497 



hed. New interpretations t'c 

 conflict with the scientific fac 

 ut difficulty. These much fe 

 of the strongest and most co 



has been beneficial. Scholastic interpretations founded upon im- 

 perfect knowledge, or no knowledge, but mere guess, have been 

 replaced by sound criticism of the texts, and their exegesis in 

 accordance with the times and circumstances for which they were 

 written. 



It must be conceded by fair minded men of both sides that these 

 controversies were carried on at times with a rudeness of expres- 

 sion and bitterness of feeling now abhorrent to our usages. The 

 intellectual wars of those days partook of the brutality of physical 

 war, and the horrors of the latter, as you know, have been ameli- 



I fear that the unhappy spirit of contention still survives, and 

 that there are yet a few who fight for victory rather than for truth. 

 The deceptive spirit of Voltaire still buds forth occasionally ; he, 

 who, as you remember, disputed the organic nature of fossil -lielU, 



would be used by others as a proof of a universal Noachian deluge. 

 The power of such spirits is fortunately gone for any potent influ- 

 ence for evil, gone *with the equally obstructive influence of the 

 scholastics with whom they formerly contended. 



Since then, there is no occasion for strict Science and pure Re- 

 ligion to be in conflict, how shall the peace be kept between them ? 



By Toleration and Patience. Toleration towards those who 

 believe less than we do, in the hope that they, by cultivation or 

 inheritance of aesthetic perception, will be prepared to accept 

 something more than Matter and Energy in the Universe, and to 

 believe that Vitality is not altogether undirected Colloid Chem- 

 istry. 



Toleration also towards those who, on what we think misunder- 

 stood or insufficient evidence, demand more than we are prepared 

 to admit, in the hope that they will revise additional texts which 



