n
in the quiet with the Holy Ghost which is to each man his own true
soul.

This is the way out of the vicious circle. Not to rush round on the
periphery, like a rabbit in a ring, trying to break through. But to
retreat to the very center, and there to be filled with a new strange
stability, polarized in unfathomable richness with the center of
centers. We are so silly, trying to invent devices and machines for
flying off from the surface of the earth. Instead of realizing that
for us the deep satisfaction lies not in escaping, but in getting into
the perfect circuit of the earth's terrestrial magnetism. Not in
breaking away. What is the good of trying to break away from one's
own? What is the good of a tree desiring to fly like a bird in the
sky, when a bird is rooted in the earth as surely as a tree is? Nay,
the bird is only the topmost leaf of the tree, fluttering in the high
air, but attached as close to the tree as any other leaf. Mr.
Einstein's Theory of Relativity does not supersede the Newtonian Law
of Gravitation or of Inertia. It only says, "Beware! The Law of
Inertia is not the simple ideal proposition you would like to make of
it. It is a vast complexity. Gravitation is not one elemental uncouth
force. It is a strange, infinitely complex, subtle aggregate of
forces." And yet, however much it may waggle, a stone does fall to
earth if you drop it.

We should like, vulgarly, to rejoice and say that the new Theory of
Relativity releases us from the old obligation of centrality. It does
no such thing. It only makes the old centrality much more strange,
subtle, complex, and vital. It only robs us of the nice old ideal
simplicity. Which ideal simplicity and logicalness has become such a
fish-bone stuck in our throats.

The universe is once more in the mental melting-pot. And you can melt
it down as long as you like, and mutter all the jargon and
abracadabra, _aldeboronti fosco fornio_ of science that mental
monkey-tricks can teach you, you won't get anything in the end but a
formula and a lie. The atom? Why, the moment you discover the atom it
will explode under your nose. The moment you discover the ether it
will evaporate. The moment you get down to the real basis of anything,
it will dissolve into a thousand problematic constituents. And the
more problems you solve, the more will spring up with their fingers at
their nose, making a fool of you.

There is only one clue to the universe. And that is the indiv