近世思想中之科学精神

近世思想中之科学精神
The Scientific Spirit in Modern Thought.
作者：托马斯·亨利·赫胥黎
1915年11月15日
译者：刘文典

本作品收录于《新青年/卷1》

　 英国赫胥黎。Huxley近代生物学大家也。生于一八二五年。卒于一八九五年。 所著天演论。 侯官严氏曾译为华言。 风行中土。 斯篇乃钞自其所著“LaySermon”中之“On the advisableness of improving natural knowledge”者也。刘叔雅识。

一、去今二百年前。当千六百六十六年正月之初旬。吾辈祖宗之居此古大城者。生息于二大灾害之间。其一之淫威虽过。犹未甚远。其他则方来者也。

二、传闻即在吾辈今所聚处数步之内。彼疠疫之惨祸。发现于一六六四年之末。疫疠为灾。虽非创见。然此度之酷烈。实从来所未有。祸我英伦人民。而于伦敦特甚。直至次年犹未已焉。小说家戴福。于其所著最翔实之小说“大疫纪”中。运其妙笔。描写此数月间之情状。其记“死亡”曰。“死亡”携其伴侣痛苦恐怖辈徐步伦敦狭隘之街衢。使平昔之喧阗。化为沈寂。所闻者惟五万死人之丧者之哭声。发狂者凄怆之呼声。祈祷声。与夫绝望之余而自暴者之狂号而已。

三、然自千六百六十六年正月。死亡率减至其常度。病疫者不过往往有之而已。避疫他徒之富民。皆返其居。孑遗之民。复安其业。服务行乐如常。都会生活之潮流。以方兴之势。呈复其故道之观矣。

四、然昙花一现。新兴之希望复归泡影矣。大疫诚不至再发。然千六百六十六年秋。复有大火。其所以祸伦敦者。犹之大疫也。其年九月。此壁垒森严光辉烂然之城。毁其六分之五。所余者唯灰烬焦土。与其市民不折不挠之气而已。

五、吾辈祖宗之解释此等灾难也。自持其特别之意见焉。彼等信此疫乃上帝之裁判。故自忏悔而谨服从之。然于大火则甚愤恨。以其起于人之不仁也。彼辈之见。偏于忠君或清教徒派。故疑火为共和党或旧教徒所纵也。

六、惟吾思设有人焉。立于当时人口最多最繁盛之区。即吾今日所立处。以吾今日向公等所陈述之理。告吾辈之祖宗。谓彼等之说尽妄。谓大疫非上帝之裁判。犹大火之非某政治宗教之党派所为。谓火疫二者皆彼等所自造成。谓彼由各方面观察。皆非人力所可得施。而显为天神之震怒。敌人之阴谋。如斯二钜灾者。当自留意以防其复发。则人将斥其污渎天神也。

七、距大疫之发生约二十年前。二三静虑深思之士。结为一社。以谋自然知识之进步相号召。诸公结社之目的。一发起人。道之至为明晰。其言曰。“吾辈之事业。（除却神学与国事）在于论究哲学之探讨。如物理、解剖、几何、天文、航海、统计、磁气、化学、机械、及自然界诸实验。皆在所研求。傍及国内外治学之情状。吾辈于血液之循环。血管之瓣。乳糜管。淋巴管。歌白尼氏说。彗星与新发见诸星之性质。木星之卫星。土星之为椭圆形。（当时见其如此）太阳面上之斑与其自转。月面之不平均及月体学。金星水星之诸现像。远镜之改善。及磨玻璃为镜之法。空气之重量。可否有真空。自然果恶之否。陀力士理氏之实验水银。重物之下降。与其下降之速度。及其他凡百类此之事物。皆研究之。其中数者在当时犹为新发明。其他亦未为世所熟知承认如今日也。又英伦之倍根。弗罗连斯之伽理尼以还。意大利法兰西德意志及吾英伦。有称新哲学者。学子竞研究之。凡关于此者亦在吾辈所研求者之列也”。此宿学瓦利斯博士于千六百九十六年所著。记其前半稘事之文也。诸社友集会于阿格斯佛之威尔金博士家。博士乃定为监督牧师者也。其后相将入伦敦。遂动国王之听矣。

