diff options
Diffstat (limited to '2631-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 2631-8.txt | 1343 |
1 files changed, 1343 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/2631-8.txt b/2631-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cab287 --- /dev/null +++ b/2631-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1343 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Mr. Gladstone and Genesis, by Thomas Henry Huxley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mr. Gladstone and Genesis + Essay #5 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" + +Author: Thomas Henry Huxley + +Posting Date: December 3, 2008 [EBook #2631] +Release Date: May, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. GLADSTONE AND GENESIS *** + + + + +Produced by D.R. Thompson + + + + + +MR. GLADSTONE AND GENESIS + +ESSAY #5 FROM "SCIENCE AND HEBREW TRADITION" + + +By Thomas Henry Huxley + + + +In controversy, as in courtship, the good old rule to be off with the +old before one is on with the new, greatly commends itself to my sense +of expediency. And, therefore, it appears to me desirable that I should +preface such observations as I may have to offer upon the cloud of +arguments (the relevancy of which to the issue which I had ventured to +raise is not always obvious) put forth by Mr. Gladstone in the January +number of this review, [1] by an endeavour to make clear to such of +our readers as have not had the advantage of a forensic education the +present net result of the discussion. + +I am quite aware that, in undertaking this task, I run all the risks +to which the man who presumes to deal judicially with his own cause is +liable. But it is exactly because I do not shun that risk, but, rather, +earnestly desire to be judged by him who cometh after me, provided that +he has the knowledge and impartiality appropriate to a judge, that I +adopt my present course. + +In the article on "The Dawn of Creation and Worship," it will be +remembered that Mr. Gladstone unreservedly commits himself to three +propositions. The first is that, according to the writer of the +Pentateuch, the "water-population," the "air-population," and the +"land-population" of the globe were created successively, in the order +named. In the second place, Mr. Gladstone authoritatively asserts that +this (as part of his "fourfold order") has been "so affirmed in our time +by natural science, that it may be taken as a demonstrated conclusion +and established fact." In the third place, Mr. Gladstone argues that the +fact of this coincidence of the pentateuchal story with the results +of modern investigation makes it "impossible to avoid the conclusion, +first, that either this writer was gifted with faculties passing all +human experience, or else his knowledge was divine." And having settled +to his own satisfaction that the first "branch of the alternative is +truly nominal and unreal," Mr. Gladstone continues, "So stands the plea +for a revelation of truth from God, a plea only to be met by questioning +its possibility" (p. 697). + +I am a simple-minded person, wholly devoid of subtlety of intellect, so +that I willingly admit that there may be depths of alternative meaning +in these propositions out of all soundings attainable by my poor +plummet. Still there are a good many people who suffer under a like +intellectual limitation; and, for once in my life, I feel that I have +the chance of attaining that position of a representative of average +opinion which appears to be the modern ideal of a leader of men, when +I make free confession that, after turning the matter over in my mind, +with all the aid derived from a careful consideration of Mr. Gladstone's +reply, I cannot get away from my original conviction that, if Mr. +Gladstone's second proposition can be shown to be not merely inaccurate, +but directly contradictory of facts known to every one who is acquainted +with the elements of natural science, the third proposition collapses of +itself. + +And it was this conviction which led me to enter upon the present +discussion. I fancied that if my respected clients, the people of +average opinion and capacity, could once be got distinctly to conceive +that Mr. Gladstone's views as to the proper method of dealing with grave +and difficult scientific and religious problems had permitted him to +base a solemn "plea for a revelation of truth from God" upon an error as +to a matter of fact, from which the intelligent perusal of a manual of +palaeontology would have saved him, I need not trouble myself to +occupy their time and attention [167] with further comments upon his +contribution to apologetic literature. It is for others to judge whether +I have efficiently carried out my project or not. It certainly does not +count for much that I should be unable to find any flaw in my own case, +but I think it counts for a good deal that Mr. Gladstone appears to have +been equally unable to do so. He does, indeed, make a great parade of +authorities, and I have the greatest respect for those authorities whom +Mr. Gladstone mentions. If he will get them to sign a joint memorial to +the effect that our present palaeontological evidence proves that birds +appeared before the "land-population" of terrestrial reptiles, I shall +think it my duty to reconsider my position--but not till then. + +It will be observed that I have cautiously used the word "appears" in +referring to what seems to me to be absence of any real answer to my +criticisms in Mr. Gladstone's reply. For I must honestly confess that, +notwithstanding long and painful strivings after clear insight, I am +still uncertain whether Mr. Gladstone's "Defence" means that the +great "plea for a revelation from God" is to be left to perish in the +dialectic desert; or whether it is to be withdrawn under the protection +of such skirmishers as are available for covering retreat. + +In particular, the remarkable disquisition which covers pages 11 to +14 of Mr. Gladstone's last contribution has greatly exercised my mind. +Socrates is reported to have said of the works of Heraclitus that he who +attempted to comprehend them should be a "Delian swimmer," but that, for +his part, what he could understand was so good that he was disposed +to believe in the excellence of that which he found unintelligible. In +endeavouring to make myself master of Mr. Gladstone's meaning in these +pages, I have often been overcome by a feeling analogous to that +of Socrates, but not quite the same. That which I do understand has +appeared to me so very much the reverse of good, that I have sometimes +permitted myself to doubt the value of that which I do not understand. + +In this part of Mr. Gladstone's reply, in fact, I find nothing of which +the bearing upon my arguments is clear to me, except that which relates +to the question whether reptiles, so far as they are represented by +tortoises and the great majority of lizards and snakes, which are land +animals, are creeping things in the sense of the pentateuchal writer or +not. + +I have every respect for the singer of the Song of the Three