New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-06-30

cnt, He might we'll quote the axiom Of the
French author that there is way OF Judging
what has happened or what Will happen except
by the light If what IS happening now But he
would have added to this the proposition that
the best witnesses as 10 what has happened in
the past are the trained thinkers Of the past The
pages in which he discussed the method OF
Descartcs might VOL have been read with
start Of surprise by 4 generation which was too
ready TO say with the acute but narrow clifford
that the whole history Of science belonged TO
period almost within the memory OF living men.
For T. Huxley the figure 4 Dcscaries. venerable
s;!ll after the lapse Of almost three hundred
years WAS that Of a seer who OWNED the ton
denotes OF ages. whose preSagcs are even yet
not all completed Nobody put more clearly
than he nor more practically. the fact that
Descartes opened the Way 90 both modern IDEAL
ism and modern materialism And II was he
who instead Il wasting his time IN rconclling
the irrccoucIlahc. quietly. though in measured
tones. approved both idcaiisin and ma,eriaiism.
The Caricslaa stem" he wrote. divides into
two main branches which grow in opposite WAYS
and hear flowers which Iook different as they
can well Be- But each branch IS sound and
healthy, and has as much iic and vgor as the
other" Sorne II Mr.. Spencer's critics remarked
that he ccnsured Kant without having read him.
and they added more In sorrow than ~ anger
that Kant wrote some time ago such "A censure
could rarely be- passed upon Huxley. he read
widely IN various languages. IL had the ira
din nal scholastic culture as well ~ "a" now
scientific training. md his weight as man ~
scicncc w-s not rarely used - r"iafd " 'v"w"nis
hat were making more Roadway than facts war
ranted. He WAS. perhaps. a. militant a. IAn-
dali. but h. was hardly SO hasiN a. mat
remarkable man IN opposing received opln-
ions he would probably not haN" Wad"
the famous Belfast address II he had had
the opportunity: yet he was ne willing ~
Tyniail t. pursue scientific Investigation 10
it, utmost limits. and 20 accept all conclusions
which new facts warranted Even with all this
caution he occasionally went too fast, ~ n" con-
fesScl for example. IN the famous controversy
over l;ainybus. But ne set forth his IDEA OF
what men OF science should DO In The presence of
objections by abiding T. the story ~ Diog"ncss
controversy with an adhcrcnt Of Xeno's doctrine
that those who maintained the possibility II mo-
ton involved themselves In contradictions.
THE SCIENTIFIC MANS ATTITUDE
Huxley's point will not be understood unlo'ss It IL
conceived that the problem Of the fleeing Hector
and The pursuing Achilles was real puzzle 10 the
Greek mind at the dawn Of philosophy not
the fact Of motion. but the difficulty Of ac-
counting for IT, But the answer OF Diogcncs. who
simply walked around his tub without saying a
word was equivalent to an assertion that the
fact only was worthy Of consideration. SO. IN
the same way" added Huxley. the man of sci
ence replies - objections Of this Kind by simply
getting up and walking onward, and showing
what science has done and Is doing; by pointing
to the immense mass OF facts when nave hrcn
ascrrtained and systcmatiz"d under the forms 81
the great doctrines of morphoogy. II Develop
mcnt Of distribution and the Ike. IL" sees an
enormous mass Of facts and laws relating To Or
gauic beings which stand on the sam" good
foundation as every other natural law. with this
mass of fact and laws befor" ~. Therefore. SEQ
ing that az Gar as Organic matters hay" hitherto
been accessili. and studied. they have shown
themselves capable Of yelling TO scientific inVes-
tigaiion we may accept this as proof that ~
der and law reign there as wei as III Inc rest
II nature"
Many years ago Huxley put on record an out
line 4 his own evolution though he protested
at the time that "autobographes are essen'i an
works Of fiction. whatever biographies may be-
From that narrative Il can be seen that he
thought little Of his schooling. He vac born Mt
Ealing in the county Il Middlcsex England on
MAY l. 1925. His birthplace was then quiet VII
lagc a few miles from Hyde Park. II Is now
populous London suburb. curious fact on ms
brief autobiography Is that he barely menu'noh
his father whilo he dwelt upon the traits inherit
cd from his mother. physically and mentally,
he wrote Il am the son Of my mother 80 COM
plcfclv-cven down 10 the peculiar movements "l
the hands. which made their appearance In me
as I reached the age she had when ] noticed
them-that can hardly find any trace OF my
father in myself except an inborn faculty Tor
drawing which, unfortunately In my case. mas
never been cultivated; hot temper, and that
amount Of tcnacity Of purpose which unfriendy
observers call ohstinacy. My mother was slen-
der brunette Of an emotional and energetic tenn
pcrament and possessed Of the most piercing
black eyes ever saw In womans head with no
more education than other women OF the mid
die classes In her day. she had an excellent men
tai capacity Her most distinguishing character
istic however was rapidly Of thought If ono
ventured TO suggest that she had not taken much
lime to arrive at any conclusion. she would say:
4 cannot help 1t: things flash across me-
A DANGEROUS MENTAL TRAIT.
That peculiarly has been passed on to me In full
strength: it has sometimes played me sad tricks.
and II has always been a danger In the con-
seriousness Of this trait lay probably III" cause
Of the care which Huxley usually took with
his scientific work, and he exceptional cases
when his nature hurried him only served 10 en-
nhasizc the necessity Of watchfulness. Little as
ne said about his father. there was enough evil
dence In the breadth and accuracy OF his general
to show that he must have had better
training IN childhood than he himself allowed.
For he was not n university man In the proper
sense Of the term. and the desutory reading Of
his boyhood. while II stored his memory and
awakened his curiosity. co nd hardly have az
forded the training which his writings disclose.
His father was teacher In the schools OF Eal-
ing. and II was in those schools that he received