ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. a 
the Victorian era should be found alongside vhe grave- of 
the only other philosopher of the past whose revolutionary effect, 
upon thought can at all be compared with his own. The dis- 
coveries of Sir Isaac Newton—the most remarkable mathema- 
tician and greatest natural philosopher of his own or any other 
age—can, I think, alone be brought into competition with those 
of Darwin, whose faithful, patient, and laborious application, of 
the Baconian theory of induction has brought about so complete a 
revolution in scientific thought. We can all remember the fierce 
theological storm which raged about the head of this earnest. in- 
quirer after truth, who, by his “Origin of Species” and theory of 
“evolution,” challenged ancient traditions, and gave a severe shock 
to time-honored principles of faith. It was soon, however, dis- 
covered that Darwin was rather a patient investigator of facts 
than a daring theorist, and that, whatever might be his con- 
clusions, the mass of facts he had collected with unparalleled in- 
dustry and sagacity were no inconsiderable contribution to human 
knowledge. It is not too much to say that had Darwin’s life been 
cut off a quarter of a century ago, no one would have had the 
temerity to suggest that his memory should have been so conspi- 
cuously honored as it has been by giving him a final resting-place 
among England’s greatest worthies. But the panic. created by his 
discoveries has subsided, and science has at length come to be re- 
garded, not as the enemy, but as the handmaid of religion. The 
greatness of the revolution that has taken place in human thought, 
and the abatement of honest but unreasonable alarm at modern 
discoveries, are vividly illustrated by the profound homage paid to 
the deceased philosopher by the foremost orthodox divines of the 
day. 
The “evolution” theory, which a quarter of a century ago was. 
denounced as leading to materialism, is now recognized as in no 
way alien to the Christian religion. Darwin had the happiness of 
living down the clamour created by his grand discoveries ; and even 
where his theories have not been accepted, he has long since been 
recognized as a modest, reverent, and earnest searcher after truth. 
Both in Minienlase Abbey and in St. Paul’s Cathedral the great: 
