January 2, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



render it more difficult for such people to 

 execute their designs. A century hence 

 it may be impossible for brutal power, how- 

 ever rich and great, to destroy a resolute 

 people. It is in this direction that we 

 may look for international harmony and 

 peace, simply because science will make 

 war too dangerous and too costly. 



The influence of the sciences in bringing 

 men of different nationalities into harmony 

 is great. This is done largely by the com- 

 mon languages that are formed in each sci- 

 ence. In mathematics the language is so 

 well formed and generally adopted that 

 mathematicians all over the world have no 

 trouble in understanding one another. It 

 may be difficult to read Russian, but 

 every one can read the formulas of Tche- 

 bitehef and Lobaschewsky. In astron- 

 omy the common language is nearly as well 

 established, so that there is little difficulty 

 in understanding the astronomy of differ- 

 ent nations. A similar process is going on 

 in chemistry, botany and in the other sci- 

 ences. When men are striving for the 

 discovery of truth in its various manifesta- 

 tions, they learn that it is by correcting 

 the mistakes of preceding investigators 

 that progress is made, and they have 

 charity for criticism. Hence persecution 

 for difference of opinion becomes an ab- 

 surdity. The labors of scientific men are 

 forming a great body of doctrine that can 

 be appealed to with confidence in all coun- 

 tries. Such labors bring people together, 

 and tend to break down national barriers 

 and restrictions. The scientific creed is 

 constantly growing and expanding, and we 

 have no fears, but rejoice at its growth. 

 We need no consistory of bishops, nor 

 synod of ministers, to teU us what to be- 

 lieve. Everything is open to investigation 

 .and criticism. 



In our country Ave have one of the great- 

 .est theaters for national life that the world 



has ever seen. Stretching three thousand 

 miles from ocean to ocean, and covering 

 the rich valleys of the great rivers, we 

 have a land of immense resources. Here 

 is a vast field for scientific work of various 

 kinds. No doubt the men of the future 

 will be competent to solve the problems 

 that will arise. Let us hope that our 

 national character will be just and humane, 

 and that we may depart from the old 

 custom of robbing and devouring weak 

 peoples. Any one who saw the confusion 

 and waste in this city in 1862 might well 

 have despaired of the Republic; and he 

 who saw the armies of Grant and Sher- 

 man pass through the city in 1865 felt that 

 he need fear no foreign foe .- neither French 

 emperor, nor English nobleman nor the 

 sneers of Carlyle. To destroy a democracy 

 by external force the blows must be quick 

 and hard, because its power of recupera- 

 tion is great. The danger will come from 

 internal forces produced by false political 

 and social theories, since we offer such a 

 great field for the action of charlatans. 

 Our schools and colleges send forth every 

 year many educated people, and it is some- 

 times disheartening to see how little in- 

 fiuence these people have in public life. 

 Those who are trained in the humanities 

 and churches ought to be humane in deal- 

 ing with other people, ready to meet great 

 emergencies and powerful to control bad 

 tendencies in national affairs. But this 

 is rarely the case. On the other hand the 

 most unscrupulous apologists and perse- 

 cutors have been educated men, and the 

 heroes of humanity have come from the 

 common people. This anomaly points to 

 something wrong in the system of educa- 

 tion, which should disappear. The in- 

 crease and teaching of scientific ideas will 

 be the best means of establishing simple 

 and natural rules of life. Nature, and 

 science her interpreter, teach us to be 