八、于是彼好新哲学之六青年。在阿格斯佛或伦敦。互相集会于其寓所。当十七稘中叶。人数实力皆大增。至其末叶。彼“自然知识共进会”已声誉隆起。得国人之崇敬。视为吾邦学术之中枢。群流之冠冕。其令名直至今日保持弗坠也。

九、牛顿之得刊行其杰作“原理”一书者。由此学会助之也。纵世之一切书籍皆毁。但得此学会所刊行之“哲学纪录”一书独存。则物理学之基础。绝未动摇。前二稘人智之大进步。犹得录存其大要。此可断言。即吾人今日。亦不见有学术衰微之朕兆也。今之时代。亦犹瓦理斯博士之时。吾侪之事业。（除神学国事外）在于讨论研究哲学之问题。惟吾人今日之数学。虽牛顿复生。犹当入校而学之。今之统计学、磁气学、化学、与自然界之实验。实组织物理化学之知识为一团使伽理尼再生。得一瞥之。足偿其所受于宗教裁判所诸僧正之苦也。今之物理学解剖学。包含无量数之物体。开拓宇宙间无数新世界。把捉至复杂之问题。彼威撒理及哈威辈。茍睹其所布之种。竟成大木。目将为之眩也。

十、今吾人已知疫疠唯卜居于不洁者之家而已。此辈所处之都会必狭隘。街衢之水必不疏通。且粪秽狼籍。其家污水必不宣泄。光线空气必不足。其人必不沐浴。衣食必不精洁。千六百六十五年之伦敦。即如斯之都会也。东洋诸都会。为疫疠所永住之乡。亦如斯者也。挽近吾人于自然略有所知。稍服从之。因吾人自然界知识有此一端之进步。与微细之服从。而疫疠自此遂绝。惟此知识犹甚简陋。服从亦犹未至。故伤寒霍乱之害。尚未能除。然使吾人知识更进步更完全表现之。则伦敦可以永无伤寒霍乱之灾。犹之十七稘初叶。疫疠之扫荡伦敦。屈指计之。不下三度。而今则数百年不识此物。此甚可凭信。绝非过言也。

一一、以上所陈。未有不可以事实证明之者也。其事实中所包括之原理。今之思想家莫不固信不移。今吾国人之罹于火灾饥馑疫疠。及其他灾害之起于不能制御自然预知自然者。其数少于弥尔顿时之人。而康宁福祉。则较其时之人为多。此多寡异同。实皆由于吾人自然界知识之进步。与施此知识于人生日用也。

一二、彼蔑视自然界知识者。好发高论。谓其进步但有裨益于物质文明。吾今姑承其说。姑认创立此学会者。舍此无复他求。然吾谓在彼能辨别大事与要事者。必视此同心戮力以谋人类自然界知识之进步之本原。较彼大疫为尤伟大。视其光辉较大火为尤灿烂。其嘉惠人类者无穷。以彼大火大疫之所损害者较之。则此区区损失真不足数。此必非过言也。

一三、每一人罹疫而死。则数百人实反赖此得生。且藉纺绩机器之力以分享世间之幸福焉。大火之害虽甚烈。然不能烧绝煤炭供给之途。每日利用汽机采掘于地下。其所开发之富源。若以古伦敦所损失之钜亿较之。殆不足道也。

一四、然纺绩机与汽机毕竟玩具而已。其价值亦偶然耳。自然界知识则创造无数更精练之计画者也。惟未能直以之为起富之具。故民犹未解歌颂其功也。

一五、当人类之理性。初与自然事实相接触之时。一切自然界知识固已植其根基矣。彼野蛮人初知一手之指。其数少于两手渡河涉川。较捷于远溯其源。石片不拨则不移。握于掌中。掌舒则坠。光热与日俱来去。木片置火中则燃。动植物有生死。以梃击人则人怒。或反击以报之。以果实赠人则人喜。或将以鱼酬之。人茍多识此类事物。则当此之时。于数学、物理学、化学、生物学、及伦理、经济、政治诸科。固皆已粗具其大略矣。即宗教亦与科学同时萌芽也。下所举语句。试玩味之。此虽新译然其思想则已三千年矣。

星辰丽中天。

灿然拱明月。

风静万籁寂。

群峰如堵列。

碧天渺无际。

众星光澄澈。

下有牧羊儿。

欣然自怡悦。

使彼草昧之希腊人。能受吾人之感想至于此度。则亦将如吾人之欣喜未终。凄怆继至。此无可疑也。盖此唤起人类智灵之微光。仅一现于彼不得知不可知之深渊中。益显人性缺憾之不可得补。其所愿望之不可得达而已。然此悲哀。此制限。（智识）此不可思议。即诸宗教本质之所在。而欲以智灵所赋之形式体现之者。即彼高深之神学所自起也。