Children +(whoever he may have been); I desire to cast no shadow of doubt upon, +but, on the contrary, marvel at, the exactness of Mr. Gladstone's +information as to the considerations which "affected the method of +the Mosaic writer"; nor do I venture to doubt that the inconvenient +intrusion of these contemptible reptiles--"a family fallen from +greatness" (p. 14), a miserable decayed aristocracy reduced to mere +"skulkers about the earth" (_ibid._)--in consequence, apparently, +of difficulties about the occupation of land arising out of the +earth-hunger of their former serfs, the mammals--into an apologetic +argument, which otherwise would run quite smoothly, is in every way to +be deprecated. Still, the wretched creatures stand there, importunately +demanding notice; and, however different may be the practice in that +contentious atmosphere with which Mr. Gladstone expresses and laments +his familiarity, in the atmosphere of science it really is of no avail +whatever to shut one's eyes to facts, or to try to bury them out of +sight under a tumulus of rhetoric. That is my experience of the "Elysian +regions of Science," wherein it is a pleasure to me to think that a man +of Mr. Gladstone's intimate knowledge of English life, during the last +quarter of a century, believes my philosophic existence to have been +rounded off in unbroken equanimity. + +However reprehensible, and indeed contemptible, terrestrial reptiles may +be, the only question which appears to me to be relevant to my +argument is whether these creatures are or are not comprised under the +denomination of "everything that creepeth upon the ground." + +Mr. Gladstone speaks of the author of the first chapter of Genesis as +"the Mosaic writer"; I suppose, therefore, that he will admit that it +is equally proper to speak of the author of Leviticus as the "Mosaic +writer." Whether such a phrase would be used by any one who had an +adequate conception of the assured results of modern Biblical criticism +is another matter; but, at any rate, it cannot be denied that Leviticus +has as much claim to Mosaic authorship as Genesis. Therefore, if one +wants to know the sense of a phrase used in Genesis, it will be well +to see what Leviticus has to say on the matter. Hence, I commend +the following extract from the eleventh chapter of Leviticus to Mr. +Gladstone's serious attention:-- + + And these are they which are unclean unto you among the creeping + things that creep upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and + the great lizard after its kind, and the gecko, and the land + crocodile, and the sand-lizard, and the chameleon. These are + they which are unclean to you among all that creep (v. 29-3l). + +The merest Sunday-school exegesis therefore suffices to prove that when +the "Mosaic writer" in Genesis i. 24 speaks of "creeping things," he +means to include lizards among them. + +This being so, it is agreed, on all hands, that terrestrial lizards, +and other reptiles allied to lizards, occur in the Permian strata. It +is further agreed that the Triassic strata were deposited after these. +Moreover, it is well known that, even if certain footprints are to be +taken as unquestionable evidence of the existence of birds, they are +not known to occur in rocks earlier than the Trias, while indubitable +remains of birds are to be met with only much later. Hence it follows +that natural science does not "affirm" the statement that birds were +made on the fifth day, and "everything that creepeth on the ground" on +the sixth, on which Mr. Gladstone rests his order; for, as is shown +by Leviticus, the "Mosaic writer" includes lizards among his "creeping +things." + +Perhaps I have given myself superfluous trouble in the preceding +argument, for I find that Mr. Gladstone is willing to assume (he does +not say to admit) that the statement in the text of Genesis as to +reptiles cannot "in all points be sustained" (p. 16). But my position +is that it cannot be sustained in any point, so that, after all, it +has perhaps been as well to go over the evidence again. And then Mr. +Gladstone proceeds as if nothing had happened to tell us that-- + + There remain great unshaken facts to be weighed. First, the fact + that such a record should have been made at all. + +As most peoples have their cosmogonies, this "fact" does not strike me +as having much value. + + Secondly, the fact that, instead of dwelling in generalities, it + has placed itself under the severe conditions of a chronological + order reaching from the first _nisus_ of chaotic matter to + the consummated production of a fair and goodly, a furnished and + a peopled world. + +This "fact" can be regarded as of value only by ignoring the fact +demonstrated in my previous paper, that natural science does not +confirm the order asserted so far as living things are concerned; and +by upsetting a fact to be brought to light presently, to wit, that, in +regard to the rest of the pentateuchal cosmogony, prudent science has +very little to say one way or the other. + + Thirdly, the fact that its cosmogony seems, in the light of the + nineteenth century, to draw more and more of countenance from + the best natural philosophy. + +I have already questioned the accuracy of this statement, and I do not +observe that mere repetition adds to its value. + + And, fourthly, that it has described the successive origins of + the five great categories of present life with which human + experience was and is conversant, in that order which geological + authority confirms. + +By comparison with a sentence on page 14, in which a fivefold order is +substituted for the "fourfold order," on which the "plea for revelation" +was originally founded, it appears that these five categories are +"plants, fishes, birds, mammals, and man," which, Mr. Gladstone affirms, +"are given to us in Genesis in the order of succession in which they are +also given by the latest geological authorities." + +I must venture to demur to this statement. I showed, in my previous +paper, that there is no reason to doubt that the term "great sea +monster" (used in Gen. i. 21) includes the most conspicuous of great sea +animals--namely, whales, dolphins, porpoises, manatees, and dugongs; [2] +and, as these are indubitable mammals, it is impossible to affirm that +mammals come after birds, which are said to have been created on the +same day. Moreover, I pointed out that as these Cetacea and Sirenia are +certainly modified land animals, their existence implies the antecedent +existence of land mammals. + +Furthermore, I have to remark that the term "fishes," as used, +technically, in zoology, by no means covers all the moving creatures +that have life, which are bidden to "fill the waters in the seas" (Gen. +i. 20-22.) Marine mollusks and crustacea, echinoderms, corals, and +foraminifera are not technically fishes. But they are abundant in the +palaeozoic rocks, ages upon ages older than those in which the first +evidences of true fishes appear. And if, in a geological book, Mr. +Gladstone finds the quite true statement that plants appeared before +fishes, it