New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-23

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Mr.. Huxley. who holds to evolution rather in ac-
co,dance With vaque aphorisms of ieracitus than
with the hard snd fast formula OF modern times
and ronews his limitations of distrust in the
" otbics of evolution" He does not question tha'
Tho moral sentiments are the result of evolution .
INIT so are the immoral sentiments and II evoi"-
tion furnishes the ultimate sanctions OF one cias''
IL cnust do the same for the other "Cosmc eVo-
,ution may teach us how the good ana eVli ten
doneies OF man may have come about, ne re-
marks but in itself il is incompetent 10 lurhish
any better reason why what call good Is prefer"
BILE to what we call evil than we had before III
fact ethical progress, the revolution oil society,"
the advancement OF civilization are reaiiy nioo''.
sstcnt with the cosmical order. Inc prsc'icc y,
that which is officially the best-what we can
goodness or virtue-involvcs course OF cohuuc'
which in all respects is opposed TO that when "aus
TO success in the cOsnc strugg!" Tor eAis'e".c'
What is more. the hope OF sociil progress Tvs
solely in a persistent conflict with the forces OF
the cosmos. man against nature, the ar""o'',
world which man has created against the worid
which has been shaped by processes known 10 'n''
present generation as evolutionary. In lact WI
Huxley advises just what norasts N almost every
age have adviscd-a struggle for improvement III
the face of an opponent all the cruel because
unconscious.
moment was mere brute matter, some have called
it the world. the flesh and the devil, some nave
thought of it as the unconscious opposed TO the
conscious. Names do not signify if the battle mas
always been the same. What deserves to be
pointed out j. that not only is human ethlcs
miracle from the evolutionary point of view but
so also is consciousness itself II is thing within
the cosmic order which can act rightly only when
il opposes that order We may not say with
Hartmann that consciousness is the misfortune OF
the universe. but we must sly that Nature could
never have anticipated it,
Goethe was right in his distrust OF theories. lie
wrought into paragraph all that he could nave
learned from evolution when he said How can
a man come to know himself? Never by think
ing but by doing" And he taught AS Mr. HIM
Icy teaches, that the world of the conscious AMI
that of the unconscious are not Identical. = the
world of reason" said he, = is, to be r"rraed rs
a great and immortal being who cesseessly works
ont what is necessary and so makes himself lord
also over what is accidental" But this great and
immortal being has but one field in which 10 labor.
the cosmic order of which Mr.. Huxley speaks. IL
this be opposed and conquered. what then " ME
il is true as Mr. HUXLEY says. that the theory OF
evolution encourages no millcnnlal antclpa'iohS'
vet his concession that rchellious force "NlS'S III
the world only partially subject TO tn" order oil
things might easily lead to strang" spFcula'iohS'
Of the wealth of learning with which Mr.. llnNiey
worked out his theme ii is needless to speak
Within the limits of few pages he has gathere"
the tributes Of many forms Of literature.
Aside from the intrinsic value OF Goethes 10
hcctions." Mr.. Saundcrss volume is of interest a.
the first attempt TO Place any great number OF th"n
before the eyes of thcs, who read English iihher-
IN q fov of these paraqIa apis have been quoted ana
used a. if they were q part of general literature
Now more than half Of them have been trans
lated in this volume. The selections are NUMBER"
consccntively without reference 10 tn" arrange
mcnt of the original. In addition TO the ana oil
Mr. Huxley. who chos" scventy-siX paragraphs o"'
os tvo hundred and eighty on science. Mr.
Saunders had the rather unwilling help OF Sir
Frederick Leighton in selecting the aphorlsms on
art. Sir Frcdcricl's reluctance was due to fcei-
ING that the artistic judgments OF Goethe Ill ms
book of savings unworthy OF HIM MI
caurders's introduct on is marked by sobriety anu
good taste.