Strona 551 z 1391

When mankind do not as yet know that the world is subject to law,

the introduction of the mere conception of law or design or final

cause, and the far-off anticipation of the harmony of knowledge,

are great steps onward. Even the crude generalization of the

unity of all things leads men to view the world with different

eyes, and may easily affect their conception of human life and of

politics, and also their own conduct and character (Tim). We can

imagine how a great mind like that of Pericles might derive

elevation from his intercourse with Anaxagoras (Phaedr.). To be

struggling towards a higher but unattainable conception is a more

favourable intellectual condition than to rest satisfied in a

narrow portion of ascertained fact. And the earlier, which have

sometimes been the greater ideas of science, are often lost sight

of at a later period. How rarely can we say of any modern

enquirer in the magnificent language of Plato, that 'He is the

spectator of all time and of all existence!'