is only by a complete misunderstanding that he can be led +to imagine it serves his purpose. As a matter of fact, at the present +moment, it is a question whether, on the bare evidence afforded +by fossils, the marine creeping thing or the marine plant has the +seniority. No cautious palaeontologist would express a decided opinion +on the matter. But, if we are to read the pentateuchal statement as +a scientific document (and, in spite of all protests to the contrary, +those who bring it into comparison with science do seek to make a +scientific document of it), then, as it is quite clear that only +terrestrial plants of high organisation are spoken of in verses 11 +and 12, no palaeontologist would hesitate to say that, at present, the +records of sea animal life are vastly older than those of any land plant +describable as "grass, herb yielding seed or fruit tree." + +Thus, although, in Mr. Gladstone's "Defence," the "old order passeth +into new," his case is not improved. The fivefold order is no more +"affirmed in our time by natural science" to be "a demonstrated +conclusion and established fact" than the fourfold order was. Natural +science appears to me to decline to have anything to do with either; +they are as wrong in detail as they are mistaken in principle. + +There is another change of position, the value of which is not so +apparent to me, as it may well seem to be to those who are unfamiliar +with the subject under discussion. Mr. Gladstone discards his three +groups of "water-population," "air-population," and "land-population," +and substitutes for them (1) fishes, (2) birds, (3) mammals, (4) +man. Moreover, it is assumed, in a note, that "the higher or ordinary +mammals" alone were known to the "Mosaic writer" (p. 6). No doubt it +looks, at first, as if something were gained by this alteration; for, +as I have just pointed out, the word "fishes" can be used in two senses, +one of which has a deceptive appearance of adjustability to the "Mosaic" +account. Then the inconvenient reptiles are banished out of sight; and, +finally, the question of the exact meaning of "higher" and "ordinary" +in the case of mammals opens up the prospect of a hopeful logomachy. But +what is the good of it all in the face of Leviticus on the one hand and +of palaeontology on the other? + +As, in my apprehension, there is not a shadow of justification for the +suggestion that when the pentateuchal writer says "fowl" he excludes +bats (which, as we shall see directly, are expressly included under +"fowl" in Leviticus), and as I have already shown that he demonstrably +includes reptiles, as well as mammals, among the creeping things of the +land, I may be permitted to spare my readers further discussion of +the "fivefold order." On the whole, it is seen to be rather more +inconsistent with Genesis than its fourfold predecessor. + +But I have yet a fresh order to face. Mr. Gladstone (p. 11) understands +"the main statements of Genesis" in successive order of time, but without +any measurement of its divisions, to be as follows:-- + +1. A period of land, anterior to all life (v. 9, 10). 2. A period of +vegetable life, anterior to animal life (v. 11, 12). 3. A period of +animal life, in the order of fishes (v. 20). 4. Another stage of animal +life, in the order of birds. 5. Another in the order of beasts (v. 24, +25). 6. Last of all, man (v. 26, 27). + +Mr. Gladstone then tries to find the proof of the occurrence of a +similar succession in sundry excellent works on geology. + +I am really grieved to be obliged to say that this third (or is it +fourth?) modification of the foundation of the "plea for revelation" +originally set forth, satisfies me as little as any of its predecessors. + +For, in the first place, I cannot accept the assertion that this order +is to be found in Genesis. With respect to No. 5, for example, I hold, +as I have already said, that "great sea monsters" includes the Cetacea, +in which case mammals (which is what, I suppose, Mr. Gladstone means by +"beasts") come in under head No. 3, and not under No. 5. Again, "fowl" +are said in Genesis to be created on the same day as fishes; therefore +I cannot accept an order which makes birds succeed fishes. Once more, +as it is quite certain that the term "fowl" includes the bats,--for in +Leviticus xi. 13-19 we read, "And these shall ye have in abomination +among the fowls... the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the +bat,"--it is obvious that bats are also said to have been created at +stage No. 3. And as bats are mammals, and their existence obviously +presupposes that of terrestrial "beasts," it is quite clear that the +latter could not have first appeared as No. 5. I need not repeat my +reasons for doubting whether man came "last of all." + +As the latter half of Mr. Gladstone's sixfold order thus shows itself to +be wholly unauthorised by, and inconsistent with, the plain language +of the Pentateuch, I might decline to discuss the admissibility of its +former half. + +But I will add one or two remarks on this point also. Does Mr. Gladstone +mean to say that in any of the works he has cited, or indeed anywhere +else, he can find scientific warranty for the assertion that there was a +period of land--by which I suppose he means dry land (for submerged land +must needs be as old as the separate existence of the sea)--"anterior to +all life?" + +It may be so, or it may not be so; but where is the evidence which would +justify any one in making a positive assertion on the subject? What +competent palaeontologist will affirm, at this present moment, that he +knows anything about the period at which life originated, or will +assert more than the extreme probability that such origin was a long +way antecedent to any traces of life at present known? What physical +geologist will affirm that he knows when dry land began to exist, or +will say more than that it was probably very much earlier than any +extant direct evidence of terrestrial conditions indicates? + +I think I know pretty well the answers which the authorities quoted by +Mr. Gladstone would give to these questions; but I leave it to them to +give them if they think fit. + +If I ventured to speculate on the matter at all, I should say it is by +no means certain that sea is older than dry land, inasmuch as a solid +terrestrial surface may very well have existed before the earth was cool +enough to allow of the existence of fluid water. And, in this case, +dry land may have existed before the sea. As to the first appearance of +life, the whole argument of analogy, whatever it may be worth in such a +case, is in favour of the absence of living beings until long after +the hot water seas had constituted themselves; and of the subsequent +appearance of aquatic before terrestrial forms of life. But whether +these "protoplasts" would, if we could examine them, be reckoned +among the lowest microscopic algae, or fungi; or among those doubtful +organisms which lie in the debatable land between animals and plants, +is, in my judgment, a question on which a prudent biologist will reserve +his