202 ANIMAL AUTOMATISM v 



the latest works which treat expressly of the 

 subject in which he is said to have been so 

 great ? 



It is much easier to ask such questions than to 

 answer them, especially if one desires to be on good 

 terms with one's contemporaries ; but, if I must 

 give an answer, it is this : The growth of physical 

 science is now so prodigiously rapid, that those 

 who are actively engaged in keeping up with the 

 present, have much ado to find time to look at the 

 past, and even grow into the habit of neglecting it. 

 But, natural as this result may be, it is none the 

 less detrimental. The intellect loses, for there is 

 assuredly no more effectual method of clearing up 

 one's own mind on any subject than by talking 

 it over, so to speak, with men of real power and 

 grasp, who have considered it from a totally 

 different point of view. The parallax of time 

 helps us to the true position of a conception, as 

 the parallax of space helps us to that of a star. 

 And the moral nature loses no less. It is well to 

 turn aside from the fretful stir of the present and 

 to dwell with gratitude and respect upon the 

 services of those " mighty men of old who have, 

 gone down to the grave with their wrap' 

 war," but who, while they yet lived, won splendid 

 victories over ignorance. It is well, again, to re- 

 flect that the fame of Descartes filled all Kumpe, 

 and his authority overshadowed it, for a century; 

 while now, most of those who know his name 



