Morning journal and courier., 1888-02-15
SCIENCE AND MIRACLES.
Lecture by Professor Du RoIs at t
 North Sheffield Scientific EdaIl.

The first of the twenty-seeond course Of mechsnios' lectures to be delivered at the North Sheffield Scientific hall was given last night by Prof. Augustus J. Du Bois. His subject was "Seience and Miracles" In sub stance he said:
 In any discussion it is desirable to start from admitted facts upon which all agree. When this is done then any conclusions which are found to be necessary deductions from these facts are more of acceptance.
 In accordance with this method postu- late first Newton's Claw of gravitation," viz: That every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle; that is. this entire universe is in some way so re- lated in all it's parts that any change of state. wherever located, is a change which extends throughout the whole.
 The entire universe! What does any mortal not gifted with conscience know about the s'entire universe?'' Evidently such a statement cannot be made as an ascer- tained fact, but only as an influence. New toms law has been found to be true wherever examination has tested it. It's logical eonse- quences have been found to be true when ex- tended to every body of the solar system. Step by step the cumulation of evidence has gone on until conviction has been forced upon the miracle of all intelligent men. There has come at last point where we have risen to another influence-an infer ence from an inference--and we now say e Nature must be uniform" This inference from an inference we claim 8 sure posses. sion. We hold that if under certain con- ditions We observe a certain result, that if those conditions are again repeated we shall infallibly observe again the same result This is the certain basis of all science.
 Now miracle is commonly understood to
 5. d., zk,,, liar to previous conditions, 8 result entirely different to what we have right to expect has occurred. This science cannot and will not allow. Science cannot afford to commit sui eide. Here, then is the issue. l consider it false issue and unnecessary as 1t is mischievous.
 Let us consider still further this first postu- late of universal gravitation.
 You will observe that the statement of this law involves DO explanation of the mechan- ism. We believe and accept 1t because its application justifies such acceptance, not be- cause we understand how it is; because it ex- plains, not because it can be explained. It is not necessary therefore, we see, to "un- derstand" or to "explain" fact before we accept it. Our conviction rests upon other grounds. Finally wish you would think what this law of gravitatioh involves. To say that if some enormous force were to move the earth, or move so as to disturb their present T6l&ClOQS, It WOu1O cause a ulSbuED- ance throughout the entire universe, IS a statement that anyone would at once agree to. But to assert that to move a pebble, a grain of sand, a mote of dust would also in troduee disturbance throughout the entire universe would not perhaps be so readily ad- mitted. Why not? The law applies to great and small alike Size is relative. This earth and sun of ours are but notes in the gigantic scale of the universe.
 The law then states that any disturbance, great or small, has it's proper effect, and we do Rot know how or why this must be. We simply believe the fact. This is not theory or speculation or metaphysics. It is admit ted physical fact, and men of science call it demonstrated truth" To change the uni- verse in one of it's parts is to change it throughout it's whole extent. It is not as it was before.
 My next postulate is that the will of man is free. ask acceptance for this also as an f'ultimate fact" upon just the same grounds as the first. This is the deliverance Of our consciousness, as the first is the voice of ex- perience. It is the basis of all our ethics, the foundation of justice between man and man. Without freedom of will there is no moral responsibility; the very bond in society, the substance of all law. We do not explain this any more than the first We accept both upon the same grounds, as the practical re- suits of human experience and human con- sciousness. We prove by our daily actions that we do believe both becouse we act as if they were true.
 My third and last postulate is that every velition and act of man is invariably accom- panied by corresponding brain action. That is, within my organism matter obeys my will. Without any mechanism that we can trace, in the last analysis, matter is somehow sub- ject to our own wills. We do not 'explain" this any more than the other two postulates. But scientific men hold and believe all three. 1a%r &6o.1 1ofa 4o. gether. By our first, to move even single atom or moleeule is to affect the entire uni verse. By the third, we ourselves, by the more exertion of will, can and do move atoms and molecules.
 We thus see that the very constitution of the universe must be admitted on the strength of unquestioned facts to be such that through out it's whole extent it is affected by mind. If an intelligent being, with faculties akin to ours, though far greater in degree, were placed on the farthest fixed star he might ob- serve these material effects, which, if fellow ed back along the chain of causation, would finally find it's rise in soma human volition on this earth.
 Here, then, are three admitted postulates. By themselves they are ultimate" We cannot explain them. Combine them and we have this result: That our wills affect the universe. Since then 8 part of the ef- fects we observe are undoubtedly due to our
 
 with the rest of our knowledge is that all effects which we observe must be due to the action of will also. This is the irresist- ible conclusion. Now, from this point of view, what does the uniformity of nature mean? It must mean that if under certain conditions the action of this supreme will, that if we repeat the condition exactly, we shall observe again the same action. What is this in terms of the rest of our knowl- edge but the characteristic of steadfast pur- pose, combined with complete knowledgei Such view at once harmonizes all three of our postulates by connecting them all in terms of the rest of our knowledge, and the uniformity of nature'' comes out ne- cessary corollary.
 Now, taking side view of the business, can we ever find or expect to find at any two intervals of time strictly identical circum- stances?
 Here, then, it seems to me the door is wide open for miracle. We can then define g miracle as an effect in nature, which as de pendent upon controlling will and due to the action of such will is natural in every sense as all other observed actions which are all likewise similarly dependent, but an ef- feet also which is, so far as it is the result of unique conditions, stands alone amongst other observed effects and thus emphasizes to us the direct action of the divine agency which underlies all effects. can f1ud noth- ing which theology claims for miracle which this view does not admit, nor anything ur- gent by science with which this view con- dicts.
 It is impossible to do justice to the entire lecture in an abstract. The above gives an outline of a portion of the argument. Prof. Huxley's position was noticed at length. The position of science upon the origin of life was shown to be in exact accord with the prevailing definition. The efficacy of prayer was shown upon this view to be entirely plausible even as scientific hypothesis. The steadfast purpose" of the divine will was shown to be revealed by religion as purpose of life. thus supplementing the altruistic conclusions of science, and supplying to man a motive without which such Conclusions are barren. The "great central miracle " of Christianity was referred to as deserving it's full value, not as an exception to uniformity, but as strictly in accord as the result of unique conditions. Duplicate the conditions and we do expect the same result"
 over am Hour Late.
 The Canal train due here at 8:20 last even- ing did not arrive here until about 1O>e'clock