opinion. + +I think that I have now disposed of those parts of Mr. Gladstone's +defence in which I seem to discover a design to rescue his solemn "plea +for revelation." But a great deal of the "Proem to Genesis" remains +which I would gladly pass over in silence, were such a course +consistent with the respect due to so distinguished a champion of the +"reconcilers." + +I hope that my clients--the people of average opinions--have by this +time some confidence in me; for when I tell them that, after all, Mr. +Gladstone is of opinion that the "Mosaic record" was meant to give +moral, and not scientific, instruction to those for whom it was written, +they may be disposed to think that I must be misleading them. But let +them listen further to what Mr. Gladstone says in a compendious but not +exactly correct statement respecting my opinions:-- + + He holds the writer responsible for scientific precision: I look + for nothing of the kind, but assign to him a statement general, + which admits exceptions; popular, which aims mainly at producing + moral impression; summary, which cannot but be open to more or + less of criticism of detail. He thinks it is a lecture. I think + it is a sermon. (p. 5). + +I note, incidentally, that Mr. Gladstone appears to consider that the +_differentia_ between a lecture and a sermon is, that the former, so +far as it deals with matters of fact, may be taken seriously, as meaning +exactly what it says, while a sermon may not. I have quite enough on my +hands without taking up the cudgels for the clergy, who will probably +find Mr. Gladstone's definition unflattering. + +But I am diverging from my proper business, which is to say that I have +given no ground for the ascription of these opinions; and that, as a +matter of fact, I do not hold them and never have held them. It is Mr. +Gladstone, and not I, who will have it that the pentateuchal cosmogony +is to be taken as science. + +My belief, on the contrary, is, and long has been, that the pentateuchal +story of the creation is simply a myth. I suppose it to be an hypothesis +respecting the origin of the universe which some ancient thinker found +himself able to reconcile with his knowledge, or what he thought was +knowledge, of the nature of things, and therefore assumed to be true. +As such, I hold it to be not merely an interesting, but a venerable, +monument of a stage in the mental progress of mankind; and I find it +difficult to suppose that any one who is acquainted with the cosmogonies +of other nations--and especially with those of the Egyptians and the +Babylonians, with whom the Israelites were in such frequent and intimate +communication--should consider it to possess either more, or less, +scientific importance than may be allotted to these. + +Mr. Gladstone's definition of a sermon permits me to suspect that he may +not see much difference between that form of discourse and what I call +a myth; and I hope it may be something more than the slowness of +apprehension, to which I have confessed, which leads me to imagine +that a statement which is "general" but "admits exceptions," which is +"popular" and "aims mainly at producing moral impression," "summary" and +therefore open to "criticism of detail," amounts to a myth, or perhaps +less than a myth. Put algebraically, it comes to this, _x=a+b+c_; always +remembering that there is nothing to show the exact value of either _a,_ +or _b,_ or _c._ It is true that _a_ is commonly supposed to equal 10, +but there are exceptions, and these may reduce it to 8, or 3, or 0; _b_ +also popularly means 10, but being chiefly used by the algebraist as a +"moral" value, you cannot do much with it in the addition or subtraction +of mathematical values; _c_ also is quite "summary," and if you go into +the details of which it is made up, many of them may be wrong, and their +sum total equal to 0, or even to a minus quantity. + +Mr. Gladstone appears to wish that I should (1) enter upon a sort of +essay competition with the author of the pentateuchal cosmogony; (2) +that I should make a further statement about some elementary facts in +the history of Indian and Greek philosophy; and (3) that I should show +cause for my hesitation in accepting the assertion that Genesis is +supported, at any rate to the extent of the first two verses, by the +nebular hypothesis. + +A certain sense of humour prevents me from accepting the first +invitation. I would as soon attempt to put Hamlet's soliloquy into +a more scientific shape. But if I supposed the "Mosaic writer" to be +inspired, as Mr. Gladstone does, it would not be consistent with my +notions of respect for the Supreme Being to imagine Him unable to frame +a form of words which should accurately, or, at least, not inaccurately, +express His own meaning. It is sometimes said that, had the statements +contained in the first chapter of Genesis been scientifically true, they +would have been unintelligible to ignorant people; but how is the matter +mended if, being scientifically untrue, they must needs be rejected by +instructed people? + +With respect to the second suggestion, it would be presumptuous in me +to pretend to instruct Mr. Gladstone in matters which lie as much within +the province of Literature and History as in that of Science; but if +any one desirous of further knowledge will be so good as to turn to +that most excellent and by no means recondite source of information, the +"Encyclopaedia Britannica," he will find, under the letter E, the word +"Evolution," and a long article on that subject. Now, I do not recommend +him to read the first half of the article; but the second half, by my +friend Mr. Sully, is really very good. He will there find it said that +in some of the philosophies of ancient India, the idea of evolution is +clearly expressed: "Brahma is conceived as the eternal self-existent +being, which, on its material side, unfolds itself to the world by +gradually condensing itself to material objects through the gradations +of ether, fire, water, earth, and other elements." And again: "In the +later system of emanation of Sankhya there is a more marked approach to +a materialistic doctrine of evolution." What little knowledge I have +of the matter--chiefly derived from that very instructive book, +"Die Religion des Buddha," by C. F. Koeppen, supplemented by Hardy's +interesting works--leads me to think that Mr. Sully might have +spoken much more strongly as to the evolutionary character of Indian +philosophy, and especially of that of the Buddhists. But the question is +too large to be dealt with incidentally. + +And, with respect to early Greek philosophy, [3] the seeker after +additional enlightenment need go no further than the same excellent +storehouse of information:-- + + The early Ionian physicists, including Thales, + Anaximander, and Anaximenes, seek to explain the world as + generated out of a primordial matter which is at the same time + the universal support of things. This substance is endowed with + a generative or transmutative force by virtue of which it passes + into a succession of forms. They thus resemble