REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSION. 409 



Nor has theoretical science in anywise failed to keep 

 pace with the practical. Chemistry, biology, astron- 

 omy, physics, geology, aside from their practical 

 applications, have wonderfully extended our views of 

 the universe and given us far nobler conceptions 

 both of nature and nature's God. 



And, paradoxical as it may appear, not the least 

 noble of these conceptions comes to us from that 

 very theory which, only a few years ago, was sup- 

 posed to have banished forever the Creator from the 

 world of reality ; a theory which was at once the 

 scandal of the pious and the incubus of the ortho- 

 dox. Evolution, it was asserted, had disproved the 

 declarations of Scripture, and shown the inutility of 

 a religion based on Dogma. It had dethroned the 

 Almighty, had demonstrated that the universe is 

 eternal, and that the order and beauty which we 

 everywhere behold is the result of a fortuitous con- 

 course of atoms. There is, therefore, we were told, 

 neither design nor purpose in nature, and the doc- 

 trine of final causes, on which theologians were wont 

 to lay so much stress, is completely and forever dis- 

 credited. 



More mature reflection, however, shows that all 

 these assertions are as rash as they are unwarranted. 

 Never in the history of science have thoughtful 

 students of nature felt more deeply the necessity of 

 recognizing a personal Creator, a spiritual, intelli- 

 gent First Cause, than at present. Never have men 

 seen more clearly the necessity of religion, as the 

 sole agency which is capable of elevating and saving 

 human society from the countless dangers with 



