New-York tribune., 1877-06-27
THE ADDRESS.

IN tis Young strong Institution. We are mere tha' VIC
NAV make the human circuit complete ana ieeI 'le cur
RET Of common pride glow from brain TO DFah. IN
relebrating the honest, manly growth OF the sAeueo
s.+ec school among the feelings which animate ns'
veueratop for antiquity huds no place. IL Is eoAo" "s
70 look back ino the real past, FOR the oret 4"po u
thirty years c0mpasses the life OF the school Au"' s
,er,os however. has amply suticcd 10 develop, WIN
postive dstlnctness the motive ana anlmus oi 'nc ~
ta,Ion It's peculiar character is fixed reverence ior
rarrn truth and the deep earnest scientific metlous OF
searching after IT, are what Is taught herc 50 hat VIC
Go have PASSED beyond these doors are gladly well
eoed among that resoute band of natureS VINO
beth propel and guide the great powsare OF science On
through the virgin sod OF the unknown
II is centuries too late TO define or establish tne
,,pe of science Is numberlcss applications when
And daily expression in the material appointments OF
ue and serve 20 refine elevate TO render more adj
rirahe the necanism Of civilization, have long since
pf that question 40 rest Let us hope that as means
ofcearn- away the endless rubbish OF false IDEAS from
IN, human intellect for the lifting OF man out OF the
sir,n of Ignorance scientific method and scientific
education arc acknowledged be adequate not su-
peue We may congratulate ourselves: for that victory
Is wou At last modern society admits that bnowedse
Of the laws which govern the cosnlLaoie uni
verse and the possession VI the only methoO'
which can advance that sort OF knowledge,
oresuppo,cs, nay even develops, an Intellect Doth
vital and broad If II Amcric. science IS mode ef edu-
cation has ou her way the 'front.' is due, Ia prohi-
neut measure 20 the honest training Of the sAci1cd
Scientific school time VIII render this institution us
unfailue reward
CATAsrROPHIsM AND EVOLUTION.
Honorcd by the invitation 10 address you to-day,
have choseu 70 present contribution to the theory
ot Catastropaisn and ITS connection with Evolution,
feeling that however slight this contribution may be- IS
NY own il Is a direct OurOWh OF tins school and th"t
turn from the far aud more attractive achieve
mcnts OK Others from the wealth OF literary ana pAo-
sophie materials which press forward Tor utertnee ana
briac here something which have reached myself it
vii afford YOU a more intimate interest have hoped
too that other graduates VIII feel have and that
wear v wear men might stand here fresh from the battle
field OF life OF the very heat Of tAe strife to tel us
Of their struggles and hang the shields they have Won
Al,ne the walls Of this temple Of science L ask you
then TO listen 70 plain statement Of my views Of Catas
troth sm and the Evolution Ot Environment.
The earliest geological Induction Of pumeval man is
the doc,uue oi terrestrial catastrophe This ancen;
belief has s roots in tho actual experience or man. VINO
himself las been witness Of certain terrible and de-
structive exhibitions Of sudden, unusual tcAurc energy
Here in America species has seen the vast
massive eriptous OF PiOccue basait. The destructive
invasion Of northern lands by tie slowmarcuS ice OF
the Glacial period has struggled with the hardly con-
eeyable foods which marked the recession OF nc frozen
age has felt the solid earth shudder beneath its feet
an the very continent change is conhguraton Yet
all these phenomena are no longer repeated nothing
calm.
Catastrcphsm "a therefore the survival Of terrible
impression burned upOn the very substance Of human
memory The doctrine was also arrived &c IN very early
times by our modern method OF reasoning from marine
fossils observed 90 be euOmbed in rocky beds Idr re-
moved from the present seas; beds which compel the
natural inference that they bottoms upheayed
Ills Induction IS poeuc,y touched in the Rig Yedas, is
stated in scientific method with surprising frequency
among the Greeks, and in the writings OF most
earthstudeuts ever since.
