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lived, breathing the air of the epoch. I am free to confess that, })ersonal]y, I was even a sectarian, who lived to trans- port the rigid methods of Science into the domain of Litera- ture. But where can the man be found who, in the stress of strife, does not exceed what is necessary, and is content to conquer without compromising his victory ? On the whole I have nothing to regret, and I continue to believe in the passion which wills and acts. What enthusiasm, what hope, were ours ! To know all, to prevail in all, and to conquer all ! By means of truth to make humanity more noble and more happy !
And it is at this point, gentlemen, that you, the young, appear upon the scene. 1 say the young, but the term is vague, distant, and deep as the sea, foi: where are the young ? What will it — the young generation — really become ? Who has a right to speak in its name ? I must of necessity deal with the ideas attributed to it, but if these ideas are not at all those held by many of you, I ask pardon in advance, and refer you to the men who have misled us by untrust- worthy information, more in accord, no doubt, with their own wishes than with reality.
At any rate, gentlemen, we are assured that your genera- tion is parting company M'ith ours, that you will no longer put all your hope in Science, that you have perceived so great a social and moral danger in trusting fully to her, that you are determined to throw yourselves back upon the past, in order to construct, from the debris of dead faiths, a living faith.
Of course, there is no question of a complete divorce from Science ; it is understood that you accept her latest con- quests and mean to extend them. It is agreed that you will admit demonstrated truths, and efforts are even being made to fit them to ancient dogmas. But, at bottom, Science is to stand out of the road of faith — it is thrust back to its ancient rank as a simple exercise of the intelligence, an inquiry permitted so long as it does not infringe on the supernatural and the hereafter. It is said that the experi- ment has been made, and that Science can neither repeople the heavens she has emptied nor restore happiness to souls whose naive peace she has destroyed. The day of her mendacious triumph is over ; she must be modest since she cannot immediately know everything, enrich everything, heal everything. And if they dare not yet bid intelligent
