" The wisdom of the
ancients, where is it? It is wholly gone. A schoolboy to-day knows
more than Sir Isaac Newton knew; his knowledge has vanished away. You
put yesterday's newspaper in the fire: its knowledge has vanished
away. You buy the old editions of the great encyclopaedias for a few
cents: their knowledge has vanished away. Look how the coach has been
superseded by the use of steam. Look how electricity has superseded
that, and swept a hundred almost new inventions into oblivion. One of
the greatest living authorities, Sir William Thompson, said in
Scotland, at a meeting at which I was present, "The steam-engine is
passing away." "Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." At
every workshop you will see, in the back yard, a heap of old iron, a
few wheels, a few levers, a few cranks, broken and eaten with rust.
Twenty years ago that was the pride of the city. Men flocked in from
the country to see the great invention; now it is superseded, its day
is done. And all the boasted science and philosophy of this day will
soon be old.
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