SCIENTIFIC USE OF THE IMAGINATION. 131 



opposing conviction, no resistance; merely here and 

 there a half-humorous, but unsuccessful attempt to en- 

 tangle him in his talk. The meeting agreed with all 

 that had been said regarding the antiquity of the earth 

 and of its life. They had, indeed, known it all long 

 ago, and they rallied the lecturer for coming amongst 

 them with so stale a story. It was quite plain that this 

 large body of clergymen, who were, I should say, to be 

 ranked amongst the finest samples of their class, had en- 

 tirely given up the ancient landmarks, and transported 

 the conception of life's origin to an indefinitely distant 

 past. 



This leads us to the gist of our present enquiry, 

 which is this : Does life belong to what we call matter, 

 or is it an independent principle inserted into matter 

 at some suitable epoch say when the physical condi- 

 tions became such as to permit of the development of 

 life ? Let us put the question with the reverence due 

 to a faith and culture in which we all were cradled, and 

 which are the undeniable historic antecedents of our 

 present enlightenment. I say, let us put the question 

 reverently, but let us also put it clearly and definitely. 

 There are the strongest grounds for believing that 

 during a certain period of its history the earth was not, 

 nor was it fit to be, the theatre of life. Whether this 

 was ever a nebulous period, or merely a molten period, 

 does not signify much ; and if we revert to the nebulous 

 condition, it is because the probabilities are really on 

 its side. Our question is this: Did creative energy 

 pause until the nebulous matter had condensed, until 

 the earth had been detached, until the solar fire had so 

 far withdrawn from the earth's vicinity as to permit a 

 crust to gather round the planet ? Did it wait until 

 the air was isolated ; until the seas were formed ; until 

 evaporation, condensation, and the descent of rain had 



K 2 



