LOUIS AGASSIZ 125 



ingly brought home to us when we find a 

 scholar who has no more hesitation in 

 introducing the Creator than in suggest- 

 ing an earthquake or a glacial epoch or 

 any other exceptional agent. A critic 

 feels something like a man who, having 

 acknowledged that daily bread is sent by 

 God, should get no other explanation of 

 a loaf found on the kitchen table. Shall 

 we quarrel with the statement because 

 of mental reservations concerning the 

 baker? 



Again, Agassiz is studying not the 

 human but the divine mind, and the re- 

 sult is doubly startling. We are not apt 

 to think of mysticism and anthropo- 

 morphism together, but with Agassiz we 

 find them inextricably mixed. It is 

 easy to put what we may choose to call 

 Agassiz' s real meaning into terms which 

 his opponents would accept. But it is 

 not easy to convince ourselves that lie 

 would have accepted any such interpreta- 

 tion, nor is it easy to juggle his distinct 



