The Cecil Whig., 1886-01-16


FL aced among the list of intidels, though
many Of his disciples can. He has beer
called the scientific light of the nineteenth
century; COmpte, the author of the Positiv,
Philosophy; Ralph Waldo Emerson, ant
his Boston school, and host of scientific
students turned out upon the world by the
great intidel universities of Germany am
| Spain. Whether the last class of philoSo
! piers have not done as much good to the
church as evil is a mooted question. When
Il seeming conflict between religion and
science arises, there are two causes to which
it may be attributed, viz. The impertec-
| tiOuS of science or mistakes in the transla
| tion or Interpretation of the Holy Scripture,
| and there can be no doubt but that many
! truths discovered by these scientists have
| greatly aided in overruling the errors of re.
| ligion. With pleasure we turn from the
contemplation of these intdels, ,materialists,
| agnostics, deists atheists and the realms of
| skeptical thought, to that higher, truer,
nobler and elevating philosophy and science,
which has been the boon of mankind. Let
up il'iN iFlit" llt WI n VI Vic Iltu W uO
have made it what it is. The list is so eX-
| tended that only shining light here and
there can be mentioned. The greatest
scientists that ever lived, or the one with
scarcely Il peer, was Humboldt, the author
of the Cosmos" who with all his vast
knowledge gained by extended travelling
and intercourse with nature, greater than
which 10 man ever had accepts the Scrip
lures entire, and acknowledges bis aston
ishment at the accuracy of the Hebrew
Bard's description of the creation of the
world AgassiZ, his worthy disciple and
follower, completes his testimony in
emphatic language. With two such
students Of nature on our side we
can rest in security, with little fear
that religion and science essentially con-
liict. Hugh Miller with his old "Red
Sandstone" and Footsteps of the Creator"
lends bis mighty aid in helping us, and has
done much i'll clearing away falacies and
prcjudices. The great Lord Bacon, with
his astute and penetrating intellect re-
ceived the truths of science entire. Way
back in the ages when science was in the
embryo we note with pleasure the Consis-
tent records of the astronomers Galileo; a
devout man of Tycho Brake, who was
man OF true piety, cherishing the deepest
vencration to- the Sacred Scriptures, and
for the great truths they reveal, and his
familiarity with the wonders of the heavens
increased instead of diminishing his admi-
ration of Divine wisdom; of John kepler,
who never entered upon enquiries without
seeking aid from the controller of the uni
verse. Then there was Samuel Butler,
who adds his analogy to theological
literature; Bishop Hooker, Sir Isaac New
ton, To whom the study OF science added a
full acceptance of divine revelations, the
great preacher, Jeremy Taylor, Locke, the
metaphysician; kaut, the eminent philoso-
pher: Sir William Hamilton, who did so
much towards simplifying mental science,
and who IL the last hour of his conscious
life, gave utterance to those simple and
beautiful words of David; Thy rod and
Thy Staff, they Comfort me- Gay Lussac,
with all h.s knowledge and discoveries,
bows in humble submission to the divine
mysteries; Sir Humphrey Davy, with his
exalted ideas of God in nature, loved the
worship of his church. George Stephen
son, the great benetitter of mankind, was
most devOut and reverential, as was Sir
John Iierschel and his talented sister;
Charles Blbbage, the inventor of the calcu.
latlng machine, and author of the "Mrth
BridGewater Hreatise,' an ! host of other
brilliant literari of this and other cen
turies, ali have acknowledged that divine
revelation is truth To my crude mind all
this Is satisfactory, and seems to claim but
little faith to adopt the views of the great
men just named. All candid investigation
of nature should be encouraged, as every
truth discovered will benefit religion as
well science and hence we should not
look with trepidation or suspicion upon the
untoldings of science, but should rest AS
sured that all will be known as soon as the
Creator ord rs it so. What grand proof
have we in the fact that 6l7 well-known
scientific men, members of the British AS
>ociatun (mark you, not theologians but
professional sCientists) signed a maLefesto
which read as follows: eve, the under
signed students of the natural sciences, de-
sire to express our sincere regret that re
searches into scientific truth are perverted
by some in our own lines into occasions for
casing doubts upon the truth and authen
tirity of the Holy Scriptures. We con-
.,i IL. thor iS inn ihla for ha Of
GDd As written in the book of Nature and
tind'S word written in holy scriptures, to
contradict one another, however much they
may appear to differ" What can the in
iirl say to this? Truly some seeming con-
tradictions have arisen and, perhaps, exist.
Many have been cleared away by the pene-
tri.tiUn of Christian Scientists and theolo-
giaus. Many great barriers, which seemed
iwpassablr, have been torn down by the
work "f science. Many objections have
been made to the order of the n creative
events, but they have now all been settled
clearly and definitely. Nobb aud Glidlon,
in their once famous book, 'rhe Types of
Mankind' criticse Moses and say that he
sadly blundered WHEN he represented light
as being created three VIII DE days before
he sun aud moon were ordained to light
the cartb Theologiaus were for the time
Il ,orrd. Int later iuvesti cations in science
show that when the materials OF the earth
were brought together by gravitation, both
light and heat must have resulted. So
that they blundered materially in tLeir
Ia. ,l,t
inspired or that he was in his early day,
far greater scientist than Nohb or Gliddon.
So can VIC rest assured that all mystery
vii, some day be cleared away before the
eyes of tie sincere and faithful. Perpexi-
ties will come. and many will doubt and
ponder over the awful mystery of their ex
istence in times to come, but all christians,
both scientists and philosophers can aid
the near approach of that great millennium,
Wuen all secrets shall be disclosed, and
every heart accept the truth, by faithful
lives and earnest prayers. True science
and true religion are never at variance, no
maEt-r how much they may seem to differ.
1t Is thr ti.i,ity of one or the other that
causes the trouble. Let every student of
he natural sciences devote himself ear
nes'ly 10 solve the truth, aud when he
cannot tad agreement, let him place aside
his work until future times and future
thoughts, il such be the will of God, shall
reveal it unto him. Surely very little
faith is required to accept the cons ,lations
aud hopes of relic gion, and to reject the un-
certainties and dependencies of "A skeptical
mind, with no fear of ever being proven IA
false prophet, predict that future genera