modern + evolutionists since they regard the world, with its infinite + variety of forms, as issuing from a simple mode of matter. + +Further on, Mr. Sully remarks that "Heraclitus deserves a prominent +place in the history of the idea of evolution," and he states, with +perfect justice, that Heraclitus has foreshadowed some of the special +peculiarities of Mr. Darwin's views. It is indeed a very strange +circumstance that the philosophy of the great Ephesian more than +adumbrates the two doctrines which have played leading parts, the one +in the development of Christian dogma, the other in that of natural +science. The former is the conception of the Word {Greek text}[logos] +which took its Jewish shape in Alexandria, and its Christian form [4] in +that Gospel which is usually referred to an Ephesian source of some +five centuries later date; and the latter is that of the struggle for +existence. The saying that "strife is father and king of all" {Greek +text}[...], ascribed to Heraclitus, would be a not inappropriate motto +for the "Origin of Species." + +I have referred only to Mr. Sully's article, because his authority is +quite sufficient for my purpose. But the consultation of any of the +more elaborate histories of Greek philosophy, such as the great work of +Zeller, for example, will only bring out the same fact into still more +striking prominence. I have professed no "minute acquaintance" with +either Indian or Greek philosophy, but I have taken a great deal of +pains to secure that such knowledge as I do possess shall be accurate +and trustworthy. + +In the third place, Mr. Gladstone appears to wish that I should discuss +with him the question whether the nebular hypothesis is, or is not, +confirmatory of the pentateuchal account of the origin of things. Mr. +Gladstone appears to be prepared to enter upon this campaign with a +light heart. I confess I am not, and my reason for this backwardness +will doubtless surprise Mr. Gladstone. It is that, rather more than +a quarter of a century ago (namely, in February 1859), when it was my +duty, as President of the Geological Society, to deliver the Anniversary +Address, [5] I chose a topic which involved a very careful study of the +remarkable cosmogonical speculation, originally promulgated by Immanuel +Kant and, subsequently, by Laplace, which is now known as the nebular +hypothesis. With the help of such little acquaintance with the +principles of physics and astronomy as I had gained, I endeavoured to +obtain a clear understanding of this speculation in all its bearings. +I am not sure that I succeeded; but of this I am certain, that the +problems involved are very difficult, even for those who possess the +intellectual discipline requisite for dealing with them. And it was this +conviction that led me to express my desire to leave the discussion of +the question of the asserted harmony between Genesis and the nebular +hypothesis to experts in the appropriate branches of knowledge. And I +think my course was a wise one; but as Mr. Gladstone evidently does not +understand how there can be any hesitation on my part, unless it arises +from a conviction that he is in the right, I may go so far as to set out +my difficulties. + +They are of two kinds--exegetical and scientific. It appears to me that +it is vain to discuss a supposed coincidence between Genesis and science +unless we have first settled, on the one hand, what Genesis says, and, +on the other hand, what science says. + +In the first place, I cannot find any consensus among Biblical scholars +as to the meaning of the words, "In the beginning God created the +heaven and the earth." Some say that the Hebrew word _bara,_ which is +translated "create," means "made out of nothing." I venture to object to +that rendering, not on the ground of scholarship, but of common sense. +Omnipotence itself can surely no more make something "out of" nothing +than it can make a triangular circle. What is intended by "made out +of nothing" appears to be "caused to come into existence," with the +implication that nothing of the same kind previously existed. It is +further usually assumed that "the heaven and the earth" means the +material substance of the universe. Hence the "Mosaic writer" is taken +to imply that where nothing of a material nature previously existed, +this substance appeared. That is perfectly conceivable, and therefore +no one can deny that it may have happened. But there are other very +authoritative critics who say that the ancient Israelite [6] who +wrote the passage was not likely to have been capable of such abstract +thinking; and that, as a matter of philology, _bara_ is commonly used +to signify the "fashioning," or "forming," of that which already +exists. Now it appears to me that the scientific investigator is +wholly incompetent to say anything at all about the first origin of the +material universe. The whole power of his organon vanishes when he has +to step beyond the chain of natural causes and effects. No form of the +nebular hypothesis, that I know of, is necessarily connected with any +view of the origination of the nebular substance. Kant's form of it +expressly supposes that the nebular material from which one stellar +system starts may be nothing but the disintegrated substance of a +stellar and planetary system which has just come to an end. Therefore, +so far as I can see, one who believes that matter has existed from all +eternity has just as much right to hold the nebular hypothesis as one +who believes that matter came into existence at a specified epoch. In +other words, the nebular hypothesis and the creation hypothesis, up to +this point, neither confirm nor oppose one another. + +Next, we read in the revisers' version, in which I suppose the ultimate +results of critical scholarship to be embodied: "And the earth was waste +['without form,' in the Authorised Version] and void." Most people seem +to think that this phraseology intends to imply that the matter out of +which the world was to be formed was a veritable "chaos," devoid of law +and order. If this interpretation is correct, the nebular hypothesis +can have nothing to say to it. The scientific thinker cannot admit the +absence of law and order; anywhere or anywhen, in nature. Sometimes law +and order are patent and visible to our limited vision; sometimes +they are hidden. But every particle of the matter of the most +fantastic-looking nebula in the heavens is a realm of law and order +in itself; and, that it is so, is the essential condition of the +possibility of solar and planetary evolution from the apparent chaos. +[7] + +"Waste" is too vague a term to be worth consideration. "Without form," +intelligible enough as a metaphor, if taken literally is absurd; for a +material thing existing in space must have a superficies, and if it has +a superficies it has a form. The wildest streaks of marestail clouds +in the sky, or the most irregular heavenly nebulae, have surely just as +much form as a geometrical tetrahedron; and as for "void," how can that +be void which is full of matter? As poetry, these lines are