Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/272

 238 A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO presentation and opening of the new laboratory was the crowning event of the Convocation week. Eminent physicists from other universities were present. The exercises of dedication were held in the evening. The entire building was open to the large number of friends who were present. In presenting the building Mr. Ryerson said: Ladies and Gentlemen: We are living in an age of marvels, and the marvels of the science of today outstrip the marvels of the imagination of yesterday. We all feel that in the years to come there will be developments beyond our present comprehension. Hence when we see opened the doors of an institution equipped for high scientific investigation, we feel this sense of opportunity, and our interest is aroused, not so much by what strikes the vision or hearing, as by the hope and expectancy with which, in imagination, we look forward The University of Chicago naturally desires to be one of the leaders in the scientific progress of the world. It recognizes the importance of natural science as a field, not only for the instruction of its students, but also for the efforts of its investigators hence this branch will always hold a high place in the institution. Of this the public must feel assured, for it has so happened that within a year three large buildings have been erected for the study of natural science As President of the Board of Trustees of the University, I have had occasion to learn that there prevails within that body a full appreciation of the opportunities and responsibilities of the future, and I have the utmost confi- dence in that future; at the same time, having by the erection of this building shown a special interest, which I deeply feel, in the cause of science, I may be permitted still further to show that interest by expressing the confident hope that the University of Chicago will always fully recognize the fact that all its instruction and all its investigation will be of little value unless they keep in view and tend to enlarge the higher ideals of life. It is even to this end that science should be cultivated It would be a poor service to mankind to render it incapable of fully appre- ciating the value of the imagination, to take out of life its poetry and its art. It would be a calamity to lessen its capacity for faith in the fundamental teach- ings of religion. Science will do neither. It will correct our errors and elevate, not destroy, our ideals. It will sweep away our unreasoning super- stitions, but it will at the same time increase our admiration and veneration for the great First Cause of all the wonders it discloses, and, by doing its important part in the development of the human intellect, add to the capacity of the human race for a higher moral and intellectual life