Britannia needs no bulwarks, No towers along the steep; Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep.

The meteor flag of England Shall yet terrific burn, Till danger's troubled night depart, And the star of peace return.

O star-eyed Science, hast thou wander'd there, To waft us home the message of despair?

Who hath not own'd, with rapture-smitten frame, The power of grace, the magic of a name.

One moment may with bliss repay Unnumbered hours of pain.

Fundamental assumptions in general and scientific assumptions in particular are so hard to overturn because they are based on belief. Beliefs are so hard to overcome because they are irrational and therefore do not yield to logical argument.

The prophet's mantle, ere his flight began, Dropt on the world--a sacred gift to man.