134 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



such a revolution has already taken place. They de- 

 grade neither member of the mysterious duality re- 

 ferred to ; but they exalt one of them from its abase- 

 ment, and repeal the divorce hitherto existing between 

 them. In substance, if not in words, their position as 

 regards the relation of spirit and matter is : ' What Grod 

 hath joined together, let not man put asunder.' 



You have been thus led to the outer rim of specula- 

 tive science, for beyond the nebulae scientific thought 

 has never hitherto ventured. I have tried to state that 

 which I considered ought, in fairness, to be outspoken. 

 I neither think this Evolution hypothesis is to be flouted 

 away contemptuously, nor that it ought to be denounced 

 as wicked. It is to be brought before the bar of dis- 

 ciplined reason, and there justified or condemned. Let 

 us hearken to those who wisely support it, and to those 

 who wisely oppose it ; and let us tolerate those, whose 

 name is legion, who try foolishly to do either of these 

 things. The only thing out of place in the discussion 

 is dogmatism on either side. Fear not the Evolution 

 hypothesis. Steady yourselves, in its presence, upon 

 that faith in the ultimate triumph of truth which was 

 expressed by old Gamaliel when he said : 6 If it be of 

 Grod, ye cannot overthrow it; if it be of man, it will 

 come to nought.' Under the fierce light of scientific 

 enquiry, it is sure to be dissipated if it possess not a 

 core of truth. Trust me, its existence as a hypothesis 

 is quite compatible with the simultaneous existence of 

 all those virtues to which the term ' Christian ' has 

 been applied. It does not solve it does not profess 

 to solve the ultimate mystery of this universe. It 

 leaves, in fact, that mystery untouched. For, granting 

 the nebula and its potential life, the question, whence 

 they came, would still remain to baffle and bewilder us. 

 At bottom, the hypothesis does nothing more than 



