an infinitesimal fragment of that part of the universe which can be
seen; and that, nevertheless, its duration is, as compared with our
standards of time, infinite. They have further acquired the idea that
man is but one of innumerable forms of life now existing in the globe,
and that the present existences are but the last of an immeasurable
series of predecessors. Moreover, every step they have made in natural
knowledge has tended to extend and rivet in their minds the conception
of a definite order of the universe--which is embodied in what are
called, by an unhappy metaphor, the laws of Nature--and to narrow the
range and loosen the force of men's belief in spontaneity, or in
changes other than such as arise out of that definite order itself.
Whether these ideas are well or ill founded is not the question. No one
can deny that they exist, and have been the inevitable outgrowth of the
improvement of natural knowledge. And if so, it cannot be doubted that
they are changing the form of men's most cherished and most important
convictions.

And as regards the second point--the extent to which the improvement of
natural knowledge has remodelled and altered what may be termed the
intellectual ethics of men,--what are among the moral convictions most
fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people.

They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of belief;
that merit attaches to a readiness to believe; that the doubting
disposition is a bad one, and scepticism a sin; that when good
authority has pronounced what is to be believed, and faith has accepted
it, reason has no further duty. There are many excellent persons who
yet hold by these principles, and it is not my present business, or
intention, to discuss their views. All I wish to bring clearly before
your minds is the unquestionable fact, that the improvement of natural