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tiae of the smallest things it presents to our re- 

 ceptive minds, the potency, the majesty, the 

 unchangeability of the Laws of Nature as lu- 

 minously contrasted with the impotency, the 

 puerility and the contradictoriness of what is 

 audaciously related of a Biblical personal God. 



Original Thought, unaided by sage Experi- 

 ment, remains but lame Theory — a child in 

 close leading strings — and can be accepted as 

 mature Fact or not, as he to whom it is con- 

 veyed, suggested, or expounded chooses to fi- 

 nally decide. But let it be backed by the 

 strong confirmation of Experiment : it then 

 becomes Practical — it is Fact itself, and soon- 

 er or later must be received as such by even 

 the most doubting, scoffing and bigotedly op- 

 positional of our obtuse kind. 



The Original Thought I wish to put before 

 you tonight may be, I am sorry to say, devoid 

 of as much of the potent aid of Experiment : 

 that is, systematic, directly planned and skill- 

 fully conducted Experiment as might be wish- 

 ed. Yet it is a clear expression of Natural, 

 observed phenomena, supported by simple but 

 certain proofs ; therefore it presents definite 

 claims to be thoughtfully received as no va- 

 gary of Theory, but a substantiality of Fact. 



