All other so-called certainties are beliefs of greater or less intensity.
Do not suppose that I am following Abernethy's famous prescription, "take my pills," if I refer you to an essay of mine on "Descartes," and a little book on Hume, for the fuller discussion of these points. Hume's argument against miracles turns altogether on the fallacy that induction can give certainty in the strict sense.
We poor mortals have to be content with hope and belief in all matters past and present—our sole certainty is momentary.
I am yours faithfully,
T.H. Huxley.
Sir J.G.T. Sinclair, Bart.
[Except for a last visit to London to pack his books, which proved a heavier undertaking than he had reckoned upon, Huxley did not leave Eastbourne this autumn, refusing Sir J. Donnelly's hospitable invitation to stay with him in Surrey during the move, of which he exclaims:—]
Thank Heaven that is my last move—except to a still smaller residence of a subterranean character!
Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, September 19, 1890.
My dear Donnelly,