The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-27 00:00:00

Science and Superstition.

*-
Yesterday afternoon the Rev. Charles Kingsley
delivered his second and concluding lecture at the
Royal Institution, " On Science and Superstition,
to a crowded audience. In his first lecture on Tues-
day he briefly defined superstition to be fear of the
unknown, and in a powerful and eloquent discourse
.
he showed that superstition is altogether a physical
Question, and that the savage man, afraid of nature
because unable to cope with her, tries to propitlatlle
the natural agencies which seem to him persona.
superstitions, he observed, maybe explained as being
developments of that law, and he adduced nurnerolls
illustrations in support of thatposition. The second
lecture, yesterday, was devoted to the consideration
of science, the great enemy of superstition. As the
savage is afraid of natural agencies, from his lila:
bility to cope with them, it required great courage,
in those who first boldly attempted to comprehencl
them ; and the present position of science is due ted.3
very few brave men, who had not only to centers
with nature, but to struggle against public opial°l3;
Mr. Kingsley forcibly pictured the condition °'
those men who were investigating scientific truths
amidst the suspicions and dislike of their le'.
low-countrymen, who viewed their progres°
with alarm and too often stopped their career 131
death. He expressed warm admiration of the an-
cient Chaldeans, who first discovered the distinction
and of th.e
between the planets and the fixed stars ;
Greeks and Romans, who added by little and WI:
to the stock of knowledge, until they became frigil,s;
ened at the extent of their discoveries, and relapsed'
into a state of superstition little above that of the
savage. He attributed much of the stimulus to ilia
vestigation in early ages to the Jewish religion anite
to the Hebrew writings, and briefly alludeciAo
some of the men who, in the darkness of the meddle
ages, shone forth as the lights and were the martYrie
of science. It was not, however, until the ma'id
of the 16th century that any solid foundation wil
laid for scientfic inquiry, and he attributed the rare
advance afterwards made in this country in s°,lll,
lici
measure to the foundation of the Royal Socleiv
Again and again in the course of his lecture
Mr. Kingsley with much force and animation all
claim against those who at the present day, ae.svnece
as in former times, opposed the progress of aelem d
from fear of the conseences to which it may lea;
and he condemned ins till stronger language tbO
who, admitting that science should be atti.ll3o:
at the same time would limit the comlounileto
ton of it to their own ideas of what was suitable to
the generality of mankind. His views of science
were very comprehensive. The attainment of. a;
new fact he regarded an important advance in V1°0;
which does not require a specially-trained minds oo
its knowledge and discovery, but only the Ocerbs,
of the ordinary powers of the mind, guided 11'0
judgment and common sense. In that light tiy
considered the writings of Mr. Carlyle as erainen
scientific, and a knowledge of them essential t°l3g
good education. He took occasion, when viewion
science in this light, to denounce the existing sYs,` io
of educating the young of both sexes in a certain..
routine without regard to their peculiar
_at
telectual faculties. He pointed out with groe i 0
force what science has already done for man, 157.116
still, however, in a semi-barbarous state, and 11/.0
cated what it might do hereafter. Science, in 'it
Kingsley's view of it, is synonymous with wiscl%;
and he concluded the lecture by quoting the pass 3/..
from Solomon, "All her ways are ways of please:lie
i
ness, and all her paths are peace," adding t° "th
quotation that the Creator formed the earth sv
knowledge, and founded the heavens with visa°o.
The language in which the lectures were written
was vigorous -and eloquent, and Mr. eof
delivered them with great energy and variety :
expression, though a strong intonation
detracte
from the impression produced until the ear benalil
accustomed to it.