The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-03-12
the leHOSTIc's cnEED.
PrSf. Hnxley Writes an Asfobie-
graphical Sketch.
His ssarting Psins- Hsw His Mind
Grew Hfs Befief ssA
Dfsb<Tsef.

Dfsb<ffef.
Eztrxrsk from &c sxtscss By Ths2as n
Huxsey sn tee Eipstssnrh Cenfury-
I was hrcnght up In the sfricsest
school Of Evangelical orthodoxy and
When wss cd enough 70 shifzk for
mysess I started upon my Iourney 81
inquiry with little doubt about the
general truth Of what | had been
tzushf and With tisat feeling Of shs
unpsezsantness Of being called an
s.Enndei'' which. we are told. h 80
right ard proper Near my joarney' q
end. | find myself IA condition Of
sorneshsug more than mere doubt
siout these matters. Locking hack
ue.rsv 50 years, see mysels - boy
vhose education had iseesg interrupted,
and who. intellectually, wzs lett for
zorne wears altogether 20 his own
chauces. At that time ] Was avoT3ci-
en-. and ornnivero1s rssdeg. . dreamer
and srsscssiztor Of the first water. we'd
sndo4ed with that splendid courage
81 attacking any and every subject
which Il The blessed compensation OF
voath and inexperisnee.
Among the books and essays, on ali
sorts of topics. from metaphysics to
k<rzldry, which / read At this time.
txg lest indeiible impressions on my
mid. One was Cusz0sfs History Of
Oxidation the other was Sir Viii
liam Hamilton essay s.0n the Fhisos-
ssrhy OF the Unconditional, Which 7
cane upon By chance in an odd vol
rne Of the EdinbsgvA R<s&sa. The
latter was certainly strange reading
for q hoy, and / ccuid not possibly.
have understood great deal of 1t
nevertheless / desoured IL with avid
ity. and il stamped upon my mind
tie strong conviction that on even the
most solemn and important OF qaes-
tons men are apt 70 take etnnfn Z
phrases for answers: and that the Iina-
ffatson Of our faculties. in q great
number OF cases, renders real answers
10 such questions not merely actually
impossible. bat theoretically incon-
eelvable.
Philosophy and history having laid
ho.d Of me IN this eccsnfrse fashion.
have never iocsened their grip. /
have no pretension 20 be an expert IN
K&4&ktsl EARlGl4tr 04t tttG t1@&k4 &&t ff44k&kr
sophlcai and historical reading. which
rendered Hamilton and Gulzot attrac-
tive 70 me, has not only filed mgns
lawful leisure heurs, and stiii mere
sseepiess ones. with the repose Of
changed mental occupation. bot has
not unfreqnently disputed my proper
werk-time with my aeee lady, Natural
Science. In this way | hare found il
possible 20 cover good deal OF ground
In the territory OF philosophy. The
reader win now see why my mind
steadily gravtiatsd towards the con-
ciusinns OF HUME and Kant.
When | reached intellectual rEatur-
sty and hogan 10 ask myself whether |
was an atheist, q Thirst, or a pantheist:
. naatesialist or an ideaiist. Christ
ian or freethinker. found that the
more learned ard reflected, the less
ready was the answer: until. At last. /
came 10 the conclusion that ] had
neither art nor part with any OF these
denominations, except the last. The
one thing in which most OF these good
people were agreed Was the one thing
In which differed from them. They
were quite sure they had attained q
certain ..gnosi- more or less
successfully. solved the problem OF
existence, while | was quite sure
had not. and had pretty strong CON
vicfson that the problem was iRsolu-
Die. This was nay situation when
hal the good fortune 70 end place
among the members OF the Metsphyss-
cal Society. Most Of my colleagues
sere lists OF one sort or another I who
vas n man without a rag sy . label
70 cover myself with, fels like the fox
who had lost his tail 80
took thought and invented what
conceived to be the appropriate title
OF agnostie Ii came into my head
IS sngvestively anssthefie To the gnos-
tic Of church history, who prosessed
TO know 50 mueh about the very
things Of which ] was ignorant. and
took she earliest opportunity OF para
ding II at c1r society. 10 show that /,
toe. had tail like the other foxes. To
my great satisfaction the term took.
Agnosticism is not creed. hnt a
method. the essence OF which lies m
the rigorous application OF single
principle. That principle is Of great
antiquity: it il as old a. Socrates: a.
old a. the writer who said. Try all
things. hold fast By that which Is
good il il the foundation OF the
Reformation, which simply illustrated
the axiom that every man should be
able - give reason for the faith that
Il in him; Il IN the great principle Of
Descartess il is the fundamental axiom
Of modern science. Positively the
principle may be expressed. in mat
ters os the intellect, follow your rea-
son as far a. IL will take you. without
regard 10 anv other consideration
And negatively. In matters az the
intellect, do not pretend that concia-
sions are certain which are not
demonstrated or ssemonstrabie.
That | take TO be the agnos-
tic faith. which ii 4 man keep
whole and undecided, be shall not he
ashamed 10 look the universe in the
face. whatever the iutnre may have In
store for him The only obligation
accepted Is TO have the mind always
open 20 conviction. Ii you were TO
fnd an sguostic who had never fallei
IN carrying oGt his principles, and 20
seal him that YOU had discovered that
tive and two make 1--WE. he wouid
patiently ask Won 10 state your
reasons FOR that conviction. and ex
pFess his readiness TO agree with you
L be found them satisfactory. The
apostolic Injunction to suffer fools
gladly, should be the rnle of life Of a
true agnestic- ana deeply conSciops
how far ! myself fall short OF this
IDEAL, but ii Is ny personal conception
d what aglioStscx ought = be.
! know no study which Il so unutter-
ably saddening as that of the evala-
Goa 81 humanity. rs il is set forth IN
Tie annals cf history. Out of the
darkness Of prehistoric ages man
esasrges with the marks OF his Iewiy
ursgln strong upon him. He IL = brute.
only more intelligent than the other
h.ntes. a blind prey 20 impulses.
Shieh a. oIsen as not lead him 10 de-
xruesoa s victim 10 endless illusions.
which make his mental existence =
terror anu burden, and I'll his physi-
sz HE with hafren toll and hattie.
ne astalns certain degree os physical
comfort. and develops 3 more
" less workable theory ef life in
sace favorable situations as the
pans ei Aesopotansa and 81
Egypt, and then for thousand and
thousands st years struggles with
VARYING fortune attended BY infinite
ssekslness, hloodshed and misery. 60
MAINTAIN himself st this pcsnt against
uae greet ard ambition Of his fellow
me-. lie makes point 0f killing and
ssasrssSe prosecuting all these who
1,ss Try 10 SET him Ia move on and
p. /. a