SCIENCE AND MAN 



93 



instead of being the creators, of man's 

 moral nature ? I think it is in one of 

 the Latter-Day Pamphlets that Carlyle 

 corrects a reasoner, who deduced the 

 nobility of man from a belief in heaven, 

 by telling him that he puts the cart 

 before the horse, the real truth being 

 that the belief in heaven is derived from 

 the nobility of man. The bird's instinct 

 to weave its nest is referred to by Emerson 

 as typical of the force which built cathe- 

 drals, temples, and pyramids : 



" Knowest thou what wove yon woodbird's nest 

 Of leaves and feathers from her breast, 

 Or how the fish outbuilt its shell, 

 Painting with morn each annual cell ? 

 Such and so grew these holy piles 

 While love and terror laid the tiles ; 

 Earth proudly wears the Parthenon 

 As the best gem upon her zone ; 

 And Morning opes with haste her lids 

 To gaze upon the Pyramids ; 

 O'er England's abbeys bends the sky 

 As on its friends with kindred eye ; ' 

 For out of Thought's interior sphere 

 These wonders rose to upper air, 

 And nature gladly gave them place, 

 Adopted them into her race, 

 And granted them an equal date 

 With Andes and with Ararat." 

 Surely, many utterances which have been 

 accepted as descriptions ought to be 

 interpreted as aspirations, or as having 

 their roots in aspiration instead of in 

 objective knowledge. Does the song of 

 the herald angels, " Glory to God in the 

 highest, and on earth peace, goodwill 

 toward men," express the exaltation and 

 the yearning of a human soul ? or does 

 it describe an optical and acoustical fact 

 a visible host and an audible song? 

 If the former, the exaltation and the 

 yearning are man's imperishable posses- 

 sion a ferment long confined to indivi- 

 duals, but which may by-and-by become 

 the leaven of the race. If the latter, 

 then belief in the entire transaction is 



wrecked by non-fulfilment. Look to the 

 East at the present moment as a com- 

 ment on the promise of peace on earth 

 and goodwill toward men. That promise 

 is a dream ruined by the experience of 

 eighteen centuries, and in that ruin is 

 involved the claim of the "heavenly 

 host " to prophetic vision. But though 

 the mechanical theory proves untenable, 

 the immortal song and the feelings it 

 expresses are still ours, to be incorporated, 

 let us hope, in purer and less shadowy 

 forms in the poetry, philosophy, and 

 practice of the future. 



Thus, following the lead of physical 

 science, we are brought without solution 

 of continuity into the presence of pro- 

 blems which, as usually classified, lie 

 entirely outside the domain of physics. 

 To these problems thoughtful and pene- 

 trative minds are now applying those 

 methods of research which in physical 

 science have proved their truth by their 

 fruits. There is on all hands a growing 

 repugnance to invoke the supernatural 

 in accounting for the phenomena of 

 human life; and the thoughtful minds 

 just referred to, finding no trace of 

 evidence in favour of any other origin, 

 are driven to seek in the interaction of 

 social forces the genesis and development 

 of man's moral nature. If they succeed 

 in their search and I think they are 

 sure to succeed social duty will be 

 raised to a higher level of significance, 

 and the deepening sense of social duty 

 will, it is to be hoped, lessen, if not 

 obliterate, the strifes and heartburnings 

 which now beset and disfigure our social 

 life. Towards this great end it behoves 

 us one and all to work ; and devoutly 

 wishing its consummation, I have the 

 honour, ladies and gentlemen, to bid you 

 a friendly farewell. 



