author - "Thomas Henry Huxley"
in a Norse Saga as where they are; and if the varnish-brush of later respectability has passed over these memoirs ofthe mighty men of a wild age, here and there, it has notsucceeded in effacing, or even in seriously obscuring, theessential characteristics of the theology traditionally ascribedto their epoch.
There is nothing that I have met with in the results of Biblicalcriticism inconsistent with the conviction that these books giveus a fairly trustworthy account of Israelitic life and thoughtin the times which they cover; and, as such, apart from thegreat literary merit of many of their episodes, they possess theinterest of being, perhaps, the oldest genuine history, as apartfrom mere chronicles on the one hand and mere legends on theother, at present accessible to us.
But it is often said with exultation by writers of one party,and often admitted, more or less unwillingly, by theiropponents, that these books are untrustworthy, by reason ofbeing full of obviously unhistoric tales. And
all the parts of thewatch to the function, or purpose, of showing the time, is held to beevidence that the watch was specially contrived to that end; on theground, that the only cause we know of, competent to produce such aneffect as a watch which shall keep time, is a contriving intelligenceadapting the means directly to that end.
Suppose, however, that any one had been able to show that the watch hadnot been made directly by any person, but that it was the result ofthe modification of another watch which kept time but poorly; and thatthis again had proceeded from a structure which could hardly be calleda watch at all--seeing that it had no figures on the dial and the handswere rudimentary; and that going back and back in time we came at lastto a revolving barrel as the earliest traceable rudiment of the wholefabric. And imagine that it had been possible to show that all thesechanges had resulted, first, from a tendency of the structure to varyindefinitely; and secondly, from something in
t instigated by love of knowledge]
In fact, the history of physical science teaches (and we cannot too carefully take the lesson to heart) that the practical advantages, attainable through its agency, never have been, and never will be, sufficiently attractive to men inspired by the inborn genius of the interpreter of nature, to give them courage to undergo the toils and make the sacrifices which that calling requires from its votaries. That which stirs their pulses is the love of knowledge and the joy of the discovery of the causes of things sung by the old poets--the supreme delight of extending the realm of law and order ever farther towards the unattainable goals of the infinitely great and the infinitely small, between which our little race of life is run. In the course of this work, the physical philosopher, sometimes intentionally, much more often unintentionally, lights upon something which proves to be of practical value. Great is the rejoicing of those who are benefited thereby; and, for the
in a Norse Saga as where they are; and if the varnish-brush of later respectability has passed over these memoirs ofthe mighty men of a wild age, here and there, it has notsucceeded in effacing, or even in seriously obscuring, theessential characteristics of the theology traditionally ascribedto their epoch.
There is nothing that I have met with in the results of Biblicalcriticism inconsistent with the conviction that these books giveus a fairly trustworthy account of Israelitic life and thoughtin the times which they cover; and, as such, apart from thegreat literary merit of many of their episodes, they possess theinterest of being, perhaps, the oldest genuine history, as apartfrom mere chronicles on the one hand and mere legends on theother, at present accessible to us.
But it is often said with exultation by writers of one party,and often admitted, more or less unwillingly, by theiropponents, that these books are untrustworthy, by reason ofbeing full of obviously unhistoric tales. And
all the parts of thewatch to the function, or purpose, of showing the time, is held to beevidence that the watch was specially contrived to that end; on theground, that the only cause we know of, competent to produce such aneffect as a watch which shall keep time, is a contriving intelligenceadapting the means directly to that end.
Suppose, however, that any one had been able to show that the watch hadnot been made directly by any person, but that it was the result ofthe modification of another watch which kept time but poorly; and thatthis again had proceeded from a structure which could hardly be calleda watch at all--seeing that it had no figures on the dial and the handswere rudimentary; and that going back and back in time we came at lastto a revolving barrel as the earliest traceable rudiment of the wholefabric. And imagine that it had been possible to show that all thesechanges had resulted, first, from a tendency of the structure to varyindefinitely; and secondly, from something in
t instigated by love of knowledge]
In fact, the history of physical science teaches (and we cannot too carefully take the lesson to heart) that the practical advantages, attainable through its agency, never have been, and never will be, sufficiently attractive to men inspired by the inborn genius of the interpreter of nature, to give them courage to undergo the toils and make the sacrifices which that calling requires from its votaries. That which stirs their pulses is the love of knowledge and the joy of the discovery of the causes of things sung by the old poets--the supreme delight of extending the realm of law and order ever farther towards the unattainable goals of the infinitely great and the infinitely small, between which our little race of life is run. In the course of this work, the physical philosopher, sometimes intentionally, much more often unintentionally, lights upon something which proves to be of practical value. Great is the rejoicing of those who are benefited thereby; and, for the