AS TO THE KELATIONS OP SCIENCE AND FAITH. 221 



the remembrance of the treatment meted ont towards the 

 geologists by men of his own kind. The fact of many 

 changes redounds to the credit of science, if these changes, 

 though limping and often stumbling, are on the Avhole 

 progressive. The same objection is constantly reproduced 

 in newspapers, showing obtuseness that will condemn a 

 branch of science because of its manifold advances. Will 

 men condemn Geography because the map of the world has 

 changed so much within the last century? Or will they 

 condemn electricity because of the changes effected in it 

 since Franklin hoisted his kite ? A living science is always 

 undergoing change, just as the living body is in a continual 

 flux ; by many tentative eff'orts after light and truth, often 

 with steps backwards, the research goes to ncAV fields. The 

 geologists had hard times between their own unavoidable 

 blundering and the sharp criticism of many who did not 

 sympathize with them and did not comprehend their mission. 

 The blame of opposing them does not belong exclusively to 

 the clergy; professors in universities, eminent physicians, 

 lawyers, men of humanistic and even scientific culture, all 

 looked askance on the young foundling that Avas seeking ad- 

 mission to the family of the sciences. We cannot understand 

 how any intelligent Christian can now refiain from thanking 

 God, and blessing the memory of the early geologists who 

 fought for and won the liberty of studying in their own way 

 the structiu'e of the earth's crust. A living science, like a 

 living college, and like a mighty nation, must be always 

 changing, seeking something higher, and will regard its 

 early struggles as the most honourable part of its history. 

 On the other hand, a perfect science, no longer changing, is 

 dead, useful perhaps to guide Chinese artisans in its applica- 

 tions, but mi worthy of further research. One of the draAv- 

 backs of the ancient classics as frequently studied is that 

 they live too much in the past, without opening new lines of 

 research : like aristocratic families that are proud of their 

 record, though now decadent. Fiven in the classics, men like 

 William Ramsay have opened new lines of research Avhich 

 are reviving the fascination exercised by such studies on our 

 ancestors ; and the great attraction of the sciences is that 

 they send their students in search of ncAv fields. 



6. We take the opportunity of challenging a common 

 assumption as to the Scripture narratiA^e of the Noachian 

 deluge. It is supposed that Avhethei- universal or local it 

 must haA^e been simultaneous. A series of successiA'-e 



