THE LESSON OF THE LIFE OF HUXLEY. 705 



who has seen a good deal of service in the ranks'' of the army ranged 

 round the banner of science; but the object to ^vhicll his life was 

 devoted — the diffusion among men of the scientific spirit of '' organ- 

 ized common sense" — has made notable progress during his lifetime, 

 and in this assurance he tells us at its end that he "shall be content 

 to be remembered, or even not remembered,-' as one among tlu^ many 

 who brought it about. 



The opening paragraph of his book on "Hume'' may be taken as 

 a statement of the motive of all Huxley's works. "Kant has said 

 that the business of philosophy is to answer three questions: What 

 can 1 know!' What ought I to do? and For what may I hopc^ I'.ut 

 it is pretty plain that these three resolve themselves in th(; long run 

 into the first; for rational expectation and moral action are alike 

 based upon belief, and a belief is void of justification vudcss its sub- 

 ject-matter lies within the boundaries of positive knowledge, and 

 unless its evidence satisfies the conditions of credibility. Fundamen- 

 tally, then, philsophy is the answer to the question What can I 

 know?" 



Huxley is not drawn into this province by the fierce joy of <-o!itro- 

 vei-s}^, nor by any desire to join those who flit forever over dusky 

 meadows green with asphodel in vain search for some reality which is 

 not within the easy reach of all of us. His motive is the most prac- 

 tical and serious one we know— "to learn what is true in order to do 

 what is right." This, he tells us, "is the summing up of the whole 

 duty of man, for all who are not able to satisfy their mental hunger 

 with the east wind of authority." 



The conclusion of the whole matter is that there is but one kind of 

 knowledge, and only one way to acquire it. This is the melody which 

 runs through all his works; now loud and clear, now hidden ])y the 

 minor interest of a scientific topic, or by the heat of controversy, or 

 by the charm of eloquence and literary genius; but always prestM.t. 

 and easy, for one who listens, to detect. 



It is because scientific education helps us to acquire the metluxl ot 

 using our reason rightly in the search for truth that he gave so nuicli 

 of his time and strength to the problems of education. It is because 

 the improvement of natural knowledge is conclusive proof of the 

 value of this method that he devoted his life to the popular./a .on of 

 science. It is because his right to use this method-the right which is 

 also the first and highest of duties-was disputed, that he entered the 



storniv waters of controversy. 



AftL"be pabluation of the Origin of Si«cie», Hux,,,- became the 



X1.II.V.X V K. i^ .,,,.1 _£ •.„ „J.,^«„fc»^ int.prfistp.d in it 



our way to acquire it. 



