The Smoker Copy of Ostade's "The Smoker" drawn by THH 1839 Huxley Archives

THOUGHTS AND DOINGS: 1840-45 by T.H. Huxley [Edited by Steven Cann]

[HP 31] [Cover, P.1] THOUGHTS & DOINGS --------from------Sept. 29 1840

[Inside front cover, P.2] Philosophy can bake no bread; but it can procure for us God[,] freedom & immortality. Which now is more practical[,] Philosophy or Economy [?] Novalis. Schriften Herausgegeben von L. Tieck und F. Schlegal Vol. 2 Page 126.

[3] September 29. Remember to make a galvanic battery with lead or iron on the first opportunity. Also to try the experiment of a simple galvanic current having syrup instead of sulphate of copper & dilute sulfuric acid to act on the zinc. Might not crystalized carbon be obtained thus? October 1. Went to Hinckley. Began speculating on the cause of colours at sunset. Has any explanation of them ever been attempted? (Copy from old book) There is no necessity for supposing the atmosphere to be liquified if it has an internal reflecting angle as it must have[,] it is sufficient. [4] Does not the colour of the sky at sunrise and sunset arise from the reflexion of the rays of light from some liquid? perhaps liquified air in the upper cold regions. In this case colours would appear in this order from the sun[:] red, orange, yellow, green [and] blue. Red is seen nearest the sun because being refracted least, it strikes on the reflecting surface at the greatest angle and reaches the eye of the spectator first. Of course all their effects

may be much modified by the passage of the rays through transparent clouds such as those mentioned by [Humboldt.] Through masses of vapour also and by equal heating of the atmosphere[.]

[5] God help you goose! 1845 [6] October 19 Saw an aurora borealis between 7 & 8 p.m. It appeared as a mass of milk with the light in the horizon (Northwest) from whence extended 5 or 6 streamers to the zenith. It passed to the north as I watched. And when I last saw it the streamers passed through Ursa Major. A brilliant shooting star around one of the streamers. There had been a very high wind all day. --25th. at Hinckley. Read Dr. S. Smith on the Divine Government. Agree with him partly. I should say that a general belief in his doctrines would have a very injurious effect on morals. [7] November 1st Tried an electrolyte experiment. Had a long talk with my mother and father about the right to make Dissenters pay church rates and whether there ought to be any establish-

ment. I maintained that there ought not to be in both cases. I wonder what will be my opinions ten years hence? I think now that it is against all laws of justice to force men to support a church with whose opinions they cannot conscientiously agree. The argument that the rate is so small is very fallacious. It is as much a sacrifice of principle to do a little wrong as to do a great one. [8] 5th. Tried proposition No.2 (Sept. 29th.). Carbon is deposited on the copper plate but [is] not crystalized. Perhaps this arises from the shortness of the time. The experiment has taken. Perhaps with a thicker division of plaster I might obtain different results. 22nd. Sunday Hinckley Had a long argument with Mr. May on the nature of the soul and the difference between it and matter. I maintained that it could not be proved that matter is essentially as to its base different from soul. Mr. M. wittily said, ["]soul was the perspiration of matter.["] [Reverse of 8] We cannot find the absolute basis [9] of matter[:] we only know it by its properties[;] neither know we the soul in any other way. Cogito, ergo sum is the only thing we certainly Know[.]

[10] Why may not the soul and matter be of the same substance (i.e. basis whereon to fix the qualities [,] for we cannot suppose a quality to exist per se it must have a something to qualify) but with different qualities. Let us suppose then an Eon a something with no quality but that of existence this Eon endowed with all the intelligence, mental qualities, and that in the highest degree is God. This combination of intelligence with existence we may suppose to have existed from eternity. At the creation we may suppose that a portion of the Eon was separated from the intelligence and it was ordained it became a [11] natural law that it should have the properties of gravitation &c., that it should give to man the ideas of those properties. The Eon in this state is matter in the abstract. Matter[,] then[,] is Eon in the simplest form in which it possesses qualities appreciable by the senses. Out of this matter[,] by the superimposition of fresh qualities[,] was made all things that are. [12] 1840 ? 1841 see later January 7. Came to Rotherhithe. June 20.

