AN ADDRESS TO tiTUDfiNTS. 415 



this fluor-spar. For aught I know, every one of you may 

 be in this condition,, requiring but the proper agent to be 

 applied the proper word to be spoken to remove a detent, 

 and to render you conscious of light and warmth within 

 yourselves and sources of both to others. 



The circle of human nature, then, is not complete with- 

 out the arc of the emotions. The lilies of the field have a 

 value for us beyond their botanical ones a certain light- 

 ening of the heart accompanies the declaration that 

 " Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of 

 these. " The sound of the village bell has a value beyond 

 its acoustical one. The setting sun has a value beyond its 

 optical one. The starry heavens, as you know, had for 

 Immanuel Kant a value beyond their astronomical one. I 

 think it very desirable to keep this horizon of the emotions 

 open, and not to permit either priest or philosopher to 

 draw down his shutters between you and it. Here the dead 

 languages, which are sure to be beaten by science in the 

 purely intellectual fight, have an irresistible claim. They 

 supplement the work of science by exalting and refining 

 the aesthetic faculty, and must on this account be cherished 

 by all who desire to see human culture complete. There 

 must be a reason for the fascination which these languages 

 have so long exercised upon powerful and elevated minds 

 a fascination which will probably continue for men of 

 Greek and Boman mold to the end of time. 



In connection with this question one very obvious danger 

 besets many of the more earnest spirits of our day the 

 danger of haste in endeavoring to give the feelings repose. 

 We are distracted by systems of theology and philosophy 

 which were taught to us when young, and which now 

 excite in us a hunger and a thirst for knowledge not proved 

 to be attainable. There are periods when the judgment 

 ought to remain in suspense, the data on which a decision 

 might be based being absent. This discipline of suspending 

 the judgment is a common one in science, but not so 

 common as it ought to be elsewhere. I walked down 

 Regent Street some time ago with a man of great gifts and 

 acquirements, discussing with him various theological ques- 

 tions. I could not accept his views of the origin and des- 

 tiny of the universe, nor was I prepared to enunciate any 

 definite views of my own. He turned to me at length and 

 said, "You surely must have a theory of the universe/' 



