LITERARY ACTIVITY. 373 



rapidly growing command of man over the forces of 

 Nature. I set forth that engineering, resting on the 

 basis of physical science, was more and more relieving 

 man of the previous severe bodily labour, which Nature 

 had imposed on him for the maintenance of his life, 

 that the wants of life and means of enjoyment would 

 be satisfied by ever diminishing bodily exertion, and 

 thus become cheaper and accordingly more accessible 

 to all; further that through the distribution of force 

 and the inevitable fall of the rate of interest the 

 superiority of large factories to individual labour would 

 more and more be neutralized and consequently the 

 practical ends of Social Democracy would be attained 

 without a violent overthrow of the existing order solely 

 by the undisturbed progress of the Age of Science. 

 I also tried in my lecture to show that the study of 

 the physical sciences in its further progress and general 

 diffusion would not brutalize men and divert them 

 from ideal aspirations, but on the contrary would lead 

 them to humble admiration of the incomprehensible 

 wisdom pervading the whole creation, and must there- 

 fore ennoble and improve them. The occasion appeared 

 to me opportune for publicly asserting my convictions, 

 since the unshakable belief in the beneficial conse- 

 quences of the undisturbed development of the Age 

 of Science is alone competent to repel with success 

 all the fanatical attacks which threaten human civili- 

 zation on all sides. 



It is not sufficient however to leave scientific 

 engineering to its own undisturbed development, it is 



