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to be validated.  telligible as we could wish is not to be
wondered at. In other respects also it fails to respond to our
ideals; yet our hope must be to find it more propitious to the
intellect as well as to all the arts in proportion as we learn
better how to live in it.  The atoms of what we call hydrogen or
oxygen may well turn out to be worlds, as the stars are which
make atoms for astronomy. Their inner organisation might be
negligible on our rude plane of being; did it disclose itself,
however, it would be intelligible in its turn only if constant
parts and constant laws were discernible within each system. So
that while atomism at a given level may not be a final or
metaphysical truth, it will describe, on every level, the
practical and efficacious structure of the world. We owe to
Democritus this ideal of practical intelligibility; and he is
accordingly an eternal spokesman