Unless we can find some other force to fraternise with
gravity, so that the two might become a still more comprehensive unity,
we must rest in gravity as the ultimatum of our faculties. There is no
conceivable modification, or substitute, that would better our position.
Before Newton, it was a mystery what kept the moon and the planets in
their places; the assimilation with falling bodies was the solution.
But, say many persons, is not gravity itself a mystery? We say No;
gravity has passed through all the stages of legitimate and possible
explanation; it is the most highly generalised of all physical facts,
and by no assignable transformation could it be made more intelligible
than it is. It is singularly easy of comprehension; its law is exactly
known; and, excepting the details of calculation, in its more complex
workings, there is nothing to complain of, nothing to rectify, nothing
to pretend ignorance about; it is the very pattern, the model, the
consummation of knowledge. The path of science, as exhibited in modern
times, is towards generality, wider and wider, until we reach the
highest, the widest laws of every department of things; there
explanation is finished, mystery ends, perfect vision is gained.
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