CLARENCE E. DUTTON-RELATION OP SCIENCE TO CIVILIZATION. 
35 
may not at first be so obvious as the other, but a moment’s consideration 
will make it so. I do not refer here so much to the separate actions of 
individuals as to the collective actions of societies and communities. 
Men have always known that certain actions were wrong and their con¬ 
sequences evil. They have always known that murder, theft and rob¬ 
bery, lying, treachery, slander, cruelty, and covetousness were alike 
wrong and harmful, not only to those immediatel} r injured, but to every¬ 
body. But there have been many convictions pervading communities 
and peoples, and embodied in their laws and customs which were once 
believed to be right in principle and beneficial in their results, but which 
are no longer so regarded. In brief, the world has learned better. For 
instance, the whole theory of civil liberty as founded upon natural right 
and justice has undergone a complete revolution in modern times. 
Equally momentous have been the consequences of separating the func¬ 
tions of church and state, which has very much improved the conduct of 
the state, and also elevated and purified the church, wherever the separa¬ 
tion has been accomplished. 
Modern advancement then, both moral and material, is the outcome of 
the world’s advancement in knowledge. Yet the statement is not com¬ 
plete. For it still remains to inquire why one civilized nation should 
advance in knowledge, in the arts, and in morals, while another should re¬ 
main stationary, or perhaps should even retrograde;—why Europe and 
portions of America should be moving forward with accelerating speed, 
while Asia stands still. Surely no one will question the civilization of 
the oldest of all nations, China, and the next oldest, India. There is 
learning in China, there are libraries, colleges and scholars, and there 
are men of learning who are held in high honor. The cumulative wis¬ 
dom and knowledge of forty centuries are written in their books, and 
embodied in the manners and customs of the people. India, too, has for 
many centuries been the home of philosophers and sages replete with the 
learning of the east. But neither China nor India are endowed with 
motive forces of progress. In truth, it is the opinion of most oriental¬ 
ists that during the last two or three centuries China has in some respects 
retrograded, and it is evident that the recent progress of India is only 
such as has been forced upon her by the terrible power and constraint of 
her British conqueror. Why is it that the knowledge of the Occident 
has brought such vast progress while that of the orient has brought 
none ? 
The answer is that the knowledge of the west is scientific knowledge, 
while that of the east is unscientific. 
But what is science, and how does scientific knowledge differ from 
knowledge which is unscientific ? I would answer that science is knowl¬ 
edge employed for the obtaining of more knowledge and new uses of 
