第61章

Iwasthenatworkuponmyburlesque“TheImpatientGriselda。”andwassometimesatmywits’endforapieceofbusinessorasituation；hegavememanysuggestions，allofwhichweremarkedbyexcellentgoodsense。NeverthelessIcouldnotprevailwithhimtoputphilosophyononeside，andwasobligedtoleavehimtohimself。

Foralongtime，asIhavesaid，hischoiceofsubjectscontinuedtobesuchasIcouldnotapprove。Hewascontinuallystudyingscientificandmetaphysicalwriters，inthehopeofeitherfindingormakingforhimselfaphilosopher’sstoneintheshapeofasystemwhichshouldgoonallfoursunderallcircumstances，insteadofbeingliabletobeupsetateverytouchandturn，aseverysystemyetpromulgatedhasturnedouttobe。

Hekepttothepursuitofthiswill-o’-the-wispsolongthatIgaveuphope，andsethimdownasanotherflythathadbeencaught，asitwere，byapieceofpaperdaubedoverwithsomestickystuffthathadnoteventhemeritofbeingsweet，buttomysurpriseheatlastdeclaredthathewassatisfied，andhadfoundwhathewanted。

Isupposedthathehadonlyhituponsomenew“Lo，here！”whentomyrelief，hetoldmethathehadconcludedthatnosystemwhichshouldgoperfectlyuponallfourswaspossible，inasmuchasnoonecouldgetbehindBishopBerkeley，andthereforenoabsolutelyincontrovertiblefirstpremisecouldeverbelaid。Havingfoundthishewasjustaswellpleasedasifhehadfoundthemostperfectsystemimaginable。Allhewantedhesaid，wastoknowwhichwayitwastobe——thatistosaywhetherasystemwaspossibleornot，andifpossiblethenwhatthesystemwastobe。Havingfoundoutthatnosystembasedonabsolutecertaintywaspossiblehewascontented。

IhadonlyaveryvagueideawhoBishopBerkeleywas，butwasthankfultohimforhavingdefendedusfromanincontrovertiblefirstpremise。IamafraidIsaidafewwordsimplyingthatafteragreatdealoftroublehehadarrivedattheconclusionwhichsensiblepeoplereachwithoutbotheringtheirbrainssomuch。

Hesaid：“Yes，butIwasnotbornsensible。Achildofordinarypowerslearnstowalkatayearortwooldwithoutknowingmuchaboutit；failingordinarypowershehadbetterlearnlaboriouslythanneverlearnatall。IamsorryIwasnotstronger，buttodoasIdidwasmyonlychance。”

HelookedsomeekthatIwasvexedwithmyselfforhavingsaidwhatIhad，moreespeciallywhenIrememberedhisbringing-up，whichhaddoubtlessdonemuchtoimpairhispoweroftakingacommon-senseviewofthings。Hecontinued-

“Iseeitallnow。ThepeoplelikeTowneleyaretheonlyoneswhoknowanythingthatisworthknowing，andlikethatofcourseIcanneverbe。ButtomakeTowneleyspossibletheremustbehewersofwoodanddrawersofwater——meninfactthroughwhomconsciousknowledgemustpassbeforeitcanreachthosewhocanapplyitgracefullyandinstinctivelyastheTowneleyscan。Iamahewerofwood，butifIacceptthepositionfranklyanddonotsetuptobeaTowneley，itdoesnotmatter。”

Hestill，therefore，stucktoscienceinsteadofturningtoliteratureproperasIhopedhewouldhavedone，butheconfinedhimselfhenceforthtoenquiriesonspecificsubjectsconcerningwhichanincreaseofourknowledge——ashesaid——waspossible。

Havinginfact，afterinfinitevexationofspirit，arrivedataconclusionwhichcutattherootsofallknowledge，hesettledcontentedlydowntothepursuitofknowledge，andhaspursuediteversinceinspiteofoccasionalexcursionsintotheregionsofliteratureproper。

Butthisisanticipating，andmayperhapsalsoconveyawrongimpression，forfromtheoutsethedidoccasionallyturnhisattentiontoworkwhichmustbemoreproperlycalledliterarythaneitherscientificormetaphysical。

Aboutsixmonthsafterhehadsetuphisshophisprosperityhadreacheditsclimax。Itseemedeventhenasthoughhewerelikelytogoaheadnolessfastthanheretofore，andIdoubtnotthathewouldhavedoneso，ifsuccessornon-s