The motive of science was the extension of man, on all sides, into
Nature, till his hands should touch the stars, his eyes see through the
earth, his ears understand the language of beast and bird, and the sense
of the wind; and, through his sympathy, heaven and earth should talk
with him. But that is not our science. These geologies, chemistries,
astronomies, seem to make wise, but they leave us where they found us.
The invention is of use to the inventor, of questionable help to any
other. The formulas of science are like the papers in your pocket-book,
of no value to any but the owner. Science in England, in America, is
jealous of theory, hates the name of love and moral purpose. There’s a
revenge for this inhumanity. What manner of man does science make? The
boy is not attracted. He says, I do not wish to be such a kind of man
as my professor is. The collector has dried all the plants in his
herbal, but he has lost weight and humor. He has got all snakes and
lizards in his phials, but science has done for him also, and has put
the man into a bottle. Our reliance on the physician is a kind of
despair of ourselves. The clergy have bronchitis, which does not seem a
certificate of spiritual health. Macready thought it came of the
_falsetto_ of their voicing. An Indian prince, Tisso, one day riding in
the forest, saw a herd of elk sporting. "See how happy," he said,
"these browsing elks are! Why should not priests, lodged and fed
comfortably in the temples, also amuse themselves?" Returning home, he
imparted this reflection to the king. The king, on the next day,
conferred the sovereignty on him, saying, "Prince, administer this
empire for seven days: at the termination of that period, I shall put
thee to death." At the end of the seventh day, the king inquired, "From
what cause hast thou become so emaciated?" He answered, "From the
horror of death." The monarch rejoined: "Live, my child, and be wise.
Thou hast ceased to take recreation, saying to thyself, in seven days I
shall be put to death. These priests in the temple incessantly meditate
on death; how can they enter into healthful diversions?" But the men of
science or the doctors or the clergy are not victims of their pursuits,
more than others. The miller, the lawyer, and the merchant, dedicate
themselves to their own details, and do not come out men of more force.
Have they divination, grand aims, hospitality of soul, and the equality
to any event, which we demand in man, or only the reactions of the mill,
of the wares, of the chicane?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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