vivid and +admirable; as a scientific statement, which they must be taken to be +if any one is justified in comparing them with another scientific +statement, they fail to convey any intelligible conception to my mind. + +The account proceeds: "And darkness was upon the face of the deep." So +be it; but where, then, is the likeness to the celestial nebulae, of the +existence of which we should know nothing unless they shone with a light +of their own? "And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." +I have met with no form of the nebular hypothesis which involves +anything analogous to this process. + +I have said enough to explain some of the difficulties which arise in +my mind, when I try to ascertain whether there is any foundation for +the contention that the statements contained in the first two verses +of Genesis are supported by the nebular hypothesis. The result does not +appear to me to be exactly favourable to that contention. The nebular +hypothesis assumes the existence of matter, having definite properties, +as its foundation. Whether such matter was created a few thousand +years ago, or whether it has existed through an eternal series of +metamorphoses of which our present universe is only the last stage, are +alternatives, neither of which is scientifically untenable, and neither +scientifically demonstrable. But science knows nothing of any stage +in which the universe could be said, in other than a metaphorical and +popular sense, to be formless or empty; or in any respect less the seat +of law and order than it is now. One might as well talk of a fresh-laid +hen's egg being "without form and void," because the chick therein is +potential and not actual, as apply such terms to the nebulous mass which +contains a potential solar system. + +Until some further enlightenment comes to me, then, I confess myself +wholly unable to understand the way in which the nebular hypothesis is +to be converted into an ally of the "Mosaic writer." [8] + +But Mr. Gladstone informs us that Professor Dana and Professor Guyot are +prepared to prove that the "first or cosmogonical portion of the Proem +not only accords with, but teaches, the nebular hypothesis." There is +no one to whose authority on geological questions I am more readily +disposed to bow than that of my eminent friend Professor Dana. But I +am familiar with what he has previously said on this topic in his +well-known and standard work, into which, strangely enough, it does not +seem to have occurred to Mr. Gladstone to look before he set out upon +his present undertaking; and unless Professor Dana's latest contribution +(which I have not yet met with) takes up altogether new ground, I am +afraid I shall not be able to extricate myself, by its help, from my +present difficulties. + +It is a very long time since I began to think about the relations +between modern scientifically ascertained truths and the cosmogonical +speculations of the writer of Genesis; and, as I think that Mr. +Gladstone might have been able to put his case with a good deal more +force, if he had thought it worth while to consult the last chapter of +Professor Dana's admirable "Manual of Geology," so I think he might have +been made aware that he was undertaking an enterprise of which he had +not counted the cost, if he had chanced upon a discussion of the subject +which I published in 1877. [9] + +Finally, I should like to draw the attention of those who take interest +in these topics to the weighty words of one of the most learned and +moderate of Biblical critics: [10]-- + + "A propos de cette premiere page de la Bible, on a coutume de + nos jours de disserter, a perte de vue, sur l'accord du recit + mosaique avec les sciences naturelles; et comme celles-ci tout + eloignees qu'elles sont encore de la perfection absolue, ont + rendu populaires et en quelque sorte irrefragables un certain + nombre de faits generaux ou de theses fondamentales de la + cosmologie et de la geologie, c'est le texte sacre qu'on + s'evertue a torturer pour le faire concorder avec + ces donnees." + +In my paper on the "Interpreters of Nature and the Interpreters of +Genesis," while freely availing myself of the rights of a scientific +critic, I endeavoured to keep the expression of my views well within +those bounds of courtesy which are set by self-respect and consideration +for others. I am therefore glad to be favoured with Mr. Gladstone's +acknowledgment of the success of my efforts. I only wish that I could +accept all the products of Mr. Gladstone's gracious appreciation, but +there is one about which, as a matter of honesty, I hesitate. In fact, +if I had expressed my meaning better than I seem to have done, I doubt +if the particular proffer of Mr. Gladstone's thanks would have been +made. + +To my mind, whatever doctrine professes to be the result of the +application of the accepted rules of inductive and deductive logic to +its subject-matter; and which accepts, within the limits which it +sets to itself, the supremacy of reason, is Science. Whether the +subject-matter consists of realities or unrealities, truths or +falsehoods, is quite another question. I conceive that ordinary geometry +is science, by reason of its method, and I also believe that its axioms, +definitions, and conclusions are all true. However, there is a geometry +of four dimensions, which I also believe to be science, because its +method professes to be strictly scientific. It is true that I cannot +conceive four dimensions in space, and therefore, for me, the whole +affair is unreal. But I have known men of great intellectual powers who +seemed to have no difficulty either in conceiving them, or, at any +rate, in imagining how they could conceive them; and, therefore, +four-dimensioned geometry comes under my notion of science. So I think +astrology is a science, in so far as it professes to reason logically +from principles established by just inductive methods. To prevent +misunderstanding, perhaps I had better add that I do not believe one +whit in astrology; but no more do I believe in Ptolemaic astronomy, or +in the catastrophic geology of my youth, although these, in their day, +claimed--and, to my mind, rightly claimed--the name of science. If +nothing is to be called science but that which is exactly true from +beginning to end, I am afraid there is very little science in the world +outside mathematics. Among the physical sciences, I do not know that any +could claim more than that it is true within certain limits, so narrow +that, for the present at any rate, they may be neglected. If such is the +case, I do not see where the line is to be drawn between exactly true, +partially true, and mainly untrue forms of science. And what I have said +about the current theology at the end of my paper [_supra_ pp. 160-163] +leaves, I think, no doubt as to the category in which I rank it. For all +that, I think it would be not only unjust, but almost impertinent, +to refuse the name of science to the "Summa" of St. Thomas or to the +"Institutes" of Calvin. + +In conclusion, I confess that my supposed "unjaded