CHAPTEE V 



1889 



The events to be chronicled in this year are, as might 

 be expected, either domestic or literary. The letters 

 are full of allusions to his long controversy in defence 

 of Agnosticism, mainly with Dr. Wace, who had 

 declared the use of the name to be a " mere evasion " 

 on the part of those who ought to be dubbed infidels ; ^ 

 to the building of the new house at Eastbourne, and 



^ Apropos of this controversy, a letter may be cited wliicli 

 appeared in the Agnostic Annual for 1884, in answer to certain 

 inquiries from the editor as to the right definition of Agnosticism : — 



Some twenty years ago, or thereabouts, I invented the word 

 " Agnostic " to denote people who, like myself, confess themselves 

 to be hopelessly ignorant concerning a variety of matters, about 

 which metaphysicians and theologians, both orthodox and hetero- 

 dox, dogmatise with the utmost confidence, and it has been a 

 source of some amusement to me to watch the gi-adual acceptance 

 of the term and its correlate, "Agnosticism" (I think the Spectator 

 first adopted and popularised both), until now Agnostics are assum- 

 ing the position of a recognised sect, and Agnosticism is honoured 

 by especial obloquy on the part of the orthodox. Thus it will be 

 seen that I have a sort of patent right in "Agnostic" (it is my 

 trade mark), and I am entitled to say that I can state authentically 

 what was originally meant by Agnosticism. What other people 

 may understand by it, by this time, I do not know. If a General 



VOL. Ill H 



