Spencer, in confining himself to the aesthetic and
ignoring the practical side of the controversy, has really
contributed nothing serious to its relief. But apply now our
principle of practical results, and see what a vital significance
the question of materialism or theism immediately acquires.
Theism and materialism, so indifferent when taken retrospectively,
point, when we take them prospectively, to wholly different outlooks
of experience. For, according to the theory of mechanical evolution,
the laws of redistribution of matter and motion, tho they are
certainly to thank for all the good hours which our organisms have
ever yielded us and for all the ideals which our minds now frame,
are yet fatally certain to undo their work again, and to redissolve
everything that they have once evolved. You all know the picture of
the last state of the universe which evolutionary science foresees.
I cannot state it better than in Mr. Balfour's words: "The energies
of our system will decay, the glory of the sun will be dimmed, and
the earth, tideless and inert, will no longer tolerate the race
which has for a moment disturbed its solitude. Man will go down into
the pit, and all his thoughts will perish. The uneasy, consciousness
which in this obscure corner has for a brief space broken the
contented silence of the universe, will be at rest.
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