The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-04-05
Yorick's Drawer

-The Lieutenant writes: This Spring
weather reminds me of Yankee in our Bat
terry during the war. In the Spring of 1862
we were on our way to Washington, and
struck into warm weather at Baltimore.
The Maine boy said: 81 do declare / never
knew the snow to go off as fast as it has the
last two or three days." not recognizing that
he had been travelling into warm latitude.
"A contributor who affects the use of the
letter in the English alphabet mostly given
over to the tribe of newspaper correspond
ents, and who is as cross as his signature,
writes:
/ am puzzled to know how Yorick stands
in this myth business. He is everything by
turns and nothing long. Icannot tell wheth-
er he would have US believe the old stories
personiications of the sun or not. The last
Drawer made me dizzy with It's twstings and
turnings. x.
Yorick PHYS ks" poor head, so easily
turned, and hastens to give what relief he
can. There is reason in ''X's'' complaint.
Yorick owns that his opinions concerning
the credibility of many Of the Illustrations
brought forward by the advocates of a uni
versal solar myth are wavering, as his opin-
ions are concerning many other doctrines of
mere or less Importance. He doesn't ask
belief Of anybody, for he is not one having
authority. He is not ''X's" teacher, only a
fellow-scholar. So, Mitsehuer, pardon him
if he contesses bis uncertainty of mind. He
knows thai great scholars who have devoted
their lives to the study of comparative my.
thology, uphold the theory. He knows too
that other great scholars, whose studies how
ever have been in quite different ways, dis
pute it. Where the doctors disagree who of
US laymen shall presume TO decide! 1t does
seem to Yonck, though, that the conclusions
arrived at by the specialists, who are experts,
ought to have, all other things being equal,
the most weight with US. On question OF
pLilology or comparative mythology he would
sooner trust to Max Muller than TO Matthew
Arnold, elegant and profound scholar as Mr..
Arnold is. On question Of paleontology he
would sooner trust 10 Thomas Huxley than
to Joseph Cook. Muller and Huxley are
original investigators. Arnold and Cook are
book-men. Mr.. Cook perhaps has read all
that has been written on the origin of fspecies,
on the correlation of forces, on molecular
motion. He is learned in the literature of
these subjects. But he has not worked out
In the laboratory the experiments OF which
he talks so gbly, nor made special study
of the habits of animals, nor passed his life
collecting fossil remains, When we come to
metaphysics, to what is commonly called
philosophy, h0 can easily hold his own with
the Englsh scientists, keen dialecticians as
hey are. His opinion on the Athanasian
creed would be more valuable than that of
Huxley and the scientists. Aud with regard
10 many subjects, which neither he nor they
have deeply studied, he might be wiser than
they. But where question in chemistry is
concerned Yorick for one would prefer John
Tyndalrs opinion TO Joseph Cook's-as he
would accept the advice of shrewd and sue
cessful trader like Stewart in regard TO the
time to buy and sell, in preference to the
advice of one who is but theoretically ac-
quainted with the laws Of supply and de-
mand, even though the theorist knew Adam
Smith and Walter Bagehot by heart.
When philologists, profound students and
original Investigators, tell US that the Ian
guages of Europe have, without doubt, their
common origin in Asia, Yorick is forced to
believe them. So when the comparative
mythologists, who have made life study of
folklore, show that the story of Beauty and
the Beast is told in but family differing forms
by all the Aryan peoples from the tiords of
Norway 10 the jupgles of Hindustan, he is
forced to believe that all these forms come
from one legend or myth held by the COM
mon ancestors of those peoples. He admits
all this because it seems TO him to be clearly
demonstrated. Ba! he claims the privilege
of exercising his reason in tie case. In
matters of faith, matters in their nature
unyerifable by human tests, he may be
willing to give reason the go-by and make
no attemptAt to measure the measureless. But
the scientists, who profess to deal only with
the demonstrable, must be judged by their
own standards. We may readily acknowl-
edge that they know much more tkan we do,
but as they set up the judgment of mankind
as the test, they can only ask that we re-
~ceive as demonstrated the things they have
succeeded in demonstrating to US. Thus
Yorck has no doubt that Apollo, Perseus,