Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-06-09
MGR. oApEL's LECTURE.
An Able Address on sac SuDlee' "
Religion and science

last night, and his lecture, 10 hehSoA
Onnosed to Science?" was listened to with
GREAT interest. Mgr. Capel was INTRO
duced to the audience by Governor Muir
raw as the distinguished Mgr. Capel OF
whom we have all heard.
Monsignor, in his opening remarks
thanked the Governor, but said it would
have been better to have termed him the
notorious Mgr. Capel. This placed him
and his audience Immediately on friend
w footing. and gave to each that sympa-
thv which always makes an evening oo
entertaining.
His first illustration was that OF man
who dares not balance his books, rearing
70 find them largest on the wrong slae'
So If is with a great many in investigating
the apparent conflicts between science
and religion. The balance, though, is
usually found to be on the right side
when men were bold enough to find out
for themselves. He pointed out the great
difference between true science, and the
facts of nature with which science
has to deal. True science, SAID Monslg-
nor discovers the law which controls
these facts. The discovery OF TACT Is
NOT the discovery of a law. Nor Is
scientific theory of the true relation OF
these facts science. Their law is eternal,
while the theories regarding that law
change. The MonsignOr illustrated
fhe inacc1racv of common language
| in speaking of things by saying there
was not a person in the audience who
would not understand this sentence: u
will meet YOU tomorrow at Z p. m, just
before sunset" And yet, said Mgr,
nothing could be more inaccurate
| than this. and if an astronomical TREND
were appealed to to say wherein the sen
tence was inaccurate, he would tell you
that the sun never sets. This very wei
illustrated the general unscientltic use OF
language.
He illustrated the conception of eternal
things by saying that we never say that
two and two were four or will be TOUR,
but that two and two are four, always
have been and ever will be. 1t was non
sense to say that man cannot conceive
of eternity.
not otherwise be known by man.
There is no conflict between
revelation and science, for they
are as two railroad tracks, the one
He illustrated what substance was by
telling the story of the Irishman. When
asked what the matter was of which the
table was composed, he replied: "Nevel
mind" When asked what was mind, he
answered: ''No matter" This illustrated
the limit of our knowledge of the essence
of things.
Revelation was the making known OF
things by God directly, and which could
above the other, revelation being the
upper one, science the lower one, and
they might travel to the end OF the world
and there would never be any conflict
He denied that there was a single dogma
of Holy Church which in any way for
babe the pursuit of science and the fol-
flowing of its conclusion to logicalresult
Holy Church only forbade its members
to sustain scientific theories and con-
illusions by invoking the author
Iity of Scripture. This was the
crime of Calico, and the thing for
which he was punished. He challenged
any person in the audience ocite a single
dogma of the Mother Church which in
any way confiicted with science.
The infallibility of the Pope could moi
determine whether a scientific theory was
true or not. 1t was not its domain; its
province is the moral world, and the in
terprepation of Gods will as made known
through revelation. Science sometime:
conflicts with spurious revelation, with
which you seem to be troubled here tt
some extent, but never with true revela
ton.
The scientific men of to-day would
have everything their own way as t.
theories of things, were it not for the
Catholic Church, as they did not care
anything for the various denomination
, of Protestants. Mgr could not join il
, the condemnation of the Middle Age!
+ and their light and learning which wa
so popular, nor condemn the Church fo
her course when she was the mothe
1 and mistress of Europe, especially
: when he remembered that some O
g the most important discoveries which
T have advanced the world were made be
: fore the time of Luther and the apostac,
of the Protestants. Among these thing
t were the art of printing; the telescope
). the microscope; spectacles; the pendu
|, lum the mariners compass; and others
/ He spoke of the work which had beef
s done in discovering the circulation of tn
}. blood by the universities of Pisa AM
Pavia, some centuries before Harvey.
To do Mgr Capel justice is impossible
: in brief report, and even verbatim
o report would be inadequate His man
5 ner of speaking is polished, dignifed ant
/ earnest; it is the manner of a schola
I without the stiffness of university pre-
II lessor. He lectures again to-morro,
evening, his subject being "Man's Rela
+ tons to the Other World"