Plutarch in his Morals gives vivid account Of an in
teryiew between an Egyptian priest and wise Solon
who. in the open-miudedness OF truly great man
searching after mmemorl knowledge. had come TO sit
,I 0 - master in tha+ simple eoguence which
Of really knowing. the priest tells MIN OF the
catistruphes OF suDmergcncc ana uphcaVal Wicn Jhe
eqrfs surface has suffered aud his method den-
mhcOr of tine Hellenic culture, master OF the pOlShed
leauug OF his country and his day, sitting wthn lle
shades OF that hoary temple, listening devOuty 20 tc
lips OF one who spoke as out OF the dark vault oi e
pas and told how the solid continents we're thhks Oi
tme born bat lately from the womb oi the sea-
When complete evidence Of the antiquity 0i man IN
California AND the catasrOphes ne mas survived come ~
be generally understood there viii cease 70 DC any %9n
DER that theory 81 tnc DESTRUCTIVE IN n ,iiS rs an ny
ueepB Iooed aIthdc DeIei' inoSt poWcIi "! lt3 eHcy
on tAe Imagination. Catastrophe speaking historically
both On awful memory of mankind and very early
piece OF pure scieutihc lhdtct"u Alter ~ came 20 oe
woven into the Slushril, Hebrew, and Mpldmncdtu
cosmogoues, its perpctuatioD was q matter o course.
From tde DtueFefs IN catastrophe tucic i-' hO""Frf
totally different class OF minds, whose dominant
"a
tl"n ti' lI'stul' or 20 conceive cohNi.'t "-'---
Their senses have never reported. They ack tlc very
Of intellectual near-sightcdncss too lameatahy common
among ai grades and pIOfcssiO q men. They are
eoundci mlehJ almost say imprisoned u} the cvl'ew
trs au ideas of tncr own to-day and tlcr OVID environ
mrnL VITA that sort Of detect shagplc,s ot vision
Which is often charac uSlc OF those VINO caI see FAR
3y nd their noses. these men have most ably acc iuu
aied n impressive array of geolOg cal facts relating To
Grated themselves with the present mOdgs gpcruHdi o.
seoos cal energy, and eliminating in Lye nave l0undeG
Ac tftsA school Vi JEI0rlnlfArltulsla.
CAIAsTROPHlsTs ASD UNIFOBM1rAI!IANS.
Men are born either Cltassupllsls or Uult4rmarans.
You may divide the int. l,a yiuauve people who
believe ln all sorts Of impending eses-physictl tl social
poAucal-4ud others Who anchor their very souls 90
ft1tf geo. There are men VINO build arIs straight
through their natural lives. redy for the fir. spriake
All there others Who do.not watch Old Probabilities
or even own an umbrella This fundamental GiIercn-
Ration expresses itself in geology by means OF the two
historic .oct- Of Catastrophsts ana Uniformi.ariaus
Caastrophism. doubt not the Only scuool among
Tie PAccene C19mians after their families and tac
FAMILIAR fauna and fora Of their environment had been
swept out Of existence by basaiis and floods. As
understood by Archaic man. by the Oncntals the carly
Lsypf.ans. tie Greeks. the Arabs. and indeed until
11oqi,I Wilm TIE century ny tAe Eio"n.t 'eilel ~
H. ,eNc genesis, or the Un"rokeh eohtlnl OF ~ .ll'
NE from s first introduction on the planet, Citaslfo-
P-sm Ras briefly tAis:
tunara in time f0m two d1ys-Ae period assigned ny
ht Koran o. au indefinite extension Of ages Tie io"e
'f'.a+tttfta
ccitl upon ts surface ~ concealed primitive IoeA thf
condensed rial waters which iOrmeg at inst general
oeenic envelope, s1atug the whole carth OuJ OF inis
unfciral sea emerged cOEtuc4ts aud as soon Us te
temperature and atmospheric conditions were suitable
IyW organisms both Of the vegetable and animal alg
.os we're created and tho complex machinery OI 4l!c
- u successful motion.
The great 0DyiDus changes iu the rocky crust
ieIttd to few processes; the suacrai decay OF coht
.ehla delivery Dy eTrsns of ltuddetrtus into tc sea
tAe spreading out Of these c0mAiuutcd materials upon
pesgc floor, and lastly upEeayal, by which oceanic
gels we're lifted up INTO subsequent land masses All
tHcse processes held 10 have more rapid III the
l4sl han now. suddeuncss Worldwide desrictiyeness