What have I done in the way of acquiring knowledge since January? Projects Begun 1. German } to be learnt 2. Italian 1. To read Mller's Physiology 2. To prepare for the Matriculation Examination at London University which requires a knowledge of: 1. AlgebraGeometry Did not begin to 2. Natural Philosophy } read for this till April 9. 3. Chemistry 1. GreekLatin 2. English History down to end of 17th century 1. Ancient History 2. English Grammar 1. To make copious notes of all things I read [13] Well do I remember how in that narrow little surgery I used to work morning after morning and evening after evening at that insufferable dry and profitless book, Humes History. How I worked against hope through the series of the series of thefts, robberies and throatcutting in those three first volumes, and how at length I gave up the task in utter despair. Mackintoshs History, on the other hand, I remember reading with great pleasure, and also Guizots Civilization in Europe. The scientific theoretical form of the latter especially pleased me, but the want of sufficient knowledge to test his conclusions was a great drawback.

_________________ 1845 [14] Projects completed 1. partly 2. not at all 2. } stuck to these pretty closely 5. e. read as far as Henry III in Hume a. Evolution & involution b. refraction of lights polarisation partly 4. c. laws of combinationmust read them over again d. nothing f. nothing g. nothing

[14] I must get on faster than this. I must adopt a fixed plan of studies, for unless this is done I find time slips away without knowing itand let me remember thisthat it is better to read a little and thoroughly, than cram a crude and undigested mass into my head, though it be great in quantity. (This is about the only resolution I have stuck to 1845) [15]Week June 20 to 27. Tuesday Thursday Physiology Monday Wednesday Friday Chronological abstract of reign of Henry III. Edward 1st. And IInd and IIIrd. Evenings 1st 14 theorems and arithmetical properties. Saturday Read over atomic theory and laws of combination and electricity. Turner and Manuel. An hour every afternoon for German.

Truths "I hate all people who want to form sects. It is not error but sectarian error. Nay, and even sectarian truth, which causes the unhappiness of mankind." Lessing. "It is only necessary to grow old to become more indulgent. I see no fault committed that I have not committed Myself." Goethe "One solitary philosopher may be great, virtuous and happy in the midst of poverty, but not a whole nation." Isaac Iselin [Top of page cut away] [16] Week June 27 to July 4. Monday Chronological abstract and read Edward III out Wednesday } Review in part Friday Tuesday } Physiology + (ill) Thursday Evenings 10 theorems & review Geom. propositions & review German

What with going out and being unwell have been very idle this week

Week July 4 to 11. Monday Chronological abstract of Richard II + Wednesday } (History) Henry IV & Henry 5 Friday Tuesday (Physiology) Abstract pages 231 to 244 + } Thursday read to End of Cap. III + 12 theorems and reviews + Geometry } addition subtraction multiplication Algebra and division with reasons for the rules. + German. Loben learn conjugations of Translate Week August 2 to 9 History Henry IV, V and VI. { (every morning) Read and abstract. German { Translate 'Die Ideal' (afternoons) First part of Infinite Mathematics { seriesEquations of one (evenings) and two unknowns. Is nothing worth mentioning in the latter part of July except Guizot out from 15 to 19th. 19th to 28th engage in making an electromagnet. 21st. to 31st. read Guizots "History of Civilization". An excellent work very tough reading though. [18] September 27th 1841 to October 4 Laid out for this week 1. History Guizot on feudalism Robertson on samefinish Hume vol.III. 3 1. Review 20 theorems Begin the geometry of circles and go through Mathematics propositions and progressing (Manuel) 1. German Get up in German adjectives.

