EDITOR'S TABLE. 



373 



studying the familiar phenomena of 

 Nature. He keenly felt that his life 

 had been made less enjoyable to him- 

 self and less valuable to the public for 

 want of that early cultivation of the 

 observing powers by natural objects, 

 of which we have just been speaking, 

 as the great defect of our common edu- 

 cation. He knew nothing of science, 

 but he never despised it, as is too com- 

 mon with the devotees of literature 

 and politics, who are generally igno- 

 rant of it ; and he was always strong in 

 his condemnation of our educational 

 system, because of its culpable neglect 

 of scientific studies. He was emphatic 

 in insisting that the study of natural 

 things should be commenced in child- 

 hood, so as to maintain a place in after- 

 development, for he saw how difficult 

 it is, when the mind becomes engrossed 

 with other knowledge, to give proper 

 attention to the study of science. Mr. 

 Greeley's love of Nature was a pro- 

 found and genuine feeling, and his in- 

 terest in rural affairs was very far from 

 being an affectation. All who are fa- 

 miliar with the course of the Tribune 

 in its early days will remember the 

 prominence given to science in its col- 

 umns the copious illustrated reports 

 of the lectures of Lardner and Agassiz, 

 and the fulness and ability of its treat- 

 ment of scientific agriculture. Had it 

 not been for the all-disturbing influ- 

 ence of the antislavery convulsions 

 which distracted the country for twen- 

 ty years, this early policy of the Tri- 

 bune would undoubtedly have been 

 carried out in a systematic way, and 

 with the most salutary public results. 

 If Mr. Greeley did not imderstand 

 science, and was therefore unable to 

 assist in its direct development, he, 

 nevertheless, appreciated the noble 

 part it is to play in the world's affairs, 

 and the great service the press can 

 render in promoting it ; and, in the 

 card announcing his return to the edi- 

 torial control of the Tribune, he stated 

 that this would be among the great ob- 



jects to which he proposed t dedicate 

 the remainder of his life. It is to be 

 hoped that the managers of that jour- 

 nal will share in the discernment of its 

 founder, and, as its history is indissol- 

 ubly linked with the diffusion of ideas 

 among the American people, that they 

 will see to it that its future shall, in 

 this respect, be worthy of its past. 



TYNDALL AND FROUDE. 



Ik the same ship came two wise 

 men from the East, at the urgent soli- 

 citation of our people, to instruct them 

 by public lectures. But it turns out 

 that there are different kinds of wis- 

 dom, and our illustrious teachers rep- 

 resent very diverse sorts of it. Prof. 

 Tyndall accepts, as the problem of his 

 life-study, the universe as it is. By 

 the help of all that has been hitherto 

 revealed concerning the order and har- 

 mony of Nature, he engages with the 

 living phenomena of the world as it 

 exists around us, and is accessible to 

 all. To understand the present ongo- 

 ings of the universe, the course and 

 polity of Nature, and the living laws by 

 what we are all enmeshed, is his su- 

 preme and immediate task. Not what 

 men have thought in past times, nor 

 what they may happen to think now, 

 but what can be demonstrated, and 

 what all can actually know to be 

 true, is his great concern. Asking no 

 man to take his bare word, he shows 

 us facts that can be recognized, prin- 

 ciples that can be proved, laws that can 

 be verified, truths that can no more be 

 resisted than the physical forces them- 

 selves. He speaks to us of the order 

 of Nature in its latest and grandest in- 

 terpretations, and with such force of 

 proof that his crowded listeners are 

 convinced, and assent to his utterances 

 as one man. Multitudes in our leading 

 cities have heard him with eager at- 

 tention ; but there has not been a 

 ripple of criticism or dissent even suffi- 

 cient to indicate his presence among 



