392 LESSONS FKOM NATUKE. [CHAP. XIII. 



This amounts to a deliberate advice and injunction to his 

 hearers to cast aside every thought or care respecting God, 

 their own souls or a future existence. It is noteworthy that 

 this dogmatic statement, this certainty as to what is possible 

 to our faculties, is put forth by one who also tells us that 

 even &quot;of the existence of self&quot; we have not, nor &quot;can we 

 by any possibility have,&quot; the highest degree of certainty 

 (p. 359). 



Finally, in his address to the members of the Midland 

 Institute he remarks : 



&quot; I take it that the good of mankind means the attainment, by every 

 man, of all the happiness which he can enjoy, without diminishing the 

 happiness of his fellow-men.&quot; 



And, 



&quot; If we inquire what kinds of happiness come under this definition, 

 we find those derived from the sense of security or peace ; from wealth, 

 or commodity, obtained by commerce ; from art ; from knowledge, or 

 science ; and, finally, from sympathy or friendship.&quot; 



And here we must remark, in spite of his contact with 

 many working men, how utter must be the Professor s lack 

 of acquaintance with the real life of the poor, thus com 

 pletely to exclude from the catalogue of human happiness 

 all considerations of religion, its hopes, its stimulus, its 

 consolations. Had he but practised that profession which 

 counts him amongst its members, he could hardly have failed 

 to encounter amongst the sick and suffering some poor souls 

 whose one stay and consolation, amidst a crushing accumula 

 tion of earthly woe, has been a trustful belief in a heavenly 

 Father s love, and the prospect of a supernatural union with 

 Him in the life beyond the grave. 



As before, we may lay down the following propositions as 

 the summary of Professor Huxley s moral and religious 

 teaching : 



I. Physical science is the one only fountain at which 

 spiritual thirst can be quenched. 



II. Sadness is of the essence of religion. 



