The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-30
TN THE CAMP AT ACTON.
A Most Auspicious Opening of the
Preliminary Season of Lectures.
1.-The Science of History" Discussed BY Prof.
Ridpath-Dr A. A. Willis Glowing
Picture Of 1.-The Model Wife,"

with two frstclass lectures, and it is proper to
say that everyone was delighted, and never be-
fore has there been a more auspicious beginning
atthis famous camp ground. Rev DR.. f. c. Holii-
day opened the meeting with prayer, the lecturer
of the afternoon Prof j. c. Ridpath being in
troduced by Hon. Will Cumback. Prof Rid
path spoke substantially AS follows, his subject
being 'The Science of History
rs there, can there be science of history
Some of the great thinkers of our times have
answered this question in one way, and some IN
another. Mr.. Buckle has declared that history,
rightly considered, is the science of sciences, the
one great branch of learning into which all others
are merged On the other hand, the historian
Froude tells u.s. that, to his mind, there is some
thing incongruous in the association of the two
words-science and history. He says that history
appears to MIN as box of child's block letters,
sut of which you can spell any words you please.
He says that to speak of science of history is
as if We should speak Of the color of sound or
the latitude Of the rule of three. In this con-
trarety of opinions it may be we'll for to con-
slider the question as original problem-ls
there then a science of history?
I'm the first place must consider what
science is. science may be properly defined as
n systematic arrangement of the laws which
govern any group of facts or phenomena. Or
we may say it is the systematic arrangement of
laws by which any group of facts or pho
nomena are governed. The first thing, then is
facts. We must have facts to begin with.
No facts, no scienca. All those alleged sciences
therefore, which have no facts at the bottom,
are not sciences at all. 1t is maudlin nonsense
to talk of science when there are facts in
the thing considered. What then, shall, we say
of phrenology, of psychic dvnamics of table
fitting, spiritualism clairvoyance demonology
and all that class of miscellaneous devtry and
superstition} Such things never be scientific,
for the reason that there are no facts to begin
with, In the next place the facts, must be asso
,ciated. They must be joined together by some
common law, and yield to classification, to be
arranged into groups and categories. Otherwise
there can be no science
eff your facts stand apart and refuse to be
classified it is evidence that they are not subject
to scientific treatment If your facts be rail
roads, asteroids and Mohammedans, you can
have no science. If they be ghosts, fortune
tellers and dog stars, you can have no science
If they be mountains, platinum and geese,
there can be no science. 1t is not enough that
we have facts, and that they be subject to
classification; must also have interpreta
ton of the facts The old world was as full of
facts as the new world, but the new world is an
interpreter. The Interpretation of the unknown
into the known is the essence of science.
Science explains in terms of the
known the thing that was before unknown She
uncovers the living principle of things and
discovers the law by which facts are bound to-
gether, and. in the next place. if we will be sci
entific, we must also DO able to tell what will
come to pass hereafter. Interpretation looks to
the present and the past; she also looks to the
future, and has the gift of prophecy Not salts
ied with making plain what is and has been, she
cooks to the future and explains what is to be.
The laws and processes which have prevailed
among the phenomena of nature furnish anao
gies by which not only the present but the flu
ture, also, is to be revealed If given acid dis
solved given metal wear ago. it will do so to-
day and to morrow. If the black powder dis
covered by Roger Bacon exploded by ignition,
the same powder will explode to-day and will
explode always. If the forest of fir gave place
to the forest of oak in the prehistoric woods the
same thing will happen today and hereafter.
SIS there any kind of knowledge which is
based on facts-on facts classified and on facts
Interpreted l answer, yes. Geology is sci
ence. Her facts are found in the strata of the
earth. These facts have been classified and
interpreted. We know the past history
of the earth, and we also know
something of the destiny of our
globe hereafter. Astronomy is a science. Here
the facts are the worlds of space, of which our
own is but grain of sand. We understand our
solar system. and have subjected it to scientific
treatment We can demonstrate it's mysteries
10 child We can set up pumpkin for Jupi-
ser, with apples stuck in for satellites. and the
child will not only understand it, but will think
it funny You can explain the galaxy to num-
Skull You can teach the phases of the moon to
Barkis herself. Can you tell if they had
eclipse of the sun in August. 17549 Certainly.
Can you tell whether the moon was eclipsed in
In the month when Charlemague was born?
Certainly. Can you tell whether there was an
occultation of Orion the night that Mshomet fled
from Mecca Yes. Can you tell if Venus was in
transit when Caesar crossed the Rubicon? To b e
sure. AS to the future, you tell whether
shall have crescent or waning moon on the night
of Nov. 20, 400l2 Certainly Can you give us a
table of eclipses for the summer of 1910? Yes.
Can you tell US the position of Mercury, which
few of US have ever seen, and the aspect of the
Pleiades for 10 o'clock on the evening Of
April -, "a, 625 Oh yes with pleasure, and so
on to the infinites
but to the immediate theme in hand, is his
tory then science! 1t may defined as record
of the thoughts, deeds and works of the human
race. Whatever man has accomplished with
mind or hand, with tongue implement, with
voice or will, with pen or chisel, or Ratchet, or
spear or sword, with plow, or keel, or level, with
lire, or wood or steam, or battery, that is part
of history. Man has done wonders in our planet
He has cut down forests and built houses; he
has bridged rivers and made sailing boats; he
has beaten back the cohorts of savagery and
dgged and found the metals; he has crossed the
illimitaDle seas and scared the channels out of
abe Businesses of the mountains. He has digged
wells in the heart of the burning Sahara and
slept in ice huts under the pole. He has created
States IN the wilderness and kingdoms on the
plains. He has reared high walls, and obelisks,
and temples. he has wrought usages into insti-
buttons customs into laws manners into society.
II has called UP armies and put battle-axes in
bhelr hands. tie has quarreled, and fought,
and made captives and conquered and been con
quered He has burned towns and entered into
conspiraces and torn up Senate houses
and sacked and pillagod with violence and up
roar the homes of both living and dead. till the
traces Of his madness and the stains of his blood
have marked every quarter of the world
These things constitute the facts of history.
suppose that no other field of human knowl-
edge is 50 richly supplied with facts These
facts constitute the basis for the science of his
tory, and. in so far as the demand for facts is
concerned, history is a science. The next thing
to be considered is whether or not these facts are
SUBJECT TO classification and arrangement. Here
the difficulty begins Reflect moment on the
subject matter of history. Observe the insuper-
able objections which the facts present Then
plans and purposes have their origin; what
thought they have for their substratum. Then
the unmanageable passions and capricous i'm
pulses of their beginning When the fact of
history has once occurred, it does not remain to