By the side of this utterance of Mr. —— let me put the words of that king in the realm of science, Professor Joseph Henry. They are found in the last letter that he ever wrote, and may be taken as the final summing up of all those vast researches that have made his name the heritage of the world. They are entitled to some weight as against the statements of men who, if they can follow in his footsteps at all, must follow afar off. These are his words: "After all our speculations and an attempt to grapple with the problem of the universe, the simplest conception which explains and connects[15] the phenomena is that of the existence of one spiritual Being infinite in wisdom, in power and all divine perfections." That is, the simplest and the best explanation of the facts of the universe is found in the existence of God. This is testimony accepted by the highest scientific authority both in this country and in Europe. I do not say that it proves there is a God, but it does prove that belief in God is consistent with the highest intellectual power. To disbelieve is no proof of a great mind.

Mr. —— eulogizes Thomas Paine as one of the greatest and best men of his age—a man "whose writings carry conviction to the dullest." Now, Paine, though a bitter enough infidel, as we all know, never so parted from his reason or his reverence as to deny the existence of God. He says with a force that, according to Mr. ——, must "carry conviction to the dullest:" "I know I did not make myself, and yet I have existence; and by searching into the nature of other things I find no other thing could make itself, and yet millions of[16] other things exist; therefore it is that I know by positive conclusions resulting from this search that there is a power superi