MR. DENTON'S LECTURES.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2486, 25 March 1882, Page 4

MR. DENTON'S LECTURES.

Mr Denton's fourth lecture of the series now in course of delivery at tbo Oddfollowß' Hall was given last night, when there was a very large attendance, the hall being filled in every part. Mr Denton said that they lived in a world teeming with life. Even on the summit of the snow-clad mountains thero wore cranio forms of life ; so in the oc?an, and in the bosom of the earth monstrous fungi grew, disclosed only by the light of the minor's candle. There was life within life; life too small to be seen by the naked eye, floating in every drop of water, flying in the ai? in dust. Man then asked " Whence came I ?" and that was what they had to consider that evening. They, inoommonwith otherorganio forms of li'e, came into existence either ao they had dono or through ft miracle. The reign of order and law was insisted upon by all philosophic minds, and theearth itself camo into-existence by virtue of tbo same law whioh rounded the dewdrop on the blade of grass and the tear on the human cheek. Various bodies oame into cohesion, and wore united to form the various minerals and metal* of the planet by virtue of this same law of order. In connection with this law they fcund that crystallization was a law the operation of whioh was easy to bo traced by the experiment of breathing on a window frame on a frcsty morning. Now no one would say that this was a miracle, but they knew that thio was simply in obedience to law. The protczoi proved this, as indeed all forms of life. Not so long ago the thunder and lightning were regarded as tho outburst of the anger of an offended dtivy; but now •science showed them thatthe lightning and the thunder were but the outcome of electricity, the tornado the outcome of heated air behind it, and the earthquake the cooling of the globe. They did not now pray for rain, because they were enabled by seionce to forecast the weather a day before Throughout the world at that day law presides, miracles retreated before ■oience, who, with the torch of reason in her hand, marobed boldly on driving miracle into the darkest corners. [Oheers.J The day would come when thinking men and women would cast out the idea of miracles, and it would disappear from the fsce of the earth. list them go into their Museum and ask for the miraole department, and the curator would now look round for a policeman. The Spirit of the World never d-.-p.lt in miraoles : the world had been governed by law from the first, and was now being governed by law. The astronomor believed in no miracles, nor did geologists. Thoir world had been right from the start, and was right now. Tho Infinite Spirit did not require to patch up their planet at all. Now.'let him say what he considered was the origin of man, and here ho might say he differed from D»rwin. Every atom in the universe was alive to bion and had been from the firßt. He oould not believe in the theory that life had sprung from eggs into whioh the breath of life had been breathed. If he did this, why should he not believe that the breath of life was breathed into a man instead of a protozoon, Let them take a pieoe of bay and suspend it in water for somo time, and they would find Tinder the microscope hundrods of living and breathing animals, too small to be seen by the naked eye. This, it was said, was the result of germs in the air, but how then about tbo hay being boiled, and then put into a vessel, raising the temperature to over 200 degrees, and keeping them heated for four hours. They would find Jthat Bastian had done this, and yet living beings would bo found in this infusion. His opinion was that tho experiments showed that living beings did come into life wi hout coming from eggs, or being evolved from germs. [Oheera.] The warmth of the semi-tropical oceans in tho old geological ages brought swarms of life, whicb, as the planet advanced in age, developed and went on to higher types of life. This was caused by the law of vario tion, which was seen in families. There were ohildren whioh both the father and mother were puzzled to decide who they resembled. This waa true as regarded animals, because they oould not anchor animals or plants to one kind. Then there was the law of tendency, whioh was the most important of all. Ho recognised in the history of the planet a tendenoy to man, and the various ages were but stages in tho geetative process of the production of man. Ao they advanced geologically through the age, they found the organic type of life striving upwards to a higher and nobler state. Then there was the law of hereditary transmission, in which peculiarities of color of hair, height, &0., were reproduced. This variation went on till the species of animals improved and altered so through the ages, that tbey formed quite a new genus. Then there was another law, that of modification, which was found in fall operation in plant life. They knew that they could modify the form of woman to that of an hour glass, but remove the external pressure, and the tendenoy would be to assume the natural form of the woman. [Laughter and oheers.] In tbo Mammoth cave of Kentucky there were blind fish. People eaid " Ob, of course ; that was to be expected. God putting that fish into the Mammoth oave made it blind became it would not require eyes." But what was the faot ? why, that on examination they found that theso fish had eyes and optio nerves. The river passing through the cave had sunk through the earth into the oave, taking with it the fish. Of course the modification went on. The eye not being used gradually became modified, and in the next generation they had fish with oyes, but not the power to use them, they having becomo modified. [Cheers.] This is how they got the blind fish of Kentucky. Lyell said, out of u plant of bitter taste taken from tho seashore the cauliflower and the red cabbage had been mado. Now, man had made theso two different plants as surely as he made tables. Then there was a most important point touched upon by Charles Darwin, one of tie finest men living on the planet—viz., natural selection. In tho struggle for life, the animal best fitted to live did so and those whioh were net died. Let loose all the dogs in the world, and leave them alone, and the result would be that the dog nearest in formation to the wolf would ■nrvive. The law of natural selection operated in his opinion over the grouse, wbioh was rod in the red heather because no doubt the white grouse had all been weeded out, leaving only the red ones. There was an infinite providence sleeplosely watching over the world, over flea and philosopher alike, working by law and order. They might ask was the eye, the ear, the brain, the spirit, the production of blind lan? Ho said no, it was not blind law, but an overruling Providence which watched ceaselessly over the world en the gardener of life, and tho laws referred to were tho more operations to tho end. From the first protozoa floating in the primal seas to the man of the present day the laws of order had been working to produce the result. There was no doubt that all animals began in the oame way, and he had the authority of Draper, one of the greatest scientists in America, for this statement. Tho moiquito and the silkworm were evidences of the changes whioh took place in nature, springing, es all animals did, from eggs. So also with tho frog, whioh changed through various stages, from a fish to a frog. As with animals, so with man, who commenced his exiatence on thio planet as an egg. So as time rolled on the changes existent in nature oame about, and so passing through these arrived at tho perfect man. "When a child germ was one month old it was impossible to tell the difference between the dog, the horse, the monkey, or the man. So they would see this intimated the changes through which their ancestors passed in the old geological ages till arriving at tho preoent stage of life. This he took it was a pointer •howing the origin of man. [Oheers.J Then there was this fact that they shared with numbers of animals the members of the human body. This was moie marked in the higher types of quadrumana such as the obimpanzee, the ourang-eutang, which possessed every bone found in the human body. Then there was another important pointer, and that was tbo redundant organs in animals, such as teeth in the calf whioh never cut through the gum. Well if they considered that this animal was a modification of an animal in the bygone ages, this would be accour.ted for, but they could not do so if they took up the idea that these animals were made by a miracle [Cheers.] They had been brought up with very different notions to what he had (advanced, and ho thought it did them very great credit for listening to «uoh a radical as he was. [Cheers.] Now let thorn tee what tho other side had to say. They used ridicule, and said, "Oh, this is a pretty thing to ond a course of geological lectures, making a monkey cur ancastor, and an ojstor our great grandfather." This was not what ho said quite, but let them look at the other side. They said man was made out of dust. Well, ho might bo, but

