The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-11

ether of SPACE, Will be re1egated To the
museum of historical cuiiositiesP
Sir Oliver chen discussed at length the
difficulties that lie in experiments on the
ether and the results to date.
The ether os space he said. is at
least the great engine of continuity. 1t
may be much more. for without it there
could hardly be material universe at
all.
Il hold that science is incompetent
to make comprehensive denials, even
about the ether and that II goes wrong
when 1t makes the attempt"
Attacks Arbitrary Scientists
This led the speaker to the argu-
ments that concluded with his utter
ances concerning life after death At
tacking the school of arbitrary scien-
lists who attempt to account for all
things by precise scientific laws, he
said:
"They account for things up to a
point. But do they account for every
thing completely? Do they account for
our own feeling of JOY and exu1tation,
for our sense of beauty. for the man
ifest beauty existing throughout ma
ture? Do not these things suggest
something higher and nobler and more
joyous, something for the sake of which
the struggle for existence goes on?
surely there must be deeper mean
ing involved in natural objects. Ortho-
dox explanations are only partial,
though true as far as they go. Flowers
attract insects for fertilization, and
fruit tempts animals to eat It In order
to carry seeds. But these explanations
cannot be final. We still have to eN-
plain the insects In order to explain
this competitive striving toward life.
Surely they must have some signifi-
cance. We thus reach the problem of
existence itself and the met ming of
evolution. If we dogmatize In mega
tive direction and say that we can re-
duce everything to physics and chem
istry, we gibbet ourselves as ludicrous-
ly narrow pedants and are falling short
of the richness and fullness of our
common birthright How far preferable
is the reverent attitude of the eastern
poet:
1.-The world with eyes bent upon thy
feet stands in awe with all it's silent
stars
Evolution Great Reality
But If we have learned from science
that evolution is real. we have learned
a great deal. | must not venture to
PHILOSOPHERS but certainly from the
point of science evolution is a great
reality
''That evolution progress is real is
doctrine of profound significance and our
because we are a part of the scheme, a
part that has become conscious, a part
that realizes. dimly, at any rate. what
it is doing and what 1t is aiming at.
Either we are immortal beings or we
are not. We may not know our destiny
but we must have a destiny of some sort.
Those who make denials are Just as like
ly to be wrong as those who make asser-
tions; in fact. denials are assertions
thrown into negative form. Science may
not be able to reveal human destiny. but
BIT Certainly should not obscure it..
I am one of those who think that
the methods of science are not so limited
in their scope as has been thought; that
they can be applied much more widely
and that the psychic region can be studied
and brought under law too. Allow us,
anyhow, to make the attempt Give us q
fair feld,'
+ Trustees of the Truth
Concluding. Sir Oliver said: Man and
brethren, we are trustees of the truth
of the physical universe as scientifically
explored; let us be faithful to our trust.
Genuine religion has its roots deep
down in the heart of humanity and in
the reality of things. 1t is not surprising
that by our methods we fail to grasp it;
the actions of the Deity make no appeal