THE RT. HON. S. CAVES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 3 



who have an interest in maintaining things as they are, natu- 

 rally view the bold attacks of scientific men on their fortress 

 with alarm. They see the plaster with which the misplaced 

 laboiir of generations has coated the walls crumble under 

 the fire of the enemy, without perceiving that, when this is 

 swept away, but little impression will have been made on the 

 solid structure. Galilfeo was imprisoned, not because the 

 authorities of the Inquisition cared whether the sun or the 

 earth moved, but because they dreaded the spirit of enquiry. 

 The opinion, however, is gaining ground that God's truth 

 cannot suffer by the extension of man's truth. We may, 

 indeed, enquire diligently what is the truth ; but it argues a 

 very weak faith to suppress enquiry because it may militate 

 against what we may have been in the habit of regarding 

 as the truth. The Eoman Proconsul, when told that the 

 Christians were destroying a temple, merely replied, " Let 

 the gods defend themselves." There was deep meaning in 

 the answer. I for one have no fear of the result ; but much 

 harm may be done by misguided zeal. The assailants are 

 men of world-wide reputation, giants in intellect, and their 

 arguments cannot be confuted by mere generalities or plati- 

 tudes. Those who enter the lists should be well acquainted 

 with the turns and changes of the contest, and the M'ay in 

 which new ground has been taken from time to time ; and 

 they should especially be well versed in the language of the 

 books under review. Even educated Hindoos have lately 

 been accusing our divines of condemning their sacred books 

 without being able to read them. Nothing is easier than to 

 pour out indignation against setters forth of strange doctrines, 

 and to demolish them amidst the cheers of an unanimous 

 meeting ; but weapons of a far different temper and calibre 

 are required in a contest with such antagonists. It was once 

 said at a trial, " I tliought the defendant's case unassailable 

 till I heard his counsel's speech." 



So much for the polemical literature of science. But 

 science is the handmaid of art; and in those branches of art 

 which may be termed useful or mechanical, what strides have 

 been made since Archimedes invented the lever, and, with 

 that confidence which has descended to his successors, de- 

 clared that he would move the world. The// have been moving 

 the world ever since. Nothing seems too hard or too daring 

 for our engineers. We often hear in their evidence before 

 parliamentary committees that nothing is impossible; it is 

 only a question of expense. And when we contemplate 

 what has been done within our own recollection, we must 