Monday a. Read Robertson 7 with 8 review Guizot. Edward iv. Richard III. b. Theorems X. c. German adjectives. Miscellaneous Became acquainted with constitution of the French chambre des dputs and their parties. Tuesday Henry vii. Guizot Propositions German adjectives [19] [Drawn vertically] Knowledge Subjective | Metaphysics | Objective | | |

| | | | | | | | | Metaphysics Mathematics Logic Theology Morality History Physiology Physics proper [20] 1842 January 30th

Sunday Evening I have for some time past been pondering over a "Classification of Knowledge". My scheme is to divide all knowledge in the first place into two grand divisions. 1. Objective that for which a man is indebted to the external world [;] and, 2. Subjective that which he has acquired or may acquire by inward contemplation. Metaphysics comes immediately[,] of course[,] under the first (2) head that is to say[,] the relations of mind to itself --- of this Mathematics and Logic[,] together with Theology[,] are branches. [21] I am in doubt under which head to put morality[,] for I cannot determine exactly in my own mind whether morality can exist independent of others whether the idea of morality could ever have arisen in the mind of an isolated being or not. I am rather inclined to the opinion that it is objective. Under the head of objective knowledge comes firstly Physics including the whole body of the relations of inanimate unorganized bodies[;] 2 [secondly] Physiology including the structure and functions of animal bodies[,] including Language and Psychology[;] [22] thirdly comes History.

The object for which I have attempted to form an arrangement of knowledge is that I may test the amount of my own achievement. I shall form an extensive list of subjects on this plan[,] and as I acquire any of them I shall strike it out of the list. May the list soon get black! Though at the present I shall hardly be able[,] I am afraid[,] to spot the paper. (A Prophecy! A Prophecy!) 1845 [23] April 1842 Carlyles Miscellaneous Writings "Characteristics" (Edinburgh Review 1831)

"In the mind as in the body the sign of health is unconsciousness."

"Of our thinking it is but the upper surface that we shape into articulate thought underneath the region of argument and conscious discourse, lies the region of meditation."

"Genius is ever a secret to itself."

"The healthy understanding we should say, is neither the argumentative nor the logical, but the intuitive, for the end of understanding is not to prove and find reasons but to know and believe."

"The ages of heroism are not the ages of Moral Philosophy. Virtue when it is philosophized of [24] has become aware of itself[,] is sickly and beginning to decline."

"Goodness which was a rule to itself, must now appeal to precept[,] and seek strength from sanctions[;] the Free will no longer reigns unquestioned and by Devine Right, but like a mere earthly sovereign, by expediency, by rewards and punishments; or rather[,] let us say[,] the free-will[,] so far as may be, has abdicated and withdrawn into the dark[,] and a spectral nightmare of a necessity usurps its throne[;] for now that mysterious self [] impulse of the whole man[,] heaven [] inspired[,] and in all senses partaking of the Infinite[,] being captiously questioned in a finite dialect[,] and answering, as it needs must [25] by silence is conceived as non-extant, and only the outward mechanism of remains acknowledged; of Volition, except as the synonym of Desire, we hear nothing of Motives without any Mover, more than enough."

Man with relation to society "The duties of man to what is the highest in himself, make but the first Table of the Law: to the First Table is now superadded a Second [,] with the duties of Man to his Neighbour; whereby also the significance of the First now assumes its true importance. Man has joined himself to man; soul acts and reacts to soul; a mystic miraculous unfathomable Union establishes itself Life, with all its elements [,] has become intensated--consecrated. [26] "The lightning--spark of thought generated or say rather heaven kindled[,] in the solitary mind awakes. Its express likeness in another mind, in a thousand minds[,] and all blaze together in combined fire; reverberated from mind to mind, [fed also with fresh fuel in each,] it acquires incalculable new light as thought[,] Incalculable new heat as converted into Action. By and by, a common store of thought can accumulate, and be transmitted as an everlasting possession: Literature, whether [as] preserved in the memory of [the] Bards, in the Runes and Hieroglyphs [engraved on the stone,] or in Books [of written or printed paper] comes into existence and begins to play wondrous part. Politics are formed[:] the weak submitting to the strong with a willing

[27] "loyalty, giving obedience that may receive guidance: or say rather[,] in honour of our nature, the ignorance submitting to the wise [;] for so it is all even the rudest communities, man never yields himself wholly to brute force, but always to Moral Greatness..." "Last, as the crown and all supporting keystone of the fabric, Religion arises the devout meditation of the isolated man, which flitted through his soul [,] like a transient tone of love and awe from the unknown lands [,] acquire certainty [,] continuance [,] when it is shared by his fellow men Where two or three are gathered together in the name of the Highest [,] then first does the Highest [,] as it is written, appear [28] "among them to bless them [;] then first does an alter and act of united worship open a way from Earth to Heaven; where on, were it but a simple Jacobs Ladder, the heavenly messengers will travel [,] with glad tidings and unspeakable gifts of men." Every Society, every Polity, has a spiritual principle; [it] is the embodiment, tentative [and] more or less complete of an Idea [...]" [...] this idea, be it of devotion to a man or a class of men [,] to a creed, to the institution, or even [,] as in [a] more ancient times, to a piece of land [,] is ever true loyalty [;]

