And then it came back to me, as a curiosity and almost a coincidence,
that the same strange story had actually been selected as the text
for the central controversy of the Victorian Age between Christianity
and criticism. The two champions were two of the greatest men
of the nineteenth century; Huxley representing scientific scepticism
and Gladstone scriptural orthodoxy. The scriptural champion
was universally regarded as standing for the past, if not for the
dead past; and the scientific champion as standing for the future,
if not the final judgment of the world. And yet the future
has been entirely different to anything that anybody expected;
and the final judgment may yet reverse all the conceptions of their
contemporaries and even of themselves. The philosophical position
now is in a very curious way the contrary of the position then.
Gladstone had the worst of the argument, and has been proved right.
Huxley had the best of the argument, and has been proved wrong.
At any rate he has been ultimately proved wrong about the way the world
was going, and the probable position of the next generation.
What he thought indisputable is disputed; and what he thought dead
is rather too much alive.
Pages:
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253