I do not know what inventions are in the brain of the future; I do not
know what garments of glory may be woven for the world in the loom of
years to be; we are just on the edge of the great ocean of discovery. I
do not know what is to be discovered; I do not know what science will do
for us. I do know that science did just take a handful of sand and make
the telescope, and with it read all the starry leaves of heaven; I know
that science took the thunderbolts from the hands of Jupiter, and now
the electric spark, freighted with thought and love, flashes under the
waves of the sea; I know that science stole a tear from the cheek of
unpaid labor, converted it into steam, and created a giant that turns
with tireless arms the countless wheels of toil; I know that science
broke the chains from human limbs and gave us instead the forces of
nature for our slaves; I know that we have made the attraction of
gravitation work for us; we have made the lightnings our messengers; we
have taken advantage of fire and flames and wind and sea; these slaves
have no backs to be whipped; they have no hearts to be lacerated; they
have no children to be stolen, no cradles to be violated. I know that
science has given us better houses; I know it has given us better
pictures and better books; I know it has given us better wives and
better husbands, and more beautiful children. I know it has enriched
a thousand-fold our life; and therefore I am in favor of perfect
intellectual liberty.