一六、宗教学术诸知识之堂构。虽历千载。犹甚微弱。至关于宇宙摄理。唯有其泛概之意见。然其基础则不得谓非植于人智初放曙光之时也。自始彼野蛮人亦必见有表示因果之现象在。且知无论若何。必有一定之秩序存乎其间以为之准则焉。尝思虽在最愚之崇拜偶像者。当亦想像石中有神。司其坠落。果中有神。使其味甘也。如上所陈。人类盖自始即怀积极的科学之见地。无可疑矣。

一七、然关于一切较高远之事。彼不学者。常以其己身为比较之标准。自居为世界之中枢。裁量之尺度彼盖不得不如此也。见其己身偶发之意志。其力足以生甚多之事件也。自以其他更大之事。归之其他更大之意志。视宇宙间万物。为与己相类之大力者之意志所生。以其己身之可慰可激也。谓此大力者亦有喜怒之情焉。举几人类对于世界之规画动作。莫不经过此等观念。或尚有未能全脱者也。人之知识既达于此级。且修养自然界知识以求增加神之光荣。改善人之境况。此外无复他望。然则其视自然界知识进步之效果为何如耶。今试一研究之。

一八、今试举例以明之。古人以春秋之代序。定稼穑之次第。以星辰之方位。作航海之指南。以物质之见地观之。犹有视此更聪敏者乎。就宗教之见地观之。犹有视此更富于天机者乎。研求如是有裨实用之自然知识。其效果若何。公等当皆能言之。此即天文学也。天文学在诸科学中与人以无关日用之观念。而又最足使人破除先民所传来之信念者也。使吾人知此状若甚坚之大地。不过为旋转太空无数微尘之一。吾人顶上所谓平和之穹苍者。其实为至精微之物质所满布。其诸分子奔腾澎湃。有若怒涛焉。示吾人以此广大无极不可思议之空间。唯质与力。循其定律以运行。启迪吾人使致思于宇宙现像。以其性质考之。宇宙现像必有其终极。然揆之吾人之时间观念。即此亦足证其始之遥远无涯。犹其终之不可测度也。凡此诸端。皆天文学之教也。

一九、虽然。彼求食而得思想者。非仅研究天文学者也。世界有较以唧筒撒水为更有利无害者乎。然由此唧筒遂生自然能容真空与否之问题。而自然界之容真空。与空气之有重量。乃因以发明矣。由此以推知发生重量之力。实与宇宙并存。约言之。即普遍重力。与势力不灭之理。皆由此而得阐明也。吾人研究如何使用瓦斯之际。遂发明酸素。进而为近世化学。与夫物质不灭之说。

二十、又当车轮回转极速。求防其轴生热之方法。事之简单而又全属实用。宁复有过于此者耶。御车者能略解此。其益何限。茍有机巧之士。能明其所以生热之故。因以推得防热之方。宁不大佳。而鲁姆佛伯爵即其人也。伯爵与其后继者。实示吾人以势力不灭之理者也。彼研求自然界知识。号为物理化学家者。小之至于秋毫。大之至于六合。皆能随地得其一定之秩序。不易之连续焉。

二一、然物理学与解剖学则何如耶。解剖学者。生理学者。医学者。其事业在减少人类之痛苦。盖皆委身于最实用直接之事者也。然彼辈目先果局促于实利之一隅耶。吾恐彼辈殆破除旧思想之健将也。使天文学者以空间远大无极。宇宙实无穷尽之理胪列吾人之前。物理化学者。说物体组织之精微。道物质与力之实无终极。又二者皆倡道宇宙间无所不有一定之秩序。不易之连续。则彼生物学者。不特尽承诸说。且将益以更足惊人之言。犹之天文学家。明地球非宇宙之中心。而为离心之一点。彼博物学者。亦明人类非生物界之中心。而视为生物无数变化中之一种。犹之天文学者。于太阳系之组织上。见时间无穷之征。彼生物学者。亦得睹太古处此世界诸生物之状态。以人类经验征之。此亦无穷也。又生理学者之发明生命亦犹之物理化学之现像。实起于特殊分子之配置焉。任彼探讨至何地步。一定之秩序。不易之因果。实随处表现。与在自然界他处无以异也。

