evertheless, the other class, being both the most numerous and the most
noisy, make up by loquacity for their deficiency of science, and
counterbalance their ignorance by their assurance. Such writers,
assuming that they have outstripped all the philosophers of former days,
will tell you how foolishly David, and Kepler, and Bacon, and Newton,
and Herschel dreamed of the heavens declaring the glory of the Lord, and
the firmament showing his handiwork; "while at the present time, and for
minds properly familiarized with true astronomical philosophy, the
heavens display no other powers than those of natural laws, and no other
glory than that of Hipparchus, of Kepler, of Newton, and of all who have
helped to discover them." Theology belongs only to the infancy of the
human intellect; metaphysical philosophy is the amusement of youth; but
the full-grown man has learned to relinquish both religion and reason,
and comes to the "positive state of science in which the human mind,
acknowledging the impossibility of obtaining absolute knowledge,
abandons the search after the origin and destination of the universe,
and the knowledge of the secret causes of phenomena." The crown of
modern science is ultimately to be placed upon the brow of Atheism; but
long before that eagerly desired achievement, the old Bible theology is
to be buried beyond the possibility of a resurrection, under mountains
of natural laws, and monuments of scientific discovery. These
assertions, confidently made, and perseveringly reiterated in the ears
of ungodly men ignorant of the facts, of impetuous youths eager to throw
off the restraints of religion, of Christians weak in the faith, and
even poured into the unsuspecting mind of childhood, produce the most
painful results; and it becomes the imperative duty of the bishops of
the Church of Christ not to allow them to pass unchallenged, but to
convince the gainsayers, and stop the mouths of these unruly and vain
talkers; or, if that be not possible, to make their folly manifest to
all men. The implements for such a service are well tried and abundant,
and the difficulty lies only in making a proper selection.

At first view, the extinction of religion by science seems very
unlikely. It is as unlikely that any thing that an Infidel says about
religion should be true, as that a blind man should describe the sun
correctly, or even read a chapter accurately, with the book open before
him? I shall show you presently