, without the least hesitation, that the hypothesis of
Mind in nature is as certainly superfluous to account for any of the
phenomena of nature, as the scientific doctrine of the persistence of force
and the indestructibility of matter is certainly true.

On the other hand, if any one is inclined to complain that the logical
aspect of the question has not proved itself so unequivocally definite as
has the scientific, I must ask him to consider that, in any matter which
does not admit of actual demonstration, some margin must of necessity be
left for variations of individual opinion. And, if he bears this
consideration in mind, I feel sure that he cannot properly complain of my
not having done my utmost in this case to define as sharply as possible the
character and the limits of this margin.

Sec. 49. And now, in conclusion, I feel it is desirable to state that any
antecedent bias with regard to Theism which I individually possess is
unquestionably on the side of traditional beliefs. It is therefore with the
utmost sorrow that I find myself compelled to accept the conclusions here
worked out; and nothing would have induced me to publish them, save the
strength of my conviction that it is the duty of every member of society to
give his fellows the benefit of his labours for whatever they may he worth.
Just as I am confident that truth must in the end be the