let them consider what duet wu, and they would see that, granting the other side argument, they were descended from a handful of rot. [Laughter and cheers.] That man descended from dust might bo, but that duet bad gone through millions of changes until it readied man. " Oh," said the opposing men, •' God made man." Well, if by God was meant that infinite power which bad worked, and was still working, throughout nature, then he would agree with him, but he could not. believe that God cumo down liko a carpectsr, and after working for Borne time had to rest. [Cheers.] Oould they believe that whenever a new island or a new continent arose the miraolo worker had to oome down and start a fresh lot of animals for it. The story broke down under the very weight of its own absurdity, as he would never believe such a Btory under any oircumstancas. (_Loud applause.] Then his friend said that man was made at once perfect in the image of God. The first pair were, they were told, lovely to a degree, and they thon went down six thousand years, and then they camo to this. [The leoturer here pointed to two pictures of negro type.] If they believed in this, then in another six thousand years tbey would be fighting with their hairy brothers in the orange groves of Parramatta, another six thousand years and they might be hogs, and beyond this again reptiles. This was what was the outcome of the story as told, but if they looked at it from the standpoint that from a gelatinous maes in the primal ocean man had progressed to his present state, might they not hope in the future ages that he would still progress. Then there would bo no thrones in heaven too high for man to mount, no angel's songs too difficult for him to sing. [Cheers.] Therefore he eubmittod that if thero wore any degradation of man at all, it must be on the other oide. [Cheers.] There was not one single fact in the history of the planet to prove the truth of the story of the instant and miraculous formation of man. He defied any one to give him a single fact in proof of the story. [Cheers.] On the other side the science of geology proved the gradual advance of man through all the uncounted ages. Then it was said if man descended from the beasts, ho would die as the boasts. Nothing of the kind. If be believed that man descended from a brute, the higher life which produced man fitted him for the ontrance to that spiritual world to whioh his posterity camo after him. [Cheers.] It had been said that these views would destroy religion, and drive God out of the world. He said it was not so. It would, it was truo, modify the .'preiont state ef religion somowhat, but science taught them nobler and higher lessons. They wanted a religion whioh would march hand in hand with science, and übk her to give religion all that she could, as the religion that commonded itself to their souls should be that whioh waa not afraid of the truth. Any religion that could not stand the test of truth, as revealed by science, mutt die, and they should be glad to attend tbo funeral. The God he believed in was the infinite spirit whioh was present in the chirp of the crioket singing its evening song, or tbo dewdrop mirroring in its little breast a scene of beauty. This was the God he believed in ; this was the God they felt within them. Then he said that through all the ages to como they would press upward, still singing the one song, "Nearer, my God, to Tbee," till they attained to a state of perfection in the human raco at present undreamt of. [Cheers.] In response to urgent re quests, he would deliver another lecture on the following evening on " Man's destiny after death." [Cheers.] The lecture was splendidly illustrated, and Mr Denton was frequently and loudly applauded.