appetite" for the +sort of controversy in which it needed not Mr. Gladstone's express +declaration to tell us he is far better practised than I am (though +probably, without another express declaration, no one would have +suspected that his controversial fires are burning low) is already +satiated. + +In "Elysium" we conduct scientific discussions in a different medium, +and we are liable to threatenings of asphyxia in that "atmosphere of +contention" in which Mr. Gladstone has been able to live, alert and +vigorous beyond the common race of men, as if it were purest mountain +air. I trust that he may long continue to seek truth, under the +difficult conditions he has chosen for the search, with unabated +energy--I had almost said fire-- + + May age not wither him, nor custom stale + His infinite variety. + +But Elysium suits my less robust constitution better, and I beg leave to +retire thither, not sorry for my experience of the other region--no one +should regret experience--but determined not to repeat it, at any rate +in reference to the "plea for revelation." + + + + +NOTE ON THE PROPER SENSE OF THE "MOSAIC" NARRATIVE OF THE CREATION. + +It has been objected to my argument from Leviticus (_suprà_ p. 170) that +the Hebrew words translated by "creeping things" in Genesis i. 24 +and Leviticus xi. 29, are different; namely, "reh-mes" in the former, +"sheh-retz" in the latter. The obvious reply to this objection is that +the question is not one of words but of the meaning of words. To borrow +an illustration from our own language, if "crawling things" had been +used by the translators in Genesis and "creeping things" in Leviticus, +it would not have been necessarily implied that they intended to denote +different groups of animals. "Sheh-retz" is employed in a wider sense +than "reh-mes." There are "sheh-retz" of the waters of the earth, of +the air, and of the land. Leviticus speaks of land reptiles, among other +animals, as "sheh-retz"; Genesis speaks of all creeping land animals, +among which land reptiles are necessarily included, as "reh-mes." Our +translators, therefore, have given the true sense when they render both +"sheh-retz" and "reh-mes" by "creeping things." + +Having taken a good deal of trouble to show what Genesis i.-ii. 4 does +not mean, in the preceding pages, perhaps it may be well that I should +briefly give my opinion as to what it does mean. I conceive that the +unknown author of this part of the Hexateuchal compilation believed, +and meant his readers to believe, that his words, as they understood +them--that is to say, in their ordinary natural sense--conveyed the +"actual historical truth." When he says that such and such things +happened, I believe him to mean that they actually occurred and not that +he imagined or dreamed them; when he says "day," I believe he uses the +word in the popular sense; when he says "made" or "created," I believe +he means that they came into being by a process analogous to that which +the people whom he addressed called "making" or "creating"; and I think +that, unless we forget our present knowledge of nature, and, putting +ourselves back into the position of a Phoenician or a Chaldaean +philosopher, start from his conception of the world, we shall fail to +grasp the meaning of the Hebrew writer. We must conceive the earth to +be an immovable, more or less flattened, body, with the vault of heaven +above, the watery abyss below and around. We must imagine sun, moon, +and stars to be "set" in a "firmament" with, or in, which they move; +and above which is yet another watery mass. We must consider "light" and +"darkness" to be things, the alternation of which constitutes day and +night, independently of the existence of sun, moon, and stars. We must +further suppose that, as in the case of the story of the deluge, the +Hebrew writer was acquainted with a Gentile (probably Chaldaean or +Accadian) account of the origin of things, in which he substantially +believed, but which he stripped of all its idolatrous associations by +substituting "Elohim" for Ea, Anu, Bel, and the like. + +From this point of view the first verse strikes the keynote of the +whole. In the beginning "Elohim [11] created the heaven and the earth." +Heaven and earth were not primitive existences from which the gods +proceeded, as the Gentiles taught; on the contrary, the "Powers" +preceded and created heaven and earth. Whether by "creation" is meant +"causing to be where nothing was before" or "shaping of something which +pre-existed," seems to me to be an insoluble question. + +As I have pointed out, the second verse has an interesting parallel in +Jeremiah iv. 23: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; +and the heavens, and they had no light." I conceive that there is no +more allusion to chaos in the one than in the other. The earth-disk lay +in its watery envelope, like the yolk of an egg in the _glaire,_ and the +spirit, or breath, of Elohim stirred the mass. Light was created as a +thing by itself; and its antithesis "darkness" as another thing. It +was supposed to be the nature of these two to alternate, and a pair of +alternations constituted a "day" in the sense of an unit of time. + +The next step was, necessarily, the formation of that "firmament," or +dome over the earth-disk, which was supposed to support the celestial +waters; and in which sun, moon, and stars were conceived to be set, as +in a sort of orrery. The earth was still surrounded and covered by the +lower waters, but the upper were separated from it by the "firmament," +beneath which what we call the air lay. A second alternation of darkness +and light marks the lapse of time. + +After this, the waters which covered the earth-disk, under the +firmament, were drawn away into certain regions, which became seas, +while the part laid bare became dry land. In accordance with the notion, +universally accepted in antiquity, that moist earth possesses the +potentiality of giving rise to living beings, the land, at the command +of Elohim, "put forth" all sorts of plants. They are made to appear thus +early, not, I apprehend, from any notion that plants are lower in the +scale of being than animals (which would seem to be inconsistent with +the prevalence of tree worship among ancient people), but rather because +animals obviously depend on plants; and because, without crops and +harvests, there seemed to be no particular need of heavenly signs for +the seasons. + +These were provided by the fourth day's work. Light existed already; but +now vehicles for the distribution of light, in a special manner and +with varying degrees of intensity, were provided. I conceive that the +previous alternations of light and darkness were supposed to go on; but +that the "light" was strengthened during the daytime by the sun, which, +as a source of heat as well as of light, glided up the firmament from +the east, and slid down in the west, each day. Very probably each +day's sun was supposed to be a new one. And as the light of the day was +strengthened by the sun, so the darkness of the night was weakened by +the moon, which