l'KK.SUHNJ S ADHRKSS. 15 



be studied as a problem, and iu)t res])ected as an attained result 

 or an acconiplislied solution.""* 



In conclusion, I sbould like to speak on tb.ree matters whicli 

 have been forced on our attention In- the ii^reat war now pro- 

 ceeding. 



The Use and .Ibiisc of .S"c/r»rr.— Centuries ago Francis 

 Bacon dreamed of ilio time wlun the emjiirc of man over man, 

 through statecraft and ft)rce, should give ])lace to the empire 

 of man over nature, through morality and intelligence. For 

 that larger empire the university i)rofessedly stands. To-day, 

 in the midst of this great war. we seem to have gone back to 

 the days of force, and science. 1)\- whicli man has trinm|)hed so 

 much over nature, has l)ecome not the liandmaid but the tyi'ant 

 of the nations. The new phenomena, the new ff)rces found 

 by science have always been ready for u-^e by both the philan- 

 thropist and the criminal. Science has found chloroform as 

 well as chlorine: it has invented wireless telegraph}' to help 

 a wrecked ship to send out a call for help, as well as the torpedo 

 wdiich has destroyed her. In this war it has not only improved 

 every weapon of destruction. 1)ut it h;is also sharpened every 

 engine of inhumanity. That the trium]>hs of the war are the 

 triumphs of science is not in jiraise of science; something is 

 wanted from science anil its advancetnent rather to stop war 

 than make it more hideous. 



The Attitude of Disliii(/iiished S\-ieiiiisls. — Before the war 

 the great i)osition of the German universities was a freijuent 

 topic, and students in numbers went from all countries and 

 from their own universities to ( iernian uni\ersities. When 

 war broke out it was natural that the professors should be 

 enthusiasticallv ])atriotie, Init the extravagance of the language 

 of many of them has proved how far they have fallen from the 

 position and broad views cultured leaders of science and 

 literature ought to be able to take. Professor ()slwald. \isit- 

 ing Sweden in October. ]<.ii4. as an " intellectual war volun- 

 teer." is rei)orted to have said. " I say frankly that I consider 

 that Germany, through her organised talent, has reached a 

 higher stage of civilization than the other nations, and that the 

 war will be the means of admitting tliem to a hio'her civilization 

 on this basis. "t Others have written in similar strains, but 

 it is to be said that there is something of a reaction against this 

 megalomania. A German wnter ,' last year said. " \\'e were 

 |)re])ared, when this \\ar broke out. for dreadful things — un- 

 heard-of sacrifices of life, terrible misery, jjlague, hunger — but 

 not for this terrifying moral degeneration." and he blamed not 

 so much the people as its public men and its professors. Oil 

 :he latter class he is es])ecially severe, and goes so far as to 

 say that the worst aberrations of |)0|ndar delusion have always 

 been consecrated bv science. This vear Professor Planck, 



* " My Study Windows, On a certain condescension in foreigners.' 



t " Before. durin.s>, and after 1914," by A. Nystrom. 



t Ernst Miiller-llolm, in ' Dcr n.»!ilischc ^cdankr in PcKtSililaiid." 