二二、以上所陈皆自然界知识之进步所印于吾人心中之新观念也。吾人已识上下四方古往今来之为无穷。且知地球为宇宙间目所得见处之一微尘。唯其期间。若以吾人之时间标准较之。则为无穷耳。又人类者。不过圆舆上无量数生物中之一而已。且实历无数级进化。乃成今日之状态也。加之。自然界知识每进一步。则宇宙间为有一定秩序之观念益广且坚。（此一定之秩序。现于所谓自然律者之中）且使人信无定律之心为之弛懈。其范围为之狭隘。于偶然之变化不复置信焉。

二三、此等观念。其组织之良否非所问也。此等观念之存在。与其为自然界知识之进步所不可逃免之结果。实无人能否认之。诚如是则其方事变更吾人所怀最重要之信念。决无疑义也。

英文

1. This time two hnndred years ago—in the beginning of January,1666—those of our forefathers who inhabited this great and ancient city[1.谓英京伦敦] took breath[2.生息.] between the shocks of two fearful calamities:one not quite past, although its fury had abated; the other to come.[3.The other to come=The other calamidy is to come.]

2.Within a few yards of the very spot on which we are assembled,so the tradition runs, that painful and deadly malady, the plague ,appeared in the latter months of 1664; and, though no new visitor [4.直译当作“虽非生客”意译作“虽非创见”]smote the people of England, and especially of her capital, with a violence unknown before, in the course of the following year. The hand of a master [5.大家之手笔.] has pictured what happened in those dismal months; and in that truest of fictions, The History of the Plague Year,Defoe [ 6. Daniel Defoe（1661?—1731）即著鲁宾生漂流记者也。] shows Death,[7. 此 Death之用法在修辞学谓之 Personification. 拟之为人者也。 ] with

every accompaniment of pain and terror,stalking through the narrow streets of old London, and changing their busy hum [8.伦敦市中之喧声] into a silence broken only by the wailing of the mourners of fifty thousand dead; by the woful denunciations and mad prayers of fanatics; and by the madder yells of despairing profligates.[9.此Profligates 不作无赖解乃谓绝望之余而自暴自弃者也]

3.But, about this time[1.指正月]in 1666, the deathrate had sunk tonearly its ordinary amount; a case of plague occurred only here and there,and the richer citizens who had flown from the pest had returnedto their dwellings. The remnant of the people began to toil at the accustomed round [2.The accustomed round & c.如常.] of duty or ofpleasure; and the stream of city life bid fair[3.有望。]to flow backalong its old bed, with renewed and uninterrupted vigor.

4.The newly kindled hope was deceitful. The great plague indeed,returned no more; but what it had done for the Londoners, the great fire, which broke out in the autumn of 1666, did for London; and, in September of that year, a heap of ashes and the indestrucible energy of the people were all that remained of the glory of five sixths of the city within the walls [4.The city within the walls=London, 盖古代伦敦固有城垣也。]

5.Our forefathers had their own ways of accounting for[5.解释。 说明。]each of these calamities. They submitted to the plague in humility and in penitence, for they believed it to be the judgment of God. But towards the fire they were furiously indignant, interpretingit as the effect af the malice of man, as the work of the Republicans,or of the Papists, according as their prepossessions ran in favor of loyalty or of Puritanism. [ 6. Their prepossessions ran …… of Puritanism. 彼等之偏见倾于忠君及清教徒主义。]

6.It would, I fancy, have fared but ill [1.Have fared but ill —but=only, fared ill=happed ill. ] with one who, standing where I now stand, in what was then a thickly peopled and fashionable part of London, should have broached to our ancestors the doctrine which I now propound to you—that all their hypotheses were alike wrong; that the plague was no more, in their sense, Divine judgment, than the fire was the work of any political, or of any religious, sect; but that they were themselves the authors of both plague and fire, and that they must look to themselves to prevent the recurrence of calamities, toall appearance [2.To. all appearance=由各方面观之] so peculiary beyond the reach of human control—so evidently the result of the wrath of God or of the craft and subtlety of an enemy [ 3 .Enemy 谓共和党及旧教徒。]…

