XXVIII EÔYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 



universal history a subjugation so complete, a hostility so intense, becoming the ultimate means of so 

 much national prosperity. 



In a remai'kable lecture delivered last year by Sir William Groves at the Eoj-al Institution, 

 London, he submitted the.projoosition that antagonism is not the baneful thing which many consider 

 it ; that it is often the precursor of good: " (hat it is a necessity of existence and of the organism of 

 the universe as far as we understand it; tiiat motion and life cannot go on without it ; that it is not a 

 mere casual adjunct of nature, but that without it there would be no nature, at all events as we con- 

 ceive it; and that it is inevitably associated with matter and sentient beings.'' The lecturer showed 

 that, though itself an«evil, antagonism is a necessary evil. I shall not venture to allude to the 

 evidences of antagonism furnished by him in the physical world, in vegetable life, in the external 

 life of animals and in human societj-. lie pointed out that " in what is eujjheraistically called a life of 

 pence, buyer and seller, master and servant, landloid and tenant, debtor .and creditor, are all in a 

 state of simmering antagonism;" that in tranquil commerce and in the schools we have the antagonism 

 of competition ; that in nearly all our games and amusements we have antagonism ; that in dailj- life 

 we have class antagonism, religious antagonism, political antagonism and individual antagonism, and 

 that there is more or less antagonism in every condition of society. Sir William Groves did not 

 attempt to explain the cause of this universal antagonism. He only gave evidence of the fact that 

 it is not limited to time or space, and stated his belief that some day it will be considered as much a 

 law as the law of gravitation. 



If antagonism come to be considered a law, it will be necessar3^, I think, to recognize another 

 principle with tendencies the very opposite. The two jnnnciples may be likened to the resultant of 

 two forces ; in one case the forces act in contrary directions; in the other case the forces operate in 

 the same direction. As action is followed by reaction, so also it is jjossible that as the two forces 

 revolve with time, antagonism may be followed by ihe opposite princi^île. When this takes place it 

 is evident that, the stronger the forces in antagonism, the greater will be the resultant when these 

 forces come to act as coo^jerative forces. 



A change of this character is exemplified in the history of England. The revei'sal of the forces 

 was not sudden, it took two or three centuries comj)letcly to effect the change. For a number of 

 generations after the French invasion, the line between ihe descendants of the conquerors and the 

 conquered, was sharply drawn. There was the contrast of manners and of thought ; there was the 

 primary difference of language ; French, being the token of power and wealth and influence, established 

 a defined line of separation between the two peo^jles. By degrees the feeling of hatred and dislike 

 toned down, antagonism and antipathy yielded to other influences. In 13G2, in the reign of Edward 

 III, a statute was passed ordaining that thereafter all pleas in the courts should be pleaded in the 

 English language. The first bill of the Ilouse of Commons written in the English language bears 

 date 1485, but long before this -the English language began to gain gi'ound. The French and English 

 had commenced to intei'iningle and intermarry, friendships and near relaiionshijîs were developed, 

 and, as a consequence, by the fourteenth century a new race had sprung up partaking by descent 

 the qualities of its French and English ancestors. 



The admixture of race has often proved advantageous in creating the tendency to develop the 

 growth of new qualities. It has been known to bring out a type of character superior to either pai-ent 

 race, to produce a composite I'ace to dominate over both the parent stems. This result msiy not be 

 attained in all cases, but it cannot bo denied that the blending together of the Fiench and English 

 stocks strengthened the intellect of the new nationality, greatly- increased its power, and gave an 

 impulse to its prosperitj^ and glory. As the name of " Englishman " takes in all natives of the countrj', 

 of whatever descent, the descendants of the French invaders became Englishmen, indeed the truest of 

 Englishmen. Paradoxical as it may apjiear, it is mainly owing to French influences incident to the 

 Conquest that the English nation has been moulded to the national character it jjossesses. It is owing 

 to the introduction of the French element (hat Englishmen have become what we now find them. 



