IV. 



THE RELIGIOUS WORK OF SCIENCE. 



I HAVE been asked to speak on this occasion upon the 

 important subject of Religion and Science. Much has been 

 said concerning it, and much more will have to be said before 

 the public are duly instructed as to the relation they bear 

 to each other. I have had no time to prepare anything at 

 all worthy the greatness and interest of the topic, and can 

 only offer you some rough suggestions, very hastily drawn 

 up, concerning one of its aspects, viz.. The Religious Work 

 of Science. There is deep meaning in the phrase " revolu- 

 tions of thought," for in the advance of opinion ideas not 

 only diverge, but they go round to opposite positions ; they 

 are not only modified, but reversed, and propositions long 

 held as true often turn out to be not only erroneous, but 

 the exact opposite of the truth. The earth, for example, 

 was first supposed to be flat — it is now known to be round ; 

 it was long believed to be stationary — it is now known to 

 be in rapid motion ; it was long considered as of very re- 

 cent origin — it is now recognized as having had an incal- 

 culable antiquity. Such total inversions of belief are 

 numerous in the past course of thought, and are destined, 

 I suspect, to become still more numerous in the future. I 

 think it will turn out that our present subject furnishes 

 another illustration of it. Science has long been regarded 

 and is still widely believed to be the antagonist of religion ; 

 the time is not distant when it will be accepted as its most 

 powerful ally and best friend. 



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