as he was and is and had the courage to tell the French
about themselves, their ancient rulers, and the men of the Revolution,
even if it went against the favorable opinion so many of his countrymen
had of this terrible period. His understanding of our evolution, of
mankind and of the evolution of society did not find favor with men who
believed that they in the socialist ideology had found the solution to
all social ills. Only recently has science begun to return to Darwin
in order to rediscover the human being as Taine knew him. You can find
Taine's views of humanity confirmed in Robert Wright's book 'THE MORAL
ANIMAL.' (Why we are the way we are.)

Taine had full access to the files of the French National archives
and these and other original documents. Taine had received a French
classical education and, being foremost among many brilliant men, had a
capacity for study and work which we no longer demand from our young.
He accepted Man and society, as they appeared to him, he described
his findings without compassion for the hang-ups of his prejudiced
countrymen. He described Man as a gregarious animal living for a brief
spell in a remote corner of space, whose different cultures and nations
had evolved haphazardly in time, carried along by forces and events
exceeding our comprehension, blindly following their innate drives.
These drives were followed with cunning but rarely with far-sighted
wisdom. Taine, the prophet, has more than ever something to tell us.
He warned his countrymen against themselves, their humanity, and hence
against their fears, anxieties, greed, ambitions, conceit and excessive
imagination. His remarks and judgments exhort us to be responsible,
modest and kind and to select wise and modest leaders. He warns us
against young hungry men's natural desire to mass behind a tribune and
follow him onwards, they hope, along the high road to excitement, fame,
power and riches. He warns us against our readiness to believe in myth
and metaphysics, demonstrating how Man will believe anything, even the
most mystical or incomprehensible religion or ideology, provided it is
preached by his leaders. History, as seen by Taine, is one long series
of such adventures and horrors and nowhere was this more evident than in
France before, during and after the Revolution in 1789.

Taine became, upon reading 'On the Origins of the Species' a convinced
Darwinian and was, the year after Darwin, honored by the University o