New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-06-08

m Is" They may be put on the shelf Of
nfu'' 'r..tor BY the side Of his Homer and the
the 0o co.. a book which has robbed him Of
Home" ~ passing for a great Homeric
bis T, Ia so interesting in these later days
schoo, great public man concerning himself
10 "I ,,scaI literature that one almost forgets
T'n .,~,,nction. real distinction as a scholar. is
tha' only at the price Of renouncing emf
IN other pursuits.
nen ,,nosed that at least in England the old
ore extinct The tendency is not 10
l'a hut 70 science. The strong men who
aA''. choose career in life no longer think Of
paw fame in Greek and Latin. The Universe
VIM .xorse,ves do not attract or rather do not
ue' ~ host men. All the more delightful Is
ss.p ..r,ark a survival Of the old spirit In Mr..
H.ns and in a few others. But whether
o.uunt &c enhanced or diminished by seeing
Wv u,,velv giving TO the world his experiments
@ Roman poet. is a question which each Of
wy .Lands and admirers must answer for him.
Tho rugged dictiorf and rugged metres and
W." 80, constructions OF which The Nineteenth
49,, gave us samples Of little or no
- :, interpreting Horace to the modern Eng
- Even in Scotland they must seem
Us md even 10 those of his constituents In
a".,,,an who have most loyalty tried TO add
-. translations to the list OF achievements
.,,ch they admire.
n,, I, has ever been Mr. Gladstones way to
...avord criticism, and to prefer his individual
'',,,or 10 the consensus Of experts. That is one
-., ~ his success in public life and Of his as
..nasncy over his fellow men. In public life 1t
s.svsrs extremely we'll; not so well in literat-
When his life comes 10 be written
Thor by that limited liability company which
49,, posebery said would alone be adequate to
-. task. or by some single bold hand-it will be
4, h,s bographer be frank. how self-willed
- ,.s baen In matters of literary criticism and
s....r, Judgment 1t is not In his nature to be
.s.,v,se But when this immobility OF mind
~, those purely individual opinions ap-
.,.a ~ the rendering OF Latin poet as to
r.,,, the whole world is agreed. the result is
what we see
NJ Huxley possesses, among other arts, all
u.,,v the art of writing Prefaces. The col
..,sd edition Of his works. which Messrs. Mac
rulsn are publishing and which nears COM
.,.,on will always be interesting for its Pref
.,ss They are, 10 some extent, judgments, or
=, Least comments on his own life work. and
IA something TO the history of his mind which
Ma recorded In these volumes in part. and In
r,ch else There is sentence In this latest
which lets the world into the secret, or part Of
the secret Of that excellence In literature to
which Mr. Huxley has attained, and TO which
~ few men Of science ever attain. He has
,ouud. he says. the task Of putting scientific
truths In popular language one that taxed his
literary and scientific faculty to the utmost.
gut the task has helped him as we'll as his
readers. Experience has furnished him with nc
batter corrective of that tendency to scholastic
psdsntry which besets all those who are alb
sorbed in pursuits remote from the common
vavs OF men. and who become habtuated TO
sosak In the technical dialect OF their own little
world as II there were no other.
In that sentence you hear the ring Of a voice
which belongs to a man OF no one world but OF
the world And that Of itself helps 10 explain
vhy Mr.. Huxley has reached the ear and the
intelligence Of such multitudes to whom mere
science Is either repusive or indifferent. He has
SPOKEN and written as a man TO men; never
never that IS In books or actresses meant for
other audiences than those composed Of fellow
students In science-as the mere lecturer or peda-
gogus Silence chooses her own paths and has
he, own mission. and does a vast deal Of in
valuable work In her own silent. unpretentlous.
sincere. and devoted way. The value OF IT is
qule lnQepenutnL Ol pOPNioi opPiNN'"''''
when she does care to appeal TO the general pub
lie, she Is fortunate II she can command the pen
Of Huxley. for It is clear 10 anybody who
reads page Of him that II he had not been
great man Of science he would still have been
great writer He says:
I have not been one OF those fortunate per-
sons who able 10 regard popular lecture
as mere hors d'oeuvre, unworthy OF being
ranked among the serious efforts OF philoso-
pher: and who keep their fame as scientific HER
ophants unsullied by attempts-at least, OF the
successful sort-to be understanded OF the peo-
pie
The lecture has been 10 him "a self-disciplne,
as much as to his pupils discipline OF another
kind But It has not given him high notion
Of the average capacity Of the average audience.
Il venture to douA," says the great Professor,
whether more than one in ten Of average
audience carries away an accurate notion Of
what the speaker has been driving at" The
iact that he thinko this disparaging estimate
equally true Of th4 ora tory OF the hastings. OF
'ne House OF Commons and even OF the pull
pt does not RELAY, the general situation. 1t
means simply that he considers audiences at
ending scientific lectures no worse than others
But we must remember that he is speaking OF
English audiences. c. W. S.