60 Teachings of Thomas Huxley 



failure. It is one of Nature's constant laws. 

 It cannot be evaded. 



In the darker days of history, and that, too, 

 not so very long ago, certain men deeply im- 

 bued with the spirit of religious faith, ignorant 

 of natural causes, and heeding not in their 

 frenzy the Biblical mandate of "faith without 

 works" — even in those days certain men and 

 their families were swept from the face of the 

 earth through pestilence or through famine 

 while supplicating the sky for deliverance. 

 They knew not what to do so they did nothing 

 and suffered the penalty. These were the times 

 in which the wrath of God was visited upon 

 the people for their iniquities. It was Egypt 

 sore stricken with the plague. It was Babylon 

 delivered into the hands of the enemy. It was 

 JSTineveh consumed by fire. The prayers of the 

 High Priests and of the hosts were likewise 

 unavailing. Since that time, says Huxley, we 

 have learned that "Pestilences will only take 

 up their abode among those who have prepared 

 unswept and ungarnished residences for 

 them. Their cities must have narrow, unwa- 

 tered streets foul with accumulated garbage. 

 Their houses must be ill-drained, ill-lighted, 

 ill-ventilated. Their subjects must be ill- 

 washed, ill-fed, ill-clothed." 



There is very little to be gotten out of life 

 unless one chooses to put a great deal into it; 

 and the relation between the quantity of seed 



