32. It was an era of change. The nation was emerging from the dim
twilight of mediaevalism into the full day of political and religious
freedom. But the morning mists, which the rising sun had not yet
dispelled, rendered the more distant and complex objects distorted and
portentous. The very fact that doubt, or rather, perhaps, independence
of thought, was at last, within certain limits, treated as non-criminal
in theology, gave an impetus to investigation and speculation in all
branches of politics and science; and with this change came, in the
main, improvement. But the great defect of the time was that this newly
liberated spirit of free inquiry was not kept in check by any sufficient
previous discipline in logical methods of reasoning. Hence the
possibility of the wild theories that then existed, followed out into
action or not, according as circumstances favoured or discouraged:
Arthur Hacket, with casting out of devils, and other madnesses,
vehemently declaring himself the Messiah and King of Europe in the year
of grace 1591, and getting himself believed by some, so long as he
remained unhanged; or, more pathetic still, many weary lives wasted day
by day in fruitless silent search after the impossible philosopher's
stone, or elixir of life. As in law, so in science, there were no
sufficient rules of evidence clearly and unmistakably laid down for the
guidance of the investigator; and consequently it was only necessary to
broach a novel theory in order to have it accepted, without any previous
serious testing.
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