7.Some twenty years before the outbreak of the plague, a few calm and thoughtful students banded themselves together for the purpose,asthey phrased it, of "improving natural knowledge. " The ends they proposed to attain cannot be stated more clearly than in the words ofone of the founders of the organization: "Onr business was(precluding matters of theology and state affairs) to discourse and consider of philosophical enquiries, and such as related thereunto:—as Physick, [4. Physick, Staticks; Magneticks, etc 当日之缀字法如是 ] Anatomy, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, Staticks, Magneticks, Chymicks, Mechanicks, and Natural Experiments; with the state of these studies and their cultivation at home and abroad. We then discoursed of the circulation of the blood, the valves in the veins, the venae lactae, [5.Venoe lacteoe 乳糜管] the lymphatic vessels, the Copernican[ 7 .Nikolaus Copernicus(1473—1543)波兰之天文学家首倡太阳居中地球绕行之说者] hypothesis, the nature of comets and new stars, the satellites of Jupiter, the oval shape (as it then appeared) of Saturn, the spots onthe sun and its turning on its own axis, the inequalities and selenography[8.Selenography. 月体学 descriplon of the moon,] of the moon, the several phases of Venus and Mercury, the improvement of telescopes and grinding of glasses for that purpose, the weight of air, the possibility or impossibility of vacuities and nature's abhorrence there of,[9.Mature's abhorrence thereof, —thereof当上文之Vacuities直译之作自然深恶真空， 其义即天地间无处无物质也] the Torricellian[10.Enangelista Torricelli(1608—1647) 意大利之物理学家以实验水银而发明晴雨表者] experiment in quicksilver,the descent of heavybodies and the degree of acceleration therein, with divers other things of like nature, some of which were then but new discoveries, and others not so generally known and embraced as now they are; with other things appertaining to what hath been called the new Philosophy, which, from the times of Galileo[11.Galileo( 1564—1642)意大意之天文家] at Florence, and Sir Francis Bacon[12. Francis Bacon.(1561—1626)英之大哲学家](Lord Verulam)in England, hath been much cultivated in Italy, France,Germany, and other parts abroad, as well as with us in England." The learned Dr. Wallis, writing in 1696 , narrates, in these words, what happened half a century before, or about 1645. The associates met at Oxford, in the rooms of Dr. Wilkins, who was destined to become a bishop; and subsequently coming together in London, they attracted the notice of the king ……

8.Thus it was that the half-dozen young men, studious of the "NewPhilosophy," who met in one another's lodgings in Oxford or in London , in the middle of the seventeenth century, grew in numerical and inreal strength, until, in its latter part, the "Royal Society for theImprovement of Natural Knowledge" had already become famous; and hadacquired a claim upon the veneration of Englishmen, which it has eversince retained, as the principal focus of scientific activity in ourislands, and the chief champion of the cause it was formed to support .

9.It was by the aid of the Royal Society that Newton publishedhis Principia,. If all the books in the world except the PhilosophicalTransactions were destroyed, it is safe to say that the foundationsof physical science would remain unshaken, and that the vastintellectual progress of the last two centuries would be largely, though incompletely, recorded. Nor have any signs of halting or ofdecrepitude manifested themselves in our own times. As in Dr. Wallis's days, so in these, "our business is, precluding theology andstate affairs, to discourse and consider of Philosophical enquiries. "But our "Mathematick" is one which Newton would have to go to schoolto learn; our "Staticks, Mechanicks, Chymicks, and NaturalExperiments" constitute a mass of Physical and chemical knowledge, aglimpse at which would compensate Galileo for the doings of a scoreof inquisitorial cardinals;[2.A glimpse at which …… inquisitorialcardinalo.昔Goliles 倡地球公转说宗教裁判所捕之下狱备受酷虐今茍得一瞥科学之昌明足偿往日所受之苦也]our "Physick" and "Anatomy" have embracedsuch infinite varieties of being, have laid open such new worlds intime and space, have grappled, not unsuccessfully, with such complexproblems, that the eyes of Vesalius[3.Andreas Vesalius (1514—1564) 和兰国人解剖学之始祖]and of Harvey [4.William Harvey(1578—1657)英之医学家发明血液循环者也]might be dazzled by the sight of the tree thathas grown out of their grain of mustard seed.

10.We have learned that pestilences will only take up their abodeamong those who have prepared unswept and ungarnished residences forthem. Their cities must have narrow, unwatened streets, foul withaccumulated garbage.[ 1. Garbage 本义为动物之脏腑此则作粪秽解] Theirhouses must be ill-drained, ill- lighted, ill- ventilated. Theirsubjects must be ill-washed, ill-fed, ill-clothed. The London of 1665was such a city. The cities of the East, where plague has an enduringdwelling, are such cities. We, in later times, have learned somewhatof Nature and partly obey her. Because of this partial improvement ofour natural knowledge and of that fractional obedience, we have noplague; because that knowledge is still very imperfect and thatobedience yet incomplete, typhus is our companion and cholera ourvisitor. But it is not presumptuous to express the belief that, whenour knowledge is more complete and our obedience the expression ofour knowledge,[2.Our obedience ……our knowledge —Our obedience tonature and the expression of our knowledge is more complete 之略也]London will count her centuries of freedom from typhus and cholera, as she now gratefully reckons her two hundred years of ignorance ofthat plague which swooped upon her thrice in the first half of theseventeenth century.

11.Surely, there is nothing in these explanations which is notfully borne out by the facts. Surely, the principles involved in themare now admitted among the fixed beliefs of all thinking men. Surely, it is true that our countrymen are less subject to fire, famine, pestilence, and all the evils which result from a want of commandover and due anticipation of the course of Nature, than were thecountrymen of Milton;[3. John Milton( 1008—1674) 英之大诗人。 ] and health, wealth, and well being are more abundant with us than withthem. But no less certainly is the difference due to the improvementof our knowledge of Nature, and the extent to which that improvedknowledge has been incorporated with the household words of men, andhas supplied the springs of their daily actions.[4.Improved knowledgehas been incorporated……their daily actions. 谓因科学进步而科学名词化为家常日用之语。科学遂为日常行为之原动力。]

12.Granting for a moment, then, the truth of that which thedepreciators of natural knowledge are so fond of urging, that itsimprovement can only add to the resources of our material civilization; admitting it to be possible that the founders of theRoyal Society themselves looked for no other reward than this. Icannot confess that I was quilty of exaggeration when I hinted thatto him who had the gift of distinguishing between prominent eventsand important events,[1.Prominent events and important events 前者谓大疫大火。后者谓用学术以利人生也。]the origin of a combined effort onthe part of mankind to improve natural knowledge might have loomedlarger than the plague and have outshone the glare of the Fire; as asomething fraught with a wealth of beneficence to mankind, incomparison with which the damage done by those ghastly evils wouldshrink into insignificance.

13.It is very certain that, for every victim slain by the Plague, hundreds of mankind exist,[2.For every victim……mankind exist. 谓一人染疫而死医生由此所得之经验可以治愈多人也]and find a fair share ofhappiness in the world, by the aid of the spinningjenny.[ 3. Spinning -jenney,千七百六十七年 James Hargreave 所发明纺绩机器。 ] And the Great Fire, at its woist, could not have burned the supply of coal, the daily working of which, in the bowels of the earth, made possibleby the steampump, gives rise to an amount of wealth to which themillions lost in old London are but as an old song.[4.Are but as an old song不足道]

14.But spinning-jenny and steam-pump are, after all, but toys ,possessing an accidental value; and natural knowledge creates multitudes of more subtle contrivances, the praises of which do not happen to be sung because they are not diroctly convertible iuto instruments for creatiug wcalth.

15.I cannot but think that the foundations of all naturalknowledge were laid when the reason of man first came face to facewith the facts of Nature: when the savage first learned that thefingers of one hand are fewer than those of both; that it is shorterto cross a stream than to head[1.to head 上溯其源而过]it;that a stonestops where it is unless it be moved, and that it drops from the handwhich iets it go; that light and heat come and go with the sun; thatsticks burn away in a fire; that plants and animals grow and die; that if he struck his fellow-savage a blow, he would make him angry, and perhaps get a blow in return; while if he offered him a fruit, hewonld please him, and perhaps receive a fish in exchange. When menhad acquired this much knowledge, the outlines, rude though they were ,of mathematics, of physics, of chemistry, of biology, of moral, economical and political science, were sketched. Nor did the germ ofreligion fail when science began to bud. Listen to words which, though new, are yet three thousand years old.[2.此希腊诗人Hesiod 之辞也所谓 though new 者以其为近人所译也]

"When in heaven the stars about the noon Look beautiful, when allthe winds are laid And every height comes out, and jutting peak Andvalley, and the immeasurable heavens Break open to their highest, andall the stars Shine, and the shepherd gladdens in his heart,"

If the half-savage Greek could share our feelings thus far, it isirrational to doubt that he went further, to find, as we do, thatupon that brief gladness[3.That brief gladness谓睹宇宙间森罗万众而心喜] there follows a certain sorrow,[4.A certain sorrow 谓继思宇宙之玄妙非人智所能明而自伤智灵之不完全也] —the little light of awakened human intelligence shines so mere a spark amidst the abyss of the unknown and unknownable; seems so insufficient to do more than illuminate the imperfections that cannot be remedied, the aspirationsthat cannot be realized, of man's own nature. But in this sadness, this consciousness of the limitation of man, this sense ofan open secret [ 5. Open secret 以目所能见之物而其秘奥又不可探求故谓之公然之秘密]which he cannot penetrate, lies the essence of all religion; and the attempt to embody it in the forms furnished by theintellect[ 6. To embody it in the forms &c.—it 指 the essence of all religion. 义谓以科学方法组织而表现之也。]is the origin of the higher theologies.

16.Thus it seems impossible to imagine but that th feoundationsof all knowledge, secular or or sacred,[1.Secular or sacred 俗与神圣即学术与宗教之义] were laid when intelligence dawned, though thesuperstructure remained for long ages so slight and feeble as to becompatible with the existence of almost any general view respectingthe mode of governance of the universe.[2.As to be compatible. ……ofthe universe.谓关于宇宙摄理但知一班而已。]

No doubt, from the first, there were certain phenomena which, tothe rudest mind, [3.The rudest mind=The savage.]presented a constancyof occurrcnce,[4.A constancy of occurrence 谓同一原因必生同一之结果 ]and suggested that a fixed order ruled, at any rate, among them. Idoubt if the grossest of fetich- worshippers[ 5. The grossest offetichworshipers 崇拜偶像中之最愚者，fetich 之义为 a material thing, living or dead which is made the object of superstitious worship. ]ever imagined that a stone must have a god within it to make it fall ,or that a fruit had a god within it to make it taste sweet. Withregard to such matters as these, is is hardly questionable thatmankind from the first took trictly positive and scientific view.

17.But, with respect to all the less familiar occurrences whichpresent themselves, uncultured man, no doubt, has always takenhimself as the standard of comparison, as the centre and measure ofthe world; nor could he well avoid doing so. And finding that his apparently uncaused will has a powerful effect in giving rise to manyoccurrence, he naturally enough ascribed other and greater event toother and greater volitions, and came to look upon the world, allthat therein is, as the product of the volitions of persons likehimself, but stronger, and capable of being appeased or angered, ashe himself might be soothed or irritated. Through such conceptions ofthe plan and working of the universe all mankind have passed, or arepassing. And we may now consider what has been the effect of theimprovement of natural knowledge on the views of men who have reachedthis stage, and who have begun to cultivate natural knowledge with nodesire but that of "increasing God's honor and bettering man's estate .[6. man's estate=man's condition.]"

18. For example; what could seem wiser, from a mere materialpoint of view, more innocent, from a theological one, to an ancientpeople, than that they should learn the exact succession of theseasons, as warnings for their husbandmen; or the position of thestars, as guides to their rude navigators? But what has grown out ofthis search for natural knowledge of so merely useful a character? You all know the reply Astronomy,—which of all sciences has filledmen's minds with general ideas of a character most foreign to theirdaily experience, and has more than any other, rendered it impossibiefor them to accept the beliefs of their fathers! Astronomy —, whichtells them that this so vast and seemingly solid earth is but an atomamong atoms, whirling, no man knows wither, through illimitable space; which demonstrates that what we call the peaceful heaven above usis but that space, filled by an infinitely subtle matter whoseparticles are seething and surging, like the waves of an angry sea; which opens up to us infinite regions where nothing is known, or everseems to have been known, but matter and force, operating accordingto rigid rules; which leads us to contemplate phenomena the everynature of which demonstrates that they must have an end, but the verynature of which also proves that the beginning was, to ourconceptions of time, infinitely remote, and that the end asimmeasurably distant.

19. But it is not alone those who pursue astronomy who ask forbread and receive ideas[2.Ask for bread and receive idea, 此句引自Carlyle 所作 Burns 传者也原文作 "Ask for bread and receive a stone" 喻诗人为世所轻也今 Huxlay 更" a stone" 为"idea" 意义大不同矣] What moreharmless than the attempt to lift and distribute water by pumping it; what more absolutely and grossly utilitarian? But out of pumps grewthe discussions about Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum[ 3. Nature'sabhorrence of a vacuum解见前];and then it was discovered that Nature does not abhor a vacuum, that the air has weight; and that notionpaved the force which produces weight is coextensive with theuniverse,—in short, to ihe theory of universal gravitation andendless force [4.Universal gravitation and endless force. 重力之于宇宙无所不在故谓之普遍重力，力者绝不消灭故谓之无穷力也。 ] while learninghow to handle gases led to the discovery of exygen, and to modern chemistry, and to the notion of the indestructibility of matter.

20. Again, what simpler, or more obsolutely pracitcal, than the attempt to keep the axle of a wheel from heating when the wheel turnsround very fast? How useful for carters and gig- drivers to knowsomething about this; and how good were it, if any ingenious personwould find out the cause of such phenomena, and thence educe ageneral remedy for them! Such an ingcnious persen was Count Rumford; and he and his successors have landed us [2.Landed us &c. 使吾人臻于何境，使吾人造诣至何程度。 ] in the theory of the persistence, orindestructibility, of force. And in the in6nitely minute, as in theim6nitely, great, the seekers after natural knowledge, of the kindscalled physical and chemical, have everywhere found a definite orderand succession of events which seem never to be infringed;

21. And how has it fared with [3.How has it fared with — it 乃 indefinite。fared=happend.] "Physick" and Anatomy? Have the anatomist. the physiologist, or the physician, whose business it has been todevote themselves assiduously to that eminently practical and dir ectend, the alleviation of the sufferings of mankind, —have they beenable to confine their vision more absolutely to the sirictly useful? I fear they are worst offenders of all [4.Worst offenders of all. Has done most to overthrow old established notions. ] For if thestronomer has set before us the infinite magnitude of space, and thepractical eternity of the duration of the universe; if the physicaland chemical philosophers have demonstrated the infinite minutenessof its constituent parts, and the practical eternity of matter and offorce; and if both have alike proclaimed the universality of adefinite and predicable order and succession of events. the workersin biology have not only accepted all these, but have added morestartling theses of their own. For, as the astronomers discover inthe earth no centre of the universe, but an eccentric speck, so thenaturalists find man to be no centre of the living world but oneamidst endless modifications of life; and as the astronomer observesthe mark of practically endless time set upon the arrangements of thesolar system, so the student of life finds the records of ancientforms of existence peopling the world for ages, which, in relation tohuman experience, are infinite. Furthermore, the physiologist findslife to be as dependent for its manifestation on particular moleculararrangements as any physical or chemical phenomenon; and, wherever heextends his researches, fixed order and unchanginy causation revealthemselves, as plainly as in the rest of Nature……

22. Such are a few of the new conceptions implanted in our mindsby the improvement of natural knowledge. Men have acquired the ideasof the practically infinite extent of the universe and of itspractical eternity; they are familiar with the conception that ourearth is but an infinitesimal fragment of that part of the universewhich can be seen; and that, nevertheless, its duration is, ascompared with our standards of time, infinite. They have furtheracquired the idea that man is but one of innumerable forms of lifenow existing in the globe, and that the present existences are butthe last of an immeasurable series of predecessors[1.The last of animmeasursble series of predecessors.此predecessors 乃以前之existence之义，与present existence相对， 谓今之状态乃经以前无数状态始成之最后状态也。]Moreover, every step they have made in natural knowledge hastended to extend and rivet in their minds the conception of adefinite order of the universe—which is embodied in what are called, by an unhappy metaphor[ 2. unhappy metaphor. 此unhappy= ill- chosen, incorrect.]the laws of Nature—and to narrow the range and loosen theforce of men's belief in spontaneity, or in changes other than suchas arise out of that difinite order itself[3.Changes other than ……difinite order itself.一定秩序所不生之变化即偶起之变化].

23.Whether these ideas are well or ill founded is not thequestion.No one can deny that they exist, and have been theinevitable outgrowth of the improvement of natural knowledge. And ifso,it cannot be doubted that they are changing the form of men's mostcherished and most important convictions.

The end.