has it something of a religious [,] paramount, quite infinite [29] character; it is properly the Soul of State, its Life; mysterious as other forms of life, and like these workings secretly, and in a depth beyond that of consciousness." [30] June 1842 I observe that on the experiment in the figure[,] the galvanom[eter] needle is deflected. This may arise from one of three causes; First[,] the circuit being completed partially through p. p. through this is extemely improbable. Before[,] from an induction similar to that of electricity. Third, from an induction similar to that of a wire through which a current is passing upon another wire.

[31] The first supposition cannot be true because 1st the secondary current would be in that case stronger when [the] connexion is broken at A whereas in that case all effects ceases. Second [,] because the recording current is in an opposite direction to the primary. ["No answer at all." written over the sentence possibly Oct. 1845] (2) The second view appears to me the most probable to wit: that the liquid (Acid and I[ron] copper) acts as a sort of dielectric (?) precisely similar to a plate of air through which induction ordinary is going on. For if a piece of copper be placed like d. e.[,] the extremity d. becomes covered with copper and extremity e. dissolves off. Here there is polarization precisely similar to that of a [32] plate of metal insulated and placed between an inducteous and inductive body. In the case of the experiment itself I imagine that though platinum plates are in precisely the same state that two metal plates connected by a wire would be if placed [between two] above. Would not in this case one of them become subject positive and the other entirely negative [?] I would suppose then that -particles [...] [33] Try whether connecting the zinc with the plate in its cell through the gal[vanometer] will have any effect.

[34] October 1845 I have found the singular pleasure having accidently raked this b_chlein from a corner of my desk in looking over these scraps of notices of my past existence. An illustration of J. Pauls saying that a man has but to write down his yesterdays doings and forthwith they appear surrounded with a poetic [Bottom of page cut away] [35] halo. But after all these are but the skimmings of these five years living. I hardly care to look back into the seething depths of the working and boiling mass that lay beneath all this froth[,] and indeed I hardly know whether I could give myself any clear account of it. Remembrances of physical and mental pain of

[Top of page cut away] [36] absence of sympathy[,] and thence a choking up of such few ideas as I did form clearly within my own mind. Grief too yet at the misfortunes of others for I have had few properly my own so much the worse for in that case I might have said or done somewhat [,] but here was powerless. [Only this portion of the page remains.] [37]

[...] oh Tom[,] trouble not thyself about sympathy thou hast [38] stout legs and young[,] wherefore need a staff? Furthermore[,] it is twenty minutes past two and time to go to bed. B_chlein[,] it will be long before my secretiveness remains so quiet again make the most of what thou hast got.

[39] Modern Poets of whom I know too little Robert Browning Author of Paracelsus Sordello [,] etc., P.J. Bailey Author of Festus Monckton Milnes Hartley Coleridge Horne [Inside of back cover] [40] Saturday Mag. No. 278-9 Meteorology 433-443 Navigation Penny Cyclopedia No? 784&5 Insects 733&4 Heart 313 Brain Carlyles Essay on Characteristics Edinburgh Review 1831 [Outside back cover, upside down] [41] German Chemistry Robertson McIntosh Guizot Gil Blas Latin (Gregory and...?)

Nat Philosophy

Mechanics Hydrostatics { Acoustics Optics Arithmetics & Algebra Geometry Plane & Spherical Trig. Conic Sections Elements of Statics & Dynamics Elements of Hydrostatics Elements of Optics

Mathematics

Optics Algebra { Arithmetic ------------------Euclid Bk. I.

Languages

French German { Latin Greek (Italian?) Chemistry English History (Hume) (McIntosh) Ancient History (Rollin Mitford { Gibbon) Guizot[,] Hist Civilization Robertson 1 vol: Charles V.

History