regularly waxed and waned every month. The stars are, +as it were, thrown in. And nothing can more sharply mark the doctrinal +purpose of the author, than the manner in which he deals with the +heavenly bodies, which the Gentiles identified so closely with their +gods, as if they were mere accessories to the almanac. + +Animals come next in order of creation, and the general notion of the +writer seems to be that they were produced by the medium in which +they live; that is to say, the aquatic animals by the waters, and the +terrestrial animals by the land. But there was a difficulty about flying +things, such as bats, birds, and insects. The cosmogonist seems to have +had no conception of "air" as an elemental body. His "elements" are +earth and water, and he ignores air as much as he does fire. Birds "fly +above the earth in the open firmament" or "on the face of the expanse" +of heaven. They are not said to fly through the air. The choice of a +generative medium for flying things, therefore, seemed to lie between +water and earth; and, if we take into account the conspicuousness of +the great flocks of water-birds and the swarms of winged insects, which +appear to arise from water, I think the preference of water becomes +intelligible. However, I do not put this forward as more than a probable +hypothesis. As to the creation of aquatic animals on the fifth, that of +land animals on the sixth day, and that of man last of all, I presume +the order was determined by the fact that man could hardly receive +dominion over the living world before it existed; and that the "cattle" +were not wanted until he was about to make his appearance. The other +terrestrial animals would naturally be associated with the cattle. + +The absurdity of imagining that any conception, analogous to that of +a zoological classification, was in the mind of the writer will be +apparent, when we consider that the fifth day's work must include +the zoologist's _Cetacea, Sirenia,_ and seals, [12] all of which are +_Mammalia;_ all birds, turtles, sea-snakes and, presumably, the +fresh water _Reptilia_ and _Amphibia;_ with the great majority of +_Invertebrata._ + +The creation of man is announced as a separate act, resulting from a +particular resolution of Elohim to "make man in our image, after our +likeness." To learn what this remarkable phrase means we must turn to +the fifth chapter of Genesis, the work of the same writer. "In the day +that Elohim created man, in the likeness of Elohim made he him; male and +female created he them; and blessed them and called their name Adam in +the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty +years and begat _a son_ in his own likeness, after his image; and called +his name Seth." I find it impossible to read this passage without being +convinced that, when the writer says Adam was made in the likeness of +Elohim, he means the same sort of likeness as when he says that Seth was +begotten in the likeness of Adam. Whence it follows that his conception +of Elohim was completely anthropomorphic. + +In all this narrative I can discover nothing which differentiates it, in +principle, from other ancient cosmogonies, except the rejection of all +gods, save the vague, yet anthropomorphic, Elohim, and the assigning +to them anteriority and superiority to the world. It is as utterly +irreconcilable with the assured truths of modern science, as it is +with the account of the origin of man, plants, and animals given by the +writer of the second chief constituent of the Hexateuch in the second +chapter of Genesis. This extraordinary story starts with the assumption +of the existence of a rainless earth, devoid of plants and herbs of the +field. The creation of living beings begins with that of a solitary man; +the next thing that happens is the laying out of the Garden of Eden, and +the causing the growth from its soil of every tree "that is pleasant to +the sight and good for food"; the third act is the formation out of the +ground of "every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air"; +the fourth and last, the manufacture of the first woman from a rib, +extracted from Adam, while in a state of anaesthesia. + +Yet there are people who not only profess to take this monstrous legend +seriously, but who declare it to be reconcilable with the Elohistic +account of the creation! + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[Footnote 1: _The Nineteenth Century,_ 1886.] + +[Footnote 2: Both dolphins and dugongs occur in the Red Sea, porpoises +and dolphins in the Mediterranean; so that the "Mosaic writer" may have +been acquainted with them.] + +[Footnote 3: I said nothing about "the greater number of schools of +Greek philosophy," as Mr. Gladstone implies that I did, but expressly +spoke of the "founders of Greek philosophy."] + +[Footnote 4: See Heinze, _Die Lehre vom Logos,_ p. 9 _et seq._] + +[Footnote 5: Reprinted in _Lay Sermons, Addresses, and Reviews,_ 1870.] + +[Footnote 6: "Ancient," doubtless, but his antiquity must not be +exaggerated. For example, there is no proof that the "Mosaic" cosmogony +was known to the Israelites of Solomon's time.] + +[Footnote 7: When Jeremiah (iv. 23) says, "I beheld the earth, and, lo, +it was waste and void," he certainly does not mean to imply that the +form of the earth was less definite, or its substance less solid, than +before.] + +[Footnote 8: In looking through the delightful volume recently published +by the Astronomer-Royal for Ireland, a day or two ago, I find the +following remarks on the nebular hypothesis, which I should have been +glad to quote in my text if I had known them sooner:-- + +"Nor can it be ever more than a speculation; it cannot be established +by observation, nor can it be proved by calculation. It is merely +a conjecture, more or less plausible, but perhaps in some degree, +necessarily true, if our present laws of heat, as we understand them, +admit of the extreme application here required, and if the present order +of things has reigned for sufficient time without the intervention of +any influence at present known to us" (_The Story of the Heavens,_ p. +506). + +Would any prudent advocate base a plea, either for or against +revelation, upon the coincidence, or want of coincidence, of the +declarations of the latter with the requirements of an hypothesis thus +guardedly dealt with by an astronomical expert?] + +[Footnote 9: Lectures on Evolution delivered in New York (American +Addresses).] + +[Footnote 10: Reuss, _L'Histoire Sainte et la Loi,_ vol. i, p. 275.] + +[Footnote 11: For the sense of the term "Elohim," see the essay entitled +"The Evolution of Theology" at the end of this volume.] + +[Footnote 12: Perhaps even hippopotamuses and otters!] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Mr. Gladstone and Genesis, by Thomas Henry Huxley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. GLADSTONE AND GENESIS *** + +***** This file should be named 2631-8.txt or 2631-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/2631/ + +Produced by D.R. Thompson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |