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PREFACE.
The following pages contain the substance of the Lectjrea
which, for several years, have been delivered to the classes in
Intellectual Philosophy, in Brown University.
Having been intended for oral delivery, they were, in many
respects, modified by the circumstances of their origin. Hence,
illustrations have been introduced more freely than would other-
wise have seemed necessary. In preparing them for the press,
however. I was led to consider the class of persons for whose
use they were principally designed. I remembered the diffi-
culty of fixing definitely in the mind of the pupil the nature
and limits of subjective truth ; and therefore allowed my instruc-
tions to retain in general the form which they had previously
assumed. Whether I have in this respect judged wisely, it is
not for me to determine.
I have not entered upon the discussion of many of the topics
which have called into exercise the acumen of the ablest meta-
physicians. Intended to serve the purposes of a text-book, it
was necessary that the volume should be compressed within a
compass adapted to the time usually allotted to the study of
this science in the colleges of our country. I have, therefore,
attempted to present and illustrate the important truths in intel-
lectual philosophy, rather than the inferences which may be
drawn from them, or the doctrines which they may presuppose.
These may be pursued to any length, at the option of the teacher.
If I have not entered upon these discussions, I hope that I have
prepared the way for their more ample and truthful develop-
ment.
IV PREFACE.
It has been my desire to render this work an aid to mentaJ
improvement. For this purpose, I have added practical sug-
gestions on the cultivation of the several faculties. Earnest-
minded young men frequently err in their attempts at self-im-
provement. It has seemed to me, therefore, that a work of this
kind would be manifestly imperfect, did it not, directly as well
as indirectly, aid the student in his efforts to discipline . and
strengthen his intellectual energies.
In order to encourage more extensive reading upon the sub-
ject than can be furnished in a text-book, I have added refer-
ences to a number of works of easy access, specifying the places
in which the topics treated of were discussed. In this labor, I
have availed myself of the assistance of my former pupils, Mr.
Samuel Brooks, now instructor in Greek, in this University,
and Mr. Lucius W. Bancroft, of Worcester, Mass. To these
gentlemen the student is indebted for whatever benefit he may
derive from this feature of the work.
For the many imperfections of this volume, the author con-
soles himself with the reflection, that it has been written and
prepared for the press under the pressure of other important
and frequently distracting avocations. In the humble hope
that it may, nevertheless, facilitate the study of this interest,
ing department of human knowledge, it is, with diffideiifle,
submitted to the judgment of the public.
Brown University, Sept 14; 1854.
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
It was my design, soon after this volume was published,
to subject it to a thorough revision, and make such cor-
rections in the text as were evidently needed. I found
myself, however, unable at the time to accomplish my
intention, in consequence of several other unexpected and
imperative obligations ; and, subsequently, bj reason of a
long period of imperfect health. I have devoted to this
work the first leisure that I have been able to command ;
and have corrected the text with all the attention in my
power. I hope that I have improved it.
In this labor I have been greatly assisted by the aid of
another. Some time since, I received from an anonymous
friend a copious list of valuable corrections, of which I
have freely availed myself I take this method of express-
ing my sincere gratitude, to my unknown benefactor ; and
I beg him to receive my thanks for his . careful reading of
the text, and for his many valuable suggestions. Most
of these I have thankfully adopted.
F. WAYLAND.
Peotidbnce, R. I., May^ 1865.
CONTENTS.
fNTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS, -. . . 9
CHAPTEE I.
THE PERCEPTIVE EACULTIES.
Section I. — Of our Knowledge of Matter and IVIind, c . 16
Section n. — The Perceptive Powers in general, 28
Section rH. — Of our Mode of Intercourse with the External Woild, . 32
Section rV.—The Sense of SmeU, . 41
Section v. — The Sense of Taste, 46-
Section VI. — The Sense of Hearing, 50
Section Vn. — The Sense of Touch, 59
Section Vm. — The Sense of Sight, 63
Section IX. — Acquired Perceptions, , 77
Section X. — The Nature of the Knowledge which we acquire by the
Perceptive Powers, • . 86
Section XI. — Conception, 103
CHAPTER II.
CONSCIOUSNESS, ATTENTION AND REFLECTION.
Section I. — Consciousness, 110
Section n.— Attention and Reflection, . . . . 119
CHAPTER III.
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION, OR THE INTUITIONS OF THE INTELLECT.
Section I. — The Opinions of Locke, ...,...' 18G
Section II. — The Nature of Original Suggestion, 136
Section HI. — Ideas occasioned by Objects in a State of Rest, . . . 142
Section IV. — Suggested Ideas occasioned by Objects in the Condi-
tion ©f Change, 150
Section V. — Suggested laeas accompanied by Emotion, 168
VIII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
ABSTBAGTIOM, . • • • 177
CHAI^TER V,
MEMORY.
SecjtionI. — Association, of Ideas, •• 202
Bkction n. — The Nature of Memory, 223
BrctionIIL — ^^ The Importance of Memory, . 246
Section IV. — The Improvement of Memory, • 254
CHAPTER Vr.
REASONING.
Section I. — The Nature and Object of Reasoning, and the Manner
in which it proceeds, 279
Section IT. — The different Kinds of Certainty at "which we arrive
by Reasoning, 307
Section in. — Of the Evidence of Testimony, . . . . 317
Section IV. — Other Forms of Reasoning, 338
Section V. ; — The Improvement of the Reasoning Powers, 34^.
CHAPTER VII.
IMAGINATION.
Section I. — Nature of the Imagination, 351
Section II. — Poi^ic Imagination, . . .' 367
Section III. — On the Improvement of Poetic Imagination, .... 370
Section IV. — Philosophical Imagination, ... - • . . 377
CHAPTER VIII.
TASTE.
Section L — The Nature of Taste, 387
Section II. — Taste considered Objectively. Material Qualities as
Objects of Taste, . 392 .
Sfif^TiON in. — • Immaterial Qualities as Objects of Taste, 408
Section IV. — The Emotion of Taste ; or Taste considered Subjec-
tively, 408
APPENDIX.
Note to pai xtrl, 102, .421
Note to page 115, I 425
INTRODUCTION.
DEFINITION OF THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS
Intellectual Philosophy treats of the faculties of the
human mind, and of the laws by which they are governed.
The only forms of existence which, in our present state
we are capable of knowing, are matter and mind. It is the
mind alone that knows. When, therefore, we cognize
matter, the otject known, and the subject which knows, are
numerically distinct. When, on the other hand, we cog-
nize mind, the mind which knows and the mind which ia
known are numerically the same. The mind knows, and
the mind is the object of knowledge.
1. The mind becomes cognizant of the existence and qual-
ities of matter, that is, of the world external to itself, by
means of the Perceptive faculties. It knows not what
matter is, or what is the essence of matter, but only its
qualities ; that is, its power of affecting us in this or that
manner. When we say, '^ This is gold," we do not pretend
to know what the essence of gold is, but merely that there
is something possessed of certain qualities, or powers of cre-
ating in us certain affections.
2. In a similar manner we become acquainted with the
energies of our own mind. We are not cognizant of the
mind itself, but only of the action of its faculties or sensi-
bilities. When we th'«ik, remember, or reason; when we
10 INTRODUCTION.
are joyful or sad, when we deliberate or resc ve, we knoTf
that these several states 3f the mind exist, and that they are
predicated of the being whom I denominate I, or myself.
The power by which we become cognizant to ourselves of
these mental states is called Consciousness, When, by an
act of volition, a particular mental state is made the object
of distinct and continuous thought, the act is denominated
Reflection.
3. An idea of perception or of consciousness terminates aa
soon as another idea succeeds it. It is perfect and complete
within itself, and is not necessarily connected with anything
else. I see a ball either at rest or in motion ; I turn my
eyes in another direction and perceive a tree or a house ; in
a moment afterwards they are both violently thrown down.
I am conscious of several separate perceptions, which follow
each other in succession. Each one of these mental acts ia
complete within itself, and might have been connected with
no other. We find, however, that these ideas of perception
are not ^thus disconnected. They do not terminate in them-
selves, but' give occasion to other ideas of great importance;
ideas which, but for the acts of perception, could never have
existed. Thus, we saw a house standing, we now see it
fallen : there at once arises in the mind the idea of a cause,
or of something which has occasioned this change. Several
ideas following in succession, occasion the idea of duration.
The existence of these secondary ideas under these circum-
stances is owing to the constitution of the human mind
itself It suggests to us these ideas, which, when once con-
ceived, are original and independent. This power of the
mind is termed Original Suggestion.
4. The knowledge acquired both by our perceptive facul-
ties and by consciousness, as well as much that is given us
by original suggestion, is the l^nowledge of things or acta
as individuals. We perceive single objects; we are con
DEFINITION OF THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS. H
Bcious of single mental states. These pass away and become
recollections. The recollections are like their originals,
merely recollections of individuals. Had we no othei
power, our knowledge would consist of separate isolated
ideas, without either cohesion or classification. Our knowl-
edge would be all either of single individuals, or of single
acts performed by particular agents. When, however, we
reflect upon our knowledge, we find it to.be of a totally
diflerent character. It is almost all of classes. With the
exception of proper names, all the nouns of a language des-
ignate classes ; that is, ideas of genera and species, and not
ideas of individuals. There must, therefore, exist a power
of the mind by which we transform these ideas of individuals
into ideas of generals. We give to this complex power the
name of Abstraction,
5. We have thus far considered the intellectual faculties
without reference to the element of time. We, however, all
know that the ideas obtained in the past remain with us at
this present. The history of our lives from infancy is con-
tinually before us, or^ at the command of the will, it may be
spread out before our consciousness. We know that the
ideas which we now acquire may be retained forever. Nay,
more, we are conscious of a power of recalling at will the
knowledge which we have once made our own. The faculty
by which we do this is called Memoi^y.
6. Possessed of these powers, we might obtain all the
ideas arising from perception, consciousness and original
suggestion ; we might modify them into genera and species,
we might treasure them up in our memory and recall
them at will. But we could proceed no further. Our
knowledge would consist wholly of facts, or the informa-
tion which we have derived either from our own observa-
tion or the observation of others. But this manifestly ia
uot our condition. We are able to make use if the knowl-
12 INTRODUCTION.
edge acquired by the powers of which I have spoken, w
such a manner as to -arrive at truth before unknown, truth
• which these powers could never have revealed to us. Ie
this manner we make use of the facts in geology in order to
determine the changes which have taken place in the history
of our globe. Thus, from the axioms and definitions of
geometry, we proceed to demonstrate ^he profoundest truths
of that science. The faculty by which we thus proceed m
the investigation of truth is termed Reason,
7. Thus far we have treated of those powers which give
us knowledge of things and relations actually existing, oi
which modify and use this knowledge. Were we limited to
these, we could consider no conception but as actually true.
We could conceive of nothing except that which we had
perceived, or which some one had perceived for us. But we
find ourselves endowed with a power of taking the elements
of our knowledge and combining them together at will. We
thus form to ourselves pictures of things that never existed,
and we give to them form and substance by the various
processes of the fine arts. It was this power which con-
ceived the group of Laocoon, or Milton's Garden of Eden.
We give to this power the name of hnagination.
8. The exercise of all our faculties is generally agreeable,
and sometimes is productive of exquisite pleasure. I look at
a rainbow, I pursue a demonstration, I behold a successful
efibrt in the fine arts, and in all these cases I am conscious
of a peculiar emotion. The causes producing this emotion
are unlike, but the mental feeling produced is essentially
the same. " Every one recognizes it under the name of the
beautiful ; and the sensibility by which we become capable
of this emotion is called Taste.
The faculties which will be treated of m the present work
toay , then, be briefly defined as follows :
1. The Perceptive faculties are those by which we riecome
DEMNITION OF THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS. IS
acquainted "with the existence and qualities of the externa]
world.
2. Consciousness is the faculty by which we become
cognizant of the operations of our own minds.
3. Original Suggestion is the faculty which gives rise
to original ideas, occasioned by the perceptive faculties or
consciousness.
4. Abstraction is the faculty by which, from conceptions
of individuals, we form conceptions of genera and species, or,
in general, of classes.
5. Memory is the faculty by which we retain and recall
T>ur knowledge of the past.
6. Reason is that faculty by which, from the use of the
knowledge obtained by the other faculties, we are enabled to
proceed to other and original knowledge.
7. Imagination is that faculty by which, from materials
already existing in the mind, we form complicated concep-
tions or mental images, according to our own will.
8*. Taste is that sensibility by which we recognize the
beauties and deformities of nature or art, deriving pleasure
from the one, and suffering pain from the other.
It is by no means intended to assert that these are all the
powers of a human soul. Besides these, it is endowed with
conscience, or that faculty by which we are capable of
moral obligation ; with will, or that motive force by which
we are impelled to action ; with the various emotions, in-
stincts and biases, which, as observation teaches us, are
parts of a human soul. These are, however, the most im-
portant of those that are purely intellectual. In the follow-
ing pages we shall consider them in the order in which they
have been named.
2
14 INTRODUCTION.
REFERENCES
to PASSAGES 1-T WHICH ANALOGOCS SUBJECTS ARE TREATED.
Importance of Intellectual Philosophy — Reid's Inquiry, chap. 1, sec. 1
Difficulty of the study — Reid's Inquiry, chap. 1, sec. 2.
Cultivation of mind distinguishes us from brutes — Inquiry, chap. 1.
sec. 2.
What are matter and mind — Reid's Introduction to Essays on the In-
tellectual Powers.
Matter and mind relative — Stewart's Introduction to vol. i. ; Reid's
Essays on certain powers, Essay 1, chap. 1.
Origin of our knowledge — Locke, Book' 2d, chap. 1, sec. 2 — 5 and 24.
CHAPTER L
:HE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES
6EC1I0N I. — OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF MATTER AND MIND.
THERE IS NO REASON FOR SUPPOSING THE ESSENCE OB
MATTER AND MIND THE SAME. THE RELATION OF MIND
TO MATTER IN OUR PRESENT STATE.
Op the essence of mind, as I have remarked, we know
nothing. All that we are able to affirm of it is, that it ia
something which perceives, reflects, remembers, believeSj
imagines, and wills ; but what that something is^ which ex
erts these energies, we know not. It is only as we are con-
scious of the action of these energies that we are conscious
of the existence of mind. It is only by the exertion of its
own powers that the mind becomes cognizant of their exis-
tence. The* cognizance of its powers, however, gives us no
knowledge of that essence of which they are predicated.
In these respects, our knowledge of mind is precisely
analogous to our knowledge of matter. When we attempt to
define matter, we affirm that it is something extended, divis-
ible, solid, colored, etc. ; that is, we mention those of ita
qualities which are cognizable by our sense?5. In other
words. Wig affirm that it is something which has the power
of aSecting us in this or that manner. When, however, the
question is asked, what is this something of which these
qualities are predicated, we are silent. The knowledge of
the qualities gives no knowledge of the essence to which
16 • INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
they belong. We cognize the qualities by means of our
perceptive powers ; but we have no power by which we are
able to cognize essence, or absolute substance.
This does not seem to be the fact by accident, but from
necessity. If we reflect upon the nature of our faculties,
we shall readily be convinced that, by our perceptive -pow-
ers, we learn that a particular object affects us in a particu-
lar manner, creates in us a certain state of mind, or, m
other words, gives us a certain form of knowledge. I look
upon snow, and there is created in my mind the idea of
white. I look upon gold, I have at once the idea of yellow.
Besides this, there is another idea created, which is, that
this quality, or power of creating in me this notion, belongs
to the object which I contemplate. I thus not only gain
the idea of white or yellow, but the additional conviction
that snow is white and gold is yellow.
The same remarks apply to our knowledge of mind. I
am conscious of perception, of recollection, of pleasure, or
pain. I thus acquire a notion of these several mental acts,
and thus a certain form of knowledge is given to me. Be-
sides this, I have an instinctive belief that the mental en-
ergy which gives rise to this particular form of knowledge
is predicated of the thinking being whom I call I, or myself.
If the knowledge which we derive from perception and con-
sciousness be analyzed, I think it will be found to go thus
far, but that, from the constitution of our nature, it can go
no farther.
But, while our knowledge of mind and our knowledge of
matter agree in this respect, that neither of them gives us
any information concerning essences, these two- forms of
knowledge are in other respects quite dissimilar.
1. In the first place, it is obvious that the energies of the
Dne and the qualities of the other are made known to us by
iifferent powers of the mind. The qualities of matter are
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 1^
revealed to us by our perceptive faculties, in Tvhich our
spiritual and material natures are intimately united. The
energies of mind are revealed to us by consciousness, one of
the elements exclusively of our spiritual nature. It is
almost needless to remark, here, that this difference in the
mode in which these forms of knowledge are revealed to us
does not affect the evidence of the truth of either. Percep-
tion and consciousness are both original and legitimate
sources of belief. We cannot philosophically deny the ex-
istence of either. The world without us and the world
within us, the me and the not me, are both given to us by
the principles of our constitution as ultimate facts, which,
whatever may be his theory, every man, from the necessity
of his constitution, practically admits.
2. We always express the attributes of matter and the
energies of mind by terms generically dissimilar. The
qualities of matter we designate by adjectives, or terms
aaeaning something added to a substance, and wholly inca-
pable of an active signification. Thus, we say of a ma-
terial object, it is hard, soft, white, black, warm or cold.
On the other hand, we designate the energies of mind by
active verbs or participles, terms which indicate a power
residing in the substance itself. We say of mind, it thinks
remembers, wills, imagines ; or, that it is a thinking, will-
ing, remembering, imagining substance. This difference
in our mode of speech is aot accidental, but of necessity. If
any one will make the experiment, he will find it impossible
to express his conceptions on these subjects in any other
manner. We are unable to conceive of thinking, reasoning,
remembering, as qualities, or of white, black, or color, as ener-
gies. We are so made that we are obliged to think of these
different attributes as at the farthest remove from each
other.
From these remarks we discover the limit which has be'u:
2*
18 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPB
fixed by our Creator to our investigations on these suojects.
We perceive in the objects around us various qualities, and
we know that these qualities must be predicated of some-
thing, — for nothing, or that which does not exist, can have
no qualities, - -but what that something ik we know not. So
again, we are conscious of the energies of mind, and we
know that these energies must be energies of something,
while of the essence of that something we are equally igno-
rant. Hence, in all our investigations respecting either
matter or mind, we must abandon at the outset all inquiries
respecting essences or absolute substance, and confine our-
selves to the observation of phenomena, their relations tc
each other, and the laws to which they are subjected. The
progress of physical science within the last two centuries
has been greatly accelerated by the practical acknowledg-
ment of this law of investigation. Intellectual science can
advance in no other direction.
If, then, it be affirmed that the soul or the thinking prin-
ciple in man is material, or that its essence is the same as the
essence of matter, we answer :
First, that the assertion is unphilosophical, inasmuch as
it transgresses the limits which the Creator has fixed to
human inquiry. We have been endowed with no powers for
cognizing the essence of anything, and therefore we pass
beyond our legitimate province in affirming anything on the
subject. We can neither prove nor disprove it. We may
show that no evidence- can be adduced in favor of it: that all
the analogies bearing on the subject would lead to a different
conclusion ; and thus we may form the basis of an opinion
merely, but w.e can go no further. The nature of the case
excludes all positive knowdedge.
Secondly, we reply that the assertion is nugatory. It is
affirmed that the essence of the soul is the same as the
essence of matter. But what is the essence of matter ? We .
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. ^^
are obliged to confess that we do not know. Wlnjnj there-
fore, we assert that the essence of the soul is the same aa
the essence of matter, we merely assert that it is the same aa
something of which, by confession, we know absolutely noth-'
ing. Were this assertion granted, it would then add nothing
whatever to the sum of human knowledge. Would it not be
better frankly to confess our ignorance on the subject ?
Thirdly, so far as the grounds for an opinion exist, they
favor precisely the opposite opinion.
The qualities of matter and the energies of mind are as
widely as possible different from each other. In all lan-
guages they are designated by different classes of words
We recognize them by different powers of the mind, powers
which cannot be used interchangeably. Our senses cannot
recognize the thoughts of the mind, nor can consciousness
recognize the qualities of matte**. To assert, then, that the
essence of mind and of matter is the same, is to assert, with-
out the possibility of proof, that two things are the same^
which not only have no attribute in common, but of which
the attributes are as unlike as we are able to conceive.
It may not be out of place to enumerate the several men-
tal states consequent upon the enunciation of any given
proposition. In the first place, the assertion is made with-
out any evidence either in favor of or against it. In this
case (supposing the veracity of the assertor not to be taken
into view) my mind remains precisely as it was before.
The assertion goes for nothing. I have no opinion either
the one way or the other. I neither believe nor disbelieve,
nor have any tendency in either direction. In the second
case the assertion is made, and though sufficient proof is not
^ presented to create belief, yet considerations, as, for instance,
I analogies, are shown to exist, which create a probability
either in favor of or against the thing asserted. Here,
then, is ground for an opinion, and the state of mind is
20 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
chansred. We neither believe nor disbelieve, but we hold
an opinion either in favor of, or contrary to the assertion.
In the third case, the assertion is sustained either by syllo-
gistic reasoning, or by testimony conformed to the laws
of evidence. Here a different state of mind is produced.
I believe it. I rely upon it as I would upon a matter which
came within the cognizance of my own perception or con-
sciousness. To illustrate these cases. A man asserts that
the moon is a mass of silver. His assertion leaves my
mind where it was before. I know nothing about it.
Another man asserts that the planet Jupiter is or is not
inhabited. He cannot prove it, but he presents various
analogical facts in harmony with this assertion. I form
an opinion on the subject. In the third case, a man asserts
that the sun is so many millions of miles from the earth,
and he proves, by testimony, that the observations forming 1|
the data were made, and he explains the mathematical rea- '
soning by which this result is obtained. I believe it, and
in my mind it takes its place with other established facts.
Any one, who will reflect upon the evidence presented in
favor of the materiality of the mind, can easily determine
which of these mental states it is entitled to produce.
But it has been sometimes said that the brain itself is the
mind, and that thought is one of its functions. The reason
given for this belief is, that diseases of the brain and nerves
affect the condition of the mind ; that the mind declines as
they become di3bilitated by age, and that the mind becomes
deranged when the brain suffers from disease.'
To this I would reply, that, so far as I have observed,
the facts are hardly stated with accuracy when this course
of argument is, adopted, and a large class of facts bearing
in an opposite direction is too frequently left out of view.
But, granting the facts, they do not justify the conclu-
ftion that is drawn from them. Suppose the brain to be
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 2\
Lne instrument which the mind uses in its intercourse with
the external world, — as, for instance, suppose the brain
to secrete the medium by which the mind derives impres-
sions from without, and sends foith volitions from within, —
any derangement of this organ would, by necessity, create
derangement in the forms of mental manifestation connected
with that derangement. Disease of the nerves may create
false impressions, or may lead to acts at variance with the
spiritual volitions. As the facts may be thus accounted for
on the supposition that the brain is an organ used by the
mind, as well as on the supposition that the brain is itself
the organ of thought, they leave the question precisely
where they found it.
If, then, it be asked, what is the relation which the mind
holds to the material body? our answer would be as follows :
The mind seems to be a spiritual essence, endowed with a
variety of capacities, and connected with the body by the
principle of life. .These capacities are first called into
exercise by the organs of sense. So far as I can discover,
if a mind existed in a body incapable of receiving any im-
pression from without, it would never think, and would, of
course, be unconscious of its own existence. As soon,
however, as it has been once awakened to action by impres-
I sions from without, all its various faculties in succession are
I called into exercise. Consciousness, original suggestion,
I memory, abstraction, and reason, begin at once to act.
I These various powers are developed and cultivated by sub-
|i sequent exercise, until this congeries of capacities, once so
blank and negative, may at last be endowed with all the
energies of a Newton or a Milton.
Locke compares the mind to a sheet of blank paper ;
: Professor Upham, to a stringed instrument, which is silent
until the hand. of the artist sweeps over its chords. Both
I of these illustrations convey to us truth in respect to the
22 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
relation existing between the mind and the material systeic
which it inhabits. The mind is possessed of no innate ideas ^
its first ideas must come from without. In this respect it
resembles a sheet of blank paper. In its present state it
can originate no knowledge until called into action by im-
pressions made upon the senses. In this respect it resembles
a stringed instrument. Here, however, the resemblance
ceases. Were the paper capable not only of receiving the
form of the letters written upon it, but also of combining
them at will into a drama of Shakspeare or the epic of
Milton ; or, were the instrument capable not only of giving
forth a scale of notes when it was struck, but also of com-
bining them by its own power into the Messiah of Handel,
then would they both more nearly resemble the spiritual
essence which we call mind. It is in the power of com-
bining, generalizing, and reasoning, that the great differ-
ences of intellectual character consist. . All men open their
eyes upon the same world, but all men do not look upon
the world to the same purpose.
REFERENCES.
Mind first called into action by the perceptive powers — Locke, Book 2,
chap. 1, sec. 9 ; chap. 9, sections 2 — 4, and sec. 15.
On the proper mean^ of knowing the operations of our own minds —
Reid, Essay 1, chap. 5.
No idea of substance or essence, material or spiritual • — Locke, Book 2
chap. 23, sections 4, 5, 16, 30.
Energies of mind expressed by active verbs — Reid, Essay 1, chap. 1.
Explanation of terms — Ibid.
Affirmation concerning the essence of mind unphilosophical — Stewart,
Introduction.
As much reason to believe in the existence of spirit as of body — Locke,
Book 2, chap. 23, secti:ns 5, 15, 22, 30, 31.
THE JfEKCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 28
BBCTIOX II. — OF THE PERCEPTIVE POWERS IN GENERAL,
Before entering upon the consideration of the individual
senses, it may be of use to offer a few suggestions respecting
the perceptive powers in general, i propose to do this in
the present section.
1. I find myself, in my present state, in intimate con-
nection with, what seems to me to be, an external world. I
cannot help believing that I am in my study; that, looking
out of the window, I behold in one direction a thronged
city, in another green fields, and in the distance beyond a
range of hills. I hear the sound of bells. I walk abroad
and am regaled with the odor of flowers. I see before me
fruit. I taste it and am refreshed. I am warmed by the
sun and cooled by the breeze. I find that all other men in
a normal state are affected in the same manner. I conclude
that to be capable of being thus affected is an attribute of
human nature, and that the objects which thus affect me are,
like myself, positive realities.
I cannot, then, escape the conviction that I am a conscious
existence, numerically distinct from every other created
being, and that I am surrounded by material objects pos-
sessed of the qualities which I recognize. The earth and the
trees seem to me to exist, and I believe that they do exist.
The grass seems to me to be green, and I believe that it is
green. I cannot divest myself of the belief that the world
around me actually is what I perceive it to be. I know that
it is something absolutely distinct from the being whom I
call myself I am conscious that there is a me, an ego. ' I
perceive that there is a not me. a noii ego. I observe that
lodl men hive the Bame convictions, and that in all their
24 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY
conversation and reasonings they take these things foi
granted.
2. I, ?iowever, observe that my power of cognizing the
existence and qualities of the objects around me is limited.
There are but five classes of external qualities which I am
able to discover ; these are odorS; tastes, sounds, tactual,
and visible qualities. For the special purpose of cognizing
each of these qualities I find myself endowed with a partic-
ular organization, which is called a sense. These are the
senses of smell, taste, hearing, touch, and sight. Each
sense is limited to its own department of knowledge, and
has no connection with any other. We cannot see with our
ears, or hear with our fingers. Each sense performs its
own function, irrespective of any other. That matter has '
no other qualities than those which we perceive, it is not '
necessary to assert ; but if it have other qualities, inas- j
much as we have no means of knowing them, we must'
be forever, in our present state, ignorant of their existence.
This limitation, however, exists, not by necessity, but, by 1
the ordinance of the greater. He might, if he had so ^1
pleased, have diminished the number of our senses. The
deaf and the blind are deprived of means of knowledge
which other men enjoy. The number of the senses in many
of the lower animals is exceedingly restricted. We might
possibly have been so constituted as to hold intercourse with
the world around us without the intervention of the senses.
Wc suppose superior beings to possess more perfect means
of intelligence than ourselves ; but no one imagines them
to be endowed with material senses. Our Creator might,
probably, have increased the number of our senses, if he had
seen fit, and we should then have enjoyed other inlets to '
Knowledge than those which we now possess. It is not im-
probable that some of the inferior animals possess senses of
Ivhich we are destitute. Migratory birds and fishes are
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 2A
endowed with a faculty by which, either by day or by night,
they pursue their way, with inevitable certainty, through
the air or the ocean. May not this power be given them by
^neans of an additional sense 7
3. When our senses are brought into relation to their
a])propriate objects, under normal conditions, a state of
mind is created which we call by the general name of
thought, or knowledge. If a harp is struck within a few
feet of me. a state of mind is produced which we call hear-
ing. So, if I open my eyes upon the external world, a
state of mind is produced which we call seeing. This men-
tal state is of two kinds. It is sometimes nothi/ig more than
a simple knowledge, as when my sense of smelling ia
excited by the perfume of a rose. At other times it goes
further than this, and we not only have a knowledge or 9
new consciousness, but also the belief that there exists some
external object by which this knowledge is produced.
The external conditions on which these changes depend
are as numerous as the senses themselves. Each sense has
probably its own media, or conditions, through which alone
its impressions are received. We see by means of the
medium of light. We hear by means of the vibrations of
air. None of these media can be used interchangeably
Each medium is appropriated to its peculiar organ.
4. Physiologists have enabled us to trace with consider-
able accuracy several steps of the process by which the
intercourse between the spiritual intellect and the material
world is maintained ; by which impressions on our material
organization result in knowledge, and the volitions of the
-•oul manifest themselves in action. A brief reference to
our organization in this respect is here indispensable.
The nervous system in general is that part of our phys-
ical organization by which the mind holds intercourse with
the external world, and through which it obtains the ele-
8
26 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ments of knowledge. The nervous system is, however, of
a two-fold character. A part of it is employed in giving
energy to those processes by which life is sustained. These
have their appropriate centres either in the spinal marrow,
or in the different ganglia. Thus the heart, arteries and
lungs, have their appropriate system of nerves, with the.r
proper centre. The digestive apparatus has its own nervous
system. These are all parts of the general arrangement of
brain, spinal marrow and nerves, but their functions are
performed without volition or thought. Hence many of the
lower animals, which have no need of thought, have no other
nervous apparatus. The brain may be removed from some
of the cold-blooded animals without, for a considerable pe-
riod, producing death. In such cases sensation will pro-
duce motion, the arterial and digestive processes will con-
tinue for a while uninterrupted. Thus a common tortoise will
live for several days after its head has been cut off. Thus we
also perform these various functions without any interven-
tion of the will. We digest our food, we breathe, our
hearts pulsate, without any care of our own; and these
functions are performed as well when we sleep as when we
wake,— nay, they proceed frequently for a while with entire
regularity. when consciousness has been suspended by in-
jury of the brain.
As this part of the nervous system has nothing to do with
thought and volition, we may dismiss it from our considera-
tion, and proceed to consider that other portion of it which
stands in so intimate connection with the thinking prin-
ciple.
The organism which we use for this- purpose consists of
the brain and nerves. The part of the brain specially con-
cerned in thought is the outer portion, called the cerebrum.
From the brain proceed two classes of nerves, which have
Deen appropriately termed afferent and efferent. The affe-
1
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 27
rent nerves connect the various organs of sense with the
brain, and thus convey to it impressions* from without.
When an image from an external object is formed on the
retina of the eye, a change is produced along the course of
the optic nerve, which terminates in the brain, and the re-
sult is a change in the state of the mind which we call see-
ing. When the vibrations of the air fall upon the ear,
another change is produced on the auditory nerve which is
continued until it reaches the brain, and the result is a
change in the state of the mind which we c^li hearing. The
other, or the efferent class of nerves, proceed from the brain
outwardly, and terminate in the muscles. By these the vo-
litions of the mind are conveyed to our material organs,
and the will of the mind is accomplished in action. The
process just now mentioned is here reversed. The volition
of the mind acts upon the brain, the change is communi-
cated through thp nerves to the muscles, and terminates in
external action. Thus the brain is the physical centre to
which all impressions producing knowledge tend, and from
which all volitions tending to action proceed.
The proof of these truths is very simple. If the connec-
tion betwen the organ of sense and the brain be interrupted
by cutting, tying or injuring the nerve, perception imme-
diately ceases. If, in the same manner, the connection be-
tween the brain and the voluntary muscles be interrupted,
the limbs do not obey the will. Sometimes, by disease, the
nerves of feeling alone are paralyzed, and then, while the
power of voluntary motion remains, the patient loses en-
tirely the sense of touch, and will burn or scald himself
without consciousness of injury. At other times, while the
* I of course use the word impression here, in a general sense, to convey
the idea of a change produced, and not of literal impression oi change of
material fbri£
INTELLECTLAL PHILOSOPHY.
nerves of sensation are unaffected, the nerves of volition are
paralyzed. In this case, feeling and the other senses are un-
impaired, but the patient loses the power of locomotion.
Sometimes an effect of this kind is produced by the mere
pressure upon a nerve. Sometimes, after sitting for a long
time in one position, on attempting to rise we have found
one of our feet '' asleep." We had lost the power of mov-
ing it, and all sensation for the time had ceased. It seemed 2
more like a foreign body than a part of ourselves. Long-
continued pressure on the nerve had interrupted the com-
munication between the brain and the extremities of the
nerves. As soon as this communication was reestablished,
the limb resumed its ordinary functions.^
These remarks respecting the nerves apply with somewhat
increased emphasis to the brain. If by injury to the skull
the brain becomes compressed, all intelligent connection be-
tween us and the external world ceases. So long as the
cause remains unremoved, the patient in such a case con-
tinues in a state of entire unconsciousness. The powers of
volition and sensation are suspended. If the brain becomes
inflamed, all mental action becomes intensely painful, the
* Sometimes this communication is so entirely suspended that a limb inl
this state, when touched by the other parts of the body, appears like a
foreign substance. An instance of this kind, which many years since oc-
curred to the author himself, may serve to iUustrate this subject He
awoke one night after a sound sleep, and was not agreeably surprised to
find a cold hand lying heavily on his breast. He was the sole occupant
of the room, and he knew not how any one could have entered it It was
80 dark that he could perceive nothmg. He, however, kept hold of the
hand, and, as it did not move, was somewhat relieved by tracing it up
to his own shoulder. He had lain in an awkward position, so that he
had pressed upon the nerve until all sensation had ceased. Probably
many stories of apparitions and nightly visitations may be accounted for
by supposing a similar cause.
f-
I
THE PI.HCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 29
perceptions are false or exaggerated, and the volitions as-
sume the violence of frenzy.*
It may illustrate the relation which the nervous system
sustains to the other parts of our material structure, to
suppose the brain, nerves and organs of sense separated
from the rest of the body, and to exist by themselves, with-
out loss of life. In such a case, all our intellectual con-
nections with the external world could be maintained. We
could see, and hear, and feel, and taste, and smell, and re-
member, and imagine, and reason. All that we should lose
would be the power of voluntary motion, and the con-
veniences which result from it. If, then, we should put
this nervous system into connection with the bones, muscles,
and those viscera which are necessary for their sustentation,
we should have our present organization just as we actually
find it. We see, then, that the other parts of our system
are not necessary to our power of knowing, but mainly to
our power of acting.
5. Of sensation and perception.
I have said that when our senses, under normal condi-
kions, are brought into relation to the objects around us,
the result is a state or act of the mind which we call know-
'ing. A new idea or a new knowledge is given to the mind.
This knowledge is of two kinds. In one case it is a simple
* Sometimes, however, astonishing lesions of the brain occur without
ither causing destruction of life or eyen any permanent injury. A case
fas a few years since publishei in the daily papers, under the authority
)f several eminent physicians, more remarkable than any with which I
lad been previously acquainted. A man was engaged in blasting rocks
md as he stood over his work, and was, I think, drawing the priming-
fire, the charge exploded, and drove through his head an iron rod of some
:wo or three feet in length. The rod came out through the top of his
lead, and was found covered with blood and brain. He nevertheless
talked home without assistance, and under ordinary medical care recov-
ired in a few weeks.
3*
80 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
I
knowledge, connected with no external thing. Thus, sup^
pose that I had never yet received any impression from the
external world. In "profound darkness a rose is brought
near to me. I am at once conscious of a new state of mind.
I have a knowledge^ something which I can reflect upon,
which we call smell. This knowledge, however, exists solely
in my mind. I refer it to nothing, for I know nothing to
which I can refer it. This simplest form of knowledge ia
called sensation.
But there is another form of knowledge given us through
the medium of our senses. In some cases we not only ob-
tain a new idea, or a knowledge of a quality, but we know,
also, that this quality is predicated of some object existing
without us. We know that there is a not me ^ and that thia
is one of its attributes. Suppose, as in the other case, I
am endowed with the sense of sight, and in daylight the
rose is placed before me. I know that there is an ex-
ternal object numerically distinct from myself, and that it
is endowed with a particular form and color. This act ia
called perception.
These two forms of knowledge are united in the sense of
touch, and may be clearly distinguished by a little reflec-
tion. The illustration of Dr. Eeid is as follows : ^^ If a man
runs his head with violence against a pillar, the attention of
the mind is turned entirely to the painful feeling, and, to
speak in common language, he feels nothing in the stone,
but he feels a violent pain in his head." " When he leans
his head gently against the pillar, he will tell you he
feels nothing in his head, but feels hardness in the
stone."— Reid's Inquiry, chap. 5, sec. 2. So I prick
a person with the point of a needle ; a new knowledge is
created in his mind, which he denominates pain. I draw
the needle lightly over his finger, and I ask him what it is ;
he replies, the point of a needle. So, if I place my f ngera
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 31
lightly on a table with my attention strongly directei to the
feeling, I am conscious of a sensation. If I move my hand
slowly over the table in order to ascertain its qualities, I am
conscious of a perception ; that is, of a knowledge that the
table is smooth, hard, cold, etc. The smell of a rose, the
feeling of cold, the pain of the toothache, are sensations.
The knowledge of hardness, of form, of a tree, or a house,
arc perceptions.
It has been commonly suppo ed that every perceptioii
was preceded by and consequent upon a sensation. Hence
the question has frequently ari^^n, since the perception is
predicated upon the sensation, and the sensation conveys to
us no knowledge of an external world, whence is our knowl-
edge of an external world derived ? From these data it has
seemed difficult to answer the question satisfactorily. Dr.
Brown has attempted to solve the difficulty by supposing
the existence of a sixth sense, which he calls the sense of
muscular resistance. He suggests that the pressure of the
hand against a solid body produces a peculiar sensation in
the muscles by which we become cognizant of the existence
of an external world. To me this explanation is unsatisfac-
tory. The question is, how does sensation, which is a mere
feeling, and gives us no knowledge of the external, or the
not me, become the cause of perception, which is a knowl-
edge of the external '? Dr. Brown attempts to remove the
difficulty by suggesting another sensation, which, being a
mere sensation also, has no more necessary connection with
the knowledge of the external than any other.
It is my belief that the idea of externality, that is, of
objects numerically distinct from ourselves, is given to us
spontaneously by the senses of touch and sight. When we
feel a hard substance, the notion that it is something exter-
nal to us is a part of the knowledge which at once arises in
the mind When I look upon a tree. I cannot divest my-
82 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
self of the instantaneous belief that the tree and myself are
distinct existences, and that :t is such as I perceive it to be.
Unless this knowledge were thus given to us by the consti-
tution of our minds, I know not how we should ever arrive
at it. That this view of the subject is correct, is, I think,
evident from what we observe of the conduct of the young
of all animals. The lamb, or the calf, of a few hours old,
seems by sight to have formed as distinct conceptions of ex-
ternahty, of qualities, of position, and of distance, as it ever
obtains. We cannot suppose that its knowledge arises from
any sense of muscular resistance, but must believe that it
is given to it originally with the sense of sight. So an in-
fant turns to the light, grasps after a candle, just as it doea
after any visible object in later life. I therefore believe that
this complex knowledge is given to us by the senses of sight
and touch, just as the simpler knowledge is given to us by
the senses of smell and taste.
REFE RENCES.
Perception in general — Reid's Inquiry, chap. 6, sec. 20.
Process of nature in perception — Reid's Inquiry, chap. 6, sec. 21.
Mode of perception — Essays on Intellectual Powers, Essay 2, chap. 1.
Perception limited by the senses — Essay 2, chap. 2.
The evidence of perception to be relied on — Essay 2, chap. 5.
Sensation and perception — Abercrombie's Intellectual Powers, Part 2,
sec. 1.
1
SECTION III. — OF THE MODE OF OUR INTERCOURSE WITH
THE EXTERiTAL WORLD.
In the preceding sections we have treated of both the
physical and spiritual facts concerned in the act of percep-
tion. We have seen that in order to the existence of per-
ception, some change must be produced in the organ of
I
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 8b
sense ; this must give rise to a change transmitted by the
nerves to the brain, and the brain must be in a normal state
in order to be affected by the change communicated by the
nerves. If either of these conditions be violated, neither
sensation nor perception can exist. When, however, these
organs are all in a normal state, and its appropriate object
is presented to an organ of sense, the result is a knowledge
or an affection of the spiritual soul. The first part of the
process is material — it consists of changes in matter; the last
part is thought, an affection of the immaterial spirit. The
question is, how can any change in matter produce thought,
or knowledge, an affection of the spirit ? Or, still more,
how can this modification of the matter of the brain produce
in us a knowledge of the external world, its qualities and
relations ? The lighting of effluvia on my olfactory nerve
is in no respect like the state of my mind which I call the
sensation of smell. The vibrations of the tympanum, or
the undulations of the auditory nerve, are in no respect
similar to the state of my mind when I hear an oratorio of
Handel. The two events are as unlike to each other as
any that can be conceived. In what manner, then, does the
one event become the cause of the other ?
A variety of answers has been given to these questions.
The manner in which the subject has been formerly treated
is substantially as follows : It was taken for granted that
the mind was a spiritual essence, whose seat was the brain ;
that the mind could only act or be acted upon in the place
where it actually resided, and that, as external objects were
at a distance from the mind, it was necessary for images of
external objects to be present to it, in order that it might
obtain a knowledge of their existence.
Hence arose the doctrine of what has been called repre-
sentative images. By some of the ancient philosophers it
was supposed that forms or species rf external objects
84 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
enter?! the organs of sense, and through them becam€
present to the mind, ii; was the opinion of Locke, so far
as I can understand him, that, in every act of perception,
there is an intermediate image of the external object pres-
ent to the mind, which the mind cognizes immediately, in-
stead of the object itself. I am aware that th« language of
Locke is, on this subject, exceedingly unceitain and ambig-
uous. Sometimes he seems to use the word idea to express
merely an act of the mind, and, at other . times, something
present to the mind, but numerically distinct from it, which
is the immediate object of knowledge. That, however, he
really believed that in perception there must exist something,
a positive entity, different both from the mind and its per-
ceptive act, is evident from such passages as the following :
'^ There are some ideas which have admittance only
through one sense which is peculiarly adapted to receive
them." — ^' And if these organs, or the nerves which are the
conduits to convey them from without to their audience in
the brain, the mind's presence-room (as I may so call it),
are any of them so disordered as not to perform their func-
tions, they have no postern to be admitted by, no other way
to bring themselves into view and be perceived by the un-
derstanding."— Book II., chap. 3, sec. 1.
Again: '^ If these external objects be not united to our
minds when they produce ideas therein, and yet we perceive
their original qualities in such of them as singly fall under
our senses, it is evident that some motion must be thence
continued by our nerves or animal spirits, by some parts of
our bodies, to the brain or seat of sensation, there to produce
the particular ideas we have of them. And since the ex-
tension, figure, number and motion, of bodies of an observa-
ble bigness, may be perceived at a distance by sight, it is
evident some singly impe7cejjtible bodies m>ust come from
them to the eyes, and thereby convoy to the brain somi
- THE PERCEPTIVE FACLLTIES. 35
motion which produces these ideas which we have of them.^'
— Book II., chap. 8, sec. 12.
Again : •• I pretend not to teach, but to inquire, and there-
fore cannot but confess here, again, that external and internal
sensation are the only passages that I can find of knowledge to
the understanding. These alone, as far as I can discover,
are the windows by which light is let into this dark room ;
for, methinks, the understanding is not much unlike a closet
wholly shut from the light, with some little opening left to
let in external visible resemblances or ideas of things
without. Would the pictures coming into such a dark
room but stay there and lie orderly, so as to be found upon
occasion, it would very much resemble the understanding of
a man in reference to all objects of sight and the ideas of
them." — Book ii., chap. 2, sec. 17.
From these quotations, — and many of the same kind might
be added, — two things are evident : first, that Locke used
the word idea to designate both the act of the mind in per-
ception, a mere spiritual aflection; and also something pro-
ceeding from the external object which was the cause of this
state. Secondly, that he did really recognize this interme-
diate something as a positive entity which the soul cognizes
instead of the outward object. He speaks of the nerves as
the conduits to convey these ideas to their presence-
chainber^ the brain ; of im,perceptible bodies which must
come from them (external objects) to the eyes, and be
conveyed to the brain. These expressions are too definite
to be used figuratively, and we must, therefore, accept this
explanation of the phenomena as a statement of the belief
of our illustrious author. This belief, however, was by no
means peculiar to him. It was a common belief at the time,
and he always refers to it as a matter well understood, and
received without question, by his cotemporaries. The stu-
dent who wishes to pursue this subject farther, will read
S6 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
with pleasure the passages referred to at the close of the
chapter.
The belief, then, prevalent at the time of Locke, may be
stated briefly thus : The soul is located in the brain. It
can cognize nothing except where it exists in space. Exter-
nal objects, being separated from it, can never be the imme-
diate objects of its perception. There must, therefore, pro-
ceed from the external object to the mind some images or
forms, which, entering by the senses, become present to the
mind, and are there the objects of perception. Hence the
mind never cognizes external objects ; this is, from the na-
ture of the case, impossible. It only cognizes these images
m the brain, and, from their resemblance to external objects,
it learns the existence and qualities of the external world.
Dr. Reid for a while believed this doctrine, but, startled
at the conclusions to which it led, was induced to examine
the foundations on which it rested. Upon reflection, he
soon arrived at the following conclusions :
1st. The existence of these images is inconceivable. We
can conceive of the image of a form, but how can we con-
ceive of the image of a color as existing in absolute dark-
ness ; and still more of the image of a smell, a sound, or a
taste ? Or how can we conceive of distinct images of Lll of
these various qualities forming the conception of a sinde
object ? ^
2d. Were this theory conceivable, it is wholly destitute
of proof^ It IS merely the conception of a philosopher's
bram. Who ever saw such images? Who, bv his own
consciousness, was ever aware of their existence? What
shadow of proof of their existence was ever given to the
world ^ Are we, then, called upon to believe an inconceiva-
ble hypothesis on no other evidence than merely the asser-
tion 01 philosophers ? J - ^^
3d. Were the existence of intermediate images proved, it
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 37
would relieve the subject of no essential difficulty. It might
reasonably be demanded, is it easier to cognize a small
object than a large one ? If the image be matter, then the
question still remains unanswered, how does a change of
matter create thought, an affection of the soul ? Is the im-
age spirit ? Then it cannot resemble the external object, and
can give us no notion of its qualities. And, more than all,
if ¥re never cognize the object, but only the image, how can
we have any knowledge whatever either of the external
object or of its qualities ?
The suggestion of these considerations abolished at once
the doctrine of a representative image. Since the time of Dr.
Reid, it has, I think, been conceded, by the most judicious
writers on this subject, that we know nothing concerning the
mode of perception beyond a statement of the facts. There ^
is a series of physical facts which can be proved by experi-
ment to exist. When these terminate there arise knowl-
edges of two kinds : the one a simple knowledge, as when I
am conscious of a smell or a sound ; the other a compound
knowledge, embracing a simple idea, as of color or form,
and also an idea of an external object of which these quali-
ties are predicated. Both of these are pure and ultimate
cognitions. We are as perfectly convinced of the truth of
the one as of the other. I as fully believe that I see a
rose, that its leaves are green and its petals red, as that I
smell an odor which I have learned to call the smell of a
rose. I cognize no image, I cognize the rose itself; and I
am as sure of its existence as I am of my own. Such seems
to be the law of perception under which I have been created.
I can neither change these perceptions, nor help relying with
perfect confidence on the truths which they reveal to me.
If I am asked to explain it any farther, I confess myself
unable to do so. If investigation shall enable us to establish
any additional facts in the series by which the material
4
38 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPKY.
change terminates in thought, we will accept its discoverh
with thankfulness. Until this is done, it is far better, wheti
we have reached the utmost limit of our knowledge, humbly
to confess our ignorance of all that is beyond.
The doctrine of a representative image would not, at the
present day, deserve even a passing notice, were it not for
the consequences which were deduced from it. Some of
these are worthy of remark.
In the first place, it was difficult to conceive how the soul
cx)uld be affected and thought produced by any change in
matter. It was supposed that this difficulty could be re-
lieved by the hypothesis of representative images. But
then it was demanded, are these images matter or spirit ?
If they are matter, and matter cannot act but upon matter,
since they act on the mind, the mind must be matter. Hence
was deduced the doctrine of materialism. Or, on the other
hand, are these images spirit ? In this case, spirit might
act upon spirit; but then how could spiritual images proceed
from matter, and, more still, how could they resemble mat-
ter? If, then, we cognize nothing but these, whence ia
the evidence of any material world ? Hence the doctrine
of idealism.
But again. It is granted in this hypothesis that we can
cognize in itself nothing external. We cognize nothing but
images, and it is impossible for us to cognize anything else.
But it was apparent that no images, which could by possi-
bility pass through the nerves, could resemble external qual-
ities ; what reason, then, have we to believe that the external
quality is, in any respect, like the image which alone we
are able to contemplate? Again: in order to know that the
images are similar to the objects which they represent, we
must know both the object and its representative. But by
necessity we can know only the one , how can we affirm that
It resembles the other? If I enter a gallery of paintings,
THE PERCEPTIVE FACULTIES. 39
how can I determine whether the pictures are likenesses oi
are mere productions of the fancy; if neither I nor any other
man had ever seen any originals of which they could be the
resemblances? Hence it is manifest that the evidence of the
existence of a material world, or of anything existing out
of the mindj is at once swept away. Keasoning in this
manner, Bishop Berkeley arrived at idealism. He denied the
existence of an external world, and concluded that nothing
existed but spirit and the affections of spirit.
But this idea was generalized. It was admitted that we
could not cognize external objects directly, but only through
the medium of representative images. If this is true of
material, why is it not true of spiritual objects, — of the
cognitions of consciousness ? Why do we not cognize them
by means of representations 1 But if we cognize them
thus, and have no cognition of the objects themselves, how
do we know that there is any such existence as mind or its
faculties ? In short, how do we know that anything exists
but ideas and impressions '? How do we know that any such
realities exist as time, space, eternity, Deity 7 All is re-
solved into a succession of ideas, which follow each other by
the laws of association, and besides these there is nothing in
the universe. This is nihilism, and such consequences were
actually deduced by some philosophers from this doctrine.
It was surely important to examine the evidences of an hy-
pothesis which led to such results.
This imperfect fragment of the history of intellectual
philosophy is not without its value. It teaches us the vast
superiority of the acknowledgment of ignorance, to the gratu-
itous assumption of knowledge. When we have reached the
limits of our knowledge, there is no harm in confessing that
beyond this we do not know. But to look out into the
darkness, and dogmatically to affirm what exists beyond the
rsach of our vision, may exclude invaluable truth, and in-
40 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
troduce the most alarming error. Thus, in the present in
stance, a hypothetical explanation of a fact, which in our
present state does not seem to admit of explanation, when
carried out to its legitimate results was found to terminate
in universal scepticism, and furnish a foundation for consis-
tent atheism. Philosophy will certainly have made impor-
tant progress when it shall have been able accurately to
determine the limits of human inquiry.
REFERENCES.
Representative images — Locke, Book 2, chap. 3, sec. 1 ; chap. 8, sec.
12 ; chap. 11, sec. 17. Reid's Inquiry, chap. 1, sees. 3—7 ; 2d Essay,
chaps. 4, 7, 9, 14. Stewart, vol. 1, chap. 1, sec. 3. Introduction, Part
1, vol 2, chap. 4, sec. 1 ; chap. 1, sec. 3. Cousin, Psychology, chaps. 6
and 7.
Knowledge an agreement between the idea and object — Lock& Book 4^
chap. 1, sec. 2 ; chap. 4, sec. 3. Cousin, chap. 6.
Consciousness an authority — Chapter 1.
Three things existent in perception — Reid, 2d Essay, chap. 5.
Idealise: and Nihilism— Cousin, chap. 6, last part, and chap 7 Rftid
2d Essay, 3hap«. 10l~12.
THE INDrVIDUAL SENSES SEPAKATELY CONSIDERED
SECTION IV. — OF THE SENSE OF SMELL.
Having, in the preceding chapter, treated of our percep-
tive powers in general, I proceed to describe the particular
senses with which we have been endowed. Proceeding from
the simpler to the more complex, I shall examine, in order,
smell, taste, hearing, touch and sight.
The organ of smell is situated in the back part of the
nostrils. It is composed of thin laminae of bone, folded
together like a slip of parchment, over which the olfactory
nerve is spread, covered by the ordinary mucous membrane
which lines the mouth and posterior fauces. It is so situ-
ated that the whole surface of the organ is exposed to the
current of air in the act of inspiration.
In those animals which seek their prey by scent, this or-
gan is found larger, exposing a greater amount of surface
to the air, than in those which pursue their prey by sight
The perfection in which this sense is enjoyed by some of the
lower animals has always been a subject of remark. A
dog will track the footsteps of his master through the streets
of a crowded city, and, after a long absence, will recognize
him by smell as readily as by sight or hearing.
When we are brought near to an odoriferous body, we
immediately become sensible of a knowledge, a feeling, or a
4*
42 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
particular fetate of mind. If a tuberose is brought nc^ a
person who has never smelled it, he is at once conscious of
a form of knowledge entirely new to him. If we do not
by our other senses, know the cause of the sensation, we
have no name for it, but are obliged to designate it by re-
ferring to the place where we experienced it. If, by our
other senses, we have learned the cause of the sensation, we
designate it by the name of the object which produces it.
Were the perfume of a rose present to me for the first
time, and did I not see the flower, I could give to it no name.
As soon as I have ascertained that the perfume proceeds
from the rose, I call it the smell of a rose. We thus seo
clearly that from this sense we derive nothing but a sensation,
a simple knowledge, which neither gives us a cognition of
anything external, nor teaches us that anything exists out
of ourselves.
The exercise of this sensation is either agreeable, indif-
ferent or disagreeable. The perfume of flowers, fruit, aro-
matic herbs, &c., is commonly pleasant. The odor of ob-
jects in common use is generally indifferent. The odor ot
putrid matter, either animal or vegetable, is excessively dis-
agreeable. In general, it may be remarked that substances
which are healthful for food are agreeable to the smell ;
while those which are deleterious are unpleasant. The
final cause of this general law is evident, and the reason
why the organ of smell in all animals is placed directly over
the mouth. Odors of all kinds, however, if they be long
continued, lose their power of affecting us. We soon
become insensible to the perfume of the flowers of a garden ;
and men, whose vocation requires them to labor in the midst
of carrion, after a short time become insensible to the offen -
sive effluvia by which they are surrounded.
Pleasant odors are refreshing and invigorating, and re-
store, for the time, tie exhausted nervous energy. Offen-
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 43
ftive odors, oa the other hand, are depressing to the spirits,
and tend to glcom and despondency. The former of these
effects is alluded to with great beauty in the well-known
lines of Miltran
** As when to them who sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambique ; off at sea, north-east winds blow
Sabean odars from the spicy shore
Of Araby the blest ; with such delay
Well pleased, they slack their course, and many a league.
Cheered with the grateful smell, old Ocean smiles."
Paradise Lost, Book 4, lines 169 — 165.
Concerning the manner in which this sensation is pro-
duced, I believe that but one hypothesis has been suggested.
The received opinion is that what is called effluvia, or ex-
tremely minute particles, are given off by the odorous body,
that these are dissolved in the air, and brought in contact
with the organ of this sense in the act of breathing. That
this may be so is quite probable. It is, however, destitute
of direct proof, and is liable to many objections. It is dif-
ficult to conceive how a single grain of musk can, for a long
time, fill the area of a large room with ever so minute par-
ticles, without visible diminution of either volume or weight
Until, however, some better theory shall be presented, we
seem justified in receiving that which even imperfectly ac-
counts for the facts in the case. Still, we are to remember
that it is merely a hypothesis, to be abandoned as soon as
any better explanation is established by observation.
From what has been already remarked, it must be, I
think, evident that the sense of smell gives us no percep-
tion. It is the source of a simple knowledge which alone
would never lead us out of ourselves. This sensation clearly
gives us no notion whatever of the quality which produces
44 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY-
it, noi have philosophers ever been able to determine what
that quality is. It is possible that the suggestion of cause
and effect might indicate to us the probability of a cause,
but the sense itself would neither awaken this inquiry nor
furnish us with the means of answering it.
Does the sense of smell furnish us with any conc-bption ?
By conception, I mean a notion of a thing, such as will
enable us, when the object itself is absent, to make it a
distinct object of thought. Thus I have seen a lily ; I can
form a distinct notion of its form and jcolor, and I can com-
pare it with a rose, and from my conceptions point out the
difference between them. I could describe this lily, from
my conception of it, so that another person could have the
same notion of it as myself Were I a painter, I could ex-
press my conception on canvas. Now, is there a similar
power of forming a conception of a smell ? Can I form a
distinct notion of the smell of an apple or a peach, and can
I compare them together, or describe them by language, or
in any other manner transfer my conception to another ?
So far as I can discover, from observing the operation of
my own mind, all this is impossible. After having smelled
an odorous body, I know that I should be able to reco-nize
that particular odor again. I cannot form a conceptio^'n of
the smell of a rose, but I know that I could, if it were
present, immediately recognize it and distinguish it from all
other odors. Beyond this I am conscious of no power
whatever.
This, however, I am aware, is but the experience of a
emgle mdmdual. Other persons may be more richly en-
dowed than myself. I have frequently put this question to
th classes which I have instructed, and I find the testimony
not altogether uniform. Some few young gentlemen in every
of a smell as they ha4 of a color or a form. The greater
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 45
part, however, have agreed with me that they had no power
to form the conception in question.
It has, very probably, occurred to the reader that the
words, ^'the smell of a rose," convey two entirely different
meanings; the one objective, the other subjective. The
''smell of a rose'' may designate a peculiar feeling or
knowledge existing in my mind, or it may designate the un-
known cause of that feeling. Thus, when I say the smell
of a rose is sometimes followed by fainting, I mean the sen-
sation produced in the mind. I say the apartment is filled
with the smell of a rose. I here mean the unknown quality
existing in the rose. Both of these expressions I suppose
to be correct, and in harmony with the idiom of the Eng-
lish language. The same ambiguity exists in all the terms
commonly used to designate sensations. Thus, the taste of
an apple, heat, cold, sweet, sour, and many others, admit of
a similar twofold signification.
Chemical philosophers, aware of this ambiguity in lan-
guage, have wisely introduced a new terra, by which, in a
particular case, this difficulty may be obviated. Observing
that the term '' heat " may signify a certain feeling in my
mind, as well as the unknown cause of that feeling existing
in a burning body, and as they were continually treating
of the one, and almost never of the other, they have desig-
nated the two ideas by difierent words. Retaining the term
heat to signify the sensation of a sentient being, they use
the word " caloric " to designate the unknown cause of the
sensation. Every one must perceive how much definitenesa
the use of this term has added to this branch of philosoph-
ical inquiry.
REFERENCE.
Bud's Inqiiry, chapter 2, the whole chapter.
46 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOI flr.
SECTION V. — THE SENSE OF TASTE.
The nerves of taste are spread over the tongue and the
back part of the fauces. They terminate in numerous
papillae^ or small excrescences, which form together the or-
gan of taste. It is almost needless to obsei ve that the
nerves are everywhere covered with the mersbrane lining
the mouth, and never come in immediate contact with the
sapid substance. These papillae are most nVimerous on the
tip, the edges, and the root of the tongue^ leaving many
portions of the intermediate surface almost destitute of this
' sensation.
The sense of taste is never excited except by solutions.
The saliva, which is copiously furnished by the glands of the
mouth, is an active solvent. By mastication, the solid food
becomes intimately mixed with this animal fluid, is partially
dissolved by it, and, in this condition, is brought into rela-
tion to the papillae which constitute the organ of taste.
Insoluble substances are, therefore, tasteless. When the
papillae of the tongue either become dry, or are covered
with the thick coating produced by fever, taste becomes im-
perfect or is wholly suspended.
When a sapid body, under normal circumstances, is
brought into relation with the organ of taste, a sensation either
pleasing or displeasing immediately ensues. When the sen-
sation is pleasant, we are instinctively impelled to swallow,
and with the act of swallowing the sensation is perfected
and ceases. When the sensation is unpleasant, we are on
the other hand, impelled to reject whatever may be the cause
ot It, and frequently it requires a strong effort of the will
to control this impulse. The sensation of taste is not con.
Bummated without the act of swaUowing. It would seem
THE IimiVIDUAL SENSES. 47
probable that the anterior and posterior nerves of the tongue
were designed to perform different offices, the former giv-
ing us an imperfect sensation, which creates the disposition
either to swallow or to reject the sapid substance ; the latter
awakening the perfected sensation as the substance passes
over it.
As in the case of smell, so in that of taste, I think that
♦nth the sensation no perception is connected. A particular
sensibility is excited ; a feeling either pleasant or unpleasant
IS created ; a simple knowledge is given us ; — but no cog-
nition of anything external can be observed. Whatever
notions of externality come to us, by means of this sense,
are derived from other sources than the sense itself Thus,
we can receive nothing into the mouth except by bring-
ing it into contact with the lips. The sense of touch
then cognizes it as something external to ourselves. The
suggestion of cause and effect might lead us possibly to the
same conclusion. These, however, are no parts of the sense
of taste. The taste in the mouth which frequently accom-
panies disease, awakens no idea of anything external.
When, however, by means of our other senses, we have
learned that a particular flavor is produced by any sub-
stance, we associate the flavor with the substance, and give
it a name accordingly. We thus speak of the taste of an
apple, a pear, or a peach.
So far as I am able to discover, the remarks made in the
last section, respecting conception as derived from smell,
apply with equal truth to the sense of taste. I think that
men generally have no distinct conception of an absent taste,
but only a conviction that they should easily recognize it if
it were again presented to them. This form of recollection
may be so strong as to create a longing for a particular fla-
vor, but still there is no conception like that produced by
eiUier sight or touch.
48 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
The same ambiguity may be observed here as in the
analogous sense. The taste of an apple, means both the
quality in the fruit which produces the. sensation and the
affection of the sentient being produced by it. The one is
objective, belonging exclusively to the non ego; the other is
subjective, belonging wholly to the *.go. Of the sensation
we have a very definite knowledge ; it can be nothing but
what we feel it to be. Of the cause we are, as in the sense
of smell, wholly ignorant.
The number of sensations derived from taste is, I think,
much greater than that derived from smell. An epicure
becomes capable of multiplying them, and distinguishing
them from each other to a very great extent. We are able,
also, to classify our sensations of taste much more definitely
than those of smell. Thus, we speak of acid, subacid,
Bweet, bitter, astringent, and many other classes of tastes, to
which we refer a large number of individuals. In this
manner we designate various kinds of fruit, medicines, &c.
While, therefore, these two senses seem to be governed
by the same general laws, I think that in man the knowl-
edge derived from taste is more definite and more varied
than the other. By means of the sense of touch, which so
completely surrounds the sense of taste, we should, in the
use of it, also arrive at the idea of externality. In this
respect it is indirectly the source of knowledge which is not
given us by the sense of smell. In blind mutes, however,
to whom the sense of smell becomes much more important,
in all probability the case is reversed, and smell furnishes
more numerous and definite cognitions than taste.
1 have said above that the sensation of taste is not per-
fectly experienced unless the sapid substance is swallowed.
Whatever is swallowed enters the stomach, undergoes the
process of digestion, and, whether nutritious or deleterious^
enters the circulation and becomes assimilated with our mar
THK INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 49
terial system. It is manifest, therefore, that if a substance
be pleasing to the taste, we may, by gratifying this sense,
iw^ilow either what is in itself deleterious, or that which
ecomes deleterious by being partaken of in excess. It is,
.-ence, evidently important that the gratification of the
sense be made subordinate to the hio:her desim : that of
promoting the health and vigor, physical and intellectual,
of the whole man.
In brutes, for the most part, the gratification of the appe-
tite is controlled by instinct. The instances are very rare
in which one of the lower animals has any desire for food
which is not nutritious, or desires it in larger quantity than
the health of the system demands. Man, how^ever, is en-
dowed with no such instinct. The regulation of his appe*
tite is submitted to his will, directed by reason and con
science. Guided by these, a perfect harmony will exist
between his gustatory desire and the wants of his material
and intellectual organization.
But suppose it to be otherwise. Suppose the human be-
ing to swallow neither what nor as much as his health
requires, but what and as much as will furnish gratification
to his palate. He will eat or drink much that is delete-
rious, and much which, by excess, becomes destructive to
health. When, by frequent indulgence, this subjection to
appetite has grown into a habit, the control of the spiritual
over the sensual is lost, and the man becomes either a glut-
ton or a drunkard, and very commonly both.
The efiects of these forms of indulgence are too well
known to require specification. Gluttony, or ihe excessive
love of food, renders the intellect sluggish, torpid and inef-
ficient, cultivates the most degrading forms of selfishness,
exposes the body to painful and lingering disease, and fre-
' quently terminates in sudden death.
5
50 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
«* The full-fed glutton apoplexy knocks
Down to the ground at once, as butcher felleth ox.'*
Thompson's Castle of Indohnce.
The appetite for deleterious drinks leads to consequences
still more appalling. In a very short time it ruins the
health, enfeebles the intellect, maddens the passions, de-
stroys all self-respect, and, in the most disgusting manner,
brutiilizes the whole being. It speedily and insensibly grows
into a habit which enslaves the nervous organism, sets at
defiance the power of the will, and thus renders the ruin of
the being, both for time and eternity, inevitable. We hence
perceive the importance of holding our appetites in strict
subjection to the dictates of reason and conscience, and
especially of excluding the possibility of our ever becoming
the victims of intemperance.
RE FERENCE.
• Reid's Inquiry, chapter 3.
SECTION VI.— THE SENSE OP HEARING.
The organ of this sense is the ear. It is composed .of
two parts, the external and mternal ear. The external ear
b intended merely to collect and concentrate the vibrations of
the air, and conduct them to the membrana tympani^
which separates the two portions of this organ. Tha
external ear thus performs the functions of an ear-trumpet.
The membrana tympani is a thin membrane stretched
across the lower extremity of ttie tube in which the outward
ear terminates. The vibrations of the air, thus produced
upon the tympanum, are, by a series of small bones occu-
pying its inner chamber, transmitted to certain cells filled
with fluid, in which the extremity of the auditory nerve
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 51
terminates. From these cells the nerve proceeds directly to
the brain.
The medium by which the auditory nerve is affected, is
the atmospheric air. Sonorous bodies of all kinds produce
vibrations or undulations in the air, which strike upon the
tympanum, and are, by the apparatus above alluded to, con-
veyed to the auditory nerve. The effect produced upon the
nerve is simply that of mechanical vibration, and this vibra-
tion, so far as we can discover, is the cause of the sensation
of sound. A mere fluctuation in the extremities of the
nerve is the occasion of all the ielight which we experience
in listening to the sublimest compositions of a Handel or a
Mozart. No more convincing proof can be afforded that
there is no conceivable resemblance between the change in
the organ of sense, and the delightful cognition of the soul,
which it occasions.
The number of sounds which the human ear is able to
distinguish is very great. Dr. Keid remarks that there are
five hundred tones which may be distinctly recognized by a
good ear ; and that each tone may be produced with five
hundred degrees of loudness. This would give us two hun-
dred and fifty thousand different sounds which could be per-
ceived by an ear of ordinary accuracy; This I presume is
true ; but a little reflection will convince us that the number
)f sounds which we are able to distinguish far transcends
ali human computation. The voice of every human bemg
may easily be distinguished from that of every other, >v'hile
the number of separate sounds which every individual is
able to produce, including tones, loudness, stress and eiQ-
phasis, is absolutely incalculable. If the same note be
struck by ever so many different -instruments, the -ound of
each instrument can be readily recognized. If ten thou-
sand instruments of the same kind were collected, it is prob-
able that no two could be found whose sounds would ba
52 fNTELLECTDAL PHILOSOPHY.
identical. Numbers which accumulate by such masses set
all computation at defiance.
Although our power of distinguishing the smallest varia-
tion of sound is so remarkable, it has been observed that
^ there are some sounds which are inaudible to particular
persons. It seems probable that each ear is endowed with
the power of cognizing sounds within a particular range,
but that this range is npt the same in every individual.
This difierence is, I think, most observable in the shrillest
sounds, or those pitched on the highest key, and producer,
by the most rapid vibrations. I have known some persons
who were unable to hear the sound produced by a species of
cricket, while to other persons the sound was so loud as to be
unpleasant. I think that Dr. Reid remarks the same pecu-
liarity respecting himself.
We all possess, to a considerable degree, the power of
determining the direction from which sounds proceed. We
derive this power, probably, in part, from the fact that our
ears are separated at some distance from each other, on op-
posite sides of the head, and hence a sound must, in many
cases, affect the one differently from the other. Persons
who have lost the use of one ear much less easily determine
the direction of sounds. This power, moreover, is greatly
improved by practice. We learn, in this manner, to form a
judgment of the distance of sounds, and to associate with
them much other knowledge which properly belongs to the
other senses. Thus, it is said that Napoleon was never de-
ceived as to the direction or distance of a cannonade, and
the remarkable precision of his judgment always excited the
wonder of his friends.
It is in this manner, I presume, that ventriloquism, as it
is termed, is to be explained. We have learned by experi-'
ence to determine the distance and direction of sounds.
For instance, I hear a person speaking. The quality of the
THE INPIVID.AL SENSED. 5S
Bound, its degree of loudness and distinctness, teach me
that it is produced by some one on mj left hand, and in the
street which passes by my window. If a person in the room
with me were able to produce a sound which should strike
upon my ear precisely like that which I just now heard, I
should suppose that it proceeded from the same place as
before. The effect would be more remarkable, if he should,
by some ingenious device, direct my attention to the window,
and create in me the impression that some one was outside
of it. In order to accomplish this result, it is necessary
that the performer be endowed with an ear capable of de-
tecting every possible variety in the quality of sound, and
vocal organs of such extreme delicacy that they are able
perfectly to obey the slightest intimation of the will. I
have never witnessed any performance of this kind, but I
have known one or two persons who possessed this power in
a modified degree, and this is the account which they have
given me concerning it. I am told that those who perform
these feats publicly are also able to. create the sounds which
we hear, without moving, in the least, the visible organs of
speech. How ^ they are able, in this manner, to produce
articulate sounds, I am unable to explain.
Is hearing a sensation or a perception ? That is, does it
furnish us with a simple knowledge, without giving us any
cognition of an external world ; or does it furnish us with a
complex knowledge, that is, a knowledge of a quality and
of the object in which it resides ?
The knowledge furnished by this sense seems to me to be
of the following character : it is purely a sensation, a simple
knowledge, giving us no intimation of anything external.
The knowledge, however, derived from this sense, differs
from those which we have already considered, in many
particulars. Some of these are worthy of attention.
The sensation of hearing is much more definite, f^rWi,
6^
54 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
and intensely pleasing, than that derived from either of the
preceding senses. It bis, moreover, a power of strongly
affecting°the tone of mind of the hearer. These impressions
being made upon a being endowed with original sugges-
tion, would naturally occasion an inquiry for a cause.
While hearing a strain of music, it would at once occur to us
that we did not produce it, that we could not prolong it, and,
hence, that it must originate from something external to our-
selves. We should thus learn that there existed something
out of ourselves ; but what that something was, the sense of
hearing would furnish us with no means of determining.
Let a man hear a violin, a bugle, or a piano, and, though he
would readily observe a diflference between them, he could
by this sense alone form no conception of the nature of
either instrument, or of the medium through -which an im-
pression was made upon his auditory nerve. When did a
peal of thunder ever suggest to man the nature of the cause
which produced it ? In this respect, therefore, the sense of
hearing differs from those already considered. It suggests
to us the idea of a cause, but gives us no knowledge of the
nature of that cause.
In another respect, however, the sensation of hearing is
peculiar. It enables us to form very definite conceptions.
Smell and taste possess this power, if at all, in a very lim-
ited degree. By no power of language can we convey to
another the knowledge which they give us. The sense of
hearing enables us to proceed much further. We hear a
Bound; we can repeat it. We hear a tune ; we can mentally
recall it without producing any sound whatever, and wc can
derive pleasure from this silent conception of it. Still
more, we are able to designate a great variety of articulate
sounds by the alphabet. By means of this notation, the
sounds of a speaker's voice can be so recorded, that another
person wlio has not heard him, and who may not even under-
THF INDIVIDUAL SENSES. ' 55
stand the langu age in which he has spoken, may he able
accurately to repeat all that he has said. The case is still
stronger when the words uttered are set to music. Here
it is not only possible to note down the words, but also
the precise musical notes in which they were expressed, so
that the song, and the tune in which it was sung, may be
accurately repeated by a person on the other side of the
globe.
I have remarked that our conception of musical sounds
may give us pleasure in perfect silence : as when we remem-
ber a strain which we have heard on a former occasion.
This is yet more observable when sounds are described by
their appropriate notation. A skilful musician will read
the notes of an opera or oratorio, form the conception as he
proceeds, and derive from them as definite a pleasure as he
who reads the pages of a romance or a tragedy. It has
frequently happened that the most eminent musicians have
been afflicted with deafness. It is delightful to observe that
this infirmity in only a modified degree deprives them of
their accustomed pleasure. They sit at an instrument,
touching the notes as usual, and become as much excited
with their own conceptions as they were formerly by sounds.
Under these circumstances, some of them have composed
their most elaborate and successful productions. These
facts establish a wide difference between the sense of hearing
and the senses of taste and smell. The latter produce in
us no definite conceptions, and are susceptible of being formed
into no such language. Hearing is evidently a much more
intellectual sense than either of those which we have thus
far considered.
Besides, musical sounds have an acknowledged power
over the tone of the human mind. By the tone of mind, I
mean that condition of our emotional nature which inclines
us to be grave or gay, lively or sad, kind or austere, appre-
56 INTELLE^rUAL PHILOSOPHY.
hensive or reckless. New, it is well known that music has
the power not only to harmonize with any of these tones of
mind, and thus increase it, but in many cases to alter and
control it. Every one knows the difference between a sport-
ive and a melancholy air, between a dirge and a quickstep;
and every one also knows how readily his tone of mind as-
similates with the character of the music which he chances
to hear. Sacred music, well performed, renders deeper the
spirit of devotion. The hilarity of a ball-room would in-
stantly cease if the music were withdrawn. I question if
the martial spirit of a nation could be sustained for a single
year, if music were banished from its armies ; and military
evolutions, whether on parade or in combat, were performed
under no other excitement than the mere word of command.
From these well-known facts, an aesthetical principle may
be deduced of some practical importance. The design of
music is to affect the tone of mind. To do this, it must be
in harmony with it. No one would think a psalm tune
adapted to a charge of cavalry ; and every one would be
shocked to hear a devotional hymn sung to the tune of. a
martial quickstep. It hence follows, that what may be
good music for one occasion, may be very bad music for
another. If we are called upon to judge of the excellence
of any piece of music, it is not enough that the music be
good, — the question yet remains to be decided, is it good for
this particular occasion ; that is, does it harmonize with the
particular tone of mind which the words employed would
naturally awaken 7 If it do not, though it may be very]
good music for some occasions, it is bad music in this par-
ticular case. The II Penseroso and the L' Allegro of Mil- ^
ton have, I believe, been set to music, and, if the music!
were adapted to the thought, the effect of these beautiful po-^
ems would be increased by it. But every one sees that the ^|
music adapted to the one must be very unlike that adapted^
I
1
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. - 5]f
to the other. Let the music be transferred from the
one to the other, and the incongruity would be painful ;
and what was just now good music would become at once
intolerable. Much of the church, music at present in vogue
seems to me to partake of the incongruity of such a trans-
position.
Here, also, the question may be asked, whether all poetry
is adapted to music. From the preceding remarks it would
seem that it is not, unless it awaken some emotion. And
again, the emotion in some cases may not be adapted to
music. Terror, horror, the deepest impressions of awe, are
probably not adapted to musical expression. The attempts
which have been made to convey such emotions by music
have, I apprehend, generally failed. They may, like much
other music, display the skill of the composer or the per
former, but they leave the audience unmoved.
Another peculiarity of this sense deserves to be mentioned
By it we are capable of forming a natural language under-
stood by all men. Our emotions mstinctively express them-
selves by the tones of the voice, and these are easily recog-
nized by those to whom they are addressed. Every one
understands the tones indicative of kindness, of authority,
of pity, of rage, of sarcasm, of encouragement and contempt.
Should a man address us in an unknown tongue, we
should immediately learn his temper towards us by the
tones of his voice. The knowledge of these tones is common
to all men, under all circumstances. Children of a very
tender age learn to interpret them ; nay, even brutes seem
to understand their meaning very distinctly. It would seem,
then, that the tones of the voice form a medium of communi-
cation, not only between man and man, but even between
man and some of the inferior animals.
I have said that these tones of the voice are universally
understood. It is also true that they have the power of
b8 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHr.
awakening an emotion, similar to that which produced them,
in the mind of the hearer. A shriek of terror will convulse
a whole assembly. It is said that Garrick once wxnt to
hear Whitefield preach, jind was much impressed with the
power of that remarkable pulpit orator. Speaking afterwards
of the preacher's eloquence, he is reported to have said, *'I
would give a hundred pounds to utter the word Oh ! as White-
field utters it.'.' It is probable that it is in the powder of
expressing our emotions by the tones of the voice, more than
in anything else, that the gift of eloquence consists. This
was, I presume, the meaning of Demosthenes, who, when
asked what was the first, and the second, and the third ele-
ment of eloquence, replied, successively, ^'Delivery, delivery,
delivery ! '' This is, I think, illustrated in the case to which
I have alluded. Whitefield's printed sermons do not place
him high on the hst of English preachers ; while, as they
were delivered by Whitefield himself, they produced efiects
which can only be ascribed to the very highest efibrts of
eloquence.
The relation of these remarks to the cultivation of elo-
quence is obvious. Suppose a public speaker to be able to
construct a train of thought which shall lead the minds
of men, by logical induction, to a given result. Suppose,
moreover, that this train of reasonmg is clothed in appro-
priate diction, so that it is adapted not only to convince,
shut to please an audience. It is now to be delivered in the
hearing of men. It may be delivered in so monotonous
tones as to put an assembly to sleep, or in tones so inappro-
priate and grotesque as to provoke them to laughter. It is
now necessary that the orator be deeply moved"" by his own
conceptions, and that he be able to give utterance to his own
emotions in the tones of his voice. His organs of speech
must be capable of every variety of expression, and they
must so instinctively respond to every emotion, that the
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 59
ttfought which the speaker enunciates is lodged in the mind
of the hearer, animated by the precise feeling of him who
utters it. He who is thus endowed can hardly fail of
becoming an orator. Hence, if we would improve in
eloquence, we must studiously cultivate the natural tones
of emotion; in the first place by feeling truly ourselves,
and, in the second, by learning to express our emotions in
this language which all men understand.
REFERENCE.
Reid's Inquiry, chap. 4, sections 1, 2
SECTION VII. — THE SENSE OF TOUCH.
The nerves of feeling are situated under the skin, and
are plentifully distributed over the whole external surface,
So completely does the network which they form cover the
whole body, that the point of the finest needle cannot punc-
ture us in any part without wounding a nerve, and giving us
acute pain. It is in this manner that we are guarded from
injury. Were any portion of our body insensible, we might
there sufier the most appalling laceration without being
aware of our danger.
The chief seat of the nerves of touch is, however, in the
palm of the hand, and in the ends of the fingers. The
other parts of the body lender us sensible of injury from
external sources, but they are incapable of furnishing ua
with any definite perceptions. The hand, on the contrary,
conveys to us very exact knowledge of the tactual qualities
of bodies. For this purpose it is admirably adapted. The
separation of the fingers from each other, their complicated
flexions, the extreme delicacy of their muscular power, all
§0 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
combine to render this organ susceptible of an infinite varietj
of definite impressions.
Though the fingers are separated, yet in using them
toc^ether, when a single object is presented, but one percep-
tion is conveyed to the mind. It would seem, however,
that, in order to produce this result, corresponding points of
the fingers must be applied to the object. If we change
them from their normal position, by crossing the second over
the fore-finger, two perceptions will be produced, and a
small object, as a pea, will seem to us double.
The sensation of touch is of two kinds, as it is caused,
first, by teTnperature^ and secondly by contact.
The sensation produced by temperature is that of cold or
heat. It is awakened by any body whose temperature diftn
from that of our external surfiice. When we place OV
hands in water only blood warm, we are not conscious rf
this sensation. If we place one hand in hot, and the other
in cold water, for a few minutes, and then remove them both
to tepid water, we experience the sensation of heat in the
one and of cold in the other.
The efiect produced upon us by temperature is a simple
knowledge, a pure sensation. It gives us no knowledge
of anything external. During the first chill of a fever le
are unable to determine whether the weather is cold, or OV
system diseased ; that is, whether the sensation proceede
from without or from within. And when the sensation pro-
ceeds from without, it gives no information respecting its
cause, or the manner in which it afiects us.
Heat and cold are merely aficctions of a sensitive organ-
ism. That which causes them is called by choinista
caloric. This quality in bodies has opene<l a wide field for
philosophical investigation, which, by developing the laws
of steam, has modified the aspects of modem civilia*
tion.
THE INDIVID AL SENSES. GJ
Secondly, the sense of touch is excited oy contact. I
use the term contact here in its common, and not in its
strict meaning. The nerves are alwavs covered with the.
skin, and when by accident the skin is abraded, we feel pain,
but we are conscious of no perception. Nor, in fact, is the
skin itself ever in absolute contact with the external object.
A layer of air always interposes between them.
When the hand is thus brought into proximity to an
external body, we are immediately made conscious of its
existence. In this act there may, I think, be discovered
both a sensation and a perception I have referred to this
fact in a previous section. Nothing further will here be
necessary than to appeal to the experience of every
individual. Let any one place his hand lightly upon a
piece of marble, or any external object, fixing his attention
as much as possible upon his sensation, and he will, I think,
find himself conscious of a feeling into which the idea of
oxtcmiility does not enter, and which gives him no knowl-
edge of the qualities of body. Let him now take up the
marble, and attempt to cognize its several qualities, and I
think he will be conscious of a very difTcrent knowledge,
involving the notions of externality, hanlncss, smoothness,
form, and, it may be, some others. In this case he pays no
attention to his sensations. It does not occur to him that
they exist. All he is conscious of is the various qualities
of tho external object, and of these he obtains a very dis-
tinct cognition. It may require a small cfibrt at first to
distinguish these two forms of knowledge from each other,
but I am persuaded that any one may do it who will be at
the pains for a few times to make the experiment.
The perceptions given us by this sense are exceedingly
definite and perfect. By it we not only know that a quality
exists, but also what it is. We have the knowledge, and
we know what it is that produces it. In this manner the
6
62 INTELLBJTtAL PHILOSOPHr.
perceptions by touch lie at the foundation of all our knowl*
edge of an external world. We rely upon them with more
certainty than any other. Many of the qualities revealed
• 10 us by touch are also revealed to us by sight. If, how-
ever, in any case, we have reason to doubt the evidence of
sight, we instinctively apply to the sense of touch in order
to verify our visual judgment.
The principal qualities cognized by touch, besides exter-
nality, are extension, hardness, softness, form, size, motion,
situation, and roughness or smoothness. Besides these,
however, there are various sensations of pain and pleasure
given by this sense, the specific efiect of particular agents^
as of electricity and galvanism, the sensation of tickling,
and many others of the same kind. To this sense have also
been ascribed the sensation of hunger and thirst, and the
various affections belonging to our sensitive organism.
Confining ourselves, however, to ihQ perceptions of touch,
we find that they are almost exclusively given us by the
hand. In this manner we obtain a distinct knowledc^e of
extension, of size, of hardness, softness and form. When
the body is small, or the discrimination delicate, we rely
almost wholly on the perceptive power of the fingers. In
this manner we obtain, experimentally, nearly all our knowl-
edge of the primary quaHties of body.
We may here remark the difference between the knowl-
edge obtained by this sense, and that obtained by the senses
previously considered. The others give us each a particular
class of sensations, and only one kind of knowledge. By
touch we are conscious of heat and cold, together with a
great variety of other sensations, and also of the various
perceptions of primary qualities mentioned above Tho
others give us no direct knowledge of an external world.
Ihis gives us that knowledge directly and immediately.
J he others, when the existence of an external world is sag-
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 06
gested, give us no knowledge of its qualities. This givea
us a positive knowledge of several of the most essential of
them. We know, for instance, that form is precisely what
it appears to be, and that our knowledge of it exactly con-
forms to the reality. We know that it must, under all
circumstances, be exactly what we perceive it to be. We
thus derive from it a distinct conception ; we can make it
an object of thought, and can form concerning it the most
complicated processes of reasoning. When we see a blind
person read with his fingers, we must be convinced that he
has as definite a conception of the forms of letters as we
ourselves have by sight. We thus learn that not only does
this sense enable us to make large additions to our knowl-
edge, but that it is really the original source of a great part
of our knowledge of the world around us. Of its intrinsic
importance we may form an opinion from the fiict that there
is no case on record in which a human being has been bom
without it. By it alone, as in the case of Laura Bridgman,
we may learn our relations to the world around us ; may
be taught the use of language, and may even acquire the
power of writing it with considerable accuracy. This sense
is lost only in paralysis, and in those cases in which the
individual, drawing near to dissolution, has no farther need
Qf any of the organs of sense.
REFERENCE.
Reid'a Inquiry, chap. 5, sections 1, 2.
SECTION -VIII. — THE SENSE OF SIGHT.
The organ of vision is the eye. It is an optical mstru-
Bient, of exquisite construction, adapted in the most perfect
64 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
manner to accomplish the purposes of its formation. At
will, we can admit the light or surround ourselves with total
darkness. As we frequently pass from darkness to light,
the eye is provided with a curtain, by means of wliich the
pupil is either expanded or contracted, so that no more light
than is required falls upon the retina. We can turn the
eyes in every direction. By them we can discern objects
either gigantic or microscopic, within a few inches of us,
or at the distance of several miles. It gives us instan-
taneously a knowledge of the qualities of bodies, which
could be discovered by the other senses only after a long
and patient investigation, and of many qualities which, with-
out this sense, could never be discovered at all. Although
capable of such complicated action, and always in use ex-
cept when we sleep, the eye is comparatively seldom liable
to accident or disease. It is protected from ordinary vio-
lence by the overhanging brows. The fine particles of dust
which fall upon it are perpetually washed away by the copi-
bined action of the eyelids and the lachrymal gland. Ite
rapid and incessant change of position, by calling into ac-
tion different portions of the optic nerve, preserves it from
severe exhaustion. Thus it happens that a large portion of
mankind pass through life without ever knowing that their
eyes are even liable to disease.
The manner in which the impression is produced upon
the organ of vision has been fully explained by physiolo-
gists. The human eye is a small globe, so constructed that
the rays of light coming from a visible body which fall upon
It, are formed into a small image upon its inner posterior
surface. This image is inverted. The rays of light first
flill upon the visible object, and are from it reflected upon
the eye. Of course, where there is no light, that is, when
no rays can be either received or reflected, there can be no
vision.
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 65
Ovei the back part of the eye is spread out an expansioD
of the optic nerve, called the retina. Immediately behind
this, is a thin membrane, on which is laid a black pigment
for the absorption of the light producing the image. In
order to produce distinct vision, this image must be accu-
rately defined. Hence, in twilight, when the light is insuf-
ficient, an object is but imperfectly seen. When, owing to
slight malformation of the eye, as in near-sighted or in aged
persons, the image is not accurately delineated on the retina,
mion is also indistinct; nor can the infirmity be relieved
until by artificial means we cause the rays of light to form
a true image on the expansion of the optic nerve. If the
nerve become paralyzed, vision ceases. If it be inflamed,
vision is so intensely painful that the patient cannot, with-
out severe sufiering, bear the least glimmer of light. The
nerves of vision do not proceed from each eye directly to the
brain, but first meet at what is called the decussation of the
optic nerve, where their fibres intermingle, after which they
separate and enter the substance of the brain. What pur-
pose is answered by an arrangement so different from that
. observed in the other nerves of sense, has not yet been dis-
covered.
When, under normal circumstances, the visual image is
formed on the retina, a mental state succeeds which we call
vision. What this is we all know by experience. The
question, however, remains. Is sight a sensation or a per-
ception ? and, if a perception, is it like the sense of touch
preceded by a sensation ? Before proceeding further, let us
attempt to answer these questions.
Is sight a sensation or a perception ? A sensation is a
simple, knowledge, a state of mind terminating in itself,
and, so far as our consciousness is concerned, having no
original connection with anything external. Now, if merely
the cof^nition of color is considered, we must admit that it
6*
gg INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
resembles in many respects, the cognition of hearmg. The
notion or knowledge of red, for instance, is an affection of
the mind, and wholly unlike the cause from which it pre
ceeds. No one supposes that the rose has the simple knowl
edge which we designate by the word red. And, moreover,
this simple knowledge gives us not the most distant idea of
its cause. Sight gives us no more knowledge of that qual«
ity in bodies which produces in us the notion of color, than
hearing designates the size and form of the instrument
which produces the sound to which we are listening, or the
atmospheric change which precedes the clap of thunder at
which we tremble. In this respect the act of seeing resem-
bles a mere sensation.
On the other hand, it is to be remarked, that, although
the knowledge of color is a sensation, a subjective affection,
yet we are so made as to refer this knowledge directly and
immediately to the external object. When we reflect upon
the subject we know that the notion of red is a spiritual
affection, and yet that affection seems to be a part of the
rose. When we are conscious of an odor, we do not, so far
as the sense of smelling is concerned, assign it to any ex-
ternal location. When we hear a sound, so far as this sense
is concerned, we do not determine the place of its origin.
The music seems to float around and envelop us, like the
atmosphere. But when we are sensible of a color, we see
it in a determined locality, we see it now and there, and at
once fix the limit of its existence.
Here, however, it may be said, that in this respect the
perception by sight is similar to that of touch ; that in
touch we equally transfer our notion of form to the object
which we perceive. The cases, I admit, are similar,, but I
think by no means identical. When I feel of a cube, and
obtain a knowledge of its form, it is obvious tlmt the thought
of my mind is not like the cube — ^that is, it is not so]id,
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 67
equiangular and equilateral. It is, nevertheless, a positive
knowledge that such are the qualities of the cube. I know
that the thought of my mind represents to me these quali-
ties just as they are. They are the sufficient cause of that
particular idea, and nothing else could have been the cause
of it. It is a definite know^ledge of a mode of the not me,
admitting of no intermediate question. When, however,
I see a color, the case is quite dissimilar. My notion of
color gives me no knowledge of its cause. I have by it no
knowledge of a particular mode of the not me, which, of
necessity, if it produce in me any knowledge, must produce
precisely that of which I am conscious. My sense of sight
does not inform ma at all what color (objective) is. That
the existence of light is necessary to it, all men know ; but
what light is, in what manner it produces color, whether by
rectilinear rays reflected from the object, or by a succession
of waves of a universal medium, is yet a matter of dispute
among philosophers. In the case of sight, then, if the
question be asked, what produces this knowledge, we can give
no answer. In the case of touch, we answer at once, the
form of a cube, — we all know what that form is, — and the
subject admits of no farther discussion.
I do not know whether I have made this distinctly ob-
vious to others, or whether I have analyzed the act of
vdsion accurately. I have, however, endeavored as well as
I am able to state the facts in the case as they appear to my
own consciousness.
Is there in sight, as in touch, a sensation antecedent to
perception, or a sensation which it is in our power to dis-
tinguish from perception ? For myself, I have never been
able to discover it. I place my hand, under differenf con-
ditions, on a cube, and I am able to distinguish the sensation
from, the perception, and can make either of them, sepa-
. rately, a matter of thought. I can discover no such dis-
68 XNTliLLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
tinct states of mind in the act of vision. I open my eyes
I see a book. The first thing of which I am conscious is
the cognition of an external object. I am conscious of no
intermediate or different mental state. I must, therefore,
believe that none exists. It may be said that one has existed,
but that, from long neglect, we have lost the power of ob-
serving it. To this I reply, that we habitually neglect the
sensation in the perception of touch, but, when it is pointed
out to us, we easily recognize it. If it existed in the sense
of seeing, I see no reason why we should not as easily ob-
serve it. The simple fact seems to be, that, as soon as wo
are conscious of the knowledge of color, we are, at the same
instant, conscious of the knowledge of the object in which
the color seems to reside. We cannot separate the one
from the other.
The perception of an object as endowed with color is,
however, in some respects, unlike the perception of an ob-
ject as endowed with form.
The perception by touch is fixed and definite, in all posi-
tions remaining precisely the same. The perception by
sight varies by every change of position. For instance, if
a small cube is placed in my hands, I turn it over and feel
of It on all sides, and it ever presents itself to me as the
same figure. On the other hand, I look upon it with one of
Its faces directly before me, and it presents one appearance.
1 turn one of the angles towards me, and it presents another.
1 change its position a hundred times, and at every time it
presents a different appearance.
Again, the^perception by touch is unaffected by distance.
I feel of a cube, and I derive a clear knowledge of its form.
I extend my arms to their utmost length, and the perception
do s nir* ?"' '' '' ' "^^^ ^^' -^ -y -'-- ' f i^
iTook. ^'"^\ ' '' '' ""'' ^ ^^^^ '^' P^^^^Pti<^- of sight.
I look at a cube at a distance of twelve inches from my
i
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 69
eyes , it has one magnitude. I remove it ten feet oflF, and
its apparent magnitude is ten times less. Its color is less
vivid, and its outline less distinct. I remove it to the dis-
tance of an hundred feet, and it is diminished to ' an indis-
tinct speck. If I would represent it to another person, T
must represent it thus indistinctly. Hence the distinction
made between tactual and visual form and magnitude.
We have the means of associating these two ideas together
in a manner hereafter to be considered. We are able to
translate the language of sight into the language of touch.
This, however, would be unnecessary, were there not this
difference in the two perceptions to which I have here re-
ferred.
If we observe the relation in which the senses stand to
each other, we shall at once perceive the importance of
sight. Smell and taste give us simple knowledges, without
any cognition of the not me, and, also, I think, without the
power of forming conceptions. Hearing suggests the not me,
and gives us the power of forming conceptions ; but it gives
us no knowledge of any of the attributes of the sonorous
body, save its power of awakening this sensation. Touch
gives us an immediate and positive knowledge of the not
me, and of all its primary attributes, and leaves upon the
mind a most definite conception. Sight enables us to deter-
mine most of the qualities revealed to us by touch, not only
near at hand, but at great distances ; by the delicacy of its
language, it enables us to discover many of the qualities re-
vealed by the other senses ; and, while performing all these
functions, it is a source of most exquisite pleasure.
That the conceptions of sight are more definite than those
received by our sense of touch, I will not affirm. It is,
however, certain that they are much more easily retained
in the memory. When we recollect an external object, I
think we much more readily recall the visual conception
70 INTELLBCTt'AL PHILOSOPHY.
thar. any other. I may feel of a sphere, and obtain a
knowledge of its form and magnitude ; but when I think of
it, the visual appearance presents itself most readily to my
mind. Almost all the conceptions of figurative language
are derived from sight. The power of originating such con-
ceptions is called imagination, or the^ower of forming im^
ages. The fine arts, with the exception of music, address
themselves wholly to this mode of perception. Almost all
the other senses are, in some manner, tributary to it, and
thus enable us to employ it in order to arrive at the most
varied and distant forms of knowledge.
Let us now propeed to inquire, what are the qualities of
the external world which are cognized by means of this
sense ?
1. If the above remark be true, that we are so made aa
to refer our visual conception to the external object, it will
follow that we derive our cognition of externality as truly
from this sense as from touch. Touch gives us a distinct
and immediate notion* of the existence and qualities of an
external object. Sight gives us a conception of an unknown
cause of a known effect : it also teaches us that this cause is
numerically distinct from ourselves, and assigns to it its
position in space.
The existence of this function of vision has frequently
been denied, and it has been affirmed that, until aided by
touch, sight gives us no idea of externality, any more than
smell or hearing. The principal ground for this opinion is
the authority of Cheselden,^ who, long since, published an
account of a young man whom he couched for cataract, and
who, on restoration to sight, thought, at first, that every
object touched his eyes. On this statement I would observe,
tbit, on the first admission of light to the unnaturally sensi*
• Philosophical Transactions, 1778, No. 402.
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 71
Kve retina, a sensation unlike to sight would be likely to
Eirise, which the patient might very probably designate by
Baying that the object touched his eyes. Every one/ in
passing from darkness into a strong light, has felt a sensa-
tion of this kind, and he may remember that it is more
nearly akin to touch than to sight. If we had before known
everything by touch, we should naturally use this language
in describing it. On this account, I think the case does not
warrant the stress that has been laid upon it. But, secondly,
if it were so, if he thought that the objects touched his .
eye, then, as Sir W. Hamilton has happily remarked, " still
they appeared external to the eye," for it is evident that
two things cannot 'seem to touch each other, unless, at the
same time, also, they appear numerically distinct. That
which is numerically distinct from the eye must be the non
ego. Besides, the young of all animals, as soon as they
open their eyes, recognize external objects as external, and,
with evident design, move either towards or away from
them. In fact, they use their eyes at first just as they use
them afterwards. A new-born infant teaches us the same
truth. Who ever saw a young child place its hand on its
eyes when an object was placed before it ? It reaches out
its hand towards the object, without, it is true, any correct
idea of distance, but with a correct conception of external-
ity and direction. I think that all our observation upon
our own use of this faculty must lead us to the same con-
clusion.
2. From this sense, exclusively, we obtain our knowle^dge
of color. Of the nature of this cognition I have already
had occasion to express my opinion. It is a simple knowl-
edge in itself, an affection of the sentient being, which, how-
ever, we naturally and immediately refer to the external
object. Of this quality, thus recognized, the varieties are
numerous; and they are indefinitely multiplied ty the cir
J2 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
cuiDStances of light and shade, distance and proximity,
degree of illumination, and. many others. Hence it is that
external nature presents to us an exhaustless and ever- varied
scene of beauty and sublimity. Every object in the world
around us, which the hand of God has formed, is made to
minister to our happiness. But this is only a small part of
the benefit which we derive from this function of sight.
Every change of color, and every variation in the degree of
color, is indicative of some change which is originally cog-
nized by some other sense. Hence it is that sight, which
acts instantaneously, and cognizes its objects at large dis-
tances, is enabled, by changes of visual appearance, to detect
an immense number of qualities which vision alone could
never hsive discovered. All the senses become tributary to
it, and it does the work of all. Of the manner in which
this is done, we shall treat more particularly in the follow-
ing section.
3. To the qualities of external bodies, rendered cognizable
by sight, we must undoubtedly add extension. If we refer
our notion of color to an external object, I do not see how
it is possible to exclude from our minds the knowledge that
the colored object is extended. If we look upon anything
colored, that color covers a definite portion of space. Let
any one look upon a surface marked alternately by different
colors, and the limitations of each are distinctly defined.
Hence^ also, arises the idea of form in one dimension. We
can as well cognize a circle or square by sight as we can
do it by touch. We read as rapidly by the eye as the bl:2id
by their fingers.
4. Lastly, we must now add solidity, or extension in
three dimensions, to the perceptions given us by sight.
Until quite lately, this power has been denied to the faculty
of vision. It has been the generally received opinion that
sight gives us nothing but the different shades of color.
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 78
represented on a plane surface, as we perceive them in a
painting ; but that by touch we learn to associate the
shading with the form, and thus indirectly learn to cognize
solidity by the eye. This view was universally received,
until the researches of Professor Wheatstone, of King's Col-
lege, London, threw new light upon the whole subject. The
brilliant discoveries of this philosopher have added a new
function to the organ of vision, and demonstrated that, by
the eye alone, we are enabled to cognize solidity as well as
simple extension. He has shown that, in consequence of
binocular vision, we are able to determine the form of
bodies within a certain distance. The manner in which this
is accomplished is as fallows : It must be obvious to every
one, that, inasmuch as the right and left eye occupy different
positions in space, the images which an external object forms
on the two eyes must be slightly dissimilar. I look upon
an inkstand on the table before me, closing first my right
eye and then the left. I can clearly discover a differ-
ence between the right and left image. Now, it is this
difference of figure in the two images that gives us the
notion of solidity. This is proved by the stereoscope, an
invention of Professor Wheatstone. This instrument is so
constructed that we can see separately the image of an
object formed on the right eye, and then that formed on the
left.
When seen in this manner, each figure appears to us as .a
mere drawing on a plane surface. When now we look at
them with both eyes, we do not perceive two plane drawings,
but a distinct, and, I had almost said, palpable solid. It is
however evident that this effect can be produced only when
the body is at so small a distance, and of such a magnitude,
that two images can be formed. If it be far off, so that
the rays become parallel, and thus form the same image on
both eyes, no effect from binocular vision is produced. We
7
74 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
observe the truth of this law in our daily experience. When
we look upon a well-executed painting, every figure, when
viewed from a proper position, appears to stand out from
the canvas. It seems to us impossible that it should be a
plane surface. But if we draw near, the illusion vanishes.
Wlien we arrive at the position at which the figures, if solid^
would form different images on the two eyes, and no such i
difference exists, we know at once that the surface is a plane, t
If it be objected that persons with one eye are able to dis- 1
tinguish solidity, it is replied that they do it less perfectly /
than others ; that they are obliged to do it by observing ii
the shading of the surface, and that they are frequently seen t
to move the head in a horizontal direction rapidly, in order i
to form the different images on the same eye.^
In consequence of this discovery, a very beautiful optical i
instrument has been invented, by which the effect of »
daguerreotype pictures has been much improved. A picture i
is taken separately for each eye. When these are looked i
at together, through glasses adapted to the purpose, we per- \
ceive only one figure ; but it has all the appearance of
solidity. Daguerreotypes of statuary have thus all the
effect of the original marble.
The question has frequently been asked, How do we see
objects single with two eyes ? To this question I do not
know that any more satisfactory answer has been given than
the plain statement of the fact that so we were created. It
seems to me not half so strange as the fact that we see at
all. But I would inquire, is it more remarkable that we
receive a single impression from two organs of sight, than
from any of our other senses ? All our nerves of sense are
double. Every other sense has a right and a left nerve ; yet
all the impressions made upon us from a single object are
♦Transactions of the Roya Society, yoI. 56, p. 371. June 21, 183^
THE INDIVIDUAL SENSES. 76
single. Each ear receives an auditory irapulse. yet we hear
but one sound. When we feel of an object, each hand
receives a distinct impression, yet we perceive but one
object. It does not seem strange to us that we do not hear
two sounds with two ears, or that we do not feel two cubes
when we hold one with our two hands.. The case, however,
seems to me precisely similar to that in which we look upon
one object with our two eyes. The sense of sight, then,
merely conforms to the general law by which all our senses
are governed. It would seem, then, unnecessary to proceed
farther than to refer the case of sight to the general law
of the senses. The question thus resolves itself into the
general one. How are single impressions made vrith double
organs ? To this I do not know that any answer has been
either given or attempted.
x\gain, it has been asked, How do we see objects erect,
when the image on the retina is inverted? Dr. Reid
answers this question by stating it as a general law that we
see every object in the direction of the right line that
passes from the picture of the object on the retina to the
centre of the eye, •• as the rays from the upper part of the
object form the lower part of the image, and, vice versa^
we see the upper part of the object with the lower part of
the retina, and the contrary ; and thus we see the object as
it is, that is, we see it erect." In how far this relieves the
diflBculty, or carries us back to a more general law, I will not
pretend to determine. Tome it does not seem to throw that
light on the subject which seems obvious to others. I have
thought that, possibly, this effect was in some way connected
with the decussation of the optic nerve. No nerves, except
those of sight, unite before entering the brain, and in no
other case is this peculiarity observed. May there not be
some connection between the facts ?
Persons who have been couched for cataract see objects
76 INIELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
erect as soon as their power of vision is restored. At least,
Cheselden and other observers have never stated anything
to the contrary. This could hardly have been the case if
so striking a phenomenon had passed under their notice.
To this there seems but one exception. Sir W, Hamilton
quotes a case from Professor Leidenfrost, of Duisburg, 1793,
in which the fact was otherwise. A young man. blind
from birth, had reached his seventeenth year, when his sight
was restored after an attack of ophthalmia. When he first
saw men, they seemed to him inverted ; that is, their heads
were towards his feet ; and trees and other objects seemed
to hold the same position. I am unable to account for
this difference from ordinary experience. I would only
remark, that we are always liable to err in reasoning from
instances of this kind, because, when the condition of an
organ is decidedly abnormal, it is impossible to say to what
extent and in what direction the abnormal cause has been
exerted.
REFERENCES.
Sense of siglit — Reid's Inquiry, chap. 6.
Sight the noblest of our tsenses,
No sensation in sight,
Relation of visual to real figure.
Color a quality of body,
Parallel motioi^ of the eyes,
How we see objects erect.
How we see objects single.
We know not how the image on the retina causes vision, section 12
Carpentei 's Physiology, article si^ht.
Cheselden's case— Phil. Transactions, 1728, No. 402.
W^heatstone's paper, Phil. Trans., vol. 56, p. 371.
Prof. Lierlenfrost's case. Sir W. Hamilton — Reid, p. 16a
** section 1.
*' section 8.
" sections 23 and 7.
" sections 4 and 5.
" section 10.
•* sections 11 and 12.
** section 13.
ACQUIRED PERCEPTIONS. 7?
SECTION IX. — OF ACQUIRED PERCEPTIONS, OR THE INTER-
CHANGE ABLE USE OF THE SENSES.
It has been already remarked that each of our senses
furnishes us with a distinct species of knowledge. We
cognize odors by smell, sounds by the ear, colors by the
eye, and so of all the rest. Neither of the senses can be
used in the place of the other. We can neither see with
our ears, hear with our fincrers. nor smell with our tongue.
Such is manifestly the fact, if our senses be considered
separately.
But when the senses are considered collectively, we find
that the above statement does not convey the whole truth.
One sense seems to convey to us knowledge which could
have been gained only by another. A single perception
will frequently furnish us with knowledge, which we find,
upon reflection, to have been originally given us by the
action of another sense^ or oy the combined action of several
of the senses. Considered in this light, our whole sensual
organism seems to be one complicated system, designed in
the most rapid and convenient manner to make us ac-
quainted with the external world. We find ourselves, in a
thousand cases, using one sense for another, whenever we
can do it with advantage ; and if by misfortune we are de-
prived of any particular sense, it is surprising to observe
how readily the remaining senses come to our aid, and enable
us to cognize objects in a manner which, at first view, would
seem utterly impossible.
The process by which this effect is produced is the fol-
lowing : We have already observed that the variety of
impressions which may be received by several of our senses
is beyond the power of computation. Who can estimate the
infinite number of sounds which we are capable of hearing :
7^
78 INTELLECIOJAL PHILOjOPHY.
or of color and shading which we are capable of seeing,
and of distinguishing from each other ? Now, we find that
a quality cognized by one sense is, by the kind provision of
our Creator, connected with some modification of a quality
perceived by another sense. Observing this connection, we
learn to associate the original with the secondary quality,
and, from the observation of the one, to infer the existence of
the other. For example, if I wish to learn whether a body
is hard or soft, I employ the sense of touch. This is the
sense originally given to me for the purpose of gaining
this knowledge. I see before me a piece of polished marble,
and a piece of velvet, of the same color. I feel of them
both, and ascertain that the one is hard, and the other soft.
But I also observe that the visual appearance of these two
substances is dissimilar. I carefully note this difierence.
When I see the same objects again, I shall not be obliged
to feel them ; I know, at a glance, not only the visual but
the tactual character of each. I go farther ; I generalize
this diflference. I know that one visual appearance, where-
ever it is seen, indicates hardness, and another softness.
Hence, when we, for the first time, look upon a substance,
we commonly form an opinion of its hardness or softness
from its peculiarity of color. Hence, also, we frequently
use the language of one sense for that of another. We say
of a surface that it looks hard or it looks soft. So paint-
ers, having observed that warm weather in summer is accom-
panied by a particular appearance of the sky, associate the
language of feeling with that of sight, and speak of a warm
sky, of warm or of cold coloring, and of other distinctioiis
of a similar character.
Illustrations of acquired perceptions are presenting them-
eelves to us every day, in the ordinary experience of life.
The apothecary learns how to distinguish medicines by their
imell as accurately as by their taste. The mineralogist \j
ACQUIRED PERCEPTIONS. 7S
breathing upon a mineral, and observing its smell, will know
in an instant whether it is or is not argillaceous. Or,
. again, he will distinguish a calcareous from a magnesian
mineral by the touch ; or he will determine the character
of another by its fracture. If a grocer wishes to know
whether a cask is full or empty he does not look into it,
but merely strikes upon it, and ascertains the fact in an
instant by sound. A mason who wishes to know if a wall
in a particular spot is solid, does not pull it down, tut
Btrikes it with his hammer. In the same way we determine
whether an object before us is made of w^ood, or metal, or
stone. When these indications are closely observed, the
accuracy of the judgments to which they lead is frequently
very remarkable. It is said that an Indian hunter, on the
prairies, by placing his ear on the ground, will discover the
approach of an enemy long before he can be recognized by
the eye, and will distinguish a herd of buffaloes from a troop
of dragoons with unerring certainty. We are told that the
Arabs will tell the tribe to which a passer-by belongs, by the
print of his foot in the sand, and by the track of a hare
will know whether it be a male or a female.
Inasmuch, however, as our visual perceptions are more
varied and more rapid than those of our other senses, and
as we, by the eye, cognize objects at great distances, the
greater part of our acquired perceptions are referred to this
sense. We judge of the qualities of almost all the sub-
stances in daily use by the eye alone. We continually
determine distance and magnitude by the eye. The manner
in which this is done is worthy of special notice. It is well
known that, as an object recedes from us, its visual appear-
ance presents several observable changes. First, its magni-
tude diminishes. Secondly, its color becomes, dim and misty.
Thirdly, its outline becomes indistinct; and, fourthly as its
distance increases, the number of intervening objects
80 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
becomes greater. It is by the observation of these changes
that we determine whether objects are receding from, or
advancing towards us. In the same manner, by comparing
these indications, we judge of the distance and magnitude
of any object. In every case of this kind we go through a
comphcated act of judgment ; yet, from habit, Ave do it so
rapidly, that we should hardly be aware of it but from the
mistakes which we occasionally commit. For instance ; I
see an object presenting a certain dimness of color, of a
certain indistinctness of outline, and of a given visual mag-
nitude, and observe various objects intervening between it
and me. This is all that the sense of sight gives me. I
immediately judge it to be a man of ordinary size, half a
mile off: and my judgments are so generally accurate, that
I am surprised if I find myself in error.
When, however, any one of these conditions is changed,
we are liable to be deceived. This is commonly the case
when objects are seen through a mist. The deception here
is not occasioned, as is generally supposed, by refraction
of the rays of light, causing the object to seem larger.
The object really seems to us of the proper size. The
mist, however, renders the color and the outline indistinct,
and we suppose the object to be at a much greater distance
than it is. The body has the magnitude belonging to a
quarter of a mile in distance, with the indistinctness of half
a mile. With this magnitude, at the latter distance, it would,
of course, seem to us much larger than it actually is
An incident, illustrative of this fact, once occurred to the
author. He was, early in the morning, in a dense fog,
sailing through the harbor of Newport, and passed near the
wharf of Fort Adams. He observed on the wharf some very
tall men, and mentioned their remarkable size to the friends
who accompanied him. Presently he was struck with their
behavior. They were jumping and playing lik$ childreAi
ACQUIRED PERCEPT. ONS. 8i
in a manner that seemed to him wholly unaccountable
Presently, as the sun dispersed the fog, he found himself
close to the wharf, and these gigantic men dwindled down
to a company of playful little boys, who were amusing
themselves in childish gambols.
In the same manner we mistake if the atmosphere is
more transparent than that to which we are accustomed.
Bishop Berkeley, I think, remarks that English travellers
in Italy, unaccustomed to the clear sky of southern Europe,
were liable to continual misjudgment respecting the distance
of objects seen in the horizon. The clearness of the color,
and the distinctness of the outline, led them to suppose
castles, mountains, &c., much nearer than they really were.
In the same manner, when there are no intervening objects,
we frequently find our judgments at fault. Thus, in looking
over a sheet of water, we always underrate the distance.
When we throw a stone at an object in the water, we always
find that our eye has deceived us, and the stone falls far
short of the mark. For the same reason, objects seen on the
shore from the water seem much less than their natural
size. The fact is, they appear of the magnitude which
belongs to the distance, but we suppose the distance less
than it is ; and, associating this magnitude with diminished
distance, they appear to us less than they really are.
In order to form these judgments correctly, one of these
elements must be fixed. From this we learn to institute a
comparison, and then an accurate opinion is formed. If we
have the magnitude of the object, the change in its color
and outline teaches us its distance. If we know its distance,
we can judge of its magnitude. Hence, painters, in order
to give us a correct notion of an object which they repre-
sent, always place in its vicinity something with whose real
magnitude we are familiar. Thus, if I drew a pyramid, it
might be difficult to determine whether I intended to repre-
82 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
sent it aa large or small. If, however, I drew an Arab
standing by his camel at the foot of it, my intention would
at once become apparent. Every one knows the size of a
camel, and from this he would judge of the magnitude of
tlie pyramid.
The benefits which we derive from this interchangeable
use of the senses are innumerable. We are thus enabled
to transfer to one sense the cognitions which belong to
another, always using that which we can employ with the
greatest rapidity and convenience. Our whole sensitive
organism is thus capable of being used for almost every
form of cognition. Very much of our early education,
especially the education which enables us to perform any
art, consists in the acquisition of these secondary percep-
tions. It is thus that the physician, from symptoms, or
external indications which another person would not observe,
is enabled to discover the locality, the nature, and the pro-
gress of disease, and frequently to foretell the result with
unerring accuracy.
The benefit of this arrangement is specially evident when
we are unfortunately deprived of any one of our senses.
Our acquired perceptions are then almost indefinitely mul-
tiplied, and the knowledge which we derive from our re-
maining senses is sometimes so great as to appear almost
incredible. Thus, the blind, by paying strict attention to
the indications derived from touch and hearing, acquire an
accuracy of judgment, respecting things known to others by
sight alone, which greatly surprises ug. It is said that they
can learn to determine, with great accuracy, the number of
persons in a room by observing the sound of a speaker's
voice, and that, by striking on the floor, they will form a
very correct opinion as to the size of an Apartment. Dr.
Abercrombie mentions two blind men who were . remark^
ably good judges of horses. One of then discovered, on
ACQUIRED PERCEPTIONS. 83
ft particular occasion, that a hor^e was blind by observing
the manner in which he placed his feet upon the ground
when in motion, although the fact had not been noticed by
any other person of the company. Another discovered that
a horse was blind of one eye, by observing that the temper-
ature of the eyes was different. On the other hand, the
deaf acquire great skill in judging of the qualities of bo<lie3
by touch and sight. They will learn to understand a
speaker by the motion of his lips, and to interpret -the
minutest shades of emotion by the changes in the counte-
nance. When both sio:ht and hearing are denied, a larcre
amount of knowledge may be acquired by smell and feeling.
Persons in this unfortunate condition have been known to
select their own clothes, out of a pile of clean linen, by smell.
The most remarkable instance on record of the education of
a person under these circumstances, is found in the case of
Laura Bridgman, who has been for several years under the
care of Dr. Samuel G. Howe, of the Massachusetts Asylum
for the Blind. She has from infancy been deprived both of
hearino: and sio-ht. She has, nevertheless, been tauo;ht the
alphabet for the blind ; she converses rapidly with her
fingers, writes very intelligibly, and uses the language
which designates the qualities of color and sound with con-
siderable accuracy, knows her friends and instructors, and
feels for them every sentiment of gratitude and affection.
It' will readily occur to every one that great use may be
made of acquired perceptions in the practice of the various
arts and professions. We thus are enabled to determine
facts and form judgments which would otherwise be impos-
sible. An illustration of this kind presents itself in the
use of the stethoscope, a small ear-trumpet, by means of
which physicians listen to the sound made by the lungs in
breathing, and by the heart in pulsation. A few years
eince. it was observed that these sounds varied with the con-
84 INTELLECTUAL PHILjSOPHY.
Jition of these organs in health and in disease. This obser-
vation led to a very important result. First, the sound
made by the lungs in health was distinctly ascertained.
Then the variations from it were noticed. If the disease
terininated in death, the condition of the lungs was ascer-
tained by inspection. The sound was thus associated with
tne particular disease which occasioned it. This mode of
observation was continued until almost every form of disease
in the chest was recognized and made to speak an audible
language. When this language has been learned by one
man, it can be taught to another ; and thus this important
means of acquiring knowledge has become common to phy-
siciims. Practitioners, who have paid sufficient attention to
this subject, and who are endowed with great delicacy of
hearing, have been able to discover with remarkable ac-
curacy the condition of the organs of the chest, the form of
disease under which the patient has been laboring, and even
to mark out on the surface the precise portion of the lungs
which was suflfering from inflammation.
The manner in which our acquired perceptions may be
improved is manifestly as follows. In the first place, we
learn to observe with the greatest accuracy the minutest
differences in the impressions made upon our organs of
sense. We are thus enabled to discover the slightest change
of color or of outline, the minutest differences in hardness,
smoothness or temperature, and the almost imperceptible
variations in sound and interval. Tbe nicer our d^^ri mi-
nation in these respects becomes, the wider is the field of
observation open to discovery. In this respect, much must
depend upon the original perfection of the organs themselves :
but that more depends upon careful cultivation, is evident
from the fact that whole tribes of savages, of by nc means
delicate organization, attain to remarkable accuracy in the
use of their organs of sense.
ACQUIRED *>ERCEPTIONS, 85
Secondly, we must learn to associate with each variation
observed by one sense, the quality or condition discovered
by another sense. In this manner we acquire the language
. of nature, and are enabled to interpret it for our own bene-
fit and the benefit of others. We are thus able to form
judgments which, to the uninitiated, seem like the result of
magic. Thus, distinctness and indistinctness of color and
outline teach us the magnitude and distance of objects many
miles off. Thus the Indian, by observing minute differ-
ences of sound, will form an accurate judgment undei
circumstances which would leave other men wholly in dark-
ness.
The physician, by placing his ear on the chest of his
patient, can tell whether the organs within are healthy or
diseased, and can thus the better employ such m'^ans of
cure as will accomplish the result which he proposes.
It is hardly necessary to remark that the progress of
the arts enables us to cultivate our acquired perceptions
with greater success. The microscope and the telescope
have greatly increased our power in this respect. Instru-
ments for observing infinitesimal changes in temperature
will probably lead to similar results. The tendency of
science is in this direction, and it will, without doubt, lead
to a rich harvest of discovery.
Before closing this section, it is proper to remark that
in the usu of acquired perceptions we are liable to form
false judgments, and then to complain that our senses have
deceived us. I once saw, on a door-post, the painting of
a key hanging on a nail, and it was so well executed that
I was not aware of the deception until I attempted to take
it down. Here it might be said that my senses deceived
me, but such was not the fact. My eyos testified truly to
all that they promised to make known. They testified to a
certain color and shading. This <^v^deuco was in its nature
8
gft IJlTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ambiguous lor the effect might be produced either by a
painting or by a real key. Without sufficient attention, I
inferred that it was a key, when I ought to have examined
it more carefully. But mj senses did not deceive me, for
the eye testified truly, and when I applied to another sense,
it enabled mo to form a true judgment. I was misled by
my own negligence, and not by any defect in my senses. I
ought, perhaps, to add that the deception in this case was
aided by my companion, who directed my attention to the
door, and asked me to hand him the key that he might open
it. Had it not been for this circumstance, I should probably
have discovered the truth from the effect of binocular vision.
It will be found that all the cases w^hich are commonly as-
cribed to deception of the senses are of the same character
as that to which I have here referred. Our senses alw^ays
testify truly, but we sometimes deceive ourselves by the
inference which we draw from their evidence. The defect
resides in our inference, and not in our senses, for it is by
the use of our senses, alone, that we are enabled to correct
the error into which we have fallen by our own inadver-
tence.
REFERENCES.
Original and acquired perceptions — Reid's Inquiry, chap. 6, sec. 20—
£3. Abercrombie, Partii., sec. 1.
Improvement of the senses — Reid, Essays on the InteUectual Powers
E^say 2, sec. 21.
SECTION X. — OF THE NATURE OF THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH
WE ACQUIRE BY THE PERCEPTIVE POWERS.
Having, in the preceding sections, treated of the manner
m which our knowledge of the external j^orld is acquired,
QUALITIES OF BODIPJS. 87
"1 propose, in the present section, to offer some suggestions
on the nature of this knowledge.
1. The knowledge which we acquire by perceptioi
is always of individuals. If we see several trees, we see
them not as a class, but as separate and distinct objects
of perception. If we see several men, as John, James,
Edward, we see each one as a distinct individual. The
same remark applies to the acts which we observe. We see
John strike James ; that is, we see a particular individual
perform a particular act. We thus see, that while, from
the knowledge gained by the perceptive faculties, we subse-
. quently form genera and species, yet, without the aid of
some other powers of the mind, to form genera and species
would be impossible. Our several items of knowledge
would be like separate grains of sand, without cohesion and
without affinity. •
2. The knowledge derived from the perceptive powers
is always knowledge of the concrete. When Ave perceive a
body, we do not cognize the color, figure, temperature, etc.,
each as an abstract quality, and then afterwards unite them
in one conception ; but we perceive a body, colored, of such
a figure and temperature ; that is, a body in which all these
qualities are united. The first impression made upon us is
the cognition of an external object, possessing all these
qualities ; or, at least, so many as are cognizable by
the senses which are at the time directed towards them.
We have the power of separating these qualities, in thought,
the one from the other, and of making each of them a dis-
tinct object of attention. This, however, is the function of
fk faculty of the mind to be treated of hereafter.
3. Of primary and secondary qualities.
It has been already stated that our knowledge is of qual-
ities, not of essences. We do not cognize the objects around
us absolutely, we cognize them as possessed of certain means
gg INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
of affecting us, and thus giving us notice of the modes of
their existence.
The qualities of matter have, of old, been divided into
two cliisses, which, at a later period, have been denominated
primary and secondary. The primary qualities are those
which, by necessity, enter into our notion of matter ; which
we must conceive of as belonging to body, as soon as we
conceive of body at all. Such are extension, divisibility,
magnitude, figure, solidity, and mobility. We cannot think
of matter, without involving these qualities in our very
notion of it. If we conceive of matter as the only thing
created, before any sentient being was created to cognize it,
we think of it as possessing all these qualities in as perfect
a manner as at present.
The secondary qualities are those which are not necessary
to our conception of matter as matter, yet which give it
the power of variously affecting us as sentient beings pos-
sessed of such or such an organism. Such are smell,
tiste, sound, color, hardness, softness, and many others.
These might all be absent, or wholly unrecognized, and yet
our idea of matter as matter would be definite and precise.
They are only cognized by means of their appropriate media.
If the media had not been created, no "conception of them
could ever have been formed. We cognize them only by
means of our peculiar organism. Had this organism been
created of a different character, these qualities could never
have been known. Of the primary qualities themselves we
form a definite idea ; we know that they are what they
Beem to us to be. Of the secondary qualities, in themselves,
>VG know nothing more than this, that some occult cause
j-jossesses the power of affecting us by means of o.ur senses in
this or that manner, or of creating in us such or such]
cognitions.
These secondary qualities have been, more lately, ve]
QUALITIES OF BO >IES. 89
properly divided into two classes. First, those wnich we
cognize by their relation to our own organism : and, sec-
ondly, those which we cognize by their relations to other
bodies. Thus, malleability, ductility, and various other
qualities, are cognized by the action of various metals on
each other. Gold and steel are, to our organism, equally
unmalleable ; that is, we can make no impression upon either
by voluntary effort. But when gold is brought into forcible
contact with steel, its quality becomes manifest. The same
is true of brittleness, and various other qualities.
Sir William Hamilton, after examining this subject with
unsurpassed acuteness, has suggested another classification of
the qualities of matter. It will be found, treated of in full
in note D to his edition of the works of Dr. Reid. To pur-
sue the subject at length, would be impossible within the limits
that must be assigned to the present work. I shall attempt
no more than to present a condensed view of some of the
most important elements of his classification.
Sir William Hamilton divides the qualities of matter into
three classes. First, primary or objective ; second, secundo-
primary or subjecto-objective ; and third, secondary or sub-
jective qualities. The primary are objective, not subjective,
percepts proper, not sensations proper ; the secundo-primary
are both objective and subjective, percepts proper and sensa-
tions proper; the secondary are subjective, not objective,
sensations proper, not percepts proper.
1. Of the primary qualities.
These are all deducible from two elementary ideas. We
are unable to conceive of a body except, first, aa occupying
space, and second, as contained in space. Fron the first of
these follow, by necessary explication, extension divisibility,
size, density or rarity, and figure; from the second are
explicated incompressibility absolute, mobility, situation.
2. The secundo-primary.
8*
I
90 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
These have two phases, both immediately apprehended
*' Ou their primary or objective phasis, they manifest them-
selves as degrees of resistance opposed to our locomotive
energy ; on their secondary or subjective phasis, as modes
of resistance, a presence affecting our sentient organism."
*' Considered physically, or in an objective relation, they, are
to be reduced to classes corresponding to the diflferent
sources, in external nature, from which resistance or pressure
springs. These sources are three.
I. Co-attraction. 11. Repulsion. III. Inertia.
From co-attraction result gravity and cohesion.
From gravity result heavy and light.
From cohesion follow, 1. Hard and soft ; 2. Firm and
fluid : 3. Viscid and friable : 4. Tough and brittle ; 5.
Rigid and flexible ; 6. Fissile and infissile ; 7. Ductile
and inductile ; 8. Retractile and irretractile ; 9. Rough
and smooth ; 10. Slippery and tenacious.
From repulsion are evolved, 1. Compressible and incom-
pressible ; 2. Resilient and irresilient.
From inertia are evolved, Movable and Immovable.
3. The secondary qualities.
'^ These are not, in propriety, qualities of bodies at all.
As apprehended, they are only subjective affections, and
belong only to bodies in so far as these are supposed fur-
nished with the powers capable of specifically determining
the various parts of our nervous apparatus to the partic-
ular action, or rather passion, of which they are susceptible;
which determined action or passion is the quality of which
we are immediately cognizant ; the external concause of
that internal effect remaining to the perception altogether
unknown.-'
''Of the secondary qualities," that is, those phenomenal
affections determined in our sentient organism by the agency
of external bodies, '^ there are various kinds; the variety
QUALITIES OF BODIES. 91
principally depending on the differences of the different
parts of our nervous apparatus. Such are the proper sensi-
sibles, the idiopathic affections of our several organs of sense,
as color, sound, flavor, savor, and tactual sensation ; such
are the feelings from heat, electricity, galvanism, etc., and
the muscular and cutaneous sensations which accompany the
perception of the secundo-primary qualities. Such, though
less directly the result of foreign causes, are titillation,
sneezing, horripilation, shuddering, the feeling of what is
called setting the teeth on edge, etc. etc. Such, in fine,
are all the various sensations of bodily pleasure and pain,
determined by the action of external stimuli."
Concerning these in general, it may be remarked,
1. ^^ The primary are qualities, only as we conceive them
to distinguish body, from not-body : they are the attributes
of body as body, corjjoris ut corpus. The secondary and
secundo-primary are more properly denominated qualities,
for they discriminate body from body. They are the attri-
butes of body, as this or that kind of body, corporis ut tale
corpus y
2. ^^ The primary arise from the universal relations of
body to itself; the secundo-primary, from the general rela-
tions of this body to that ; the secondary, from the special
relations of this kind of body to this or that kind of sentient
organism.
3. *' Under the primary we apprehend the modes of the
non ego ; under the secundo-primary we apprehend the
modes both of the ego and the non ego ; under the second-
ary we apprehend modes of the ego, and infer modes of the
non ego.
4. '^ The primary are apprehended as they are in bodies ;
the secondary, as they are in us ; the secundo-primary, aa
they are in bodies and as they are in us. "*
5. *' The terms designating primary qualities are univocal,
92 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
marking out one quality ; those designating the secundo-pri
mary and secondary are equivocal, denoting both a mode of
existence in bodies and a mode of affection in our organism."
Of these qualities, in particular, considered as in bodies,
1. ^^ The primary are the qualities of a body in relation
to our organism as a body simply ; the secundo-primary are
the qualities of a body in relation to our organism as a pro-
pelling, resisting, cohesive body ; the secondary are the
t[ualities of body in relation to our organism as an idiopath-
ically excitable and sentient body.
2. " The primary are known immediately in themselves ;
the secundo-primary, both immediately in themselves and
mediately in their effects on us ; the secondary, only medi-
ately in their effects on us.
3. '' The primary are apprehended objects ; the secondary,
inferred powers ; the secundo-primary, both apprehended
objects and inferred powers.
4. "The primary are conceived as necessary and perceived
as actual ; the secundo-primary are perceived and conceived
as actual ; the secondary are inferred and conceived as pos-
sible.
5. ^'The primary may be roundly characterized as mathe-
matical ; the secundo-primary, as mechanical ; the secondary^
as physiological.''
Of these qualities, considered as cognitions,
1. *' We are conscious as objects, in the primary qualities,
of the modes of the not-self; in the secondary, of the modes
of a self; in the secundo-primary, of the modes of a self and
a not-self, at once.
2. " Using the terms strictly, the apprehensions of the
primary are perceptions, not sensations ; of the secondary,
sensations, not perceptions ; of secundo-primary, sensations
and perceptions together.
3. ^* In the primary there is thus no concomitant seconi-
QUALITIES OF tfOi>IBS. 93
ary quality; in the secondary, no conooi:*.it&n«» primary
quality ; in the secundo-primary, a secondary and quasi-
primary quality accompany each other.
4. ^' In the apprehension of the primary, there is ^lO :jub-
ject-object determined by the object-object ; in the secundo-
primary, there is a subject-object determined by the object-
object; in the secondary, the subject-object is the only
object of immediate cognition."
I have not, in the above quotations, inserted all the acute
and valuable distinctions of our author. I have selected
those only which seemed to me the most important, and
which discriminate most clearly the characteristic elements
of these modes of cognition. For a more extended view of
the subject I must refer the reader to the work itself,
where he will find every distinction wrought out with a
power of metaphysical analysis which has never been sur-
passed.
In regard to Sir William's classification, if I may hazard
an opinion, I think that his distinctions are rendered obvi-
ous and beyond dispute. Whether his classification includes
all the secundo-primary qualities, I am by no means certain.
In so far as these qualities are apprehended by their efiects
on our organism, his classification appears exhaustive. But
what shall we say of that class of qualities which arise from
the relations of insentient bodies to each other, as malleabil-
ity, chemical affinity, and various others? These are not
known by any impression on our organism, as a propelling,
resisting, cohesive body. They are not primary qualities.
They are not cognized by our idiopathic sentient organism.
They must be secundo-primary, but I think are not included
in our author's classification.
4. Leaving now the subject of primary and secondary qual-
itieSj I proceed to remark; that the knowledge derived firom
94 INTELLECTUAi PHILOSOPHY.
{perception is truly knowledge ; that is, the evidence of oui
senses is worthy of belief
Til us, I open ray eyes, and I perceive before me a book
I put forth my hands, and feel of it. My perceptions per-
fectly coincide. They both testify to the existence of an
extorniil object, numerically distinct from myself, of such a
niii'Miitude, form, situation. I am conscious of a state of"
mind which I call perception; and of that state of mind one
of the elements is an unalterable conviction that the object
exists now and here, just as I perceive it. This conviction
is a necessary part of my state of mind, if, indeed, it be
not the state of mind itself This conscious perception is
to me the know^ledge that this book exists. If I am asked
why I believe thus, or have this conviction, I can give no
other account of it than that I am so made It is a cogni-
tion given me in virtue of my creation. If I am asked to
prove it, I must plead my inability to do so. I can prove
no proposition except by some other proposition of higher
authority. But there is no proposition of higher authority
than this cognition given me by my Creator, who made me
so that, under certain conditions, I cannot choose but have
it. If I am asked to prove that I exist, I am unable to do
it for the same reason, namely, that I have no more evident
proposition w^hich can be used as a medium of proof I am
80 made that the existence of an external world is revealed
to me at the same time and just as obtrusively as my own
existence. By the constitution of my mind, the one fact
is as clearly revealed to me as the other.
But this subject is capable of more extended illustration
and explication.
1. *'Our cognitions, it is evident, are not all at second
hand." Demonstration must at last rest upon propositions
which carfy their own evidence, and necessitate their own
admission. Were it otherwise, were there no truths which
Validity of perception. 95
revealed themselves to the human mind, all proof would
be nugatory ; it would be a succession of arguments, each
one resting on something yet to be proved. Some truth
must then be given to us in our creation as intelligent be-
ings, on which we may found our reasoning, and from which
all demonstration must proceed.
If it be asked, how do these primary cognitions assure U3
of their truth and certify us of their verity, the only answer ia
that they are results of our mental constitution. As soon
as a human mind apprehends them, without argument or
proof, it immediately knows them to be true. The only
answer we can give to him who asks us a reason of these
beliefs is, that we are so made, we are created to believe
them. To suppose their falsehood, is to suppose that we are
created thus simply in order that we may be deceived.
And as, besides this, it is upon these beliefs that all subse-
quent knowledge is founded, if we deny them, all knowl-
edge is a delusion, and truth and falsehood are unmeaning
terms. This, surely, without any proof, cannot be asserted ;
and, hence, I think it must be conceded that we must in the
first instance receive these beliefs as true, until they are
shown to be false, and just in so far as they are shown to be
false. That we do thus by the constitution of our nature
believe in the testimony of our senses, that we do thus uni-
versally admit it, is, I think, beyond controversy. It is,
therefore, to be believed until it is shown to be unfounded.
But it may possibly be denied that this belief is one of
those given us by our creation, or one of the first truths
revealed to the common sense of man by virtue of his intel-
lectual constitution. What, then, are the characteristics by
which these truths may be known ?
Sir W. Hamilton reduces these characteristics to the foui
following :
1. They are incomprehensible. ^^ A conviction is m
96 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
comprehensible when there is merely given us in conscious
ness that its object is, and when we are unable to compre-
hend, through a higher notion or belief, why or how it is.
^' When \SQ are able to comprehend why or how a thing is,
the belief of the existence of that thing is not a primary
datum of consciousness, but a subsumption under the condi-
tion or belief which affords its reason."
2. Thty are simple. '' It' is manifest that if a cogni-
tion or belief be made up of, and can be explicated into, a
plurality of cognitions or beliefs, that, as compound, it can-
not be original."
3. They are iiecessary and universal ^' If necessary,
they must, of course, be universal. The necessity here
Bj)oken of is of two kinds. The first kind is when we can-
not construe it to our minds that the deliverance of con-
sciousness is not true, or when the opposite of the assertion
is unthinkable. Thus the proposition that a part is greater
than the whole, or that two straight lines can at the same
time be parallel and at right angles in the same plane, is
unthinkable. There is another necessity, however, which
is not unthinkable, when the deliverance of consciousness
may be false, but when, at the same time, we cannot but
admit that it is of such or such an import. This is the case
in contingent truths, or what may be called matters of fact.
In this case, the thing is not conceived as absolutely impos-
sible, but impossible under the present constitution of things,
or we being as we are. Thus, I can theoretically suppose
that the external object of which I am conscious in percep-
tion may be in reality nothing but a mode of mind, or self.
I am unable, however, to think that consciousness does not
compel me to regard it as external, as a mode of matter or
not self. Such being the case, I cannot practically believe
the supposition which I am able speculatively to maintain ;
for I cannot believe this supposition without believing that
VALIDITY OF PEIICEI'TION. 97
the last ground of all belief is not to be believed, which ia
self-contradictory.
4. y sir compai^ative evidence and certainly. ''These
truths are so clear and obvious that nothing more clear or
obvious can be conceived by which to prove them." Ac-
cording to BuiSBer, they " are so clear, that if we attempt to
pr^ve or disprove them, this can be done only by proposi-
tions which are manifestly neither more evident nor more
certain."
Now, so far as I can perceive, all these characteristics
belong to the deliverance of consciousness in perception.
Tliey are incomprehensible, simple, practically necessary,
and of such clearness of manifestation that they can neither
be proved nor disproved by anything more evident. We are
then entitled to consider them first truths, or truths revealed
to man in the constitution of his nature. If such deliver-
ances are not to be believed, then nothing is to be believed,
and all knowledge is essentially impossible.
But the subject may be finally considered from another
point of view.
The data of consciousness may be considered as two-fold.
1. "As apprehended facts or actual manifestations." As
when I say, I see a tree, or I feel a cube, there is an actual
manifestation to me that I am in that particular state of
mind described by these words. Consciousness reveals to
me that fact as the present state of my mind.
2. " These deliverances of consciousness may be consid-
ered as testimonies to the truth of facts beyond their own
phenomenal reality." These acts of consciousness are the
testimonies to the fact thai that tree and that cube are now
existing. It is, however, to be observed that the testimony
to the existence of this state of mind, and to the existence
of the tree which this state of mind cognizes, is given ua
in the same act.
9 .
08 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
The truth of this first testimony of consciousness is ad-
mitted hy all. When consciousness testifies that I am now
in a mental state which I call perception, it cannot be
doubted that such is the fact. The doubt, in this case, ia
clearly suicidal. The state of mind called perception is at-
U^sted by consciousness. The state which I call doubting
ia attested by the same consciousness. If, then, conscious-
ness is not to be believed when it testifies to perception,
neither is it to be believed when it testifies to doubting. So
tliat, if a man doubts whether he is really in the state of
mind called perception, he must equally doubt whether he
is in the state of mind which he calls doubting. He must
doubt whether he doubts, just as much as he doubts whether
he perceives, meaning, by this term, a mere subjective act,
a state of the thinking subject.
There may, however, be without absurdity a doubt as to tiie
other part of the act ; that is, to the truth of this testimony
as to something numerically different from the subject. It
may be said that this is merely a subjective state of the mind
itself: that it is merely a form of the ego produced by the
action of some subjective cause, and that it gives us no
knowledge of anything external.
To this objection it may be answered,
1. "It cannot but be acknowledged that the veracity of
consciousness must, at least in the first instance, be conceded-
Negantl iiicumbit probatio. Nature is not gratuitously to
be assumed to work, not only in vain, but in counteraction
of herself Our faculty of knowledge is not, without a
ground, to be supposed an instrument of illusion. Man,
unless the melancholy fact be proved, is not to be held
organized for the attainment and actuated by the love of
truth, only to become the dupe and victim of a perfidious
Creator."
2. ''But, granting that these convictions are at the be-
VALIDITY OF PERCEPTION. 99
ginning to be received as true, it is yet competent to attempt
to prove them false, and thus correct an error into which
we have been led by our constitution. But how shall this
be done ? As the ultimate grounds of knowledge, these
convictions cannot be redargued from any higher knowledge ;
and as derivative beliefs they are paramount in certainty to
every derivative knowledge. They cannot, therefore, be
disproved by knowledge derived from any other source, for
the most certain knowledge which we possess must rest upon
the same foundation as the testimony of our own con-
sciousness."
3. "If, then, these convictions be disproved, they must
be disproved by themselves. This can be done only by one
of two methods. First, it must be shown that these pri-
mary data are directly and immediately contradictory of
themselves." "They are many, they are in authority co-
ordinate, and their testimony is clear and precise. ' Now,
if this testimony is intellectually or in fact, at variance, then
we must conclude either that one or the other, or both, tes-
timonies are false. Or, secondly, it must be proved ' ' that
they are mediately or indirectly contradictory, inasmuch
i as the consequences to which they necessarily lead, and for
the truth or falsehood of which they are therefore responsi-
ble, are repugnant. In no other way can the veracity of
consciousness be assailed. It will argue nothing to show
that they are incomprehensible, for nothing can be more
absurd than to make the comprehensibility of a datum of
consciousness, the criterion of its truth. To ask how an
immediate fact of consciousness is possible, is to ask how
consciousness is possible ; and to ask how consciousness is
\ possible, is to suppose we have another consciousness above
and before that human consciousness concerning whose mode
of operation we inquire. Could we answer this, verily we
should be as gods." Neither of these attempts has ever been
100 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
made. We may, therefore, receive the testimony of con-
Bciousness as true beyond the reach of argument or contra-
diction.
4. And, lastly, consciousness testifies to two things : first
that there is now existing a state of mind; and, secondly
that that state of mind is an actual cognition of an external
world possessing such or such qualities. Suppose we admit
the first testimony; how, then, admitting this, can we reject
the other testimony of which it forms a part ? What dis-
tinction can we take between the two items of the same tes-
timony, by which we can receive the one and reject the
other. Or, on the other hand, suppose we deny the testi-
mony of consciousness to the truth of the perception, how
can we admit it when it attests to an existing state of mind?
If the one is false, the other may be true, but it is surely
not to be credited. Thus the very facts of our subjective
existence would be shown to be unworthy of belief, and the
evidence of the existence of the ego and the non ego would
be swept away togetheir.
In this and the preceding article I have used the thoughts,
and, for the most part, the language of Sir W. Hamilton.
It gives me pleasure to acknowledge my obligations to a
gentleman, whose boundless learning in every department of
human knowledge, united with unrivalled acuteness and
rare power of examining with perfect distinctness the mi-
nutest shades of thought, have long since given him a posi-
tion among the profoundest philosophers of this or any other
age.
5. I close this section with a few remarks upon the law of
perception in its relation to evidence. This law may be
stated in few words.
1. When all our faculties are in a normal state, and an .
appropriate object is presented to an organ of sense, a sen-
sation or a perception immediately ensues. We cannot by
VALIDITY OF PERCEPTION. 101
our will prevent it. If I open my eyes, I cannot escape the
flight of the object before me. If a sound is made, near to
me, I cannot by my will prevent hearing it ; and the same
is true of all other senses.
2. On the other hand, my faculties being in their normal
condition, if no object is presented to my organs of sense,
1 can perceive none. I cannot perceive what I will, but
only what is presented to me. I cannot see a tree, unless a
tree is before me. I cannot hear a sound, unless a sound is
produced within hearing; and so of the rest.
3. Hence it follows that if, under normal conditions, I
am conscious of perceiving an external object, then that
object exists when and where I perceive it. The conscious
perception could exist under no other conditions. It is a
fact which admits of being accounted for in no other man-
ner. And, on the other hand, if, under normal circum-
stances, I perceive no object, then no object exists to be
perceived.
These simple laws lie at the foundation of the evidence
of testimony. If we perceive an event, we know that that
event is transpiring. If we remember that we perceived it,
we know that it has transpired. So, if we are satisfied
that credible witnesses were conscious of perceiving an ob-
ject, we know that the object existed as perceived. If un-
der circumstances, such that if it were present they must
have perceived it, and they were conscious of no percep-
tion, then we know that the object was not present. The
further consideration of the conditions by which these laws
are limited belongs to the science of evidence. The state-
ment of the law itself is all that concerns to our present
inquiry.
Within a few years past various statements have been
made which seem to modify the above laws. It has been
asserted that persons, under the influence of what is called
9*
102 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
mesmerism can be rendered perfectly unconscpus of what
is passing around them ; that they are able to cognize per-
sons and events without the intervention of the appropriate
meilia, and under circumstances which render it certain
tluit such cognitions could not have originated in the ordi-
nary use of the organs of sense. This subject has attracted
considerable attention, both in this country and in Europe.
Sir W. Hamilton remarks: '^ However astonishing, it is now
proved, beyond all rational doubt, that, in certain abnormal
states of the nervous organismj perceptions are possible
through other than the ordinary channels of the senses.'' —
Hamilton's Reid, page 246, note 2, Edinburgh edition.
It has been, I believe, proved beyond dispute, that pa-
tients under this influence have submitted to the most dis-
tressing operations without consciousness of pain ; that other
persons have cognized events at a great distance, and have
related them correctly at the time ; and that persons totally
blind, when in the state of mesmeric consciousness have
enjoyed for the time the power of perceiving external ob-
jects. So far as I have been informed, while these distant
cognitions are sometimes correct, they are as frequently
wholly erroneous, and the person is totally unable to distin-
guish the true from the false. The subject seems to me
well worthy of the most searching and candid examination,
The facts seem to indicate some more general laws of exter-
nal cognition than have yet been discovered. The matter
is by no means deserving of ridicule, but demands the atten-
tion of the most philosophical inquirers.
REFERENCE S.
Knon ledge acquired by perception is of individuals — Locke, Book 4,
chap. 7, sec. U ; Reid, Essay 5, chap. 1.
The knowledge acquired by perception is real — Reid, Essay 2, chaps. 5
CONCEPTION. 103
Primary and secondary qualities — Locke, book 2d, chap. 8, sec. 9, 10,
W, 24 ; Reid, Essay 2d, oh. 17 ; Cousin, ch. 6.
Sir W. Hamilton, Dissertation supplementary to Reid ; note D.
Laws of Perception — Reid, Essay 2d, cli. 1, 2.
The credibility of the evidence of perception demonstrated — Sir W
Hamilton's Dissertation on Common Sense. Note A, as above.
SECTION XI. — OF CONCEPTION.
The subject of conception is, in its origin, so intimately
allied to perception, that, although it enters as a constituent
element into almost every act of the mind, there seems a
propriety in treating of it here.
The word conception has already frequently occurred in
the preceding pages. It is proper that it should be more
definitely explained.
Conception has been defined as that act of the mind in
which we form a notion or thought of a thing. To this,
however, it has been objected, that the word notion or
thought in this place means the same as conception, and
that we might with the same propriety reverse the defini-
tion, and say that the having a notion of a thing was the
forming a conception of it. There seems to be force in this
objection. The fact is, that a simple act of the mind is in-
capable of definition. We can do no more than present the
circumstances under which it arises, and our own conscious-
ness at once teaches us what is meant.
1. To proceed in this manner, then, I would observe that
when I look upon a book, or any external object, I instantly
Torm a notion of it, of a particular kind. I know it as an ex-
ternal body, numerically distinct from myself, of a certain
form color and magnitude, at this moment and in this
place existiag before me. When I handle a book, I have the
104 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
same notion^ the quality of color only excepted. This
knowledge is called perception.
2. Secondly, I find that when the object of perception ia
removed, and the act of perception ceases, a knowledge of
the object is still present to my mind. This is called a con-
ception. Thus, the book which I just now perceived is re-
moved, but the conception of it is still an object of con-
sciousness. A cube which I saw is burned to ashes, but I
have a distinct conception of its form and dimensions. I can
recall to my mind the cataract which I saw last summer, the
house in which I slept, or particular portions of the road over
which I passed. In these cases, however, the conception is
not simple ; it is combined with the act of memory. I have
not only the conception, but the assurance or belief, that at
a certain time these objects actually existed as I now con-
ceive of them.
3. But let us now separate this act of conception from
the act of memory. We can conceive of a tree or a cataract
without connecting it with the idea either of present or
past existence. We are doing this continually in the course
of our own thoughts. We do it when we read a romance. We
are here continually forming images of things, places, and •
persons, which we know never existed. So, in a geometri-
cal demonstration, we form for ourselves the conception of a
figure, and proceed to reason upon it, though we have never
seen it represented to the eye.^ A concept or concep.
• The word conception is commonly used in two or three significations. '
It is employed to designate the power or faculty, the individual act of that
ficulty, and that act considered as an object of thought. On this subject
Bir W. Hamilton remarks, *'We ought to distinguish imagination and
imai;e, conception and concept. Imagination and conception ought to be
employed in speaking of the mental modification, one and indivisiole, cc«h
Bidered as an act; image and concept, in speaking of it, considerea tm
product or immediate object " — Note to page 263.
CONCEPTION. 105
lion is, therefore, that representation or cognition of a
thing which we form in the mind when we are thinking of
jt.
4. Again, when we think of an act of the mind as thmk-
ing, willing, believing, or of any emotion, as joy or sorrow,
we form a conception of it. We cannot think it unless we
can do this. Hence, when a state of mind is spoken of which
we cannot represent to ourselves in thought, we say we can-
not conceive of it ; that is, the words spoken do not awaken
in us any corresponding conception.
5. Again, by the faculty of abstraction we may analyze
the elements of these concrete conceptions, and combine
them into general or abstract ideas. Thus, from several in-
dividual horses we form the general notion of a horse, mean-
ing the genus, and having respect to no individual horse
existing. These are general conceptions, or conceptions of
genera or species.
6. We have also conceptions of general intuitive truths,
such as the axioms of mathematics. We conceive of the
truth that the whole is greater than its part, or that if
equals be added to equals the wholes are equal. So we form
conceptions of general relations, as of cause and efifect_
power, and many others.
7. Lastly, we are able to form images by combining into
one whole, elements previously existing in the mind, as when
a painter conceives of a landscape, or of a historical group.
This form of conception is more properly styled imagination.
In all cases of conception where the act is completed, if I
do not mistake^ we form something of the nature of a pic-
ture, which the mind contemplates as the object of thought.
I am aware that, in speaking and writing, when the terms
are perfectly familiar, we do not pause and form the con-
ception. Thus, we use the axioms, in demonstration, without
pausing to reflect upon the words we employ, and yet wo -
106 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
use them with entire accuracy. Thus we speak of cause
and effect, number, and various other ideas. When, how-
ever, we attempt to dwell upon any one of these ideas, so
far as I can observe, we form a concept of it in the mind.
Thus, when I think of the term horse as a genus, and dwell
upon it in thought, there is before me, as an object, a con-
cept of such an animal. So, if I think the axiom the whole
is greater than its part, two magnitudes corresponding to
these terms present themselves before me. From this
remark, however, must be excepted those cases in which we
recognize a truth as a necessary condition of thought, as
duration, space, and ideas of a similar character. Even
here, however, we find the mind from its natural impulse
striving to realize something which shall correspond to a
concept.
Of conceptions thus explained it may be remarked in
general :
1. In conception there is nothing numerically distinct
from the act of the mind itself From the analogies of lan-
guage we are liable to be misled in thinking of this subject.
We speak of forming a conception, and of forming a machine ;
of separating the elements of a conception, and of separating
the parts of an object from one another. As in the one
case there is some object distinct from the ego, we are prone
to suppose that there must be also in the other. There is,
however, in conception nothing but the act of the mind
itself We may, nevertheless, contemplate th?s act from
different points of view ; first, as an act of the mind, or as
the mind in this particular act, and, secondly, as a product
of that- act which we use in thinking. There is, however,
numerically nothing but the act of the mind itself
2. Conception enters into all the other acts of the mind.
In the simplest sensation there is, for the time being, a
knowledge or a notion, though it may remain with us not a
CONCEPTION. 107
moment after the object producing it is withdrawn. We
can have a knowledge of our own powers only as we have
conceptions of them. We can remember, or judge, or rea-
son, only as we have conceptions. In fact, all our mental
processes are about conceptions. Of them, all our knowl-
edge consists.
3. Our conceptions are to us the measure of possibility.
When any proposition cannot be conceived, that is, is un-
thinkable, we declare it impossible or absurd. Thus, if it
be said that a part is greater than the whole, that two
straight lines can enclose space, or that a change can take
place in a body while all the conditions of its existence re-
main absolutely the same, I understand the assertion ; but
when I attempt to form a conception of it, that is, to think
it, I find myself unable to do so. I affirm it to be impos-
sible. On the other hand, I may think of a communication
between the earth and the moon. In the present state of
science it is impracticable, but it is within the limits of
thought, ' and my mind is not so organized that I feel it to
be impossible. This case, is, however, to be distinguished
from the unconditional, the incomprehensible. This, from
the nature of our intellect, we know to be necessary ; it is
not contradictory to thought, though to grasp the concep-
tion is impossible. In the other case we are able to com-
prehend the terms, but we are unable to construe them in
thought ; in other words, the relation which is affirmed is
unthinkable.
4. In simple conception, or where it is unattended by
any other act of the mind, there is neither truth nor false-
hood. ^ I may conceive of a red mountain, of a blue rose, of
a winged horse, but the conception has nothing to do with
my belief in the existence of either of these objects. If the
conception is united with an act of judgment or memory,
then it at once becomes either true r false. In the concep-
108 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
tion itself, however, I can discover neither. Stewart, I
know, advances a contrary opinion ; but I must confess my-
self wholly unconvinced by his reasoning.
5. Conceptions may be either clear and distinct, or obscure
and indistinct. We easily observe the difference here spoken
of in the effects produced on us by different descriptions.
Some authors describe a scene with so graphic a power that we
at once form a conception as definite as though we had our-
selves beheld it. Others use emphatic and imposing lau-
gyage, but they leave on us no, distinct impression. We
arc deluged by a shower of words, but no conception is
imprinted on the memory.
6. Conceptions may be strong and vivid, or faint and
languid. The same scene may with equal faithfulness be
described to us by two persons. The one deeply affects us,
while the other hardly interests us suflSciently to command
our continued attention. We observe the same effect in
ourselves, resulting from the accidental tone of our own minds.
At some times we find our conceptions much stronger than
at others, under precisely the same external circumstances.
From what has been observed, it will readily appear that
the power of forming conceptions differs greatly in differ-
ent individuals. Every teacher must have remarked this
fact, in his attempts to communicate instruction. Some per-
sons will at once seize upon the salient points of a concep-
tion, discover its bearing and relations, and hold it steadily
before the mind, until it becomes incorporated with their
knowledge. They never can be satisfied until they have
attained to this result. Others require repeated explana-
tions, and, when they suppose themselves to have mastered
a conception, we are surprised to observe that no important
point seen\s to have arrested their attention, but that there
rest on their minds only considerations of inferior impor-
tance blended together in dim and uncertain confusion.
CONCEPTION. 109
The differenoi^ in chis respect, is still more remarkable in
the connection of conception with the fine arts, though per-
haps this exercise of the power belongs rather to the imagi-
nation. A portrait-painter will form so distinct a concep-
tion of a countenance that, years afterward, he will repre-
sent it correctly on canvas. The same power of forming
distinct conceptions is essential to the poet or novelist. No
one can read the descriptions of Sir Walter Scott without
being sensible of his high endowment in this respect. Nor
was this power limited to the scenes which he himself had
witnessed. His description of a summer day in the deserts
of Syria could not have been surpassed by the most gifted
Bedouin Arab. It was to this power that he owed much
of that brilliant conversational eminence, which rendered
him the centre of attraction in every circle in which he
chose to unbend himself.
REFERENCES.
Conception — Reid, Essay 1, chap. 1
Formed at will — Reid, Essay 4, chap. 1.
Enter into every other act of the mind — Reid, Essay 4, chap. 1.
Neither true nor false — Reid, Essay 4, chap. 1.
Ingredients derived from other powers — Reid, Essay 4, chap. 1.
Analogy between painting and conception — Reid, Essay 4, chap. 1
Conception in general — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 3.
Attended with belief — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 3.
Power of description depends on — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 3.
Improved by habit — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 3.
Conception — Abercrorabie, Part 3, sect. 1.
Clear or obscure — Abercrombie, Part 3, sect. 1.
In conception neither truth nor falsehood — Locke, Book 2d, chap 22,
•ects. 1—4, 19, 20.
Clear or obscure — Locke, Book 2, <5h. 29, sect 1
10
CHAPTER II.
OONSCIOJSNESS, ATTENTION, AND REFLECTION.
SECTION I. — CONSCIOUSNESS.
Consciousness is that condition of the mind in which it.
is cognizant of its own operations. It is not thinking and
feeling, but that condition in which we know that we think
or feel. Thought, however, is necessary to consciousness,
for unless thought existed, we could not be conscious of it.
We may nevertheless suppose a mental act to be performed
of which we have no consciousness. In such a case we
should have no knowledge of its present existence, and
should only know that it had existed by its results.
On this subject, however, a considerable diversity of opin-
ion obtains. Sir W. Hamilton and many philosophers of
the highest authority believe that consciousness cannot prop-
erly be separated from the act to whose existence it tes-
tifies, and that to make a distinction between the assertions,
'I perceive" and '^I am conscious of perception,'' is im«
.possible. They hold that when we, are not conscious of an
act, the act is not performed ; and that when consciousness
does not testify to anything, it is because there is nothing
concerning which it can testify.
In answer to this, it may be granted that when it is said
*' I perceive," the meaning is the same as when I say '' ^
am conscious of perceiving." When I say '' I perceive,"
CONSCIOUSNESS. Ill
there is involved, by necessity, in this assertion, the evi-
dence of consciousness. The question still returns, Is there
a state of mind which involves perception, of which we are
not conscious, and which is not expressed by the words " 1
am conscious that I perceive" ?
Let us, then, proceed to examine the facts. A person may
be engaged in reading, or in earnest thought, and a clock
may strike within a few feet of him without arresting hi^
attention. He will not know that it has struck. Let, now.
another person ask him, within a few seconds, if the clock
has struck, and he will be conscious of a more or less dis-
tinct impression that he has just heard it ; and, turning to
observe the dial-plate, finds such to have been the fact.
What, now, was his state of mind previous to the question ?
Had there not been a perception of which he was not con
scions ?
But we may take a much stronger case. While a person
is reading aloud to another, some train of thought frequent-
ly arrests his attention. He, however, continues to read,
until his opinion is requested concerning some sentiment of
the author. He is unpleasantly startled by the reflection
^hat he has not the remotest conception of what he has been
reading about. He remembers perfectly well up to a cer-
tain point, but beyond this point he is as ignorant of the
book as if he had never seen it. What, then, was the state of
his mind while he was reading ? He looked upon the page.
He must have seen every letter, for he enunciated every
word, and observed every pause correctly. No one had a
suspicion that he did not cognize the thoughts which he
was enunciating to others. Yet, the. moment afterwards, he
has not the least knowledge either of the words or the ideas.
Can we say that there was no perception here ? . Could a
man read a sentence aloud without perceiving the words in
which it was written ? Yet, so far as we can discover, this
state of mind was unattended by consciousness.
112 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. '■
Another case, of a very striking character, was related to
me by the person to whom it refers. A few years sinc^5,
while in London, I became acquainted with a gentleman
who had, for many years, held the responsible office of short-
liiind writer to the House of Lords. In conversation one
day, he mentioned to me the following occurrence. Some
time during the last war with France, he was engaged in
tiiking minutes of evidence in a court of inquiry respecting
the Walcheren expedition. Li this duty he was incessantly
engaged from four o'clock in the afternoon until four o'clock
the next morning. At two o'clock in the morning he was
aroused from a state of unconsciousness by Sir James E., one
of the members of the court, who asked him to read the min-
utes of the evidence of the last witness. It was the testimony
of one of the general officers who had described the fortifica-
tions of Flushing. My friend, Mr. G., replied, with some em-
barrassment, ' ' I fear I have not got it all. " '' Never mind, ' '
replied the officer, ^' begin, and we will help you out." The
evidence consisted of tw^o pages of short-hand, and Mr. G.
read it to the close. He remembered it all perfectly ex-
cepting the last four lines, of which he had no recollection
whatever. These last lines were, however, written as legibly
as the rest, and he read them without difficulty. When he
came to the end, he turned to General E., saying, '^ Sii
James, that is all I have." '' That," replied the other, '' is
all there is ; you have the whole of it perfectly." He had
rei)orted the evidence with entire accuracy up to the very
moment when he was called upon to read, and yet the last
four lines had been written, and written in short-hand, so
far as he knew, during a period of perfect unconsciousness.
The condition of the mind which we term derangement
conveys some instruction on this subject. Here, it is not
uncommon for the patient to suppose that he is not the per-
son speaking or acting, but some other, and that some other
CONSCaCOUSNESS. 113
mind than his otm is occupying his body and performing
the intellectual operations, of which he is conscious. Thug,
Pinel mentions the case of a man in France who imagined
that he had been sentenced to death and guillotined ; but
that, after his execution, the judges reversed their decision,
and ordered his head to be replaced ; the executioner re-
placed the wrong head, and hence he was ever after think-
ing the thoughts of another man instead of his own. We
have said that consciousness is that condition of the mind
in which it becomes cognizant of its own operations ; that
is, we are cognizant, not only that certain intellectual opera-
tions are carried on, but that they are our own. In this
case of deranged consciousness, the individual was aware
that there were thoughts, desires, remembrances, &c., going
on within him, but he could not recognize them as the opera*
tions of his own mind.
These cases would seem to show that a distinction may
fairly be made between consciousness and the faculties to the
operation of which it testifies. Yet it would scarcely seem
proper to denominate it a faculty ; I prefer to call it a con-
dition of the mind.
Such being the nature of consciousness, it is of course
unnecessary to specify the various kinds of knowledge which
we cognize by means of it. If it be the condition neces-
sary to the cognition of our mental operations, then all
forms of thought are made known to us through this
medium. Hence, as I have before suggested, to say I
know, and to say I am conscious of knowing, mean the same
thing : since the one cannot be true without involving the
other.
Consciousness always has respect to the state of the mind
•tself, and not to anything external. We are not conscious
of a tree, but conscious that we perceive the tree. We may
be conscious of hearing a sound ; we are not conscious of a
10*
114 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
Bound. Those writers who deny the existence of conscious-
ness as a condition distinguishable from the act to which h
testifies, of course, adopt a different form of expression.
They would say that I am conscious of a tree, or of a
Bound, assuming that perception in all its varieties is but so
many forms of consciousness. I have no desire to enter
upon a further discussion of this subject. So far, however,
as I am able to observe the operations of my own mind, 1
am constrained to believe that the form of expression which
I have used represents my act in perception more accurately
than the other.
Consciousness has respect to the present, never to the
past. We can be conscious of nothing that does not exist
now and here. We may be conscious that we now remem-
ber the sunset of yesterday, but we cannot now be conscious
of the perception of the sunset of yesterday. We may be
conscious that we remember the appearance of an absent
friend, but we cannot be conscious of the appearance of an
absent friend.
In the normal condition of the mind, consciousness, with-
out any effort of the will, is always in exercise, and is
always bearing witness to the existence of our own mental
acts. It may be turned off involuntarily from the object
directly before us to some other, but, during our waking
hours, it always bears witness to something. Hence, con-
sciousness, united with memory, gives rise to the conviction
of i)ersonal identity. We know by means of this faculty
that certain thoughts and feelings exist, and that they are
the thoughts and feelings of the being whom I denominate
I, myself Memory connects these various testimonies of
consciousness into a connected series, and thus we know that
our intellectual acts, from our earliest recollecti(m, proceed
from the same being, and not another. I thus know that
ilie thoughts and feelings which I remember to have been
CONSCIOUSNESS 115
conscious of yesterday are the thoughts and feelings of the
same being who is conscious of other intellectual acts
to-day ; that is, that through all the changes of the present
state, the ego^ myself, is the same individual and continuous
subject.
There have been observed occasionally abnormal cases
of what may be termed double consciousness. In such a
case, the present existence of the individual is at one time
connected with one period of his life, and at another time
with another. A young woman in Springfield, Mass., some
years since, was affected in this manner. She was at first
subject to attacks of what appeared to be ordinary somnam-
bulism. These were then transferred from the night to the
day-time, and during their continuance her powers of per-
ception were in a strange manner modified. With her eyes
thickly bandaged, in a dark room, she could read the finest
print. She was removed to the hospital for the insane at
Worcester, in order to be under the care of the late Dr.
Woodward. Here it was immediately observed that her
normal and abnormal states represented two conditions of
consciousness. Whatever she learned in the abnormal state
was entirely forgotten as soon as she passed from this state
to the other, but was perfectly remembered as soon as the
abnormal state returned. Thus she was taught to play
backgammon in both states. What she learned in the ab-
normal state was entirely disconnected from what she learned
in her natural state, and vice versa. The acquisition made
in one state was lost as soon as she entered the other : and
it was remarked that she learned more rapidly in the abnor-
mal than in the normal state. The first symptom of her
recovery was the blending together of the knowledge
acquired in these separate conditions. As the cure ad-
vanced, they became more and more identified, until the
• testimony of consciousness became uninterrupted and then
116 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the abnormal state vanished altogether. Several cases are
also on record in which persons have been subject to this
double consciousness without any manifestation of somnam-
bulism. In such instances, the individual has suddenly
awaked to a recollection of his former life, with the excep-
' tion of a portion immediately preceding, of which he has no
recollection. A period of his existence seems perfectly
parenthetical, and h.s present consciousness connects itself
only with that portion of his life which preceded the change
in his condition. This peculiar affection will be best illus-
trated by an example. A few years since, a theokigical
student, represented to be a person of unexceptionable char-
acter, was suddenly missing from a city in the interior of
New York. All search for him was fruitless, and he was
supposed to have been murdered. A few months afterwards,
his friends received a letter from him, dated Liverpool,
England. He stated that a short time before, he had found
himself on board of a vessel bound from Montreal to Liver-
pool, without the least knowledge of the manner in whfeh
he came there. He recollected nothing from the time of
his being in the city where he had last been seen by his
friends. He however learned from his fellow-passengers
that he had embarked on board the vessel at Montreal, — and
he must have walked about two hundred miles in order to
arrive there, — that he sometimes seemed peculiar on the
passage, but that there had been nothing in his conduct to
excite particular remark.
Consciousness suggests to us the notion of existence.
When we are conscious of a sensation there immediately
springs from it the idea of self-existence. The conscious-
ness of a perception suggests the idea of the existence both
of the object perceived, of the subject perceiving, and fre-
queutly of some particular condition of that subject. Thus,
suppose 1 am looking upon a waterfall. I am conscieis of
CONSCIOUSNESS. 117
eogmzing an external object ; I am conscious of the state
of mind called perception, and I am conscious of the emotion
of beauty or sublimity occasioned by the object which I
perceive.
It is obviously in our power to contemplate at will either
of these objects of thought. I may direct my attention to
the external object, or to the internal mental act, or to the
emotion which the object occasions. Thus, in the instance
just mentioned, I may direct my whole power of thought to
the observation of the waterfall. I may examine it so care-
fully and minutely, that its image is fixed in my remem-
brance forever. Or, on the other hand, I may turn my
attention to my own intellectual state, and analyze the
nature of the act of perception. Or, still more, after
having become deeply impressed with the external object, I
may contemplate my own emotions, and, following the train
of thought which they awaken, may lose all consciousness
of the perception of the object, wholly absorbed in the sen-
sibilities which it has called into action. We may do either
of these in any particular instance. We may from natural
bias, or from the circumstances of education, form the habit
of pursuing either the one or the other of these trains of
thought.
Hence arises the distinction between objective and sub-
jective writers. The objective writer describes with graphic
power the appearances of external nature, the march of
pageants, the shock of battles, and whatever addresses itself
to the perceptive powers. This habit of mind is also of
special importance in all the researches of physical science
The subjective writer turns his thoughts inward, and either
as a metaphysician, analyzes his own mental phenomena,
or pours forth in the language of poetry the emotions of
his soul. Thomson and Scott, especially the latter, are
eminently objective. Young and Byron are equally sub-
118 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHf.
jective No one can compare a canto of the Lady of the
Lake with a canto of Childe Harold, or with one of
Youn^^'s Night Thoughts, without observing the difference
which I am here attempting to illustrate.
It is, however, obvious that no writer can be either wholly
objective or wholly subjective. Were two writers wholly
objective, their representations of external nature would be
exactly alike. But how dissimilar are the most objective
passages of Scott, Thomson and Moore ! Each one tinges
every description with the hues of his own subjectivity.
Nor, on the other hand, can the most subjective writer be
wholly subjective. He needs some objective starting-point,
and he will choose it in conformity w^ith the, peculiar bias of
his mind, and pursue that line of thought which best har-
monizes with his general temperament. Thus Young com-
mences a train of subjective reflection by reference to an
external object.
" The bell strikes one ! We take no note of time
But by its loss. To give it then a tongue
Is wise in man. As if an angel spoke,
I feel the solemn sound ! If heard aright,
It is the knell of my departed hours."
Minds of the very highest endowment have the objective
and the subjective equally at their command. Not only the
descriptions of Shakspeare and Milton,. but their delinea-
tions of human emotion, are the theme of universal eulogy.
And we may also remark that for its power over the human
heart genius depends less upon the circumstances by which
It is surrounded, than upon its own inherent energies.
Cowper has so described the bogs and fens of Olney, that
v^e seem to have been contemplating a picturesque*^ land-
scape; and ^Hhe turning up of a mouse's nest with the
I)lough " is reflected back in images of affecting loveliness
from the bosom of Burns,
ATTENTION AND REFLECTION. 11&
SECTION 11. — ATTENTION AND REFLECTION.
I HAVE remarked in the previous section that conscious-
ness, in the ordinary states of the mind, is involuntary. We
are sensible of no effort of the will when we either observe
the objects around us, or are conscious of the mental changes
taking place within us. I have also above alluded to the
fact that we may make either the object perceived, or the
state of the perceiving subject, an object of thought.
But, besides this, our consciousness may be accompanied
by an act of the will. We may, for instance, will to ex-
amine, with the greatest possible care, an object of percep-
tion, as a mineral, or a flower, or some particular work of
art. Excluding every other object of thought, the effort of
the mind is concentrated upon the act of perception. We
thus may discover qualities which we never before perceived.
But in what respect does this state of mind differ from ordi-
nary consciousness ? The effort of the Avill cannot change
the image formed on the retina ; for it can exert no influence
whatever on the laws of light to which this image is sub-
jected. It must consist in a more intense consciousness, by
which every, impression made on the organ of sense is
brought more directly before the mind. Our perception
is excited and directed by an act of the will. This condi-
tion of mind, when directed to an external object, is properly
called Attention.
The difference between consciousness and attention may,
I think, be easily illustrated. In jassing through a street,
Te are conscious of perceiving every house within the range
of our vision. But let us now come to a row of buildings,
one of which we desire to find, and which has been pre-
viously described to us. We examine every one of these
houses earnestly and minutely. We can, if it be necessary
£20 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
dcscrii)e every cne of them with accuracy, while of the
others which we have passed in our walk we can give no
account whatever. We say that we have observed every
house in that row attentively, but that on the others we
bestowed no attention. Or, to take a too common instance ;
we read a book carelessly, we see every letter and form a
conception of every sentence ; but all is done listlessly, and
we close the book hardly aware of a single idea that we
have gained while we have been thus occupied. Let, how-
ever, our whole mental effort be directed to the subject on
which we are reading, and we fix it in our recollection, and
we can, at will, recall it and make it a matter of thought.
We say of ourselves, that in the former case we read with-
out and in the latter case with attention.
We sometimes, I think, speak of attention as practically
distinguished fi:-om every other act of the mind. Thus,
suppose we are striving to catch an indistinct sound that is
occurring at intervals, we then listen with attention. We
say to another person, '' Give all your attention that is pos-
sible, and you may hear it." He may possibly reply, ^'I
am all attention." Here we seem to recognize the condition
of attention directed to no present object of perception, bu
we merely place ourselves in a condition to perceive any
object which presents itself
Sometimes the object to which our thought is directed is
internal ; that is, it is some state of the mind itself. Ordi-
nary consciousness testifies to the existence of these stater '
without any act of the will ; nay, it is not in the power of
the will to arrest this continuous testimony. But we some-
times desire to consider some particular mental state, as the
:t of perception or memory ; or some emotion, as that of
Ae beautiful or sublime. It is in the power of the will to
deUin such mental state, and hold it up before us as aa
•bjcct of thought. When, by volition, we make our own
ATTENTION AND REFLECTION. 12]
mental states objects of observation, we denominate this act
Reflection. As the etymology of the word indicates, we
turn the mind backwards upon itself, so that it contemplates
its own states and operations, very much as in the case of
attention it concentrates its effort upon objects of percep-
tion.
I do not pretend that the words attention and reflection
are always used in this restricted sense. Attention is fre-
quently used to designate voluntary consciousness both ob-
jective and subjective. Reflection is not so commonly used
to denote both* mental states. It has, however, seemed to
me that these mental states should be designated by different
terms, and that the etymology of the two words, as well as
the general current of good use, tends in the direction
which I have here indicated.
This general power of rendering the various faculties of
the mind obedient to the will is of the greatest possible
importance to the student. Without it, he can never em-
ploy any power of the mind with energy or effect. Until
it be acquired, our faculties, however brilliant, remain
undisciplined and comparatively useless. From the want of
it, many men, who in youth give, as is supposed, great
promise of distinction, with advancing years sink down into
hopeless obscurity. Endowed with fertility of imagination
and unusual power of language, they are able to follow any
train of thought that accident may suggest, and clothe the
ideas of others with imagery which seems to indicate orig-
. inal power of scientific research. But the time soon arrives
when the exigences of life require accuracy of knowledge,
soundness of judgment, and well-placed reliance on the
decisions of our own intellect. The time for display has
passed, and the time for action — action on which our success
or failure depends — has come. Such men, then, after per^
haps dazzling the circle of their friends with a few wild and
11
122 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ttiiiciful schemes, which gleam at intervals amid the ap^
proachiiig darkness, sink below the horizon, and are seen no
more forever.
One of the greatest advantages derived from early and
systematic education is found in the necessity which it
imposes of learning thoroughly and at stated periods certain
a[)propriate lessons. We are thus obliged to direct our
attention for a time to the earnest pursuit of some object.
By being placed under this necessity for a few years, the
power of the will over the faculties, if we. are faithful to
ourselves, becomes habitual. What we learn is of impor-
tance, but this importance is secondary to that of so culti-
vating and disciplining our faculties that we are ever after-
wards able to use them in enlarging the boundaries of
science, or directing the courses of human thought and
action. If a system of education, besides cultivating the
habit of attention, cultivates also the habit of reflection and
generalization, so that the student learns not only to acquire
but from his acquisitions to rise to general principles, ob-
serve the operations of his own mind, and compare what be
has karned with the instinctive teachings of his own under-
standing, the great object of the instructor will be success-
fully accomplished.
To acquire habits of earnest and continued attention and
reflection, is one of the most diflScult tasks of the student.
At the beginning, he finds his mind wandering, his atten-
tion easily turned aside from the object to which he would
direct it, and disposed to yield to the attraction of external
objects, or to seize upon every fancy that the memory or
the imagination may present. Much of that time is thus
spent in dreamy idleness, which he had really determined
to employ in laborious study. It is evident that his success
!nust depend wholly on the correction of these habits. Our
minds are comparatively useless to us, unless we can render
I
ATTENTION AND REFLECTION. 123
ihem oiedient servants to the Trill, so that, at any time and
under any circumstances, we can oblige them to think of
what we. wish, as long as we wish, and then dismiss it and
think of something else. We should strive to attain such a
command of all our faculties that we can direct our whole
mental energies upon the most abstruse proposition, until
we have either solved it, or ascertained that, with our pres-
ent advantages, a solution is impossible.
Perhaps the section cannot be more profitably closed
than by the suggestion of some means by w^hich the power
of cho will over the other faculties may be increased.
1. Much depends upon the condition of the physical sys-
tem. Our intellectual faculties are in more perfect exercise
in health than in sickness, and as the condition of the body
tends to sickness our power over them is proportionally
diminished. Every one knows how difficult it is to command
his attention during a paroxysm of fever. In recovering from
illness, one of the first symptoms of convalescence is a return
of the power over the mind, and a disposition to employ it in
its accustomed pursuits. Now, it is obvious that anything
which interferes with the normal condition of the system,
durmg the continuance of its action, produces the same
effect, as temporary indisposition. Such causes are over-
feeding, either occasionally or habitually, the use of indiges-
tible food, the want of sleep, or of exercise, undue mental
excitement, or exce-siv^- fatigue. Every one in the least
attentive to this subject must have observed the effect of
some or all of these causes upon his power of mental con-
ceritration. A large portion of the life of many men is
spent in habitual violation of the laws by which the free use
of the mind is conditioned. If, by accident, they for a
■ short time obey the laws of their nature, their intellectual
powers recover their tone, and they enjoy what they call a
lucid interval. They postpone all important mental labor
124 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
until this favored period arrives, without ever suspecting
that it is owing to their own folly that they are not in this
condition continually. Our Creator manifestly intended
that our intellectual light should shine with a clear and steady
brilliancy, not that it should gleam out occasionally, after
loriir j)oriods of mist and gloom and darkness. But, if we
would obtain the power of using our intellect to the greatest
advantage, we must habitually obey those laws which have
been imposed upon us by our Creator.
The diet of a student should be light, and rather spare
than abundant. A laboring man needs nutritious and
abundant food, to supply the waste caused by physical exer-
tion. The diet which is indispensable to the one is exceed-
ingly injurious to the other. A student also requires reg-
uhir and sufficient daily exercise, which should generally be .
carried to the point of full perspiration. His sleep should .
be all that health requires, and he should invariably retire
at an early hour. His study and sleeping room should be
well ventilated, and his ablutions should be daily and
abundant. To specify more minutely in detail the treat-
ment of the physical system, would be out of place here ;
and, besides, no rules which could be given would be appli-
cable to every case. Every man, observing the laws of the
human constitution, shouV apply them honestly to his own
case. All that is required is that the student form all his
physical habits with the direct and earnest purpose of giv-
ing the freest scope and the most active exercise to all his
ntellectual faculties.
It is, however, the fact that students are liable to err in
almost all of these particulars. They pay no attention
either to the quantity or quality of their food. Though,
perhaps, in early life, accustomed to labor, as soon as they
commence a course of study, they forsake, not only labor,
but all manner of exercise. If anxious to improve, -they
ATTENTION AND REFLECTION. 12S
Study until late at night, thus destroying the power of ap-
plication for the following day. They live ii;i heated and
ill- ventilated rooms. Measuring their progress by the num-
ber of hours employed in study, they remain over their
books until the power of attention is exhausted. Much of
their time is thus spent in ineffectual efforts to comprehend
the proposition before them, or, after they have compre-
hended it, in equally ineffectual attempts to fix it in their
recollection. The result of all this it is painful to contem-
plate. Broken down in health and enfeebled in mind, the
man in early life is turned out upon society a confirmed and
mediocre, invalid, equally unfitted for the habits either of
active or sedentary life. This is surely unfortunate. There
can be no good reason why a student, or the practitioner of
what are called the professions, should be an invalid. Tc
study, violates no moral or physical law. A student may,
then, be as healthy in body and vigorous in mind as any
other man. If he be not, his misfortune is the result, not
of mere mental application, but of the violation of the laws
under which he has been created.
2. I have already intimated that the power of prolonged
and earnest attention depends upon the will. But we find
that until the mind becomes in some manner disciplined, the
influence of the will is feeble and irregular. Of course,
t)ur first attempt must be to increase the power of the will
over the other intellectual faculties.
Here, however, I am aware that probably great differ-
ences exist in mental constitution. The will in some men
is by nature stronger than in others. Some men surrender
a deliberately-formed purpose at the appearance of a trifling
obstacle ; others cling to it with a tenacity which nothing
but death can overcome. In this latter case, every physical
and mental energy is consecrated to the accomplishment of
the purpose to which the life of the being is devoted. Wheii
11*
126 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
8U
ch a >v'ill, moved by high moral principle 4nd guided by
sound judgment, is directed to the accomplishment of a
great enterprise, it wins for its possessor a name among the
benefactors of the race. John Howard was an illustrious
cxiuni)lc of this class of men. The most masterly delinea-
tion of this form of character found, so far as I know, in
any language, is contained in John Foster's Essays ; a book
whicli I should fail in my duty did I not recommend to the
thoughtful perusal of every young man.
Such instances of energetic will are, however, rare, and
it becomes us to inquire whether the control over our facul-
ties can be obtamed by those who are less happily consti-
tuted. The most important means of cultivation, if we . ,
desire to improve ourselves, lies in the will itself. The more
constantly we exercise it, the greater does its power become.
The more habitually we do what we resolve to do, instead of
doing what we are sohcited to do by indolence, or appetite,
or passion, or the love of trifles, the more readily will our
faculties obey us. At first the efibrt may yield only a partial
result, but perseverance will render the result more and
more apparent, until at last we shall find ourselves able to
employ our faculties in such manner as we desire. If, then,
the student finds his mind unstable, ready to wander in
search of every other object than that directly before him,
let him never yield to its solicitations. If it stray fi:om the
subject, let him recall it, resolutely determining that it shall
do the work that he bids it. He who will thus faithfully
deal with his mtellectual faculties will soon find that Ms
labor has not been in vain.
But, in order to arrive at this result, we must be thor-
oughly in earnest, and willing to pay the price for so inval-
uable an acquisition. We must forego many a sensual
pleasure, that the action of our faculties may be free and
unembarrassed. We must -esolutely resist all tendencies
ATTENTION AND REFLECTION. 127
to indolence, both physical and mental. We must learn to
be alone. We mast put away from us all reading and all
conversation that would encourage the tendencies Avhich we
wish to suppress. By, doing this, and exerting to the full
the present power of our will, we cannot fail to make prog-
ress in mental discipline.
It may not be improper to add a remark respecting a kind
of reading in which a student is, at the present day, strongly
tempted to indulge. I have.no disposition here to discuss
the advantages and disadvantages of the reading of works
of fiction. It is sufficient for my purpose to observe, first,
that this kind of mental occupation evidently requires no
efibrt of the will to arrest the attention. The mind follows
pleasantly and unconsciously the train of conceptions pre-
sented by the author. Disquisitions requiring mental effort are
always considered blemishes in a romance, and are, I believe,
generally passed over unread. And, secondly, the mind be-
comes filled with interesting and exciting images, which
remain with us long after the reading has been finished.
From these causes, reading of this character must enfeeble
the will, and create a tendency to wander from a course of
thought which follows entirely different laws of association.
These reasons seem to me sufficient for advising any person
desirous of cultivating the habit of attention, either to
abandon the reading of fiction altogether, or, at least, to in-
dulge in it with such severe discretion as shall prevent it
from fostering those habits which we desire to eradicate-
After we have accomplished our objeci, and the victory of
the will over our other powers has been acknowledged, we
may allow ourselves a larger liberty. Until this is done,
the stricter the discipline which we enforce upon ourselves,
the more rapid will be our attainment in the habit of
self-government.
3. The power of the will over our other faculties is
128 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
greatly assisted by punctuality ; that is, by doing everything
in precisely the time and place allotted for the doing of it.
If, when the hour for study has arrived, we begin to waste
our time in frivolous reading or idle musing, we shall find
our real work more distasteful, the longer we procrastinate.
If on the contrary, we begin at once, we the more easily
conquer our wandering propensities, and our minds are fully
occupied before trifles have the opportunity of alluring us.
The men who have accomplished the greatest amount of in- ,
tellectual labor have generally been remarkable for punc-
tuality ; they have divided their time accurately between
their different pursuits, have rigidly adhered to the plan
which they have adopted, and have been careful to improve
every moment to the utmost advantage.
4. The control of the will over our faculties is much as-
sisted by the use of the pen. The act of writing out our
own thoughts, or the thoughts of others, of necessity in-
volves the exercise of continuous attention. Every one
knows that, after he has thought over a subject with all the
care in his power, his ideas become vastly more precise by
committing them to paper. The maxim of the schoolmen
was studivm sine calamo somnium. The most remark-
able thinkers have generally astonished their contemporaries
by the vast amount of manuscript which they have left be-
hind them. I think that universal experience testifies to
the fact that no one can attain to a high degree of mental
cultivation, without devoting a large portion of his time to
the labor of composition.
It is a very valuable habit to read no book without oblig-
ing ourselves to write a brief abstract of it, with the opinions
which we have formed concerning it. This will oblige us to
read with attention, and will give the results of that atten-
tion a permanent place in our recollection. We should
thus, in fact, become reviewers of every book that we read,
ATTENTION AND REFLECTION. 129
The learned and indefatigable Reinhardt was thus able to
conduct one of the most valuable reviews in Germany, by
writing his opinions on every work which came under his
perusal. The late Lord Jeffrey commenced his literary
career in precisely this manner. When a youthful student
at the university, he not only wrote a review of every book
which he read, but of every paper which he himself com-
posed. His strictures were even more severe on his own
writings than On the writings of others. He thus laid the
foundation of his immense acquisitions, and attained to so
great a power .of intellectual analysis, that for many years
he was acknowledged to be the most accomplished critic of
his time.
REFERENCES.
Consciousness — Reid, Essay 1, chap. 1 ; Abercrombie, Part 2, sect.
2 ; Locke, book 2, chap. 6, sect. 2 ; chap. 9, sect. 1.
Is consciousness distinguished from perception? — Stewart, voL i.,
chap. 2.
Cases of Abnormal Consciousness — Abercrombie, Part 3, sect. 4 ; part 2.
Attention and Reflection — Reid, Essay 1, chap. 5 ; Essay 4, chap. 4
Stewart, yoI i., chap. 2. Abercrombie, Part 2, chap. 1.
Improvement of Attention and Reflection, Part 2, chap. 1.
Consciousness — Cousin, sect. 1, p. 12, 8vo : Hartford, 1834. Henry
translation, and note A, by J Tof. H.
CHAPTER m.
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION, OR THE INTUITIONS OF THE
INTELLECT.
I
SECTION L — EXAMINATION OF THE OPINIONS OF LOCKE.
We have thus far considered those powers of the human
mind by which it obtains a knowledge of the existence and
qualities of the external world, and of the existence and
energies of the thinking subject. This knowledge, as I
have said, is all either of individual existences or of individ-
ual acts, or states of the subjective mind. It is, of course,
all concrete, and the conceptions derived from it are of the
same character. This knowledge is original, direct and im-
mediate. It is the constitutional testimony of our faculties
as soon as they are brought into relation to their appropri-
ate objects. It always contemplates as an object something
now existing, or something which at some time did exist.
• Let us, then, for a moment consider what would be the
condition of a human being possessed of no other powers
than those of which we have thus far treated. He would be
cognizant of the existence and qualities of the objects which
he perceived, and of the state of mind. which these objects
called into exercise ; and, if endowed with memory, he could
retain this knowledge in recollection. Here, however, his
knowledge would terminate. Each fact would remain dis-
connected from every other, and each separate knowledge
would terminate absolutely in itself No relation between
OPINIONS OF LOCKE. • 131
any two facts would be either discovered or sought for.
The questions why, or wherefore, would neither be asked
nor answered. The knowledge acquired would be perfectly
barren, leading to nothing else, and destitute of all tendency
and all power to multiply itself into other forms of cognition.
The mind would be a perfect living daguerreotype, on which
forms were indelibly impressed, remaining lifeless and un-
changeable forever.
It was the opinion of Locke, that all our knowledge either
consisted of these ideas of sense or consciousness, or wag
derived from them by comparison or combination. Thus,
says he, ^^ First, our senses, conversant about particular
sensible objects, do convey to the mind several distinct per-
ceptions of things, according to those various ways in which
those objects do affect them. Thus we come to those ideas
we have of yellow, white, heat, cold, soft, bitter, and all
those which we call sensible qualities ; which, when I say
the senses convey to the mind, I mean they from external
objects convey into the mind what produces these sensations.
Phis source I cdl Sensation,''^ — Book 2, chap. 1, sec. 3.
Secondly. ^^ The other fountain from w^hich experience
furnisheth the understanding with ideas, is the perception
of the operations of our own minds w^ithin us, as it is em-
ployed about the ideas it has got ; which operations, when
the soul comes to reflect on and consider, do furnish the
understanding with another set of ideas, which could not be
had from things without. Such are perception, thinking,
doubting, believing, reasoning, knowing, willing, and all
those different acts of our own minds, which, we being con-
scious of and observing in our ownselves, do from these
receive into the understanding as distinct ideas as we do
from bodies affecting our senses. I call this Reflect ion,^^
— Ibid. sect. 4.
" The understanding: seems to me not tc have the least
132 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
glimmering of any ideas which it does not receive from one
of these two. External objects furnish the mind with the
ideas of sensible qualities, which are all these different per-
ceptions they produce in us, and the mind furnishes the
understanding with ideas of its own operations." Again:
"• Let any one examine his own thoughts, and thoroughly
search into his understanding, and let him tell me whether
all the original ideas he has there are any other than of the
objects of his senses, or of the operations of the mind
considered as objects of his reflection, and how great a mass
of knowledge soever he imagines to be lodged there, he will,
upon taking a strict view, see that he has not any idea in
his mind but what one of these two have imprinted, though,
perhaps, with infinite variety, compounded and enlarged by
the understanding, as we shall see hereafter." — Ibid. Sec. 5.
Again: ^"If we trace the progress of our minds, and
with attention observe how it repeats, adds together, and
unites its simple ideas received from sensation and reflection,
it will lead us further than perhaps we should have imagined.
And I believe we shall find, if we warily observe the orig-
inals of our notions, that even the most abstruse ideas, how
remot(^ soever they may seem from sense or from any oper-
ations of our own minds, are yet only such as the under-
standing frames to itself by repeating and joining together
those ideas that it had from objects of sense, or from its
own operations about them."— Book 2d, chap. 12, sec. 8.
From these extracts it appears evident that Locke be-
lieved all our original knowledge to proceed from perception,
or, as he calls it, sensation, and consciousness. Whatever
other knowledge we have, is produced secondarily by adding
together, repeating, and joining together, the simple ideas
derived from these original sources. I have before re-
marked that these ideas are of individuals and are concrete.
If, therefore, the theory of Locke be correct, all our other
OPINIONS OF LOCKE. 133
knowledge is created by adding, repeating, and joining
together these individual and concrete conceptions.
Now, if this be so, — if it be the law of our nature that the
human intellect is incapable of attaining to any other knowl-
edge than the ideas of sensation and reflection, that is, of
perception and consciousness, — in other words, thart the
knowledge of the qualities of matter and the operations of
our own minds, then it follows that all our notions which
cannot be reduced to one or the other of these classes, is a
mere fiction of the imagination, unworthy of confidence,
and is, in fact, no knowledge at all. But it is Obvious that
there are in our minds many ideas which belong to neither
of these classes ; such, for instance, are the ideas of relation,
power, cause and efi*ect, space, duration, infinity, right and
wrong, and many others. Can these be produced by the
uniting, joining, or adding together our conceptions of the
qualities of matter, or of our own mental acts ? Let any
one try the experiment, and he will readily be convinced
that they can be evolved by no process of this kind. It
will follow then, if the theory of Locke be admitted, that
these notions, which I have above specified, and all others
like them, are mere fancies, the dreams of schoolmen or of
fanatics, having no real foundation, and forming no sub-
stantial basis for science, or even valid objects for inquiry.
Nothing, then, can, be deemed worthy of the name of science
or knowledge, except the primitive data either of perception
or consciousness, or what is formed by adding, uniting, join-
ing together, these primitive cognitions. Hence, the ideas
of which I have spoken, such as those of space, duration,
infinity, eternity, cause and effect, all moral ideas, — nay,
the idea of God himself, — are the figments of a dream, and
all that remains to us is merely what we can perceive with-
out and be conscious of within. This was the conclusion
at which many men arrived at the close of the last century.
12
134 INTELLECTUAL PHIIOSOPHT.
Inasmuch as t-ieir principles were said to be derived from
Locke, he has sometimes been considered the foiAider of
the sensual school.
It is, however, to be observed, that Locke did not perceive,
much less would he have admitted, the result to which his
doctrines led. He speaks of the ideas to which I have
alluded, such as space, power, &c., as legitimate objects of
human thought, and gives quite a correct account of th.eir
origin. Thus, speaking of power, he remarks : '^ The mind
being every day informed by the senses of the alteration of
those simple ideas it observes in things without, and taking
notice how one comes to an end and ceases to be, and an-
other begins to exist which w(is not before ; reflecting, also,
on what passes within itself, and observing a constant change
in its ideas, sometimes by the impression of outward objects
on the senses, and sometimes from the determination of its
own choice ; and concluding, from what it has always ob-
served to have been, that like changes will for the future
be made in the same things by the same agents, and by
the like way considers in the one thing the possibility of
having any of its simple ideas changed, and in another the
possibility of making that change, and so it comes .by that
idea which we call power.'' — Book 2, chap. 21, sec. 1.
Here we perceive that Locke acknowledges the existence
of ideas or knowledges derived neither from sensation nor
reflection, and gives a very intelligible account of their
origin. It is obvious that the idea of power is not derived
from the senses ; we neither see, nor feel, nor hear it. It
is not an operation of the mind, therefore is not derived
from reflection. And, besides, comparing, adding together,
uniting, are acts of the mind, wholly difierent either from
perception or consciousness. It is evident, therefore, that
Locke, when he examined the ideas in his own mind, ob-
served among them many which neither perception n^ r con-
OPINIONS OF LOCKE. 135
BCiousness could give ; and he, perhaps carelessly, accounted
for their origin by the use of the indefinite expressions,
•^ takes notice of," '' concludes," ^' comes to the idea," &c.
We see, therefore, that Locke went beyond his own theory,
and really saw what his theory declared could not be seen.
Had he pursued a difierent method, and first observed the
ideas of which we are conscious, and afterwards investigated
their origin, his system would probably have been greatly
modified. He, however, pursued the opposite course : first
determining the origin of our ideas, and then limiting our
ideas by the sources which he supposed himself to have
exhausted.
The manner in which Locke was led into this error is
apparent. He had been at great pains to refute the doctrine
of innate ideas, and to show that the human mind could
have no thought until some impression was made upon it
from without. It was also obvious to him that the only
objects which we are able to cognize are matter and mind.
^ He compared the mind to a sheet of white paper, entirely
blank until something is written on it by a power external
to itself This, however, although the truth, is only a part
of the truth. As I have before remarked, if the sheet of
paper had the power of uniting the letters written upon it
into words, and these words into discourse, and of proceed-
ing forever in the elimination of new and original truth, it
would much more accurately represent the intellect of man.
This illustration of a sheet of white paper evidently misled
our philosopher, and prevented him from giving due prom-
inence to the originating or suggestive power of the mind.
This brief notice of the opinions of Locke seemed neces-
sary, especially since so great and important conclusions
. Have been deduced from his doctrine. The whole subject
has been treated in a most masterly manner by Cousin, in
136 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPili..
his Revie\T of the Philosophy of Locke, to which I would
specially refer the student.
But tc what conclusion are we led by this brief examina-
tion of the theory of Locke? We have seen that, on the
supposition that all our ideas are derived from perception
and consciousness, a large portion of the most important
ideas of which the human soul is conscious must be aban-
doned as the groundless fictions of the imagination, having
no foundation in the true processes of the understanding.
On the other hand, we know from our own consciousness
that these ideas are universally developed in the human in-
tellect as soon as it begins to exercise independent thought.
We must, therefore, conclude, that the theory of Locke is
imperfect, and that it does not recognize some of our most
important sources of original knowledge. It is, then, our i
business to inquire for some other sources besides those I
recognized by Locke. •
REFERENCES.
Sources of our knowledge— Locke, Book 2, chap. 1, sec. 3, sec. 4,
Bee. 5 ; Book 2, chap. 12, sec. 8, chap. 22, sec. 1, 2, 9.
Suggestion a power of the mind — Reid, Inquiry, chap. 2, sec. 7 ; Int.
Powers, Essay 3, chap. 5 ; Essay 2, chap. 10, 12.
Examination of Locke's Theory — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 1.
Before all others. — Cousin's Examination of Locke's PhUosophy, chap.
li 1., 3, 4.
SECTION II. — THE NATURE OF ORIGINAL SUGGESTION, OR
THE POWER OP INTUITIVE COGNITION.
Locke has truly stated that all the substances to which
in our present state we are related are matter and mind.
By perception we obtain a knowledge of the qualities of the
one, and by consciousness a knowledge of the operations of
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 137
jhe other. Each is distinct and complete within itself, and
each terminates definitely at its own appropriate limit.
The thought, however, thus awakened, does not thus ter-
minate. The mind of man is endowed not only with a
receptive^ but also with what may be called a suggestive
power. When the ideas of perception and consciousness
terminate, or even while they are present, a new series of
mental phenomena arises by virtue of the original power
of the intellect itself. These phenomena present them-
selves in the form of intuitive cognitions, occasioned by the
ideas of consciousness and perception, but neither produced
by them nor in any respect similar to them. They may be
considered acts of pure intellection. To the ideas of per-
ception or consciousness there by necessity belongs an
object either objective or subjective. To those ideas of the
intellect I think no such object belongs. Hence they could
not be cognized originally either by perception or conscious-
ness. They could not exist within us except we were
endowed with a diflFerent and superior intellectual energy.
We can give but little account of these intellections, nor
can we ofier any proof of their verity. As soon as they
arise within us, they are to us the unanswerable evidence
of their own truth. As soon as we are conscious of them,
we know that they are true, and we never offer any evidence
in support of them. So far as our powers of perception
aa^d consciousness are concerned, the mind resembles in
many respects a sheet of white paper. Here, however, the
analogy terminates. There is nothing in the paper which
in any respect resembles this power of intuitive knowledge
of which we here speak.
What we here refer to may, perhaps, be best illustrated by
a familiar example. A child, before it can talk, throws a
ball and knocks down a nine-pin. By perception aided by
memory, it derives no other ideas beside? those of a rolling
12^
138 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ball and of a falling ninepin. This is all that the senses
could give it. It might be all that would be apparent tc
the mind of a brute. But is this the case with the child?
Far otherwise. There arises in his mind, by virtue of its
own energy, the notion of cause and effect; of something in
the ball capable of producing this change, and of something
in the ninepin which renders it susceptible of this change.
He instinctively cognizes a most important relation existing
between these two events. Still more, he has an intuitive
belief that the same event can be produced again in the
same way. Relying on this belief, he sets up the ninepin
again, and throws the ball in the confident expectation that
it will produce the same result as at first. There has thus
been created in his mind, not only the relation of cause and
effect, but the important conviction that like causes wdll
produce like effects. In consequence of the relations which
have thus been revealed to him, he sets a value upon his
toys which he did not before. The same idea is developed
as soon as the infant puts his finger in the candle. He will
not try the experiment a second time. He immediately
obtains a knowledge of the relation of cause and effect, and
that the same cause will again produce the same effect.
He does not see this relation ; it is not an object of percep-
tion, nor is it an operation of the mind. He does not feel
it when he is burned. As soon, however, as he cognizes
the relative ideas, the relation in which they stand to each
other presents itself to him as an intuitive cognition.
I have here used an illustration from external objects. I.
however, by no means assert that in this manner we first
arrive at the knowledge of cause and effect. The same idea
is evidently suggested by every act of voluntary motion.
A child wishes to move his hand ; it moves, but perhaps not
m the right direction. He tries again with better success.
At last he accomplishes his object. Heie is, perhaps, tha !
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 139
most striking instance of this relation which he ever wit-
nesses, and it is brought home directly to his own conscious-
ness. He is conscious of the act of volition, he knows tliat
he wills ; this mental act is followed by a change of position
in his hand, and by motion in something with which his
hand comes into contact. This succession of events, the for-
mer of which is within the cognition of his own conscious-
ness, and the latter of his perception, would be suiBcient to
give occasion to this intuitive knowledge at a very early
period.
It may be proper to observe, that although this power of
original suggestion is developed and perfected with advanc-
ing years, yet it commences with the first unfolding of
the intellect. Both the perceptive and the suggestive
powers belong to the essential nature .of a human mind
Were a child destitute of the power of intuitive cognition,
even at a very early age, we should know that it was an
idiot. If, for instance, it manifested no notion of cause and
effect, but would as soon put its fingers into a candle the
second time as the first, we should be convinced that it was
not possessed of a normal understanding. Nay, we form
an opinion of the mental capacity of a child rather by the
activity of its suggestive than of its perceptive powers. It
may be blind or deaf, or may suffer both of these aflSictiong
together ; that is, its perceptive powers may be at the mini-
mum, and yet we may discover that its intellect is alert and
vigorous, and that it discovers large powers of acquisition
and combination. Such a case occurs in the instance of
Laura Bridgman, a bUnd mute, whose suggestive powers are
unusually active, and who has, with admirable skill, been
taught to read and write, so that she is at present able to
keep a journal, and correspond with her friends by letter.
With respect to these ideas of suggestion, or intuiticn, twc
140 INTELLKCTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
important remarks are made by Cousin. I give his ideas
here, rather than his words.
1. ^' Unless we previously obtained the idea of perception
and consciousness, we could never originate the suggested or
intuitive cognitions. If, for instance, we had never observed
the fact of a succession, we could never have obtained the
idea of duration. If we had never perceived an external
object, we should never have obtained the idea of space. If
we had never witnessed an instance of change, we should
have had no idea of cause and effect. As soon, however, as
these ideas of perception and consciousness are awakened,
they are immediately either attended or followed by the
ideas of suggestion. We perceive, then, that, chronologi-
cally considered, the ideas of perception and consciousness
take precedence. They appear first in the mind, and, until
they appear, the others could have no existence. It was
this fact which probably gave rise to the error of Locke.
Because no .other ideas could be originated except through
means of the ideas of perception and consciousness, he in-
ferred that our knowledge could consist of nothing but these
ideas, either in their original form, or else united or added
to each other. The fact, on the contrary, seems to be, that
our suggested ideas are no combination or modification of
our receptive ideas ; they form the occasions from which the
mind originates them by virtue of its own energy. We are
80 made, that, when one class of ideas is cognized, the other
spontaneously arises within us, in consequence of the con-
stitution of the human, intellect.
2. ''But, secondly, when we have thus obtained these
ideas of suggestion, we find that their existence is a neces-
sary condition of the existence of the very ideas by which
they are occasioned. Thus, as I have said, tne notion of
an external world is the occasion in us of the idea of space
but, when we have obtained the idea of space, we see that
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 141
it is a necessary condition to the conception of an external
world ; for, were there no space, there could be no external
world. If we had never witnessed a succession of events,
we should never have obtained a conception of duration.
Having, however, obtained the conception of duration, we
perceive that it is a necessary condition of succession ; for,
were there no duration, there could be no succession. And
again, had we never observed an instance of change, we
should never have attained the conception of cause and
effect, or of power. But the conception of power once
gained, we become immediately sensible that, had there been
no power, change would have been impossible. We thus
learn that, logically considered, the suggestive idea takes
the precedence, inasmuch as it is the necessary condition of
the idea by which it is occasioned."
With these remarks of this most acute and very able meta-
physician I fully coincide, so far as they apply to a large por-
tion of our ideas of suggestion. I think, however, that there
is a large class of our intuitive cognitions, of which the second
of these laws cannot be affirmed. Take, for instance, our
ideas of relation and degree, arising from the contemplation
of two or more single objects. I do not see how it is true
that the relation is a necessary condition to the existence of
the bodies which occasion it, or that the idea of degree is a
necessary condition to the existence of the qualities by which
it is occasioned. I dissent with diffidence from an author
so justly distinguished ; nevertheless, in treating on this, as
on any other subject, I am bound to state fully the truth aa
it presents itself to my individual consciousness.
In order the more fully to illustrate this subject, I have
thought it desirable to present a number of instances in
which these original suggestions or intuitions are occa-
Bioned by the ideas of perception and consciousness. I by
uo means attempt an exhaustive catalogue. Jt will be suffi-
142 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
cicnt for my purposes, if I am able to present such a vkw j
of the subject as will direct more definite attention than haa
generally been given to this part of our intellectual consti-
tution.
It has seemed to me that these intuitions might be class-
ified as follows :
I. Those unaccompanied by emotion.
II. Those accompanied by emotion.
I. Those unaccompanied by emotion are,
1. Those occasioned by objects in a state of rest
2. Those occasioned by objects in the condition of change.
II. Those accompanied by emotion are,
1. iEsthetic ideas.
2. Moral ideas.
REFERENCES.
Cousin, chaps. 2, 3, and 4.
SECTION III. — IDEAS OCCASIONED BY OBJECTS IN A STATE
or REST.
We may contemplate objects in a state of rest either as
one or many. Let us, in the first place, examine a single
object.
Suppose, for instance, a solid cube is placed before me.
I look at it, and perceive its color and form ; I handle it, and
perceive that it is hard and smooth, and that its form is the
same as I have discovered by sight: I strike it, and it gives
forth a sound ; I attempt to smell it and taste of it, and
thus derive all the knowledge of its qualities which I am
able to discover. I reflect on • these various acts of percep-
tion, and thus obtain a knowledge of the state of my mind
when performing these mental acts. I have then all the
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 14^^
knowledge which I can derive from perception and con-
sciousness. Had I no other mental energies, my knowl-
edge would here arrive at an impassable limit. If, however,
we reflect upon our own cognitions, we shall be conscious of
much important knowledge occasioned by these mental acts,
which the acts themselves do not give us.
I look upon the cube ; I perceive it to be extended ; I re-
move it to another place. What is there where the cube
was a moment since ? What is that which the cube occu-
pies, and in which it is contained '] It can be occupied by
matter, or left vacant. I become conscious of the fact that
it is a condition necessary to the existence of all matter.
Abolish it, and I abolish the possibility of an external uni-
verse. I call it space. What is it ? It has no qualities
that can be cognized by the senses. It is neither an act
nor an aflection of the mind. It is not matter ; it is not
spirit. It differs from both in every conceivable particu-
lar. The existence of matter is made known to us by the
senses. Space is cognizable by none of them. It is neither
seen, nor felt, nor heard, nor smelled, nor tasted. Matter
is a contingent existence : it may or may not exist here, or
it may not have existence anywhere. I can conceive of an
era in duration when it never existed. I can conceive of
another era when it will cease to exist. Not so of space ;
as soon as I form a notion of it, I perceive it to be neces-
^ry. I cannot conceive of its non-existence or annihilation.
This cube and all other matt^er is limited, and is so from
necessity : space is by necessity unlimited. Matter, being
limited, of necessity has form ; space has no form, for it has
no limitation. The conception of a body, however vast,
su^r^ests an image ; space suggests to us no image. We find
ourselves, therefore, in possession of a conception, revei.led
to us neither by perception nor consciousness, which, never-
theless, is cognized by the mind, from the necessity of ita
144 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
own nature. Without perception it would never have been
cot^nized. Chronologically, it is, therefore, subsequent to it.
As soon, however, as I obtain this conception, I know that
it is a necessary condition to the existence of that which is
perceived. It is necessary physiologically; for without
space there can be no matter. It is necessary psychologi-
civUy ; for we cannot in our minds conceive of matter with-
out conceiving of space as a necessary condition of our
conception.
But let us reflect upon this idea somewhat more atten-
tively. We all have a knowledge of what is meant by space ;
we cannot easily confound it with any other idea ; yet no
one can describe it. It has no qualities. It holds no rela-
tion to our senses, or to our consciousness. What are its
limits ? As I have before said, it has none. The house in
which I am writing occupies space, and is contained in space.
The earth and the whole planetary system move in space.
The whole sidereal system either moves or reposes in space
We pass to the utmost verge of the material universe — space
fitill stretches beyond, unmeasured, immeasurable. We have
approached no nearer to its confines than at first ; for, were
such creations as now exist to be multiplied forever, space
would be yet inexhaustible. What do we call this idea,
which, by the constitution of our minds, emerges necessarily
from this conception ? It is the idea of the boundless, the
immensurable, the infinite. It is an idea which we cannot
comprehend, and yet from which we cannot escape. We
may, perhaps, remember how, in childhood, we wearied our
feeble understandings in the attempt to grasp it. It is at
present as far beyond the power of our comprehension as at
first, yet we find the mind ever tending towards it. It is an
idea neither of perception nor consciousness, nor can it be
evolved from any union or combination of those ideas. It
evolves itself at once, on our conception of space, from the
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ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 145
energies of the mind itself. Having been once formed, it
holds its place independently in the mind, and depencls not
for its existence on any other idea.
Again ; I canhot be conscious of my own existence with-
out being conscious at the same time that I am an individ-
ual, separate not only from the rest of the material, but
from the other individuals of the spiritual universe. I am,
in myself, a complete form of existence, distinct from every
other form that has existed, or that may exist. When I
obssrve the cube, it suggests to me the same idea, that of
unity. I retain this idea of oneness, apart from any object
which at first suggested it. It cannot be called a quality.
It is not an energy of the mind ; yet it is an idea which
immediately arises within us, on such occasions as I have
suggested. *
It may, however, be proper to remark, that this idea of
unity is always relative. It always has respect to the
relation in which we contemplate an object. An individual
human being is one ; yet it possesses one body and one
spirit, and without both of these, in our present stat^, it
would not be a human being. A human soul is one ; but, in
order to be a human soul, it must be possessed of various
faculties, each one of which may be considered distinctly.
A regiment is one, and yet it could not be a regiment, un-
less it were composed of several distinct companies united
under a single commander. A company is one ; but it is
made up of single individuals, as privates, subalterns, cap-
tain, etc. We thus see that, in speaking of unity, the rela-
tion in which we contemplate the object is always to be
taten into view ; and that there is no absurdity or contra-
diction in saying, that it is one in one relation, d^nAmany in
another relation.
Let us look once more upon our cube. We perceive in it
form, solidit]^, divisibility, color, etc. These we call quali-
13
146 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ties of matter, or the powers which it possesses of affecting
us in a particular manner. But is either of these qualities
matter ? Are all of them combined matter ? Were we to
say that color and form and divisibility, etc., are matter, or
substance, would this assertion exf ress the idea of which we
are conscious when we reflect upon this subject ? So far is
this from the fact, that the assertion would seem to involve
an absurdity. We always say of a material object, it is
something divisible, solid, colored, etc. ; plainly distinguish-
ing, in our conceptions, the something in which the qualities
reside, from the qualities which reside in the something. We
thus find ourselves possessed of the two ideas, essence and
attribute, substance and quality. We know that there must
be one, whenever we perceive the other. But where does
this idea of substance come from ? Surely neither from the
senses nor from consciousness ; yet we all have attained it.
It must have originated in the mind itself We perceive
the quality. The mind affirms the existence of the sub-
stance, and affirms it not as a contingent, but as a necessary
truth.
It is almost superfluous to remark, that we arrive at the
ssLine idea from consciousness. Consciousness testifies to the
existence of mental energies. From this knowledge, the
mind at once asserts the existence of an essence to which
these energies pertain. Were there no mental energies, we
could never become cognizant of a spiritual substance ; but,
having been cognizant of it, we know that it is a necessary
condition to the existence of the energies of which we are
conscious.
2. These instances are sufficient to illustrate the nature of
the cognitions which are suggested by the energies of the
mind itself, when we contemplate a single object. Let ua
now suppose several objects, seme of similar and others of
f'
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 147
dissimilar qualities, to be present before us. Suppose ^liciri,
for instance, cubes, pyramids, cylinders, etc.
If I observe them singly, each will furnish me with all
the primary and suggested ideas to which I have just now
referred. I observe several to be of one form. I compare
their aggregate with unity, and there arises in my mind the
idea of number. As soon as I have formed this notion, I
find myself abstracting it from the cubes, and from every
other object, and treat it as a conception by itself, capable
of enlargement or diminution at my will. So readily does
this conception separate itself from the objects which gave
occasion to its existence, that, in the rudest conditions of
society, men give names to the several ideas of number, and
very soon form a symbolical language to represent them.
Every one knows that his ideas of number were originally
derived from the observation of a plurality of objects ; and
yet no one, thinking of ten, twenty, thirty, to say nothing
of thousands and millions, ever associates these ideas with
any actual existences. We always consider them as abstract
ideas, yet ideas of the most fixed and determinate character.
But these ideas are not objects of perception. We neither
see nor feel nor taste number; yet perception occasions
these ideas. We know- number as soon as the occasions
which suggest it present themselves.
In enumeration, we always proceed by unity. We re-
peat unity until we arrive at a certain aggregate, which we
then consider as a unit. Thus, in our enumeration, we
repeat unity, giving a different name to every increasing
aggregate, until we arrive at ten. We then make this our
unit, and add to it other similar uniis, until we arrive at a
hundred ; in the same manner, we make this our unit until
we arrive at a thousand, then to a million, etc. Suppose,
aow, I carry on this process to any assignable limit, can I
exhaust my idea of number ? Suppose I proceed until mj
148 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
powers of computation fail, have I yet .proceeded so far that
I cannot add to the sum millions upon millions ? Can I
conceive of any number so vast that I cannot add to it aa
many as I choose? We perceive this to be impossible.
Here, again, we recognize the same idea which lately
evolved from our notion of space. It is the idea of infinity.
We see that it springs at once, by the operation of oui
minds, from every conception capable of giving occasion
to it.
Again; we cannot observe a number of objects at the same
time, without recognizing various relations which exist be-
tween them. I see two cubes possessing in every respect
the same qualities. Hence arises the relation of identity
of form, color, etc. Others possess different qualities ; hence
the relation of diversity. When the forms are precisely the
same, or when they occupy exactly the same space, there
arises relation of equality. When they occupy different
measures of space, there arises the relation of inequality.
These latter relations are specially used in all our reason-
ings in the mathematics. All our demonstrations in this
science are designed to show that two quantities are either
equal or unequal to each other.
Still further, I perceive that two or more objects are not
in contact. Space intervenes between them, and we recog-
nize the relation of distance. Each one has a definite rela-
tion in space to all the others. Hence arises the relation
of place. Place always refers to the position which a body
holds in respect to other bodies. Were there but one body
in space, we could not from it form any notion of place.
As soon as other bodies are perceived, and their relation to
it recognized, we obtain this idea respecting it. Thus, I
say tliis paper lies where it did ten minutes since. Here I
refer to the table and the objects upon it, whose position in
relation to the paper is the same as it was before, leaving
ORIGINAL SUGGESTION. 149
out of account altogether the fact that the table has moved
with the diurnal and annual revolution of the earth. A
man in a railroad car will say that he has not changed his
place for half a day, when he knows that he has been
moving at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour.
Again ; we perceive that, of several cubes, the first occu-
pies a larger portion of space than the second, and the
second a larger portion than the third. All of them are
red, but the tinge of one is deeper than that of another.
Hence arises the relation of degree. This idea is so univer-
sally recognized, that, in all languages, it is designated by
a special form, entitled degrees of comparison.
But it is not necessary that I pursue this subject further.
I think that every one must recognize in his own mind a
power of originating such knowledges as these, as soon as
the occasion presents itself They are not ideas of percep-
tion or of consciousness, but ideas arising in the mind, by its
own energies, as soon as we cognize the appropriate objects
which occasion them. Having once obtained them, they
immediately sever themselves from the objects which occa-
sion them, and become ideas of simple intellection, which
we use as abstract terms in all oi;ir reasonings.
REFERENCES.
Space — Locke, Book 2, chap. 13 ; Cousin, chap. 2 ; Reid, Essay 2,
chap. 19.
Space and body not the same — Locke, Book 2, chap. 18; Cousin,
chap. 2.
Infinity from spa<je — Locke, Book 2, chap. 13 ; Cousin, chap. 3 ; Reid<
Essay 2, chap. 19.
Unity — Locke, Book 2, chap. 7.
Substance and solidity — Locke, Book 2, «hap. 4 ; Cousin, coap 8
Number — Locke, Book 2, chap. 1L6, 17 ; Cousin, chap. 3.
Relation — Locke, Book 2, chap. 25.
Identity and Diversity — Locke, Book 2, chap 27^
Place — Locke, Book 2, chap. 13. /
13* h
150 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
BECTION IV. — SUGGESTED IDEAS OCCASIONED BY IHB
CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTS IN THE CONDITION OF
CHANGE.
Every one must be aware that motion, change, progress,
and decay, are written upon everything within us, and
upon everything without us. It is natural to suppose that
a variety of suggestions, or intuitive cognitions, would be
occasioned by the development of this universal law.
Our thoughts are in a condition of perpetual change.
Thought succeeds thought ; one conception follows another
without a moment's cessation, at least, during our waking
hours, from the commencement to the close of our present
existence. The idea of incessant change is essential to
our notion of life. Abolish it, and the result is universal
death.
Destitute of memory, we should be unconscious of these
changes, and cognizant only of the thought or emotion of
the present moment. Endowed with memory, however, we
become aware of the fact that the thought of which we are
now conscious is not the thought of which we were con-
scious a few moments since; and that the thoughts ol
yesterday, or of boyhood, are very different from the
thoughts of to-day.
The same knowledge is also derived from the acts of per-
ception in connection vith memory. We perceive a cloud
overspreading the heavens. When last we looked upward
all was clear ; now all is lurid. Again, the cloud is dissi-
pated, and all is sunshine. We arise in the morning, and
light is gradually stealing over the heavens. Soon, the sun
arises, and all nature is aroused to life. In a few hours it is
mid-day, and animal and vegetable droop wfth the ex-
C5e88ive heat. Soon, the sun declines ; it sinks beneata the
DURATION. . 151
horizon ; we are fanned by the breezes of the evening, and
behold the blue expanse above us dotted with innumerable
Btars. Had we no memory, we should be cognizant of the
existence of but one phenomenon, — that which presented
itself to us at a particular moment. Our existence in con-
sciousness would be limited to the smallest conceivable por-
tion of duration. Constituted as we are, we become aware
that one event succeeds another ; and we hold the fact of
this succession distinctly within our knowledge.
From both consciousness and perception, then, united with
memory, we acquire a knowledge of succession; that is,
that some other event or events preceded that of which we
are now cognizant. But another idea is immediately occa-
sioned in a human mind by the idea of succession, different
from it, and from any which we have thus far considered
It is the idea of duration. I cannot define it. I cannot
explain it. Yet it belongs to the very elements of human
thought. We can neither think nor act without taking it
for granted. It is a condition of existence : for, were there
no duration, nothing could exist. It is neither an idea of
perception nor of consciousness. We cannot cognize it by
our senses, nor is it an operation of the mind. The intel-
lect seizes upon it as soon as we recognize the fact of
succession. Ko one can give any further account of its
origin. No one can enumerate its qualities, for it has no
qualities. Yet, every one has the idea, and no one can con-
ceive of its non-existence.
We perceive, in th:s case, the difference between the
chronoloorical and the loo-ical order of these two ideas.
O CD
Chronologically, the idea of succession takes the precedence;
for, unless we had first cognized the fact of succession, we
should never have obtained the idea of duration. But when
both have been acquired, we immediately perceive that dura-
tion is the necessary condition to succession ; f.u, without
152 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
duration, succession would be impossible. Logically, there-
fore, duration takes the precedence.
The first measure of duration seems naturally to be the
succession of our own thoughts. A portion of duration
seems long or short, in retrospect, according to the number
of events to which we have attended, and the tone of mind
or the deojree of earnestness with which we have observed
them. But it is obvious that these elements vary greatly
with the same individual at difierent times^ and with dif-
ferent individuals at the same time. We, therefore, seek for
some definite portion of duration, as the unit by which we
may measure with accuracy any other limited portion.
Such natural unit is found in the revolution of the heavenly
bodies ; and hence we come to measure duration by days, and
months, and years, or by some definite portion of these
units. Duration measured in this manner we call time.
If I do not mistake, we mean, by time, that portion of dura-
tion which commences* with the creation of our race, and
which will terminate when '^ the earth and the things therein
shall be dissolved."
But let us take a year, and add to it by unity. We soon
arrive at a century. Taking this as our unit, we add again,
until we arrive at the era of the creation. We go backward
still, until we even find ourselves in imagination at the com-
mencement of the sidereal system. Duration is still unex-
hausted; it is yet an unfathomable abyss. We conceive
ot ages upon ages, each as interminable as the past duration
of the material universe, and cast them into the mighty
void ; they sink in darkness, and the chasm is still unfathom-
able. We go forward again, and add century to century,
without finding any limit. We pass on until. the present
system is dissolved, and duration is still immeasurable. We
add together the past and the future term of the existence
of the universe, and multiply it by millions of millions, and
DURATION. 153
we have approached no nearer than at first to the hmits of
duration. We are conscious that it sustains no relations
either to measure or limit. It is beyond all computation
made by addition of the finite. It is thus, from the contem-
plation of duration, that the idea of the infinite arises in a
human intellect from the necessity of its nature.
This idea of the infinite, to which the mind so necessarily
tends, and which it derives from so many conceptions, is
one of the most remarkable of any of which we. are cogni-
zant. It belongs to the human intelligence, for it arises
within us unbidden on various occasions, and we cannot
escape it. Yet it is cognized by none of the powers either
of perception or of consciousness. It is occasioned by
them ; yet it differs from them as widely as the human mind
can conceive. The knowledge derived from these sources
is by necessity limited and finite. This idea has no rela-
tions whatever to anything finite. It has no qualities,
yet we all have a necessary knowledge of what it means.
Is there not in this idea some dim foreshadowing of the rela-
tion which we, as finite beings, sustain to the Infinite One,
and of those conceptions which will burst upon us in that
unchanging state to which we are all so rapidly tending ?
Of cause and effect^ and of power.
I proceed to the consideration of this important subject.
I have no expectation of adding anything new to a discus-
sion, which, from the earliest history of philosophy, has
engaged the earnest thought of the ablest men. I shall not
enter upon the consideration of many of those questions
which emerge out of it. Were I to attempt to present
them ever so briefly, I should transcend the limits to which a
work of this kind must be restricted. I shall content my-
self with stating the views which, after some reflection, have
presented themselves to my own mind.
Let us, then, commence with the observation of a single
154 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
phenomenon ; that is, a case of change. Suppose, for in-
stance, I observe that water, which a few minutes since wa3
fluid, has now become solid. I find myself unable to think
of this change as an isolated fact, or as the commencement
of a series. It must have had antecedents. Nor is this
all. The antecedents must have stood in a certain relation
to it. Suppose I attempt to think of this change as occur-
rinor while all the conditions of the existence of the fluid
remained throughout just as they were at the beginning. I
cannot think it. There is a book on one end of my table.
I leave the room for a moment, and, on my return, I find it
at the other end of the table. I ask what moved it. I am
answered, nothing. I am told that all the conditions of the
existence of that book had been absolutely the same during
its change of place ; that no agency of any kind had been
exerted upon it, and yet the book had been removed from
one place to another. I am obliged to reply I cannot think
it. It is as unthinkable as the proposition that two straight
lines can at the same time be parallel and at right angles
with each other, or that two circles can cut each other in
moVe than two points. I intuitively know that there must
have been a cause which rendered the water hard, which an
hour ago was fluid ; and a cause which removed the book
from one place to another. If I am asked why I think in
this manner, I can give no account of it. I am obliged to
say I am so made. To think in this manner seems to me
necessary to the normal condition of a human intellect.
This, however, is but one form of causation ; the case in
which the antecedent and consequent, the cause and effect,
are both brute matter. A variety of other cases deserves to
be considered. •
2. Brute matter may be the cause of change in spirit.
Thus, I open my eyes and see a tree. A sonorous body is
struck, and I hear a sound. Here brute matter produces in
POWER, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 155
me a change. A new condition of mind is produced within
me, which I denominate a knowledge. This could not have
existed but for the presence of the material objects which
have caused it. Under some circumstances, the effect is as
inevitable as when both cause and effect are n^terial. The
effect, however, is here modified by conditions unknown in
the former case. For instance, a considerable pcrtiou of
my life is spent in sleep, during which time the effect of
ordinary agents upon my mind is suspended. Again ; no
know^ledge is created in my mind except through the medium
of consciousness. But consciousness is indirectly subject to
the will. If, by the effort of the will, it is earnestly directed
to another object, the tree may be present, or the sonorous
body may be struck, and no appropriate knowledge is created
in my mind. Here, w^e see that a new element enters into
the conditions of cause and effect, by which the universal
relation of the one to the other is considerably modified.
3. Spirit or mind may be the cause of change in matter.
The simplest instance of this mode of cause and effect is in
the movement of the limbs. I put forth my hand and take
a pen between my fingers. I dip it in the ink and proceed
to write a sentence. Here, I am conscious of an effort of
the will. I perceive the movement of my hand, and I
observe on the paper precisely the words which I intended
to write. In the normal condition of my spiritual and mate-
rial faculties, this effect is universal. But I observe here
another peculiarity. The event to be produced is foreseen
by the mind, and it takes place precisely according to its
predetermination. I ought, however, to add that, though
this event is always foreseen and intended, yet, by education,
the connection between the volition and the material result
is rendered more perfect. Thus, when I began to write, I
at first made nothing but straight lines., and could net for
some time make them as correctly as I intended. By prac-
156 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
tice, however, I rendered the connection between the voli-
tion and the physical act more and more perfect, so that
they camd at last to correspond with considerable accuracy
to each other.
4. Spirit may be the cause of change in spirit. Thig
Includes two cases : First, when we effect changes in the
condition of our own minds ; and, secondly, when we effect
changes in the minds of others.
1. When we effect changes in our own minds. For in-
stance, I am thinking of some subject ; I resolve to banish
it, and think of something else ; I succeed. The first thought
is displaced; it is to me, for the time, as if it had never
existed, and I now think of something entirely different.
Here, however, we may observe a considerable range in the
conditions of the phenomena. In the first place, much de-
pends on the general, and, also, on the particular energy of
my will. It may be constitutionally feeble, or, by neglect,
I may have lost the power of self-control. I try to banish
the present thought, and it will not leave me, or, if it leaves
me for the moment, it immediately returns. Again, I may
know that I ought to banish the thought Avhich now occupies
me, and I resolve to do it ; but, on the other hand, the
thought is pleasant to me, and I am unwilling to relinquish
it. Either no result, or a very imperfect one, is accom-
plished. Or, again, some peculiar thought has seized upon
me with overwhelming power, and, under my present cir-
cumstances, I cannot displace it by any effort of my will.
For instance, suppose I am a miser. I have cultivated
within myself the habit of esteeming wealth the greatest of
earthly blessings, and have given it the first place in my
affections. By a sudden calamity, a large portion of my
property is destroyed. Thinking of it will not restore it. I
desire to banish the subject from my mind. I cannot ; it ia
present with me by day and by nighb, tormenting me, and I
POWER, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 167
rannot help it. Here the pcwer of the will is conditioned
by the present state of the mind itself, which state is the
result of successive previous volitions. We hence perceive
that the act of the will here is subject to conditions ^vholly
unknown in the third case considered ; that is^ where the
mind acts on material substances.
2. The mind may produce change in other minds. Here
the conditions become more complicated. I will suppose
myself in the possession of some truth, which is, in its na-
ture, adapted to effect a change in the mind of another ; for
instance, a change in his course of action. Now, the effect
produced will depend both on the state of my own mind and
the state of mind in those whom I address. Thus, I may con-
ceive the truth imperfectly, feebly, so as to leave an indefinite
impression on others. I may conceive of it adequately, but
I may be unaffected by it myself, and may have no particu-
lar desire to affect others. Or, again, having a clear con-
ception of it myself, I may have an all-absorbing desire to
cause others to be affected as I am affected myself. Each
of these conditions will probably vary the effect produced
on the minds of others. Or, in this last case, supposing
myself to be ever so much in earnest, the effect of my com-
munication may be different in the case of each auditor.
The effect will, in each case, be determined by the state of
every man's mind. In one I may create joy, in another sor-
r:w ; one may be pleased, another displeased ; one may re-
solve to take the course which I recommend, and another to
resist it to the uttermost. Here, the same cause produces
diametrically opposite effects ; the effect in each individual
case being determined by the present condition of the mind,
and its relation to the truth which I exhibit.
Now, concerning these various cases, I would offer a few
suggestions.
1. So far as I am able to discover, these are all leg;ti-
14 '
158 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPIIT
mate instances of cause and effect. Whether I hare included
them all, I pretend not to determine, but I think no exhaust-
ive classification can be formed without including those
which I have mentioned.
2. The link which binds together the cause and the effect
is, in all cases, hidden. This is, I believe, universally
gi-anted. We may observe the cause and then the effect,
but a veil is in all cases spread over the nexus between
them, which it has not been given to the human mind to
penetrate.
3. When I examine these several cases, they seem to me
very unlike. The matter affecting and affected is, in the
different instances, exceedingly dissimilar, and the results
produced are very widely different. What can be more
unlike than the freezing of water by cold and the change
of the moral character of a human being by the presenta-
tion of truth ?
4. Hence, I would ask, may there not be different kinds
of causation ? May not causation in matter be a totally dif-
ferent nexus from causation in mind ? Were we endowed
with faculties capable of knowing perfectly all the phenom-
ena, might we not find them as dissimilar in themselves as
they are in their effects ?
5. Such being the possibility, can it be legitimate to rea-
son from causation in the one case to causation in the other;
that is, to conclude that because causation in matter is one
thing, therefore causation in spirit is the same thing? Is
not the argument for fatalism deduced from a view of the
indissoluble nature of cause and effect founded on this as-
sumption ?
6. Granting, what is evidently true, that, under precisely
the present conditions, any given cause must mevitably
produce, whether in matter or spirit, a definite ind certain
POWER, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 159
eflfect; are there not many things predicable of the inevita-
bleness in the one case which cannot be predicated of it
in the other ? For instance, I present to a miser a case of
distress, precisely calculated, in its nature, to awaken benevo-
lent emotions in the mind of an intellectual and moral being
in a normal condition. But, by a course of previous volun-
tary action, he has so changed his mind from its normal
condition, that the recital serves no other purpose than to
harden his heart against suffering. In his present condition,
this result as inevitably follows from my appeal, as his
death would follow from plunging a knife into his bosom.
Now, granting the inevitableness in both these cases to be
the same, is the nexus between the two events of the same
character? Suppose me to know the inevitableness to bo
the same, is the moral character of the two actions equal ?
If, then, finally, the nature of causation in matter and
causation in mind be so unlike, when finite beings alone are
concerned, that we cannot reason from the one to the other ;
how much greater must be the disparity when the cause is
infinite, and the effect produced is on the finite ! How, es-
pecially from causation in matter, can we reason respecting
the acts of the Infinite Spirit, whose thoughts are not as our
, thoughts? It would surely be a humbler and wiser philos-
ophy, if we believe in a Universal Cause of perfect holiness
and perfect love, to receive the facts of his government as
he has revealed them, assured that in the abysses of his
wisdom, far past our finding out, mercy and truth go before
his face, and justice and judgment are the habitation of his
throne.
The notion of cause, by the constitution of the human mind,
^ involves the idea of power. It is the logical condition to
this idea ; without it, the idea of cause could not exist. It
j8 that in the cause by virtue of which it produces its efteet
160 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
It is a cause simply, and for no other reason, than that in
it resides the power.
The notion of power is always fixed and invariable. We
cannot conceive of it as, under the same circumstances,
sometimes producing an effect and at other times produc-
\n(^ none. When we find such an antecedent, we at once
determine that it is destitute of power, and that it is not, in
this case, a cause. It is essential to our conception of
power, that under the same conditions it shall invariably
produce the same change.
Hence, we perceive the difference between invariable suc-
cession and cause. Cause is invariable succession with the
additional idea of power. Cousin's illustration here is ap-
posite. ^'I sit in my room," he observes, '^ and wish
that I could hear a certain air. Some one in another room
plays it. I wish for it again, and it is played again. But
this is a very different thing from taking up an instrument
and playing it myself The one is a case of succession, the
other of cause and effect. In the latter, I recognize my
own volition, not merely as the antecedent, but the cause of
the sounds.'' And we may observe, still further, that the
power, by reason of its in variableness, is the sole reason of
the invariableness of the succession. Were not power such
as I have suggested, the succession might intermit, vary,
and fluctuate, indefinitely.
This idea of cause and effect, and power, is not derived from
experience, as some philosophers have asserted. It springs by
necessity from the original constitution of the human mind.
When we observe a change we cannot do otherwise than
think of the cause. The change furnishes the occasion for
the creation of this idea ; but, as soon as we have arrived at
It, we know that the existence of the power residing in the
cause was the necessary condition to the existence of the
effect. It arises as truly on the first observation of a change,
POWER. CAUSE AND EFFECT. 161
as on the thousandth. It is as obvious to the apprehension
of children as of adults. If it was not apparent in the first
instance, it could not be in the thousandth. If, in the first
instance, we recognize nothing but succession, and had no
idea of cause and of power, the second instance would be
precisely like it, and the third, and thus indefinitely.
Every one remembers the case reported of Dr. Beattie. He
wrote, on the prepared soil of his garden, the name of his son,
a very young child, and sowed some delicate seeds in the
lines which he had thus traced. In a few days the child
came running to inform him of the wonder which he had
discovered — his own name plainly growing in the flower-
bed. The father, for a while, pretended to believe that there
Was no cause for the phenomenon, but that the letters had
grown in their present form of themselves, and he attempted
to create this belief in his son. It was all in vain ; the child
could not believe it. The necessary relation of cause and
eflfect was as deeply fixed in his mind as in the mind of his
father. Dr. Beattie then made use of this illustration to
teach him the necessary existence of a First Cause. The
same incident, I observe, has been related of the father of
Gen. Washington.
But, it may be asked, has experience nothing to do with
our investigation of the laws of cause and eflect ? I answer,
nothing whatever with our original idea of cause and of
power. This is given us in the very constitution of our
intellectual nature. If it were not so given, we should have
no conception of a cause, and should, of course, have nc
occasion to institute any inquiries concerning it.
But, although experience, or more properly experiment,
furnishes us with no original ideas of causation, yet, when this
idea has been given us, and we know that by necessity the
sause of a certain phenomenon must exist, it is by experiment
alone that we are able to discover what :hat cause is. Ex-
14*
162 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
periment, therefore, follows directly upon the suggestion of
causation in any particular instance. This may be clearly
illustrated by observing the principles which govern us in
carrying forward a case of philosophical investigation. The
steps in such a process are, I think, the following :
1. We observe an instance of obvious and manifest change,
or, in the language of philosophers, a phenomenon. We are
80 made that we cannot think of this change without also
thinking of the cause which produced it. Every one knows
that to speak of a change producing itself, or of a change
occurring with no relation whate\er to any other event, is
not only to speak nonsense, but to utter what is unthink-
able.
2. This notion of cause, which, in these circumstances,
has arisen within us, involves the idea of power. It is, in
fact, this power which makes it a cause. But, since power
is a fixed and unchangeable idea, we cannot conceive of it
without conceiving of it as always acting in the same way
under the same circumstances. Hence, we know that in
whatever antecedent the power resides, that antecedent
must be the cause of the phenomenon. And, on the other
hand, when we observe any antecedent to be fixed and in-
variable, in that we suppose the power to reside ; that is,
wc afiirm this antecedent to be the cause of the consequent
effect.
3. In order, then, to ascertain the fixed and invariable
antecedent, we institute our experiments. We place the
phenomenon under every variety of antecedents. When we
find an antecedent which, under all circumstances, invaria-
bly precedes the change, we assume this to be the cause.
Henceforth, these two events hold this relation to each
other.
4. Hence, we perceive that if two distinct and separate
Invents were the stated and invariable antecedents of another
POWER, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 1(53
event, it would be impossible to determine which of the twr
was the cause. One would fulfil the conditions of the prob
lem as well as the other. Hence we see that our knowl-
edge of causation is never abs3lute, being always conditioned
by the actual progress of human knowledge. Thus, so far
as human observation has gone, the event A has always
been the invariable antecedent of the event B. But subse-
quent investigations may reveal the fact that A is not the
invariable antecedent, or that the antecedency of A is condi-
tioned by some other event with which it must be combined
in order to produce the effect. Thus, it was observed that
water boiled at 212° of Fahrenheit, and it was, for a long
time, supposed that this law was universal. It was, how-
ever, subsequently ascertained that it boiled on the tops
of high mountains at a lower temperature. Hence it was
necessary to condition the former law by the pressure of the
atmosphere, and say that water boils at 212° at the level
of the sea. If it should be found that the electrical condi-
tion of the atmosphere had any power to modify the result,
it would be necessary to add this new condition to the origi-
nal law.
It may be useful to illustrate these remarks by observing
the manner in which we proceed in determining any particu-
lar cause. I will- take, for example, the freezing of water.
I perceive, on some occasion, for the first time, that
water, which I left fluid at sunset last evening, is solid this
morning. I, first of all, inquire whether it be the identical
substance w^hich was a short time since fluid. I examine
the vesse! in which it is contained ; I ascertain that no human
being has approached it ; that all the other water in the siime
vicinity has undergone the same transformation. I am
satisfied that here is a case of legitimate change.
i^'rom the constitution of my mind, I am unable to conceivo
that this change could have been produced without an ade-
164 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
quale cause. Had the water remained through the night,
with all its relations to all other things unchanged, it must
by necessity have continued in its original condition. This
is to me as obvious as that if a body be at rest, it must forever
remain at rest, unless some power from without compel it to
assume the condition of motion. There must, therefore, be
some cause for this event. The instinctive impulses of my
nature lead me to inquire for this cause. This inquiry I con-
duct by experiment or trial. In what manner shall I proceed?
I first observe all the antecedent events which I am able
to discover. For instance, the water was fluid in daylight ;
it became solid in darkness. Darkness may have been the
cause of its solidity. It became solid in the open air ; it
returned to its former fluidity as soon as it was brought into
the house. Change of place may have been the cause of
the phenomenon. Or, again, I observe that there was a
sudden change of temperature during the night, and that
the mercury in the thermometer fell from 40° to 20°. This
change of temperature may be the cause of which I am in
search. I proceed to institute a series of experiments for
the purpose of determining which of these is the invariable
antecedent of the phenomenon. I find that water, in various
instances, becomes solid in light as well as in darkness, and
that again it becomes fluid in darkness when it had become
solid in daylight. Darkness cannot, then, have been the
cause. I examine the other hypothesis. Was change of
place the cause ? I find that, without any change of place,
the water which was solid at sunrise becomes fluid at noon.
Change of place will not, therefore, account for the phenom-
enon. Was the cause, then, the change of temperature ?
I subject water to this trial. I find that everywhere,
and under all circumstances, when the temperature falls
below 32° Fahrenheit, water becomes solid, whether by
day or by night, and without any regard to locality. *
POiVER, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 165
therefore arrive at the conclusion that the temperature of
32° is the cause of the freezing of water, and that water
has the susceptibility of being frozen at this temperature
The two events thus stand to each other in the relation of
cause and effect. I have discovered the cause of the event,
or, in other language, I have accounted for a phenomenon.
It is on these principles, and in this manner, that we proceed
in any legitimate case of philosophical investigation.
Having thus obtained the idea of causation and of power,
and having learned how to determine the cause in any par-
ticular case, the necessity of our intellect obliges us to pro-
ceed a step further. As we look about us, we observe that
everything bears witness to the exertion of power. The
universe is subject to perpetual change, and change without
the idea of power is unthinkable. Day and night, sun-
shine and storm, summer and winter, spring and autumn,
are names indicative of changes and classes of changes
^nore numerous and more complicated than the human mind
can comprehend. Power is, then, one of the most univer-
sal ideas of which we are able to conceive. But let us look
at the case a little more carefully. We say that atmospheric
air, moisture, and sunlight, are the causes of vegetation.
Let us, then, examine the growth of a vegetable, from the
putting forth of its first leaf, through all the changes of its
development, to its beautiful flower and its ripened fruit.
Let us examine a single leaf, and investigate all its func-
tions, and their exquisite adaptation to cooperate in the
general design. Let us generalize this case, and we find
the surface of our globe to be thickly covered with just
Buch instances. We cannot fail to obserye that the beauty
and adaptations of the effect infinitely transcend any attri-
bute possessed by the physical cause. We cannot conceive of
the gases of the atmosphere, the drops of water, and the rays
of the sun, as adequate causes of all these wonderful results.
166 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
We conceive by necessity of some cause or causes unseen^
beyond, directing, controlling, energizing, those perceived
causes, in which, at first view, this power seemed to reside.
To ascend thus from apparent to unseen causes, from
physical to supernatural power, seems to be the necessary
tendency of our intellectual nature. The human mind is
hardly capable of so intense degradation as not to recognize
the existence of some power unseen, by which all that is
seen is governed and sustained. Hence have arisen the
innumerable systems of idolatry wnich have prevailed among
men. Every nation recognizes some invisible powers as the
causes of visible changes, and hence as objects of worship.
The very absurdity of many of these systems teaches us
this tendency in the clearest possible manner. The more
absurd the object of worship, the stronger is the proof that
the necessities of the human intellect demand some cause
to which the changes of visible nature can be referred ; and
that it will accept the most preposterous notion of an ulti
mate cause, sooner than believe that no such cause exists.
But the human mind, having advanced thus far, proceeds
by necessity a step further. As we contemplate the vari-
ous phenomena of the universe, we. observe that no class of
facts, nor any single fact, is isolated. All are parts of one
plan, the development of one idea. The vegetable and
animal kingdoms, the laws which govern organic and inor-
ganic nature, and the relations which subsist between them,
all represent portions of one idea, which must have been
ODnceived by a single intelligence before anything visible
waa created. Hence we are called upon to account for this
perfect harmony in this infinite variety of parts, the perfect
order which exists among beings in themselves so diverse
from each other. We can account for it only on the sup-
position that the cause of causes is not many, but one, in-
finite in power and -fisdom, the sufficient reason why every
■ POWER, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 167
thing IS, and why it is as we now behold it. That tliia
opinion has universally prevailed among men who liavo
addicted themselves to thinking, is manifest. The philoso-
phers who paid an outward respect to the classic mythology
acknowledged and reverenced the Supreme Divinity. And
everywhere, among men of reflection, it has been acknowl-
edged that, if there are causes beyond those which we per-
ceive, there must be one universal Cause, all-powerful, all-
wise, all-good, self-existent, and, of course, eternal.
But, supposing this to be granted, other questions emerge
from this belief. If there be a universal, all-pervading Cause,
what is the nature of his agency ? In material causation, is
Jie the sole operator in every change, so that every event is
an immediate act of the Deity, or the result of such an
act 7 Or, on the other hand, has he constituted matter with
such attributes and relations that all which w^e see is the
necessary consequence of the original creation, from which
the Creator has withdrawn, and over which he now^ exerts no
agency? And, again, in spiritual changes, similar questions
arise. Does the free will of man act independently of any
controlling agency of the Deity, or is the Deity the cause
of spiritual change, as in the first supposition above in
regard to matter ? Or has he so created spirits that the
chanj;L's of which w^e are conscious proceed by necessity
from the elements of our original creation 'I These ques-
tions, and many more, arise from the conception of an uni-
versal, all-pervading, and all-pow^erful Cause.
With respect to these inquiries, I w^ould remark, in gen-
eral, that I believe the most opposite answers to either of
them can probably be proved to be true, by arguments
which it would be diflScult to confute ; and that the clearest
reasoning may lead us to results at variance with the sim-
plest dictates of our moral and intellectual nature. To what
conclusion, then, shall we arrive ? I arewer, to the belief
168 INTELLECTUAL THILOSOPHY.
that the subject is clearly beyond the reach of our under-
standinf'. The point in which the infinite and the finite
come in contact has been, and must ever be, hidden from
mortjil eyes. It is the dictate of reason and religion that
tlie Deity is all-wise, all-good, and all-powerful, and there-
fore that he is the only being capable of governing the uni-
verse which he has made. It is not possible that such a
being shoald govern it too much. On the other hand, we
have the evidence of our own consciousness that we are per-
fectly free. We know that such a being as the Deity must
carry on his wise and just and merciful intentions, and that
he must carry them on through the agency of his intelli-
gent creatures ; we know, also, that we are perfectly free
to act as we choose, and that this freedom is an essential
element of our moral responsibility. Of the manner in
which these agencies cooperate, I think we must be content
to remain in ignorance.
REPERENCES.
Idea of power — Locke, Book 2, chap. 7, sec. 8.
Power, active and passive — Locke, Book 2, chap. 21, sec. 2.
Cause and effect — Locke, Book 2, chap. 26.
Idea of a God — Locke, Book 4, chap. 10, sec 1 — 8.
Cause and effect — Reid, Essays on In. Powers, Essay 6, chap. 6.
Power, cause and effect — Reid, Essays on Active Powers, Essay 1.
Locke's idea of power examined — Cousin, chap. 4.
Notion of power derived either from the objective or subjective —
Cousin, chap. 4.
SECTION V. — SUGGESTED IDEAS ACCOMPANIED BY EMOTION*
We have thus far considered those ideas which are sug-
gested to us by the contemplation of oojects which produce
In us no emotion. They are purely intellectual, and have
SUGGESTED EMOTIONS. 169
no other effect upon us than to increase our knowledge.
Thus, the ideas of duration, cause and effect, space, and a
variety of others, are simple knowledges, and produce in ua
no ulterior state of mind.
Were we merely intellectual beings, these would be all
the suggestive ideas of which we need be conscious. But
we find the case to be otherwise. We are made not only to
knou\ but io fep-L As we look abroad upon the world, we
find ourselves not only capable of knowing that things are or
are not, but also of deriving pleasure or pain from the con-
templation of them. Who does not know with whaji eager
gaze the eyes of the child are turned towards the rainbow 7
Who has not been deeply moved at beholding the glory of a
summer's sunset? Again, it is undeniable that we are
variously affected by our observation of the actions of our
fellow-men. Some of them awaken in us admiration, re-
spect, gratitude and love ; others fill us with disapprobation,
disgust and abhorrence. These various cognitions, and the
emotions which they create, belong, I suppose, to the class
of original suggestions. They may be divided into two
classes : 1, Ideas of the beautiful and the sublime, or ideas
of taste ; and, 2, Moral ideas.
1. Ideas of the beautiful and sublime.
Let us commence the exposition of this subject by an
example. Suppose there were placed before us an antique
marble vase of exquisite workmanship. We look at it, and
observe its color, and form, and proportions. We feel of it. and
discover that it is solid; smooth and heavy. We test it by
our other senses, and ascertain whether or not it possesses
-any qualities which they can recognize. When we have
done this, we have obtained all the knowledge concerning it
which our perceptive faculties can give.
Let us now place by the side of it a rough block of mar-
ble, of a similar magnitude. The senses give us, as before,
15
170 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
a knowleuge of its color, form, solidity, roughness or smooth-
ness, sonorousness, taste and smell. This knowledge is all
that our perceptive faculties can give us in either case.
Were we merely intellectual, that is, unemotional beings,
no other impression besides that of knowledge would be
produced upon us. Both of these objects would be con-
temphited with equal indifference ; nay, the rough block
might be preferred, if we could devote it to a purpose of
utility of which the other was not susceptible. Thus, we
are told that, not unfrequently, the remains of a beautiful
statue are found imbedded in mortar, in the wall of a peas-
ant's hovel, in the neighborhood of an ancient city on the
plains of Asia Minor.
Let us now observe these objects together, and remark
the feelings which they awaken within us. We cannot fail
to observe that the one has a power of affecting us very dif-
ferently from the other. As we look upon the one, we are
conscious of an emotion of exquisite pleasure. We attach
to it a value such as wealth can scarcely estimate. We look
upon the other with total indifference, or, it may be, with
disgust, and cast it aw^ay as an incumbrance. To the one
we are powerfully attracted, while from the other we are
repelled. We recognize in the one the quality of beauty,
cf which we perceive the other to be destitute. A child at
an early age would make this distinction. Every one
knows how strongly even very young persons are attracted
by brilliant colors and agreeable forms. Yet this emotion
liannot be defined. It arises unbidden at the contemplation
of outward objects of a particular character, under such
circumstances as have been appointed by the Creator to "
occasion it within us. ,
This idea is not, however, cognizable directly by the
Benses. We neither see. nor hear, nor feel, nor taste beauty;
nor is it an energy of our minds. Yet, whenever we per-
EMOTIONAL ST/GGESTIONS. 171
ceive certain external objects, there arises within us the
knowledge that thej are beautiful, and we are conscious ot*
the subjective emotion which this quality occasions. In
this respect it resembles the other suggested ideas. They,
as we have seen, are not cognized by the senses, but the
cognitions derived from the senses are the occasion of
their existence. So, in this case, as soon as we are con-
scious of the perceptions, we are conscious of the cogni-
tion of this quality,, and of the emotion which this quality
produces.
The emotion of the beautiful is suggested by an infinite
variety of objects in the external w^orld. It arises from the
contemplation of form, of color, of motion, of proportion,
and, in fact, from almost every object in nature. I shall
not here enter into an illustration of these obvious facts.
'It is sufficient merely to allude to them, reserving the more
extended discussion to another place.
If we observe the various objects which give occasion to
this emotion, we shall observe them to be exceedingly dis-
similar. The objects are unlike, but the emotion is the
same. We thus learn to distinguish the emotion produced,
from the causes which produce it. Having done this, we
ascribe to any object this quality, if it produces in us this
paiticular emotion. Thus, the mathematician speaks of
the beauty of a demonstration ; the critic, of the beauty of
a metaphor ; the moralist, of the beauty of a social relation ;
and the mechanic of the beauty of a machine. In each
■ case, the emotion of the beautiful is awakened in the mind
of the speaker, and he ascribes the quality of beauty to
that which produces it.
There is also another emotion, suggested by the contem-
' plation of material and immaterial objects, in many respecta
similar to the emotion of beauty. The mode of its origin
is the same. It is suggested, in the first instance, by objects
172 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
in nature , it is a source of exquisite pleasure ; it arise?5 on
a oreat variety of occasions ; but yet the emotion itself is
always the same. Its character may perhaps be best illus-
trated by an example. He who has stood by the sea-side in
a storm may perhaps remember the ceaseless roar of the
waves, the rude shock of the surge, which, heaving itself
a^^ainst the cliff, made the solid rock to tremble beneath
him, and the tossing of the white foam as it flew from the
crest of the billow. All this might have been equally well
perceived by the dog at his feet, or the wild sea-bird, as,
screaming in gladness, it dashed into the thickest of the
spray. But these are not all the ideas that arise within the
bosom of the man. Besides all these, he feels an emotion
of awe, and yet of exultation ; of solemnity, and yet of
excitement ; of humility when he thinks of his own little-
ness, and yet of greatness when he yields himself up to the
conceptions which crowd upon him. His imagination roams
over the ocean ; he muses upon its matchless power, its vast
extent, its deceitful smiles, and its sudden wrath, until he is
bewildered in the throng of his thick-coming fancies. Every
one recognizes in this the emotion of sublimity.
Here, as before, we perceive that this idea, and the emo-
tion which accompanies it, are entirely different from the
simple perceptions by which they are occasioned. They
could not arise without the perceptions, and the perceptions
would be perfect without them. They are called forth un-
der peculiar circumstances in obedience to the principles
of our constitution, and, having once arisen, they remain
with us, irrespective of the circumstances that gave them
birth.
Having, howBver, obtained this idea, with its correspond-
ing emotion, we find that it is excited by a variety of spirit-
ual conceptions, as well as external perceptions. The infi-
nite in space and duration, immaculate justice, heroic self
MORAL SUGGESTIONS. 17?
denial, self-sacrificing love, and a large variety of the more
majestic moral qualities, excite this emotion in a very high
degree. How dissimilar soever they may be .in themselves,
if they awaken this emotion we class them under the same
designation, and call them all sublime. Hence we speak
of the sublime in nature and in art, of the sublime in elo-
quence, in poetry, and in action. The external objects
which awaken this emotion are dissimilar, but, producing
a similar effect, we comprehend them all under the same
classification.
Of moral ideas derived from suggestion.
Thus far we have observed chiefly those suggested ideas
which may be derived from irrational objects. It would be
natural to expect that suggestions of a peculiar character
would be occasioned by observing the actions of our fellow-
men, intelligent and accountable agents.
Thus, for instance, I find myself in possession of a cer-
tain amount of power. I can move my limbs in any direc-
tion. I know, however, that these motions are not uncaused ;
they are consequent upon, and caused by, the energy of my
own will. I look further, and find that my will does not
act at random. I will to. perform an action, in order to ac-
complish a certain purpose. So long as I am sane, that is,
governed by the established laws of my being, I find these
two antecedents, will and motive, always preceding every
act of power which I exert.
K I observe the acts of others, I come to the same con-
clusion. I cannot conceive of an act of a man in a normal
condition, without considering it as emanating from his will ;
nor can I conceive of an act of the will uninfluenced by any
motive. Hence, when we contemplate the act of an intelli-
gent being, we always involve in our conceptions not mercJy
the outward chancre, but also the will in which it originated
and the motive by which the will was governed
15*
174 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
But c ir acts commonly influence the happiness, or affect
the riglits of our fellow-men. Whenever we observe such
an act, there arises in the mind a wholly new idea, unlike
any which we have thus far examiiied ; it is the idea of
right or wrong. A particular quality in that action is im-
mediately recognized. Perception gives us nothing but the
external act ; but by virtue of our constitution there is sug-
gested to us a moral quality, something very different from
the external action itself; and the cognition of this quality
is always attended by certain subjective affections. These
subjective affections are the most important of any of which
we are susceptible. The faculty of the mind which gives
rise to these objective cognitions and subjective affections
is called conscience. It belongs to moral philosophy to
treat of this subject at large.
I might mention various Other instances of original sug-
gestion, but the above will suflSce to illustrate my meaning.
It will, I think, be obvious, from what I have said, that, by
virtue of this power, we possess a distinct and most impor-
tant source of knowledge. The ideas which we derive in
this manner are unlike those either of perception or con-
sciousness, yet they are no less truly clear and definite,
and really lie at the foundation of all our subsequent
knowledge. They seem, more than any other of our ideas,
to result from the exertion of the pure intellect. We
know them to be true, without the intervention of any
media. The intellect with which we are created vouches
for their truth, and we cannot conceive them to be false.
If it be asked how we may improve this faculty, I answer
that m a matter so simple, when our knowledge is intuitive,
rules seem almost useless, i few suggestions may, how-
ever, not be wholly without advantage.
It must be obvious to every one, that our train of
thought may follow in the line of our perceptions, or of our
ORIGINAL SUQGESTIONS. 175
BQggestions We may pass from perception to perception
without heeding the suggestions to which they give occasion;
or. detaining every perception, we may follow out to their
utmost extent the suggestions which spring from it. The
former is the habit of the superficial, the latter of the re-
flective mind. The one cognizes only th'e facts which are
visible on the surface ; the other arrives at a knowledf'-e of
the hidden relations by which all that is seen is united •
together and directed. Millions of men, before Sir Isaac
Newton, had seen an apple fall to the ground, but the sight
awakened no suggestion ; or, if it did, the suggestion was
neither retained nor developed. He seized upon it at once,
followed it to its results, -and .found that he had caught hold
of the thread which could guide him through the labyrinth
of the universe.
If, then, we would cultivate the faculty of original sug-
gestion, we must exercise it by patient thought. Sugges-
tions will arise in our minds, if we will only heed them,
'■ and they will arise the more abundantly the more carefully
we heed them. We should attend to our own intuitions,
examine their character, determine their validity, and follow
them CO their results. We should have due respect for the
teachino's of our own individual intellio:ence. What other
men have thought is valuable, but its chief value is, not to
save us from the labor of thinking, but to enable us to
think the better for ourselves. If, with patient earnestness,
we thus follow out the suggestions of our own minds, we
Bhall find them enriched and invigorated. Instead of drink-
ing forever at the fountains of other men, the mind will
thus discover a fountain within itself "If," said Sir Isaac
Newton, " I am in any respect different from other men, it
is in the pov-er of patient thought."
176 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
REFERENCES.
Origin of moral ideas — Locke, Book 2, chap. 2, sees. 1, 2 ; book %
chap. 21, sec. 42 ; book 2, chap. 28, sec. 5.
Cousin, chap. 5.
Necessity of patient; thought in cultivating original suggestion — Locln
Book 4, chap. 3, sec. 22—30.
Abercrombie, Part 4, 9M. I
,
CHAPTER IV.
ABSTRACTION.
Iisr order the more definitely to understand the nature of
Abstraction, let us review the ground which we have passed
over, that we may the more distinctly perceive the point
from which we are about to proceed.
We have seen that by perception we cognize externa]
objects, and that by consciousness we cognize our internal
energies. Our knowledge, however, derived from both of
these sources, is individual and concrete. I perceive a tree ;
it is an individual tree. I perceive fifty trees ; they are all
individuals, difiering in various respects from each other
but each a distinct and unique object of perception. So,
also, I am conscious of an act of memory, that is, of remem-
bering a particular object. I am conscious of remembering
another. Each act is numerically, and as I think of it, dis-
tinct from every other act. Our conceptions of these acts
are of the same character as the acts themselves, and, with
these powers alone, every idea would be as distinct from every
other idea as the grains of sand on the sea-shore, without
either cohesion or fusibility.
The same remark applies in substance to the ideas derived
from original suggestion. Of these ideas some I know are
general, and can be referred to no particular object. Such
are the ideas of space, duration, infinity, and perhaps some
others. These are cognized as universal and necessary iin
178 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
Booii as the mind begins to think ; and, as they are at the
beginning, so they remain forever, unsusceptible of either
change or modification. Another class of our suggestive
ideas is, however, of a different character. I perceive, for
instance, a case of change, as the rolling of a ball, or the
falling of a pin. The idea of cause and power at once sug-
gests itself, but it is of the power requisite to produce this
effect, and this only. It is the idea, not of causation jn
general, but of causation in this individual instance. Should
I see another case of change, the same notion of causation
would arise, but it w^ould again be of an individual change,
and would be wholly disconnected from that which I ob-
served before. That is, every idea of causation would- be
indissolubly connected with that change by which it was oc-
casioned, and thus our knowledge of causation would be
nothing moTe than the remembrance of these several isolated
and separate facts.
If, then, our intellectual powers were limited to those
which we have already considered, it is easy to imagine
what must be our condition. We could perceive individual
objects, and be conscious of the exertion of individual ener-
gies, or of the putting forth of certain intellectual acts.
Every object of perception would be distinct and discon-
nected, and equally so the conceptions which it originated.
Our knowledge would be all of individuals, and every object
must have its own proper name, or that which is equivalent
to it. When we speak of different men, we call them John,
James, William, meaning by each of these terms to desig-
nate an individual unlike every other in existence. Such
would be our knowledge if we had no other faculties than
those already examined.
But, if we look into our own minds, and ol^serve the minds
of other men, we find our condition to be the reverse of all
this. Proper names, or those used to designate individuals,
I
ABSTRACTION. 179
are the rarest words in a language. We use them only to
point out persons and places, and when these are not alluded
to such words are never employed. In works of science
they have no place whatever, unless we find it necessary to
refer to some historical fact. Language is made up alto-
gether of words designating classes of things, as book, house,
tree, idea : or of qualities, as red, white, blue, warm, cold ;
or of actions, as walk, ride, think, give, take ; or of relations,
as by, to, upon, &c. When we use these words we have
no reference to individuals, and desire merely to indicate
classes of things, actions, qualities or relations, signified by
these terms. So universally is this the case, that, when we
wish to individualize a particular object, we are obliged tc
use several descriptive terms, in order to distinguish it from
its class. Thus, if I wish to direct attention to a particular
table, I am obliged to refer to it as my table, of such a
color and size, or standing in such a place, or bought of
such a person. In this manner we select an individual
from a class, in order to make it an object of particular
attention.
We observe, then, what our conceptions would be, were
we endowed with no other powers than those which we have
thus far considered. We see, on the other hand, what our
conceptions actually are. With no other powers than those
of perception, consciousness, and original suggestion, our
ideas would be all of individuals. But we find, in fact, that
they are the reverse of this — that they are all of classes.
We naturally inquire. How does :his change take place 7 How
do we pass from the conception of individuals to the concep-
tion of generals ? How, from single, isolated, concrete facts,
do we form notions of classes, or of genera and species';
It is to this subject that we are now to direct our attention
Abstraction is that faculty of the mind by \vhich frou
180 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
individual, concrete conceptions, we form general and ab-
stract ideaa.
Though I spej|k of abstraction as a faculty of the mind,
1 am aware that it is, in many respects, unlike those of
which I have thus far treated. It gives us no new knowl-
edge, like perception, consciousness and original suggestion ;
it only modifies the knowledge which we have acquired by
these faculties. It does not, like them, perform its office
by a single act. On the contrary, it accomplishes its object
by a succession of acts, each one different from both the
others. Yet^ as it performs a function which could be per-
formed by no other power, — as it actually does something,
and as a faculty is the power of doing something, — I think
we cannot err in designating it by the same general name
which is given to the other intellectual energies.
In the mental process by which we pass from individuals
to generals, three separate acts can be distinctly perceived ;
these are analysis^ generalization and combination.
1. Analysis, I have remarked, when treating of concep-
tion, that we have the power of retaining a notion of any
object of perception after the object is removed, precisely
similar to that which we formed when we were perceiving
it. For instance, I saw a rose yesterday. I cognized it
then as present, and observed its color, form, magnitude,
as a distinct and concrete object, uniting in itself these
various and dissimilar qualities. I retain to-day a notion
of it as an object absent, uniting in itself all the various
qualities which I cognized in it as present. The difference,
subjectively, is merely between the notion of the object
as present and the notion of it as absent. Now, when I
make the conception of this rose an object of reflection, 1
am able to separate, in thought, these qualities from each
other ; tliat is, to think of each quality separately, without
thinking of the others. Thus, I may think, exclusively, of
ABSTRACTION. 181
its color, then of its form, its weight, &^. ; at each time
banishing from my mind the conception of all the other
qualities. I look upon a lily ; I form a conception of it in
the same manner, and in the same manner can I, in thought,
separate its qualities one from the other, making each one
of them the exclusive object of attention. I behold a moun-
tain as present. I form a conception of it as absent. I can
think exclusively of its form, or its magnitude, or its color,
or its trees, or of the strata of which it is formed. The act by
which we thus, in thought, separate the elements of a con-
crete conception from each other, and consider each one by
itself as a distinct object of thought, is commonly termed
abstraction. I prefer to call it analysis, as this word suf-
ficiently designates its character, and distinguishes it from
the other acts which with it go to make up the process of
abstraction.
I wish it, however, to be distinctly remembered, that this
act, in every case, has for its object an individual conception.
I have analyzed my conception of a rose, and considered its
qualities separately. But they are the qualities of this
particular rose, and nothing more. The case is the same
when I analyze a lily, or a mountain ; it is not the analysis
of any and every lily, or mountain, but only of that one
which I saw, and of which I now form a conception. The
color is not the color of roses, or lilies, but only of this par-
ticular rose, or of that particular lily. The same remark
applies to the form, fragrance, or any other of its qualities.
It is just the same as if I, for the first time, saw one of
these objects, and were never to see it again. In thought, I
separate each one of its qualities from the other, and then
the mental a^ct terminates.
2. Generalization. By analysis I have separated the
qualities of an individual rose. Suppose I were called upon
to give to each of them a name ; I could do it in no other
16
1S2 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
manner than by designating each of them by the name oi
tlie object from which the concrete conception was deri\eA
1 must call them, for instance, the color, the form, the fra-
grance, the weight, of the rose A. But suppose, now, anothei
rose is presented to me. I analyze the conception which I
Lave formed of it as before, and find it made up of color,
form, fragrance, etc. These qualities now cease to be the
qualities of the rose A ; they become the qualities of tlio
roses A and B. I see a hundred roses. I analyze the con
ceptions which I form of them, and 'find the same qualities
in each. These qualities cease, then, to be the qualities of
the roses A and B, but become the qualities of roses.
But I proceed further, and analyze the conception I have
formed of other objects, as, for instance, of a carnation, a
peo^y ; and I find that the color of the rose is also the
color of these flowers. I observe again, and find that
cherries and other fruits present the same color. It ceases,
then, to be the color of roses, or flowers, or fruits ; and, by
necessity, separating it from every object in which I per-
ceived it, I designate it by a particular name, and call it
red. Again ; I observe a violet ; I analyze the conception
which I f3rm of it, and call the color, the color of this par-
ticular violet. I see several violetSj all having the same color,
and then this color becomes to me the color of violets, I
observe monks-hood, and various other flowers, different
kinds of fruit, the heavens above me, and many other objects
clothed in the same color ; and it is no longer the color of
a violet, or of violets. I give it a name to designate this
particular quality, and call it blue. Henceforward I think
of it by itself, without any reference to all, or any, of the
objects in which I at first detected it. It forms, in my mind,
a distinct conception. Again; I find that every object
which I perceive has a particular mode of addressmg the
eye Some are red, some are blue some are brown. I
ABSTRACTION. 182
^3nsider thi? impression, aside from the various objects which
j produce it, and give it a general name, color.
j . In this manner we form simple abstract ideas of the
' several qualities which we observe- We derive them origi-
nally from individuals, in the manner above stated ; but we
conceive of them without respect to any individuals what-
ever.
When these simple abstract ideas are thus formed, tliey
constitute the alphabet which we use in thinking. As we unite
the letters of the alphabet into syllables, syllables into
* words, and words into sentences and discourse, so these sim-
ple abstract ideas, combined into the various forms of com-
plex conceptions, form the matter which we use in the exer-
cise of the powers of reasoning and imagination.
3. Combination. The process in this case is exceedingly
obvious. Having obtained these simple abstract ideas, dis-
connected from any subject in which they originally existed, it
' is manifestly in our power to unite them together so as to form
any complex conceptions that we may desire. Thus, to
refer to the previous instances, I have formed simple abstract
ideas of red, blue, the form and the fragrance of a rose, the
color, form, and fragrance of a lily, or violet, the magnitude
and form of a mountain. It is evident that I may recom-
^ bine these different simple ideas just as I choose. I can. in
conception, unite the form of a rose with the color of a lilyj
and the fragrance of a violet. I should, then, have the
conception of a white rose with the perfum.e of a violet. I
can unite the idea of the form of a mountain with the color
red. and I then have a red mountain. I may combine the
notion of red with the leaves and green with the petals of a
rose, and I have a green rose with red leaves, &c.
In this manner we are every moment forming conceptiong
by means of language, either written or spoken. A few
days since I read in a newspaper an account of a new variety
184 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. jMM
of roses which had been discovered in North Carolina ; iti
peculiarity consisting in this, that the petals of the flower
were green. I unite together the simple abstract ideas in-
dicated by the words, and I have almost as definite concep- •
tion of it as if I had seen it. So, when any new plant,
or animal, or work of art, is described to us, we immediately
unite the several simple ideas in the manner indicated by
our informer, and the conception stands before -our minds I
like a reality.
From this view of the subject, we see that abstraction —
meaning by this term the three several acts entering into
this process — is indispensable to the formation of language.
To make the most simple affirmation by the use of proper
names, or individual concrete conceptions, such as they
are delivered to us by perception, consciousness, and orig-
inal suggestion, is manifestly impossible. We must, by such
combinations as I have mentioned, form ideas designating
classes ; or language could not exist. K we examine
the words of a language, we shall find that, except such as
designate simple ideas, they are all used to express a group
of ideas united under a single term. The definition of a I
word analyzes it, and shows the various simple ideas of i
which it is composed. Thus, if we take any words at ran- «
dom, as debtor, creditor, father, brother, iEriend, country
patriotism, treachery, murder, robbery, fee, we shall find
that each of them is composed of several distinct ideas. A J
correct definition gives us every element that essentially |
belongs to the compound conception. , I
We thus learn the manner in which the communication
of thought is rendered practicable. A single word is made
the vehicle of ever so large a group of conceptions. If, in-
stead of using such words, we were obliged at length to
enumerate all the ideas which they designate, human inter-
course by language must cease. The thought now expressed
ABSTRACTION. 185
OL a single sentence would require pages iuv its develop-
ment, and the multitude of apparently disconnected ideas
would render the comprehension of an ordinary statement
almost impossible.
From these illustrations of the nature of abstraction, it
appears that the exercise of this faculty may give rise to
two different classes of conceptions. The first class is
formed entirely in obedience to our own will. Having
formed simple abstract ideas, we have the power to unite
them together in just such compound conceptions as we
please. We may conceive of the magnitude of a mountain
with the form and color of a rose; we have then a concep-
tion of a rose as great as a mountain. We may unite the
form of wings with that of a horse, and we have the concep-
tion of a winged horse. We may go further, and unite in
one complex conception various distinct images of beauty.
Thus, Milton, from various scenes which he had beheld,
selected those portions best adapted to his purpose, and
formed the complex conception of the Garden of Eden. So
the sculptor, from several specimens of the human form,
selects those features which seem best suited to his purpose,
and unites them in one conception more perfect than any
which he has seen in actual existence. Wheni we use this
faculty for these purposes, we call it Imagination.
But we use this faculty for another purpose. By means
of it we form all our classifications of the objects of nature,
and hence it lies at the foundation of all natural science.
Here, however, we find it acting under different condi-
tions from those which we have last considered. The ele-
ments of our complex conceptions were then subject to
nothing but the will. Our object was to please, and, if this
was accomplished, our whole end was attained. Here, our
object is to instruct. We desire our classifications to coin-
cide with objects in nature, and if they do not our labor m
16*
186 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
worse than th:own away. We are, therefore, restricted
in our materials to the matters of fact before us. In form-
ing a complex conception from nature, we must combine
precisely those elements which nature herself has combined,
and neither more nor less. In just so far as my conception
departs from the fact in nature, it is imperfect, superfluous,
or monstrous. If I am forming a scientific conception of a
lion, I must admit into it precisely those elements w^hich
nature has united in this class of animals. If I form a con-
ception of a lion at will, I may add to it wings, any color
that pleases me, and any magnitude that will answer my
purpose. In the one case, we have the conception of a phys-
iologist; in the other, of an imaginative sculptor, such as
designed the winged lions in the temples of Nineveh.
The manner in which we form the classifications of sci-
ence may, then, be easily illustrated. Suppose a physiol-
ogist wishes to form a scientific conception of a horse. A
specimen is presented to him ; he examines the outward
appearance of the animal, its form, color, motion ; he dis-
sects it, and examines its internal structure, the peculiarities
of its skeleton, the number of its bones, their position and
relations to each other. He takes note of these elements
with all the cafe in his power. These various simple ideas
belong to nothing but this individual specimen, the horse
A. Let another specimen be in a similar manner exam-
uied. He notes, as before, all its elementary ideas, and pro-
ceeds until he has satisfied himself that further investigation
is useless. But these various elements have now ceased to
be the elements of any particular horse ; they are the ele-
ments of the class of animals whose character he is investi-
gating.
He k now desirous of uniting these several ideas' into a
conception that shall apply not to one or another horse,
but to all horses. He compares these elementary ideas, and
ABSTRACTION. 187
finds some of ^chem constant ; that is, belonging to all the
horses he has seen. Others of them are inconstant ; that is,
they belong to some, and not to others. He separates the
one from the other, uniting in one complex conception all
the constant elements, and leaving out of his conception all
that are variable. For instance, the form of the skeleton,
the number of vertebrie, the structure a,nd number of the
teeth, the organs of digestion, etc., are constant. These are
found to be the same in all. On the other hand, color, size,
and many other elements, are variable. It is by the union
of these constant qualities that he forms his general abstract
idea of a horse, referring to no horse in particular, but being
the conception which answers in his mind to that word when
it is used either by himself or others. In this manner all
our general conceptions, that is, conceptions comprehending
a number of similar objects, are formed. That we are
always conscious of every step of the process, I do not affirm.
We are so continually performing this mental operation, that
we give no heed to the manner in which we proceed. If,
however, any one will pause, and observe his own mental
operations, I think he will find them such as I have
attempted to describe.,
I have spoken of the mode in which our general abstract
conceptions are formed in matters of science. It isi proper
to remark thgft all men, whether learned or unlearned, pro-
ceed precisely in the same manner. A common man. in
forming his notion of a horse, acts just like a physiologist.
The only difference is, that the one is able to detect a
greater number of elementary ideas, and is the better able
to distinoruish the constant from the variable. The one ob-
serves merely the elements which are obvious to the senses ;
the other, by dissection, examines the organs which perform
:he functions necessary to the existence of the animal. The
difference, then, is, that the observation of the one covers a
188 INTELLtOTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
larger field, and is made with more minute accuracy, than
the other. Both, howev:)r, depend on the same principles,
and obey the same intellectual impulses.
It will be readily seen, from what has been remarked, that
abstraction, or the faculty by which we form classes, is indis-
pensable to enumeration. Whenever we speak of any num-
ber of objects, we must first reduce them to a class. Thus,
if I were asked how many are there in this room, how
would it be possible to reply ? I ask how many what 7 —
how many persons, or books, or chairs, or tables, or things ? '
Until I know the class to which the objects to be enumer-
ated belong, I can never reply to the question. •
I have thus explained the manner in which we form
general abstract conceptions, or conceptions of classes. Let
us examine the manner in which we proceed when we form
our conceptions of genera and species.
Let us take, for instance, our conception of horse ; it is a
conception formed by the union of all the constant elements
which we have found existing in that animal. Suppose I
proceed, and examine a zebra, an ass, an elephant. , I form
general conceptions of these, as I did of the horse. I now
compare these several conceptions together, and find that
there are certain elements in which they all agree, while
each one has additional elements peculiar to itself I com-
bine in one conception the elements which they all possess in
common, and gave to it the name pachydermata, which in-
cludes all these several classes. This gener9;l name distin-
guishes the genus, while the additional elements, by which
these subordinate classes difier from each other, mark the
species. Thus it may be said that these several classes of
animals form species, included in the genus pachydermata.
As we proceed in our investigations, we observe various
other classes of animals, as carnivora, rodontia, and a mul-
titude of others. We compare these genera together, and
ABSTRACTION, 189
'find that in certain elements, gradually grow jng less numer-
ous, they all agree, I form a larger class by uniting those
less numerous elements into a simple conception, and give
to that conception the name mammalia. Pursuing my
examination further, I find other classes of animals, as
numerous as mammalia, difiering from them in many im-
portant respects, yet having one or more elements in com-
mon : for instance, they all have vertebrae. I then form a
generic class, by uniting in one conception the few and sim-
ple elements which they all hold in common. This forma
my widest and most comprehensive generalization.
We see, then, that vertebrate comprehends under it an
immense number of individuals ; that is, every one endowed
with this form. Under this are several subordinate classes,
each one possessing this element, and also something addi-
tional peculiar to itself, as mammalia, fishes, etc. If I now
take one of these second classes, I find that under it are
several sub-genera, each one possessing all the elements of
the genus, and also some other elements by which it differs
from every other sub-genus. In this manner I descend, un-
til I come to the lowest species or variety, in which all the
individuals are, in all constant elements, similar to each
other. In this manner we form the genera and species of
science. We of course find that, the greater the number of
elements which enter into the idea of a class, the smaller is
the number of individuals under it ; and, on the other hand,
the smaller the number of elements in the idea of a class,
the greater the number of individuals which it comore-
hends. •
From what we have here observed, we perceive the
difference betw^een the process of investigation and of in-
struction. In in\estigat^on, we proceed from particulars to
generals ; we discover particular facts and reduce thorn to
classes, and then, going still further, comprehend these
190 INTELLECTI3 IL PHILOSOPHY.
I
classes under more general classes, until we have arrived ar
the widest generalizations in our power. But, when we
wish to instruct, or communicate knowledge to others, thia
process is reversed. We then begin with the simplest and
most universal principles, comprehending the greatest num-
ber of individuals under them. From these we proceed to
the largest subordinate genera, from these to sub-genera or
species, until we have mastered the whole class of objects
which our most generic classification comprehends. At
each step, aa Ave proceed downwards from the more to the
less general, we add some new elements, until we at last
.arrive at the conception of the individuals, with which, in
the labor of investigation, we commenced.
And hence we learn the nature of a definition in science.
When we define any scientific conception, we first men-
tion the geftus to which it belongs, and then the specific
difference, or those other elements, which, being added to
the conception of the genus, designate its peculiar species.
Thus, in geometry, we define a figure as '' any combination
of lines which encloses space. ' ' Here ' ' combination of lines ' '
is the generic idea, and ''enclosing space" is the specific
difference, or the element added to the generic idea which
makes out our conception of a figure. Again; ''a plane
triangle is a figure bounded by three straight lines."
Here, again, ''figure" denotes the genus, and "bounded
by three straight lines " is the specific difference, or the
element added to the conception of figure which gives us
the conception of the species, triangle. So, again, "a
right-angled triangle is a triangle one of whose, angles is a
right angle." Here, again, "triangle" is the genus, and
'one of whose angles is a rig\t angle" is the specific dif-
fererrce, or the element added to the idea of triangle which
creates the conception of a right-anojled triano-le.*
Hence, we see that simple objects, or those which have
ABSTRACTION llM
no parts, or into the conception of Avlii.cli no plurality of (;le*
ments enters, can never be defined. They can furnish no
specific difference, nor can they, by analysis of elements,
be classed within any genus. In such cases, we are obli;^cd
merely to describe the circumstances under which the oljject
is presented to our cognition, or else place the subject him-
self under these circumstances. Thus, if we wish to make
known to any man a simple energy of the mind, we mention
the circumstances under which it arises; he refers to li is
own experience, and instantly recognizes our meaning. If
he has had no such experience, he can never arrive at the
knowledge. Thus, I cannot define seeing to a blind man,
for it is a simple act. I describe to him the circumstances
under w^hich it occurs to me, but under the same circum-
stances he receives no impression. There is^ therefore, an
impassable gulf between us, so far as this cognition is con-
cerned. The case is similar in all our simple cognitions.
The question has arisen, and formerly it was argued with
great bitterness, what is the object of our thought when we
form a general conception ? Thus, I think of animal, quad-
ruped, mammal, man, tree, etc. There is nothing in nature
ans^yering to this conception, for every individual possesses
all the elements which enter into my conception, and also
many more. What, then, is the object of thought, when
we think any of these ideas ? Some philosophers asserted
that there was an actual object corresponding to this concep-
tion ; and others, that, when we formed a general concep-
tion, the only object was the word which designated it. The
one class was called realists, the other nominalisty. It ia
needless to enter into this discussion at present. It is evi-
dent that conception is a mode of thought, and that there i3
in this act nothing numerically distinct from the mental
d,ct itself. It is true, as Sir W. Hamilton has observed.
that we mav in thou<2:ht make a distinction between the fac-
192 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ulty or state of the mind in conception, and the concept or no-
tion in which this act exhibits itself. But there is no exist-
ing thing numerically diflferent from the act, and, therefore,
it seems evident that both nominalists and realists were
equally wide of the truth.
From these illustrations, I hope that the manner in which
we form tlasses and general conceptions will be sufficiently
understood. It is, however, 'evident that this process may
be employed in a great variety of ways. Abstraction ena-
bles us to classify, but we may classify for different pur-
poses, and thus, under different circumstances, select differ-
ent elements as the basis of our classification.
It may be useful to mention some of the more common
and obvious principles by which our classifications are deter-
mined.
1. We very frequently form classes from our observation
of the external appearance, the form, color, magnitude, etc.,
or from an examination of the internal structure. Thus, as
I have before remarked, men classify the objects which they
behold, as animals, birds, etc., according to their external
appearance ; the physiologist classifies them by an examina-
tion of their internal structure, and the manner in which
they perform the various functions necessary to life. Such
are, in general, the classifications in the various departments
of natural history.
Here it is proper to remark that, having once formed our
classification, we naturally refer a new specimen to some one
of the classes which we have found already existing. It seems,
however, strange, that, while knowledge is ever advancing,
men are disposed to believe, at every successive step, that
they have arrived at its ultimate limits. Yet such is mani-
festly the infirmity of man. Hence it is that our classifi-
cations are frequently incorrect. Supposing, incautiously,
that the classes which we have -ecognized include all the
ABSTRACTION. VS^
specimens or all the facts that can exist, we arc liable to
refer a new specimen or a new fact to a class to which it
does not belong. Thus the islanders of the Pacific, who
had never seen any other quadrupeds than hogs and goats,
upon seeing a cow, declared that it must be either a hn-'^e
goat or a horned hog. These being the only classes they
had ever observed, they naturally supposed that this new
specimen must be referred to either the one or the other.
This was the error of savages, but the same error is liable
to occur among philosophers. What is called accounting for
a phenomenon is nothing more than referring it to some
law, or general classification, under w^hich it is compre-
hended. Thus, if I am asked why a stone falls to the
earth, I account for it by replying that all matter is recipro-
cally attractive ; that is, I refer this individual fact to a
general law, or the expression of a more general fact.
From the disposition to refer a new phenomenon to some
established law, philosophers as well as savages are exposed
to error. In the case of philosophers, however, the error is
liable to be carried a step further. When they cannot
account for a phenomenon, — that is, when they know of no
class to which to refer it, — they not unfrequently deny its
existence ; taking it for granted that if they cannot account
for a phenomenon, it could not have occurred. It is for
this cause that every new discovery is obliged to fight its
way to a place in science, against the whole influence of phi-
losophic incredulity. So far as this leads to a more thorough
investigation of whatever claims to be a discovery, it is well
and reasonable ; but so far as it rejects whatever cannot be
accounted for as unworthy of examination and deserving
only of ridicule, it is neither well nor reasonable, and is
directly opposed to all true progress in science. Philoso-
phers would frequently be wise would they bear in mind the
instruction of the poet :
17
194 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
•* There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamed of in your philosophy."
2. Individuals may be classified by similarity of cause
Here we neglect entirely all consideration of external ap*
pearance or of internal structure, and, forming the concep-
tion of a particular cause, combine into one class every indi-
vidual to which that cause gives origin. Thus, the geologist
may arrange rocks into two classes, the one of which has
resulted from the action of fire, and the other from the
action of water. The physician may arrange diseases
according to the causes which have produced them, one class
resulting from the affection of the nerves, another from the
afiections of the lungs, the stomach, etc.
3. We may classify individuals from similarity of efiects.
Here, omitting all consideration of appearance, " structure,
and origin, we form a conception of a particular effect.
Having formed this conception, we comprehend under it
every individual which will produce the effects in question.
The {)hysician arranges all the substances in the materia
medica on this principle. It matters not to him whether
the articles which he is examining belong to the animal,
vegetable or mineral kingdom. We classify them as nar-
cotics, stimulants, sudorifics, emetics, etc., according, solely,
to the effects which they are known to produce upon the
human organism. Thus, the critic classes objects in nature
or art according to the effect which they are known to pro-
duce upon the human mind. He calls a landscape, a meta-
phor, a picture, beautiful, graceful or sublime, as he observes
it to produce tL^se particular emotions on the mind of man.
It will appear, from these few illustrations, that the vari-
eties of classification are as numerous as the principles on
which classifications may be formed. Every art has its
own principles, on which it classifies the substances on
which its labor is exerted. The same individual may thus
ABSTRACTION. 195
be compreheiided under as many different classes ixs there
are different conceptions formed in the minds of those who
contemplate it. The physician, the botanist, and the poet,
may all examine the same plant, and each will assign it to
a different class, according to the controlling ideas by which
his classification is governed.
It is obvious that a faculty, which enters so • essentially
into all the modes of thought, must greatly influence our
intellectual character. This will be rendered the more evi-
dent if we consider the separate acts which form the process
of abstraction, and observe the manner in which the pre-
dominance of either affects the elements of our intellectual
constitution.
1. Analysis. This power to detect and distinguish from
each other all the various qualities of an external object,
and all the various changes of a material or a spiritual phe-
nomenon, is frequently denominated acuteness of observa-
tion. It is essentially what we have spoken of under the
name of analysis. Its importance to a thinker or discoverer
is manifest. As every variety of external appearance indi-
cates a modification of internal quality, and as every varia-
tion in the process of a change indicates some alteration
in the condition of the cause, it is obvious that this power
must be of prime importance to a philosopher. He who
is best able to analyze the constituent elements of the ob-
jects to which his attention is directed, whether in the world
within or the world without, is the most richly provided
with the materials for accurate judgment. It is thus that
an accurate observer frequently detects facts which result in
important discoveries, that ha e always been within the
reach of his contemporaries, but which had never before
attracted their attention. From the want of this power, the
effects of one cause are sometimes ascribed to another ; im-
portant causes are undetected ; cause and effect, antecedent
196 INTELLECTUAL PHI- 0 SO PHY.
and consequent, are blended together; and, in general,
research becomes vague, unsatisfactory, and unworthy of
reliance. He, then, who desires to attain to accuracy of
philosophical inquiry, should strive to cultivate this power
to the greatest perfection. Nor is this all. By this instru-
ment we are able to detect sophistry, and lay "bare the
insufficient foundations of all false reasoning. It was from
want of acuteness of observation that Locke fell into many
of his most important errors. The value of this endow-
ment is also conspicuously seen in the review of his Philos-
ophy, by Cousin, an author of surpassing mental acuteness.
This power has always been largely developed in those fa-
vored individuals who have made the most important addi-
tions to our knowledge of the laws of nature.
2. Of different, but not inferior, importance to a culti-
vated mind, is the power of generalization. Acuteness of
observation will discover new facts, and observe changes
heretofore unknown ; it will analyze what is concrete, and
unravel what is complicated ; but it will do no more. If
we possess only this power, we may do important service to
science by collecting valuable materials ; but we shall col-
lect them only that they may be wrought into philosophical
laws by the genius of others. Besides this, therefore, an
inquirer after truth needs a power which, having discovered
an important relation, shall enable him to detect it under
whatsoever changes of condition it may be hidden. He will
thus be able to arrange under each class those individuals
which the Creator himself has arranged under it, and trace
out a given cause through all the diversities of time and
place to which its influence may have extended. Probably
no power of the human mind has been so fertile in discov-
ery as this. From a single observation of an hitherto un-
noticed phenomenon, or from the minute and almost micro-
ocopic experiments of the laboratory, the philosopher is
ABSTRACTION. 197
able frequently to enunciate a law which controls the most
important changes of the universe. It was thus that Sir
Isaac Newton, having accurately determined the hiw which
governed the fall of an app^e, at once began to generalize
this idea. If this law governs bodies at small distances
from the earth, why should it not govern bodies at great
distances ? If it governs bodies at great distances from the
earth, why may it not reach to the moon, and govern her mo-
tion in her orbit 7 and if the moon in relation to the earth,
why not the earth and planets in relation to the sun ? Thus,
by following out this elementary law, the germ was evolved
^ of the greatest discovery recorded in the annals of science.
In a similar manner, Dr. Franklin made himself acquainted,
by experiment, with the laws of the electric fluid. He observed
the phenomena of lightning in the thunder-cloud. Compar-
ing them together, and making due allowance for the differ-
ence between the vastness of nature and the littleness of
man, he detected the same elementary phenomena in both,
and the question at once occurred to him. Are they not
identical 1 A simple experiment decided the question in
the affirmative, and added a wide domain to the empire of
human knowledge. It was also a rare combination of these two
powers of observation and generalization that gave to Cu-
vier the first place among the naturalists of his own, and,
perhaps, of every age.
3. Intellectual character is also affected by the degree in
which we are endowed with the power of combination.
I have already remarked that the power of combination
I may be either poetic or scientific ; that is, that we may
form our combinations at will, or they may be limited by
the objects in nature from which they are derived. This
difference of endowment distinguishes the class of Milton
and Shakspeare from that of Newton and Franklin.
But, passing this general distinction, it is evident that
VJ8 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the power oi a.ientific combination is possessed by min iii
very unequal degrees. Suppose a philpsopher to have ob-
served with accuracy a series of phenomena. He has them
before him, — the facts and the order of their succession.
He knows that under the same conditions the same succes-
sion will be repeated. But this is not enough. What are
the unseen changes of which these phenomena are the man-
ifestations ; and what are the relations which they sustain
to each other ? In a word, what is the rationale of these
several changes ? As, for instance, he places a piece of wood
on the fire; it inflames and burns to ashes. The facts are
visible and common, and he knows that another piece of
wood, under the same conditions, will be subject to the same
changes. But what is the rationale of these changes ?
What is combustion? What is flame? What is ashes?
What are the combinations formed and dissolved during the
change of wood to a substance so utterly unlike itself?
Here, then, is a demand for philosophical combination.
The next step is to form a conception of such unseen causes
as will be sufficient to account for the phenomena.
The power of forming such conceptions exists in very
different degrees. Some men merely observe the facts, and
give themselves no trouble to ascertain the cause. Others,
in seeking for a cause, form conceptions after the manner of
the poets, which have no relation to established laws, and
can never be verified by observation or experiment. He
who is endowed with true philosophical genius seems
instinctively to originate combinations analogous to truth,
which become the immediate precursors to discovery. I do
not say that there is anything of the nature of proof in a
conception of this kind, only that it serves to direct the
inquiries of the original investigator. Having formed his
conception, his next business is to prove it to be true.
When he has done this, his discovery is made. Without
ABSTRACTION. 109
proof, nothing has yet been determined : but without some
conception to direct investigation, there coukl be no prooC
for there would be nothing to prove. Sir Isaac Newton and
Sh' Humphrey Davy seem to me to have been richly en-
dowed with the power of scientific combination. On the
other hand, Dr. Priestley, though an eminent philosopher,
seems to have possessed it in a very imperfect degree.
Though his discoveries were numerous, and of the highest
importance, yet all his theories of the changes which he
observed have long since been exploded.
The powder of philosophical combination, of necessity,
improves with the progress of science. As the laws of
nature and her modes of operation are better understood, we
form conceptions more and more analogous to truth. We
learn to think more and more in harmony with the ideas of
the Creator ; and, from a larger and more accurate acquaint-
ance with the known, we are the better able to unravel the
mysteries of the unknown. When it was observed that
water would rise in a pump, the solution of the phenomenon
' at first said to be given was that nature abhorred a
vacuum. When it was found that it w^ould not rise more
than thirty-two feet, this fact was explained by the theory
that nature did not abhor a vacuum for more th.in thirty-
two feet. Can it be that any of the hypotheses of the present
day will seem as strange to our successors as this theory
does to us ?
With regard to the improvement of this faculty, a few
words nay be added at the close of this chapter. Let u3
refer to each of the three acts into which abstraction lias
been divided.
Analysis, or the power of distinguishing and separating
from each other things which differ, may be eniployed
either objectively or subjectively, as we are inquiring into
200 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the qualities and relations of the world without us, or the
energies and relations of the world within us.
So far as the accurate observation of the external world
is concerned, much depends upon the delicacy of our senses.
but probably no less upon the earnest attention with which
we use them. A listless, careless observer never discovers
anything. It is only by an intense direction of tho mind to
the objects of our inquiry, that we are able to detect changes
and relations which have been hidden from preceding
observers. Truth reveals herself not to those who pay her
mere formal and perfunctory service, but to those who
render to her the earnest and heartfelt homage of the whole
«3oul.
Acuteness in the analysis of mental phenomena requires
an equal earnestness, though it is differently directed. We
here find it necessary to cultivate the habit of withdrawing
from all external objects, and fixing our attention on the
revelations of our own consciousness. Few men can do this
without long-continued and patient effort. With such
effort, however, most men can attain to it. We must learn
to look calmly and steadily upon a mental phenomenon. If
there appear in it the slightest indications of complexity ;
if, when examining it from different points of view, the least
shade of difference be cognizable in our consciousness ; or,
if, on comparing .two forms of thought, which seemed to us
identical, there arises within us the intellectual feeling of
dissimilarity, we must pause until we are thoroughly satis-
fied on the subjects of our inquiry. It is by listening to
the first suggestion of a difference, thut we learn to deter-
mine the character and relations of our mental phenomena.
If we would enlarge our power of generalization, I know
of no better method than to study the generalizations of
nature. Admirable lessons of this sort are found in the
natural sciences, — chemistry, physiology, geology, etc. No
ABSTRACTION. 201
finer exercise for the power of generalization can bi desired,
than to take a single important chemical law, and trace out
its operations on the vast and the minute throughout the
kingdom of nature. Having become familiar with these
wide-spreading classifications, we shall be the better able to
pursue the generalizations of the subjective. We may then
take an intellectual or moral law, and, ha\nng clearly marked
out its nature aiid limitations, follow out its efiects on the
character of individual and social man. The light which
will thus dawn on the mind will frequently astonish the
student himself. Patient thought in. this direction will
furnish explanations of phenomena, and suggest rules of
conduct, which would hardly reveal themselves to any other
mode of investigation.
To improve the power of philosophical combination, we
need, most of all, to study the actual combinations of nature.
The more familiar we become with them, the clearer will be
the light shed upon the unknown. Much may also be
learned from the lives of those who have been so fortunate
as to extend the limits of human knowledge. By observing
the manner in which they have labored, we may hope to be
able to follow their example. This subject will, however,
come again under consideration, when, in a subsequent
chapter, we treat of scientific imagination.
REFERENCES.
Abstraction — Locke, Book 2, chap. 11, sections 9, 6, 10, 11 ; chapter
12, section 1 ; Stewart, vol. i., chapter 4 ; Reid, Essay 5, etapters 2, 3,
and 4.
Why most words general — Locke, Book 3, chap. 3, aeotions 1— 10
Reid, Essay 5, chap. 1.
Simple words not definable —Locke, Book 3, chap. 4, soctions 4—11.
Nominalism and Realism — Cousin, sect. 5, last part ; Stewart, yoL l,
ohap. 2, sections 2 and 3
CHAPTER V.
MEMORY.
BECTION I. — ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS, OR A TRAIN Of
THOUGHT IN THE MIND.
The next faculty which we shall consider is Memory-
As, however, its nature cannot be unfolded without a knowl-
edge of the laws which govern the succession of thought in
the mind, we shall devote to this subject a preliminary
section.
Every person is conscious of the fact that, during his
waking hours, his mind is continually engaged in thinking.
Were any one to ascertain that an hour, or even a few
minutes, had elapsed, in which he had been conscious of no
thought, he would know that, unless he had fallen asleep, he
must have been aflfected with some disease which had for the
time paralyzed his intellectual powers.
And yet more ; we are all conscious that it is impossible,
without severe and long-continued effort, to fix the mind
continuously upon any particular thought. It naturally,
and without effort, passes from one idea to another, and it
requires a determination of the will to detain it upon any one
subject. No interval seems to intervene between one
thought and another. They succeed each other without any
volition on our part, and frequently take a direction whicL
we strive in vain to control. A train of thought will some-
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 203
times seize upon the mind, and we are unable to disenga;^o
it. We strive to turn our attention to other objects, aiid^
after repeated and strenuous eiforts, succeed but imperfectly.
And in general it may be remarked, that he has attamcd
to uncommon intellectual self-discipline who is able to think
at will, and for any considerable length of time, upon any
subject that he chooses.
But, while all this is true, it is, on the other hand, triio
that our thoughts do not follow each other at random. Tlicre
are what may be called laws ^f connection, by which their
succession is governed. Whenever an unusual idea occurs
to us, nothing is more common than to inquire for the reason
of its appearance at that particular time and place. ^ We
take it for granted that it pould not have occurred to us
without being related to some other idea previously existing
in the mind. We, therefore, refer back to the thoughts which
were just before present to our consciousness, and endeavor
to trace some connection between them and that for whose
origin we are inquiring.
This fact may be abundantly illustrated by our own expe-
rience. The following examples will recall other instances
to our recollection. Mr. Hobbes relates, in his Leviathan,
that, upon some occasion, several gentlemen were engaged
in a conversation respecting the civil war. One of them
abruptly inquired the value of a Roman denarius. The
question sounded oddly, and strangely at variance with the
subject under discussion. Mr. Hobbes relates that, on a little
reflection, he was led to trace the train of thought which led
to the inquiry. The subject of conversation, the civil war,
naturally led the mind to the history of Charles T. The
remembrance of the king suggested the treachery of those
who delivered him up. The treachery in this case intro-
duced the treachery of Judas Iscariot. The crime of Judas
was at once associated with the price for which it was com-
•204 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
mitted, and hence the question what was the value of «
Roman denarius. •
Stewart gives an illustration from the voyage of Captain
King, the companion of Cook, of the power of a single
object to awaken a train of reflection. '' While we were at
dinner in this miserable hut, on the banks of the river
Awatska, the guests of a people with whose existence we
had before been scarcely acquainted, and at the extremity
of the habitable globe, a solitary half-worn pewter spoon,
whose shape was familiar to us, attracted our attention;
and, on examination, we found it stamped on the back with
the word London. I cannot pass over this circumstance
in silence, out of gratitude for the many pleasant thoughts,
the anxious hopes, and tender remembrances, it excited
in us. Those who have experienced the eSects that long
absence and extreme distance from their native country pro-
duce on the mind, will readily conceive the pleasure such
a trifling incident can give."
A touching incident, illustrative of the same principle, is
related by Mrs. Judson in her reminiscences of her late hus-
band. During Dr. Judson' s long captivity, in the death
prison at Ava, his heroic wife, intending to create an agree-
able surprise, had taken great pains to prepare an article
of food that might cheer his spirits by reminding him of
home. " In this simple, homelike act, this little unpretend-
ing eSusion of a loving heart, there was something so touch-
ing, so illustrative of what she really was, that he bowed his
head upon his knees, and the tears flowed down to the chains
about his ankles. Presently the scene changed, and there
came over him a vision of the past. He saw again the home
of his boyhood. His stern, strongly revered father, his
f^entle mother, his rosy, curly-haired sister a.nd pale young
brother, were gathered for the noonday meal, and he waa
once more among them. And so his fancy revelled thero-
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 20S
Finally, he lifted his head, and 0 the misery that sur-
rounded him ! He moved his feet, and the rattling of the
heavy chains was as a death-knell. He thrust the care-
fully prepared dinner into the hands of his associate, and,
as fast as his fetters would permit, hurried to his aim little
shed."— Vol. i., pp. 378-9.
It is unnecessary to illustrate more fully the general fact
that our ideas thus follow in succession independently of our
will. We may remark, still further, that when thought fol-
lows thought without any connection, we recognize it imme-
diately as a proof of insanity. To say of another that he
talks incohereiitly, is to say that he is not in his right mind.
Without any knowledge of the laws of mental association,
we, in this manner, intuitively distinguish a normal from an
abnormal state of the intellect. Thus, in the annual report
of the Massachusetts General Hospital for 1853, one of the
patients is referred to as continually talking after the fol-
lowing manner : *' I have a commission as a justice of the
peace, and an asparagus bed. I like lightning best at a dis-
tance. Whoever puts his name on paper in the Wiscasset
Bank, has a mark on his forehead, and is worse off than if
he was dining with one of the selectmen. Look out."
It is obvious, then, that our thoughts follow each other
in a train subjected to certain general laws, and that they
only move at variance with these laws when the mind is in
an abnormal state.
The laws by which the train of thought is governed, or,,
as they are called, »the laws of association, are of two kinds,
objective and subjective. The objective laws are those arising
from the relations which our thoughts sustain to each other ;
the subjective arise from the relations which our thoughts
sustain to the thinking subject. Among the objective lawa
are numbered resemblance, contrast, contiguity, and cause
and erTect ; am« ng the subjective are, interval of time, fro-
18
206 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
fjuency of repetition, coexistent emotion, and the menta*
condition of the particular individuaL
I. Of the objective laws of association.
1. Resemblance, Every one knows that when we are
thinking of any interesting object or event, other objects or
events in any respects similar to it, naturally present them-
selves. If we look, for the first time, upon a river in a
foreign land, we instantly recall some river in our own ccun-
try which it resembles ; and we are never as well satisfied
as when we find a marked similarity between them. We
never pass over ridges of snow-clad mountains without be -
ing reminded of the Alps. When we visit a battle-ground^
we find rising up within us the recollection of other battles
which may have resembled it in the fierceness of the con-
test, the number of the slain, the principles which nerved
the different combatants, or the results which flowed from
the action over the destinies of humanity. This universal
tendency is seen in the manner in which we designate
remarkable events by giving to them the name of some re-
markable event of a similar character. Thus any battle in
which a small number of patriots have resisted a host
of invaders is called a Thermopylae or a Marathon. A
distinguished general is called an Alexander or ■ a Julius
C^sar, a patriot is a Washington. These instances all illus-
trate the facility with which one event suggests to us an-
other which resembles it.
If however, we examine the cases which we associate
b; resemblance, we shall find them to -be of two kinds.
Sometimes we associate objects by resemblance in their ex-
ternal qualities. Thus, when we see a v^st mountain, we
think of Mont Blanc, Chimborazo, or the Himalayas. We
rompare a vast river to the Mississippi or the Amazon. So,
when distinguished men are mentioned, we are continually
comparing them together, if, in their character or circum
ASSOCIATION OF T1>KAS. 207
Stances, there b. any elements of similarity. Hence Crom-
well and Napoleon, Charles I. and Louis XVI., Pitt and
Fox, Scott and Byi'on, are so commonly spoken of in con
nection. In fact, a large portion of our conversation con-
sists of comparisons of this character.
Another mode of association belonging to the same class,
but a source of far greater pleasure, is that in which objects
and events are connected, not by resemblance in their ex-
ternal appearances, but by their effects. Here the mind
is delighted, not simply by the addition of another image in
itself beautiful, but by the peculiar effect of novelty and
unexpectedness. Thus Ossian describes the music of his
..minstrel by saying, •• The music of Caryl, like the memory
of joys that are past, was pleasant yet mournful to the soul."
Here the objects themselves, music and a recollection, are
entirely unlike ; but, agreeing in the effect which they pro-
duce, we derive a peculiar pleasure from associating them
together, and we are conscious that the pleasure is greater
from the fact that the resemblance is unexpected. Thus
Job compares his friends to a brook in the desert, which, in
summer, when it is most needed, is dried up, and disappoints
the hope of those who relied upon it for succor. There is
no similarity here in the objects themselves. A man can-
not resemble a brook. In one thing, however, they are
alike : they disappoint hope. Hence the beauty of the figure.
It is on this circumstance that the success of metaphorical
language depends. Hence the rule of rhetoricians, that
those metaphors are most beautiful in which the objects
themselves are most dissimilar, while in the effects which
they produce, or the point in which they are compared, they
are the most alike. Hence the beauty of the passage in
Longmus, in which he compares the Iliad of Homer to tlie
meridian sun, and the Odyssey to the sun at his setting,
when the magnitude is increased, but the effulgence is di-
minished.
208 INrELLECTUAL IfilLOSOPHT.
2. Contrast. We find ourselves frequently associating
ideas on the principle of contrast ; that is to say, one idea
at one time suggests to us another which resembles it ; at
another, an idea exactly opposite to it. Thus, happiness
frequently recalls to our mind the idea of misery, as in the
verse of Young : " How sad a sight is human happiness ! ''
Height and depth, power and weakness, greatness and little-
ness, poverty and riches, the palace and the hovel, the cra-
dle and the grave, are mutually suggested by each other.
Hence in rhetoric the frequent use of antithesis.
As I remarked respecting resemblance, that it may be
either in external appearance or in effect, the same is true
of contrast. We here derive pleasure from contemplating
similarity of external appearance, while the effects are
exceedingly unlike. Thus, in the beautiful passage from
Milton's Comus :
** I have often heard
My mother Circe, with the sirens three.
Amidst the flowery kirtled naiades,
Culling their potent herbs and baleful drugs,
Who, as they sung, would take the prisoned soul
And lap it in Elysium. Scylla wept
And chid her barking waves into attention.
And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause.
Yet they in pleasing slumber lulled the sense,
And, in sweet madness, robbed it of itself ;
But such a sacred and homefelt delight.
Such sober certainty of waking bliss,
I never heard till now."
Comus, 254—262.
3. Contiguity. This may be either of time or place.
1. Of time. When we reflect upon any event, we natur-
ally find our attention called to other events which occurred
at the same period. When we think of a distinguished man, .
we always recall his cotemporaries. Whoever thinks of
Johnson without finding him surrounded, in our conception
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 209
by Boswell, Goldsmith, Garrick, Burke, and Sir Joshua
Reynolds ? When we think of Napoleon, we surround liiin
with his marshals, and the sovereigns whose destinies he so
greatly changed. An event of historical importance sug-
gests the events contiguous to it in time. The advent of
our Saviour could hardly be thought of wi'-Jiout leading ug
to reflect upon the condition of Rome, and of the then civ-
ilized world. Hence we learn the appropriateness of the
rule, in the study of history, to fix definitely in our minds
the culminating events in each particular era, and then the
contemporaneous occurrences will easily group themselves in
their proper places.
2. Contiguity in place. When any important place is
visited or thought of, it at once suggests to us the other places
in its vicinity. Who can think of Jerusalem, and not think
of the hills of Calvary, the mount of Olives, the garden of
Gethsemane ? Who can think of Waterloo without thinking
of Brussels, and Quatre Bras, and the localities in the neigh-
borhood, on the possession of which the issue of the contest
so frequently turned ? It is on this account that we survey
with such impassioned interest any spot from which, at an
earlier age, have emanated influences which have been deeply
felt in the history of our race. The sentiments of Johnson
at lona find a response in the bosom of every cultivated
mind. 'VWe were now treading that illustrious island
which was once* the luminary of the Caledonian regions,
whencv savage clans and roving barbarians derived the ben-
efits of knowledge and the blessings of religion. To abstract
the mind from all local emotions would be impossible if it
were endeavored, and would be foolish if it were possible.
Whatever withdraws us from the power of the senses, what-
ever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate
over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking
beings. Far from me and from my fiiends be .^uch frigid
18*
210 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over
any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery,
or virtue. That man is little to be envied whose patriotism
would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose
piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of lona." —
Journey to the Western Islands.
Hence we perceive the reason why names of places, per-
sons, etc., frequently add so much vivacity to style. In-
stead of an abstract and it may be disconnected idea, they
present us with a visible image, surrounded by a multitude
of associate ideas. Thus, when we wish to render impress-
ive the idea of successful resistance to oppression, wx refer
to particular localities, as Runnymede, Naseby, Lexington,
Bunker Hill, or Yorktown. And hence w^e learn that the
study of history should always be connected with that of
geography ; that is, we should study history with the map
before us. We thus associate events with localities, and
rememb.er them more perfectly, as well as comprehend them
more accurately.
4. Cause and effect, I have already, when treating of
original suggestion, referred to the fact that the observation
of a change always leads us to ask for the cause. In the
same manner, when we observe the manifestation of power,
we instinctively ask for the results which have followed it.
We associate in obedience to this universal tendency. If we
think upon the reformation by Luther, we naturally think
of the causes which led to it, and strive to trace out its con-
sequences. If we think of the landing of the Pilgrims, we
ask ourselves what causes could have led them to forsake the
comforts of a civilized home, and plant themselves, in mid-
winter, upon a continent inhabited only by savages ; and,
before we have answered this inquiry, w^e find ourselves
turning to the changes which this event has wrought upon
the destinies of the world. So, when, for the first time, I
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 211
observe a philosop\iical experiment, I am wholly unsatisfied
until I understand the rationale of the changes which it pre-
stents. I see, for instance, a taper lighted, when placed in
the focus of one concave mirror, if a heated cannon-i)all is
placed in the other, though the taper is carefully protected
from the direct rays of the ball. It is a disagreeable puzzle
until the doctrine of the radiation of caloric is explained to
me. As soon as this is done, my mind is at ease, and I
proceed at once to explain other phenomena by the applica-
tion of the same principle. Now, it is obvious that, this
connection having been thus established, either one of these
ideas will almost infallibly suggest the other. The law of
caloric radiation will suggest the effect which has been men-
tioned, and the effect will suggest to us the law. So. hav-
ing examined the causes which led to the first settlement of
this country, and the consequences which have flowed from
it, either one will bring to our mind the other, almost as a
matter of necessity. It will readily occur that, as this is a
permanent relation, like causes always producing like effects,
this mode of association must be one of the most important
means of enlarging and retaining our knowledge.
It will be easily perceived that these various forms of
objective association intermix with and modify each other.
Thus, the relation of cause and effect would naturally asso-
ciate two events together; the association l)y resemblance
would recall similar causes, and that by contrast, causes and
effects of a dissimilar character ; while events connected by
the relation of contiguity of time and place w^ould be more
likely to occur to us than events remote and long sfnce
passed away. Thus, were I thinking of the landing of the
Pilgrims, I would naturally think of the causes which led
to this event; resemblance would lead me to think of simi-
lar cases of colonization, and contrast would bring to my
recollection other instances in which men had left their na-
212 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY
tive country, for love of adventure or thirst for gold. As I
traced the results, I would naturally compare those which
resembled the enterprise of the Pilgrims with those origin-
ating in a dissimilar cause ; and, as the most contiguous in
lime and place, I wouU naturally turn to the states of
South America, and contrast the causes and eflfects of these
two modes of colonization together. In this manner, by the
blending of these various forms of association, a vast range
of thought is opened before us ; while, at the same time, it
is always under the control of established and recognized
laws.
II. Of the subjective laws of association.
The laws commonly comprehended under this class are,
as I have remarked, interval of time, frequency of repetition,
coexistent emotion, and the mental state of the particular
individual.
1. Interval of time.
Every one knows that if two ideas are associated together
from any cause whatever, the one readily recalls the other,
if only a short interval of time have elapsed. But, if both
of the ideas have been for a long time absent from our
recollection, the association becomes indistinct, and the sug-
gestion occurs less readily. To the truth of this remark
every one's experience bears testimony. The events of a
journey, by the relations of contiguity of time and place,
readily suggest each other in regular succession, immedi-
ately after our return. But, if we enter upon our usual
avocations, and have no occasion, either by writing or con-
vei'sation, to recall the scenes which we witnessed, all but
the most prominent events fade from our recollection. We
forget most of the localities, and those which we remem-
ber cease to suggest the events connected with them. All
becomes blended together in one confused remembrance ; we
A)rget both when and where we saw particular persons or
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 218
things, and nothing n^mains to us but a rccollecti.jn of tho
most important events, and a general impression made by
the facts, which are themselves fast sinking into oblivion.
The same truth is illustrated by the reading of a book, and
in a thousand other instances.
2. Repetition,
It is obvious that an association which has been frequently
recalled presents itself to us much more readily than anoth
er which has only once or twice, and at long intervals, passed
through the mind. By every successive act of repetition,
the connecting link between the two ideas is strengthened,
until, at length, the association between the two becomes
indissoluble. Hence it is that the beliefs of childhood are
with so great ^ difficulty eradicated, and that, even after the
belief has passed away, the association still remains. Thus,
many persons who in youth have been taught the belief in
goblins, aild night after night have listened to the recital of
ghost stories and spectral appearances, although now per-
fectly convinced of the groundlessness of their former belief,
never pass by a grave-yard, in darkness, without a tremor.
They have so firmly associated a grave-yard with ghosts,
that, in spite of the most deliberate conviction, the one idea
recalls the other with its former unpleasant emotions.
The value of this power of rendering associations perma-
nent by repetition is seen in the acquisition of practical skill
He who has been in the habit of performing the most com-
plicated operations never finds himself at a loss ; each step
in the process instantly suggesting that which is immediately
to succeed it, and each successive emergency calling to mind
the means by which it has been previously encountered.
Hence, we see the difference between theory and practice,
and the peculiar advantages of each. He who is only ac-
quainted with the theory is obliged to pursue a course of
reasoning in order to arrive at a result; while, to a practical
214 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
man, th^ result is suggested by the principle of reiterated
association. A man may have studied thoroughly the theory
of navigation, and may understand the laws by which a vessel
is <^overned in moving through the water, both in fair weather
and foul. But let him be called on to reduce his knowledge
to practice in any trying emergency, and he will be obliged
to compare and reason, and form a judgment from various
conflicting elements, so that he will probably not arrive at a
result until the time of action is past. He, however,* who has
been long in the practice of navigation, who has witnessed
storms in all their variety, and has frequently been called
upon to employ the means necessary to escape their violence,
finds that at the critical moment the course proper to be
pursued suggests itself spontaneously. He will, therefore,
have taken all the measures necessary for safety, before the
theoretical navigator . has determined what they are. The
extent to which practical skill may be carried, without any
knowledge of principles, is often I'emarkable. A very intel-
ligent captain of a steamer once told me that he had, for
several years, employed an engineer, in whom he reposed
entire confidence, and whom he had found, on every occa-
sion, perfectly competent to the discharge of his duties. It
happened that on one occasion the engineer made some
remark which led him to ask the question, what makes an
engine go. The man replied, at once, that he never knew,
and he never could understand it, although he knew the
several parts perfectly, and could, by the sound of the ma-
cliinery, tell in an instant the nature and place of any irreg-
ularity, and the manner in which it should be rectified.
By these remarks, hoAvever, I do not wish it to be under-
stood that I consider practical skill preferable to theoretical
knowledge. Were events always to follow each other in
the same succession, and always to require the same mode of
treatment,, practice would seem nearly all that was neces-
ASSOCIATION OF IDEA3. 21ft
Bary i.i education. But the reverse is the fact. Cases are
continually occurring which can only be provided for by a
knowledge of general laws : and here, if we have no guide
but practical skill, we must be inevitably disconcerted.
\Yhen a new emergency arises, nothing but general laws
will enable us either to understand or to provide for it.
The perfection of education requires that both of these ele-
ments be combined, — that is, that we learn the laws by
which changes are governed, and acquire so thorough a
knowledge of the modes of their application, and, by repeated
practice, associate so strongly the steps of the process we
perform, that, while we act with the promptitude of the
practised artisan, we may comprehend the reasons of our
action, and be able, on the instant, to form a correct judg-
ment under the pressure of an untried emergency. Thus
the affairs of a government, under ordinary circumstances,
may be sufficiently well conducted by a mere official, guided
Bolely by precedent, provided he be familiar with the rou-
tine of daily administration. But when new combinations
arise, and events transpire, for which official rules furnish"
no direction, there is demanded, besides a knowledge of the
forms of proceeding, a comprehensive acquaintance with
general prmciples, which shall unfold the true relations of
things, under what conditions soever they may present tbem-
Belves. Thus says Mr. Burke, in his speech ^n American
taxation : "It may truly be said that men too much con-
versant with office are rarely minds of remarkable enlarge-
ment Their habits of office are apt to gjve them a turn to
think the substance of business not to be more important
than the forms in which it is conducted. These forms are
adapted to ordinary occasions, and therefore persons who
are nurtured in office do admirably well so long as things
go on in their common order ; but when the liigli roads are
broken up, and the waters are out, — when a new and
216 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
troubled scene is opened, and the file afibrds no precedent
— then it is that a greater knowledge of mankind, and a far
more extensive comprehension of things, is requisite than
ever office gave, or than ever office can give."
Ic i!is frequently been observed that niilitary commanders
have generally succeeded remarkably well in the adminis-
tration of civil affairs. As examples of this, the founders
of dynasties may be referred to ; or, if particular instances
need be given, we may mention the names of Frederick the
Great. Washington, Napoleon, Wellington, General Jack-
son, and a multitude of others. The reason of this may be
found in the remark made above, that the perfection of edu-
cation consists in the combination of theoretical knowledge
with practical skill. The duties of a military commander
give him this education. He is obliged to form for himself
the plans which must be carried out upon his own responsi-
bility. Hence, he must study them thoroughly for himself,
understand their bearings, and take no step which he has
not decided upon after the most mature reflection. He
must then execute his decisions himself, and thus the rela-
tion of theory and practice, of the conception and the execu-
tion of it, must be constantly present to his reflection. The
advantage which this habit of mind must confer, over that
of theorists who never practise and practical men who never
reason, must be apparent. India has been called the cradle
of great men, and for this same reason. In the immense
empire of Great Britain in the East, the government of so
many provinces must create a vast number of situations in
which almost the sole authority must reside in the chief
administrative officer of the district. He must learn to
decide for himself, and decide wisely, and also provide the
means for carrying his decisions into eSect. In such a
school as this, talent is rapidly developed, and thus not
>infrequently a man of thirty-five attains the clearness of
ASSOCIATION OF IDKAS. 217
mind, fertility of resources, and promi)tncss of action, of a
man. under ordinary circumstanceSj of fifty.
3. Co'existerit emotion is tnc third law of subjective
association.
By the law of coexistent emotion, it is ijieant that when-
ever an event awakens in us strong emotion, it becomes
deeply fixed in the memory, and is more readily associated
with any other event to w^hich it is related.
Of the existence of such a law in our mental constitution
our own experience will furnish us with innumerable exam-
ples. The events of several days will frequently pass away,
without leaving more than a dim and shadowy trace of their
occurrence. But if on any particular day a fact has been
communicated to us by which we were strongly excited, as
the death of a friend, the unexpected arrival of a relative,
or an event of great importance to our country, that day
will long stand out vividly before us. The place where and
the time when we first received the intelligence are indis-
solubly associated with the event itself, and the fact, with
all its attendant circumstances, is engraven on the mind for-
ever. So, in travelling over a country for the first time, its
ordinary features, awakening no emotion, are soon forgotten ;
but if we chance to pass by a celebrated river, an overhang-
ing precipice, a magnificent waterfall, or any other object
that awakens the emotion of novelty, beauty, or sublimity,
we find it indelibly fixed in our recollection, with all its at-
tendant circumstances ; and it is ever afterwards ready to be
associated with similar scene;s which we witness ourselves, or
which are described to us by others. The power of emotion
is here two-fold ; — in the first place, it rivets the event on
the memory, -and, in the second, it recalls it whenever, on a
Bubsequent occasion, the same emotion is awakened.
It is on this principle that felicity of st^le, splendor of
imagery and power of description, become important aids in
19
218 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
all our efibrts to convince men by argumeLt. When we
desire to change the opinions of men, it is necessary that our
reasonings be retained in their recollection^ and frequently
dwelt upon in reflection. When an argument is associated
with emotion it is more easily retained; and when the em^
tion is pleasant it is more readily recalled, and more
earnestly considered. Under these circumstances it will
produce a more distinct impression on the judgment, and
the judgment itself is associated with agreeable emotions.
Every one will remember, after hearing a discourse, that
different passages present themselves to his recollection with
different degrees of distinctness ; and he always finds that
those which affected him most strongly during delivery are
those which fix themselves, afterwards, most firmly on his
momorv. Of the thousands who have read Burke's speech
on the nabob of Arcot's debts, probably very few have any
distinct conception of the argument, while all remember his
magnificent description of the descent of Hyder Ali upon
the Carnatic, commencing, '^When, at lipngth Hyder Ali
found," etc. The facts and the reasonings may have long
since passed away, but we remember the scene of devasta-
tion which the orator describes, and, whether justly or
unjustly, hold in abhorrence the men whom he stigmatizes
as the authors of the calamity.
4. Peculiarities of mental character. Some of these
are permanent, and some accidental.
Men differ very greatly in mental constitution. In seme
the reasoning element predominates, in others the imagin-
ative, and in others the practical. These intellectual biase?
must modify very materially the train of thought. Let.
for instance, a poet and a philosopher, on a clear night,
go out to survey the vault of heaven, studded with in-
numerable stars. The trains of thought which will arise in
the minds of the two men will be exceedingly unlike.
ASSOCIATION OF ID 1^] AS. 219
The one would associate all thtit he saw with various ideas
of moral sublimity with which he is tauiiliar, and would per-
haps express his emotions in a hymn of praise, or an ode to a
planet. The astronomer would think of the distances, mag-
nitudes and revolutions, of the heavenly bodies, and would
find himself striving to solve some problem which their pres-
ent position suggested. A devout man, on the other hand,
would probably give utterance to his emotions in the words
of David : '' When I consider the heavens the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained,
what is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of
man, that thou visitest him?" To a mind like that of
Newton the fall of an apple might give rise to a train of
thought which would lead to the most magnificent dis-
coveries ; to a boy it might suggest no other idea than the
desire of eating it ; while to the botanist it would recall the
class and order of plants to which the tree belonged. Agas-
siz and Coleridge would be very differently affected by a view
from the vale of Chamouni. On the other hand, in an un-
cultivated mind, none of these trains of thought would be
awakened. Thus, the poet, describing a mind of this order,
tells us,
** A cowslip, by the river's brim,
A yellow cowslip was to him ;
And it was nothing more. ' '
Besides these intellectual differences, there are permanent
varieties of character depending on the tone of mind of the
individual. Some men are always cheerful, the present and
the future being always tinged with the roseate hue of hope.
Every change seems to them indicative of prosperity. Such
is, more commonly, the character of youth. To others the
present, but more especially the future, seems clothed with
gloom ; and the prospect of change awakens no other emo-
tion than apprehensiveness. Such is the character of the
220 INTELLECTUAL PHILO&jPHY.
melancholy man, and such is apt to be the tendency of age
Milton, in his L' Allegro and II Penseroso, has, with strik-
ing beauty, illustrated these two forms of character.
These are permanent varieties ; but there are accidental
varieties, dependihg on the circumstances of the individual
The mind, deeply affected by any train of reflection, will
pursue it for some time, though at variance with its
natural bias. Thus, an astronomer, fresh from the reading
of Milton, might look upon the heavens for a time with the
emotions of a poet ; and a poet, rising from the study of
the Principia, might look upon them with the eye of an as-
tronomer. And then, again, our tone of -mind frequently
varies from its accustomed bias. A cheerful man is some-
times sad, and a melancholy man is sometimes mirthful.
Images exquisitely ludicrous occasionally flitted across the
gloom which habitually shrouded the mind of Cowper. We
all know how different are the trains of thought which press
upon him who walks abroad for the first time after the
death of a friend, and him who, after confinement by sick-
ness, rejoices in the freshness of invigorated health.
These subjective laws again modify each other. Thus,
for instance, lapse of time is modified by coexistent emotion ;
that is to say, an event which has strongly interested us will
much more readily be associated with surrounding circum-
stances, even after a long interval, than an event which
awakened no emotion, though of more recent occurrence.
Or, again, the. objective and subjective laws may modify
each Dther. Thus, we know that we associate ideas in
obedience to the laws of resemblance or contrast, but whether
we shall associate by the one, or the other, may depend
upon the permanent or accidental tone of mind of the indi-
vidual. Thus, if a cheerful scene be presented to a happy
man, he associates by resemblance, a melancholy man by
i/Ontrast. The loveliness of spring to a mourner suggests
ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS. 221
»nly images of disappointed hope and speedy dissulutioa
To tne cheerful man even the gloom of winter awakens the
anticipations of returning spring, and he thinks only of the
contrast which, in a few months, will renew the whole face
of nature.
It is, in this manner, by the combination of these several
laws, that the train of thought is directed. As these vari-
ous causes operate with unequal power at different times,
and are modified by edit other, and by the present circum-
stances of each individual, there arises an infinite variety in
the modes of mental association. Hence we should consider
it almost miraculous if two men should be affected in exactly
the same manner in precisely the same circumstances, so that
they should give utterance to their sentiments in the same
language. Yet, while all this diversity is known to exist,
we are conscious that it is still governed by laws ; for we
recognize in an instant an abnormal or incoherent associa-
tion, and attribute it at once either to idiocy or insanity. So
delicate are our mental instincts, that he who knows nothing
of the laws of association is intuitively aware when they
are violated.
It is on the perfection of this delicate instinct, which spon-
taneously recognizes all the laws of association, that the
power of the dramatist essentially depends. He forms con-
ceptions of a variety of characters, and places them in cir-
cumstances desimed to call forth the intensest emotion.
But these circumstances will affect each individual according
to his peculiar idiosyncrasy. The dramatic poet has the
power of throwing himself into each character, and of feeling
instinctively the emotions to which such a human being,
under such circumstances, would give utterance. This 19
.tie of the rarest gifts with which genius is ever endowed.
It is to this power that Shakspeare owes his preeminence.
Considered simply as a poet, there are other men of geniuj
19*
222 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
with whom he may come into comparison ; but in dramatic
exhibition of character he stands, by confession, without a
rival.
** Our Shakspeare's magic could not copied be;
Within that circle none dare walk but he."
It may seem, from what I have said, that associatior
evinces a power beyond our, control, and that hence we arc
not responsible for our trains of thought, or the conse-
quences to which they lead. This inference, it is almost un-
necessary to add, is unwarranted. By association ideas are
suggested, but it still depends on our own volition to deter-
mine whether the suggestion shall be heeded. A thought
is presented by the law of association ; we may accept or
reject it. Two dissimilar thoughts are suggested, and we
may select either of them at our option. When a particu-
lar association is followed repeatedly, we form the habit of
thinking in that particular train ; but the formation of that
habit depended, at each successive step, upon our own will.
It is, then, evident that the formation of our characters,
whether intellectual or moral, is dependent on ourselves.
Hence it is that circumstances are said to form men ; that is,
the conditions in which we are placed accustom us to cer-
tain modes of thinking, which, becoming habitual, render
our character fixed and determinate. Hence, also, we see
how much character depends upon energy of will, by which
the development of our own powers ceases to be the result
of accident, and follows in the line marked out for it by
reasonable and predetermined choice.
It has been truly remarked, that our associations are fre-
quently the cause of great errors in judgment. When w^e
repeatedly associate two ideas together, we are prone, with-
out examination, to consider the connection by its nature
indissoluble. Thus, in youth, having observed many good
NATURE OF MEMORY. '2'23
mer members of our own religious sect, we associate the
idei of goodness with that sect, and. going furtlier, consider
piety exclusively coniSned within its limits. Ilavin*'', agam.
experienced innumerable benefits arising from a republican
government, we not only associate the idea of freedom and
intelligence with our own institutions, but suppose tliat
these advantages can be enjoyed under no other conditions
of humanity. A multitude of cases of a similar kind will
readily suggest themselves. These errors are manifestly
to be removed bv a larg-er knowledo;e of the world, and a
more careful and frequent examination of the reasons of
our opinions. This subject is treated with great beauty
and sound discrimination in Stewart's chapter on Associa-
tion.
REFERENCES.
Stewart — Vol. i., chap. 5 ; Locke — Book 11, chap. 33 ; Reid — Essay
4, chap. 4.
SECTION II. — THE NATURE OF MEMORY.
Memory is that faculty by which we retain and recall
•our knowledge of the past. I saw a tree yesterday. I
know now that I saw it then and there. I have a concep-
tion of a tree, with a certain knowledge that I saw the tree
which corresponds to this conception, at some previous time.
How I know this I cannot tell, but my consciousness reveals
it to me as positive and reliable knowledge.
I have, in the above definition, ascribed but two func-
tions to memory, — the power by which we retain, and that
by which we recall, our knowledge of the past. The distinc-
tion between these powers is easily observed, for they are
not always bestowed in equal degrees. Some men retain
^Jieir knowledge more perfectly than they recall it. Othera
224 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHT.
have their knowledge always at command, and make even
Bmall acquisitions eminently available.
Stewart divides the first of these functions into suscepti-
bility and retentiveness. A foundation for this distinction
evidently exists. Some men acquire with great rapidity,
but they very soon forget whatever they have learned.
Others acquire with difficulty, but retain tenaciously the
knowledge which they have once made their own. Others,
again, as I have just remarked, have a remarkable command
of their knowledge on all occasions. It must be evident
that memory is perfect in the degree in which it is endowed
with all these attributes. Men of the highest order of in-
tellect are often preeminently gifted in all these respects.
It will be sufficient to mention the names of Leibnitz.
Milton, Johnson, Scott, Napoleon, Cuvier, Goethe, Sir W.
Hamilton, in order to confirm the truth of this remark.
Such men acquire with incredible facility, rarely forget any-
thing which they have learned, and, at will, with remarkable
accuracy, concentrate all their knowledge upon the point
which they are at the moment discussing.
The knowledge which we obtain by memory may prop-
erly be called, in the words of Sir W. Hamilton, represen-
tative and mediate, in distinction from presentative and
immediate knowledge. When I see a tree, I am conscious
of an immediate knowledge, the object being presented
directly before my mind. When I remember a tree, there
is no external object presented. The tree is represented by
the act of the mind itself. I know the tree throuo-h the
medium of this representation. The immediate object of
my thought is this conce| tion of the thing, while, by a power
inherent in my intellect, I connect this image with the idea
of past reality. That this is true, is evident from the fact
that the mental state is precisely the same, whether the
•bject at present is or is not existing. I remember a hous«
NATURE OF MEMORY. 225
which I saw a year ago. The image of it is distinctly be-
fore my mind. I am told that the house has been burned
down, and that nothing remains where it stood but a heap
of smouldering ruins. This does not at all affect the iinairo
I have in my mind. The only difference in the two cases
is, that before I contemplated it as the representation of
something existing, now only of something that did exist.
Concerning this faculty, as thus defined, several important
facts may be observed.
1. I have before remarked, when treating of the percep-
' live faculties, that our knowledge derived from this source
is of two kinds, simple and complex. Simple knowledge is
merely a state of mind, a consciousness of a peculiar impres-
sion made upon our sensitive organism, without giving us an
intimation of anything external; a mere affection of the
me, without any relation to the not me. The other kind
of knowledge is complex ; that is, together with this affection
of the me, there is communicated to us a knowledge of the
7iot me, in some of its modifications. In this latter case,
we form a notion of the not me as something numerically
distinct from the me.
Whenever our knowledge is of the latter character, our
recollection of it is always attended by a conception, and
this conception forms a part of the act of memory. Sir
W. Hamilton, on this account, happily describes memory as
a recoUective imagination. We have before us an image of
the object remembered, and are conscious that it represents
some past existence. Thus, when we remember a visible
object, we form for ourselves' a distinct conception of its ap-
pearance. We never consider an act of memory complete
until this conception is created Thub, if I am asked
whether I remember a village Arhich I passed through
some years since, if I can rerr^U the conception of the
locality, I answer in the aflarmative ; if I only know iliat
226 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY^
from the route which I took I must have passed through it,
but have no conception of its appearance, I answer in the
negative. If, however, after an interval, I am able to recall
it as I perceived it, I reply that now I recollect it.
With respect to simple knowledge, or that which is
limited to sensations, the case is different. We here form
no conception, and the act of memory is imperfect I re-
member^ for instance, the visible appearance of a peach, its
color, magnitude, form, etc., and I represent it to myself
in thought. I have, however, no such recollection either of
the smell or taste of the peach. I form no representation
of these qualities, nor, so far as I know, am I able to do it.
My recollection amounts to no more than this : I know
that I have, at various times, both smelled and tasted of
peaches, and that I should instantly recognize these qualities
were they present ; but I can do no more. An exception
to this remark is, however, to be made in the case of hearing.
Here, though the knowledge is simple, that is, merely an
affection oi our sensitive organism, it is, however, capable
of forming a conception. Hence, our recollection of it is
remarkably perfect. After once hearing a tune, we can,
if skilled in music, recall it with perfect accuracy, and can
do it in perfect silence, merely forming a conception of the
Bounds by the memory.
2. A' complete act of the memory is always attended by
belief. He who remembers, is conscious of an original con-
nction that the conception which he forms is the true repre
ijcntativo of some preexisting knowledge. He knows it to
lie, as has been said, a recollective imagination. How we
know this, how we are able to distinguish a simple imagina-
tion from a recollective imagination, we are unable to ex-
plain. Consciousness reveals to us the difference, and we can
discover nothing beyond the simple fact. It has been said
that we learn to rely upon the testimony of memory by ex
NATURE OF MEMORY. 227
perience. This, however, must be inc(^TQct, for \\\) evidently
rely upon it anterior to experience. And, besides, the very
experience on which we are here said to depen<l. presupposes
the validity of the testimony of memory. Unless I rely on
mem(.ry to give me a knowledge of the past, I can gain no
experience respecting the character of memory itself
• I am, however, aware that there are frequent cases in
which, while we have a clear conception of an act, our recol-
lection is imperfect, so that we doubt whether the state of
mind be merely a conception or a recollection. Thus. I
intended several days since to write a letter, and formed a
purpose to write it at a particular time. The question now
occurs to me, did I write it or not? When I think of the
act, is my mental state that of recollection, or only of con-
ception ; in other words, did I actually do it, or did I oidy
resolve to do it ? Here our consciousness enables us to
distinguish between certainty and doubt, though it does not
enable us to resolve the doubt. So far, however, as I have
observed, it is generally the fact that when we doubt the
doubt is entitled to precedence, and we find on inquiry that
the thing was not done. When, on the other hand, the
testimony of consciousness to our recollection is perfect, we
rely upon it with as much certainty as on the present evi-
dence of our senses. I am as sure that I saw a certain tree
yesterday, as I was sure yesterday that I was then seeing
it. It is upon this attribute of memory that all our belief
of the existence of the past and the distant depends. Wo
repose the same confidence in the memory of competent
witnesses as in our own. I just as fully and perfectly be-
lieve in the existence of Constantinople as of London, though
the one I have seen • and the other I have not. seen. On
this belief in the veracity of memory, all the evidence of
testimony depends ; and hence, with entire confidence in itj
228 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
validity, we proceed to decide questions involving pmperty,
reputation, and life itself.
It is proper here to remark, that this consciousness, by
which Ave determine a representation in our minds to be a
recollection and not an imagination, is liable to be greatly
impaired. He who forms the habit of deliberate lying, or
of affirming that his conceptions are recollections, will grad-
ually lose the power of distinguishing the one from the other.
By passing from truth to falsehood and from falsehood to
truth, without moral consciousness, the line which separates
them from each other becomes more and more indistinct,
until it is at last obliterated. I have known men who
would utter the most absurd falsehoods, without seeming to
be conscious either that they were lying or that their hear-
ers knew them to be liars. A more just retribution for
the abuse of our moral faculties cannot be conceived.
Another peculiarity connected with this part of our sub-
ject deserves to be remarked. We are sometimes led into
innocent mistakes concerning our recollection. If we hear
an event frequently related, until every minute incident is
engraven on our recollection, we may, after a considerable
period has elapsed, seem to ourselves to have witnessed it.
I think it is Burke who says, '^ Never let a man repeat to
you a lie. If he tell you a story every day which you know
to be false, at the end of a year you will believe it to be
true." A distinguished justice of the Supreme Judicial
Court of Massachusetts once related to me a case which
pertinently illustrates this remark. He was once trying a
cause relating to a will, and a lady testified most distinctly
to some occurrences which she had witnessed when she was
a child. Her evidence was distinct and minute as to all
the circumstances of person, time, and place. She was a
person of mature age, of a character above suspicion, and
incapable of testifying to what she did not believe to be
NATURE OF MEMORY. 229
true. It aowever appeared, in the course *f the trial, from
incontestable documentary evidence, that the events had
transpired several years before she was born. When a girl
dhe had heard the occurrence so frequently related, with
great particularity, that in mature years it presented itself
to her as a matter of personal knowledge rather than of
recollection of the narrative of others.
Lastly ; the act of memory involves two subordinate be-
liefs. First, it presupposes a belief in the past existence of
the object recollected ; and, secondly, in the past and present
existence, of the subject recollecting. From both of these
we derive the idea of duration, for were there no duration,
there could be no past existence ; that is, the idea of dura-
tion logically precedes the idea of memory. From the
second of these beliefs we derive the idea of personal
identity. The belief that we, who are now existing, cog-
nized an object at any previous point in duration, su})pose3
both the cognitions to appertain to the same subject ; that is,
that the eso in both these cocrnitions is one and the same.
3. The power of recollection in different individuals
differs greatly, both in degree and in kind.
Some men are so remarkably gifted in this respect, that
without apparent effort they seem to remember whatever they
have read, and every person whom they have even casually
seen. Others, though possessing many eminent qualities
of intellect, find difficulty in recollecting the persons and
things which daily surround them. Cyrus is reported to
have been able to call by name every soldier in his army,
and Themistocles to have known individually every citizen
of Athens. I have been told that General Washington
never found it necessary to be twice intraluced to the same
person. Boswell records of Dr. Johnson, that once, when
riding in a stage-coach, he repeated with verbal accuracy
a number of the Rambler, some ten or twelve years after
20
230 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
its p»;blication ; at the same time stating that he had not
Been it since he corrected the original proof-sheets. In his
life of Rowe he criticizes the poet's works with a -very accu-
rate conception of their merits, frequently quoting whole pas-
sages as though he were transcribing them from the printed
page. When he had finished it, he said to a friend, "I
think this is pretty well done, considering that I have not
read a play of Rowe's for thirty years." On the contrary,
Montaigne, though a man of original genius, and one of the
marked men of his age, was always complaining of the bad-
ness of his memory. ^' I am forced," says he, '^ to call my
servants by the names of their employments, or of the coun-
tries where they were born, for I can hardly remember their
proper names, and if I should live long, I question whether
I should remember my own name." In this case there seems
to be some peculiar idiosyncrasy; for while he forgot so
readily the individual, he was able to remember the class to
which he belonged.
Differences of memory exist hot only in degree, but Id
kind.
I have already observed that some men are more remark-
able for susceptibility, others for retentiveness, and others
for readiness of memory. Every one who has observed the
minds of young persons, must have seen frequent illustra-
tions of the truth of this remark. But these differences do
not terminate here. There exist what may not inappropri-
ately be termed objective differences of memory ; that is, this
power seems, in different individuals to manifest an affinity
for different classes of objects. Some men remember num-
bers and dates with remarkable accuracy, and easily retain
not only figures, but even long and complicated algebraic
formulae. Other men remember permanently and without
effort, localities, the faces of persons, and every form of
external nature. Some have great facility in recollecting
NATURE OF MEMORY. 231
words and their relations to each other ; and hence at an
early age manifest a fondness for the study of laiigua;^e and
the pursuits of philology. Otliera again, ^vlio are pos-
sessed of none of these powers in a remarivable degree,
acquire principles and general laws without efibrt, and will
frequently remember the law\ while they forget the facts by
which it is established. It is said that the late Dr. Gall
was first led to the investigations which terminated in his
system of phrenology, by observing that some boys possessed
peculiar skill in finding their way out of a forest, while
others, under the same circumstances, would be completely
bewildered. He remarked, that those of the first class were
marked with a protuberance in the forehead just above the
eye. He also observed that those who displayed a remark-
able aptitude for languages were formed with a depression
'of the roof of the orbit of the eye, which gave to the eye
the appearance of unusual fulness. Generalizing these ob-
servations, he was led to conclude that every modificatiun
of mental character was accompanied by some corresponding
peculiarity in the form of the brain. Whether there be the
connection between the mental and physical organization
which phrenologists assert, I will not determine ; but that they
have aided us in remarking with greater exactness many
peculiarities of mental constitution, may, I think, be fairly
admitted.
That these diiferences may be accounted for, in some
degree, by education, I have no doubt. In the most re-
markable instances, however, they seem to depend chiefly
on natural endowment. I have known several persons who
have been o;ifted with some of these forais of recollection in
a very uncommon degree, and they have uniformly told me
^ that the things w^hich they remembered cost them no more
pains than those which they forgot. All the account
which they couH give of the matter was, that some classes
232 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
of facts, without any special effort, remained permanentlj
fixed in their recollection, while others were as readily for
gotten by them as by other men. A highly-esteemed cler-
gyman of Massachusetts, lately deceased, who could tell the
year of the graduation of every alumnus of his university
and the minutest incidents relating to every ordination in
his vicinity for the last half-century, assured me that it cost
him no labor, but that it was, so far as he knew, a mental
peculiarity.
The large development of any particular form of memory
is not, of necessity, accompanied by any other remarkable
intellectual endowments. Instances have frequently been
noticed of men, with prodigious powers of recollection,
whose abilities in other respects were even below medi-
ocrity. Very remarkable memory has even been observed
in persons of so infirm an understanding that they did
not even comprehend what they accurately repeated. In this
case, probably, the power was mere susceptibility of memory ;
that is, the power of acquiring on the instant, without the
ability of permanent recollection. A very remarkable case
of this one-sided power is mentioned in the life of the late
Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool. A young Welsh fisherman, of
about the age of eighteen, was found to have made most re-
markable progress in the study of languages. He was not
only familiar with Latin and Greek, but also with Hebrew,
Arabic, and other oriental dialects. Some benevolent gen-
tlemen, in that city, provided means for giving him every
literary advantage, in the hope that his vast acquisitiona
might be made useful to society, and also that he might un-
fold the processes by which his singular attainments had
been made. The attempt was, however, unsuccessful. He
seemed not to be peculiarly capable of education, but, witt
the exception of this peculiar gift, his mind partook entirelj
NATURE OF MEMORY, 238
of the character of the class with ^yhich he had been asso-
ciated.
4. The character of memory changes materially with
age.
Memory is one of our faculties which is developed at a
very early age, specially in the characteristics of suscepti-
bility and retentiveness. Of this any one will be convinced
who will observe the prodigious number of particulars which
a human being acquires almost in infancy. A child of four
or five years old has already learned the names and uses
of the ordinary objects which he sees around him; and has
acquired a tolerable knowledge of his native language. A
boy, before he goes to school, is better acquainted with his
mother tongue, than he will be with Latin and Greek after
ten or twelve years of study. Nor is this all. Children
educated in a family in which several languages are spoken,
learn them all with equal facility.
As might, however, be expected, this faculty, which first
comes to maturity, is also the first to decline. The first intel-
lectual indication of advancing years is a conscious failure in
the power of recollection. When the memory becomes im-
paired from this cause, we do not forget so much the
knowledge acquired in youth, as that acquired at a later
period. Hence, old men recite the deeds of their youth,
not those of maturer years. Horace describes an old man
as laudator temporis acti. The heroes of our revolution
are never so well pleased as when relating the events of that
illustrious struggle, and the reminiscences whicli they have
treasured up of the career of Washington. The reason
for this is two-fold. An event which transpires in youth
awakens in us a deeper coexistent emotion than in age : and,
secondly, the social character of youth leads us frequentl.^
to relate the incidents which please us, and hence every in
teresting event becomes more deeply engraved on the mem
20*
234 INTELLECTUAL PHII.JSOPHY.
ory. To an old man, the later period of his life resembles a
dream ; the period of youth and early manhood alone seems
like reality.
As old men are naturally inclined to recite the events of
their youth, so this very recital is most pleasing to the
young. A child wearies his parents with the request that
they will tell him what they saw and did when they were
young. We are all conscious of the eagerness with which
we listen to the relation, by eye-witnesses, of occurrences
which transpired sixty or seventy years since. The final
cause of this arrangement is as obvious as it is beautiful.
These corresponding dispositions were conferred upon us for
the sake of binding together the young and the old by the
tie of mutual sympathy. The tedium and infirmity of age
is beguiled and alleviated by the society of youth ; and the
young are taught those lessons of experience, which they
would seek for in vain from those who, like themselves, are
just commencing the warfare of life.
From these facts, we learn the more correctly to appre-
ciate the importance of a diligent and well-spent youth. If
the spring-time of life is consumed in frivolity and sin, the
mind, in the winter of age, must sink into decrepitude ; and
nothing will present itself to the memory, but the recollec-
tion of deeds which tinge the cheek with shame, and goad
the conscience with remorse. If, on the other hand, the
memory is stored in youth with valuable knowledge, and the
faculties are disciplined by strenuous exertion, we sow the
seeds of a green old age ; that condition in which, without
the vigor and elasticity of youth, there exist the accumu-
lated knowledge of a laborious life, and the calm, ripe wis-
dom of a large experience. If to these be added the con-
sciousness of purity of motive, and the beautiful simplicity
which results from a virtuous life, old age becomes one of
the most favored periods of our present state. It may then
NATURE OF MEMORY. 285
be worth while for the young to remember, that while dili^
gence and mental discipline afford the only reasonable hope
for success in manhood, they present the only security
against the evils of an imbecile, unhappy, and neglected old
age.
It is to be remarked, further, that the memory of youth
differs in kind, as well as in degree, from that of maturer
life. In youth, as might be expected, we remember fiicts ;
as we advance in age, we observe, appreciate, and remem-
ber laws and their relations. In the early period of life, we
collect the materials ; as we grow older, we learn to use
them. In youth our tendency is to the objective and con-
crete ; in maturer years we tend to the subjective and the
abstract. If we were to be more particular, we might
aflBnn, that in childhood susceptibility seems more active ;
in youth, retentiveness ; ard in manhood readiness. In
childhood, as I have said, we learn a multitude of things
which we soon forget. The ordinary events of the first
four or five years of our lives soon pass into oblivion. In
advancing youth, while we lose in some degree the power
of committing to memory, we retain what we have learned
much more tenaciously. I have remarked on the facility
with which young persons will learn several languages at
the same time, and, what is scarcely possible for an. adult,
they will learn them idiomatically.^ It is, however, a singu-
* A singular confirmation of this remark is found in the life of Dr.
Carey, the pioneer Protestant missionary in India. Dr. Carey had a de-
cide«l ':alent for languages, and acquired them with great facility before h«
left England. When he arrived in Bengal with his family, he commenced
the study of the native tongues with his usual perseverance, a.«*sisted hy
the best helps, both printed and oral, which the country tlien atforded.
His children, without any instruction, were left to amuse themselves with
natives of their own age. It was not long before the f ither wjis obliged
to call in his children to explain to him phrases and idioms which he wm
unable to unlerstand. They had learned, by playing with their folic wa,
more rapidly than he by tH combined aid of books and pundits.
236 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
lar fact, that if a young person studies an ancient language^
as Latin or Greek, and, from change of residence, forgets hia
native tongue, he will remember the language which he ac-
quired by grammatical study, longer than his vernacular.
This difference may arise either from the fact that reten-
tiveness of memory increases with age, or because whatever
is learned by a protracted effort is more indelibly fixed in
the recollection.
5. Memory may be improved in a shorter time, and tv a
greater extent, than any of our other faculties.
The change that may be produced in this respect is i 3-
quently remarkable. Pupils in a school may, in a fjw
months, be taught to commit to memory an amount which, at
first, would have seemed incredible. It is not difficult to
teach a class to recite from beginning to end the acquisitions
of a whole term, without any aid from the instructor. A
gentleman with whom I am well acquainted, informed me
that he once determined to ascertain the extent to whicli the
improvement of his memory could be carried. Hf soon
found himself able to repeat verbatim, two or three p? ^es of
any book after it had been read to him only once. IJe was
able to go into a legislative assembly, and write dow«i from
recollection, after its adjournment, the proceedings of the
day, with as much accuracy as they were reporteck by the
stenographers.
While, however, it is generally true, that the memory may
be greatly and permanently improved by judiciou? practice,
't is probable that the rapid improvement, of whick we have
frequent instances, has respect more to susceptibility, than
either to retentiveness or readiness. What we acquire so
suddenly is learned only for a particular occasion ; and
when the occasion has passed away, all we have learned has
passed away with it. Clergymen, who with tase commit
their sermons by once or twice reading them over, are obliged
NATURE OF MEMORY. 237
to commit them anew as often as they arc called to deliver
them. When we desire to cultivate the memory in general,
and render our knowledge permanently available, greater
care is necessary. The process is more difficult, and must
be conducted on principles which depend on the general laws
of the human mind.
The following case, related by Dr. Abercrombie, illua-
trates the extent to which the susceptibility of memory may
be increased by the pressure of circumstances. " A distin-
guished theatrical performer, in consequence of the sudden
illness of another actor, had occasion to prepare himself, on
very short notice, for a part which was entirely new to him ;
and the part was long, and rather difficult. He acquired it
in a very short time, and went through it with perfect accu-
racy, but, immediately after the performance, forgot every
word of it. Characters which he has acquired in a more
deliberate manner he never forgets, and can perform them
at any time without a moment's preparation ; but, in regard
to the character now mentioned, there was the further and
very singular fact, that, though he has repeatedly performed
it since that time, he has been obliged each time to prepare
it anew, and has never acquired in regard to it that facility
which is familiar to him in other instances. When ques-
tioned respecting the mental process which he employed the
first time he performed this part, he says that he lost sight
entirely of the audience, and seemed to have nothing before
him but the pages of the book from which he had learned
it ; and that, if anything had occurred to interrupt thisillu-
81 :n, he should have stopped instantly." — Abercrombie,
Part 3, section 1.
6. The power of recollection depends much . n the man-
ner in which our knowledge has been acquired.
Knowledge acquired by the assistance of our perceptive
feculties, is much longer remembered than that acquired by
238 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY
conception through the medium of language. Ani, further,
a proposition which can in any manner be represented by an
imao'c is more easily remembered than a purely abstract
proposition, of which no image can be formed. We remem-
ber a landscape far better by having seen it, than by the
most elaborate description. Every one knows that the
scenery depicted in the writings of travellers and novelists
leaves scarcely a trace on the recollection. A machine may
be described to us with the most careful particularity, and
we may be able distinctly to comprehend it ; yet, if we see
neither it nor a model of it, we soon find that our recollec-
tion has become exceedingly shadow}'" and vague. The use
which may be made of this fact is evident. It teaches us
the importance of illustrating, by figures, diagrams, or ex-
periments, whatever we desire to communicate to others,
wherever the subject admits of it. Hence the use of a
black-board in a class-room ; and hence the value of skill
in drawing, to an instructor, in every branch of physical
science.
7. It is, however, the fact, that, in our present state, time
gradually obliterates the impressions made upon the memory.
What we learned yesterday, may be fresh in our recollection
to-day, but we shall remember it much less perfectly in a
month. If a year elapse without having had occasion to
recall it, it will in a great degree have faded away from our
recollection. I say, in a great degree; for, although the
principle which it involves, or the conclusion which it estab-
lishes, may remain, the sharp and definite outline of the
facts will have dissolved into forgetfulness. In this respect,
we are all the victims of a perpetually recurring delusion.
It seems to us that what we .remember so perfectly, and
understand so clearly, to-day, can never be forgotten.
Though repeated trials, and lamentable ignorance of what
we have once known, might seem sufficient to convince us of .
NATURE OF MEMORY. 2.H9
our error, we press blindly onward, ever Icarninii;, and yv{
ever failing permanently to treasure up what we have
already acquired.
While this, however, is the general fact, it is subject to
several modifications. Some of these are the followin<^ :
o
1. Exact and definite knowledge is much longer remem-
bered than vague and indefinite conceptions. A proposition
but half known, and indistinctly conceived, is almost imme-
diately forgotten ; while that which we have thoroughly
thought, and adequately comprehended, does not easily
escape us. Hence we see that our progress in knowledge
does not so much depend upon the amount which we read
as upon the manner in which we study. He who reviews
his past history will observe that his present acquisitions are
the sum of all that he has at some time thoroughly learned.
That which was only imiperfectly understood is lost in the
mass of confused and useless reminiscences.
2. An isolated proposition is soon forgotten, while one
of which we perceive the connections and relations is more
easily remembered. A single number, as the height of a
mountain, the area of a field, the page of a book, a law of
, mechanics expressed in abstract terms, or any truth viewed
without relation to any other truth, easily eludes our recol-
lection. We obviate this diflSculty, if we can establish any
relation, even though it be but fanciful, between the fact
which we desire to remember, and some other truth perma-
nently known. Thus, if we wish to remember the lieiglit
of a mountain, we associate it with the height of some well-
known object, and we find our power of recollection
increased. If we associate a law with the facts for which
it accounts, the same effect is produced. It is on the prin-
ciple of associating something to be remembered, with some-
thing else well known, that the systems of artifici:il memory
are construc'ied.
•240 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
3. Knowledge which is beginning to vanish from our
recollection is rendered more permanent by even a cursory
review. By occasionally repeating this review, the truth
Decomes incorporated with our permanent knowledge. It is
a good rule never to commence the reading of to-day, until
we have carefully reviewed the reading of yesterday ; and
never to lay aside a book until we have leisurely imprinted
on our minds its most important truths. Conversation on
what we have read is of great service in this respect. I
think it is Johnson who mentions that it was his custom, in
youth, as soon as he had finished a book, to find some one
to whom he could explain its principles. Full and free
discussion upon the truths which we have acquired, gives not
only permanency but definiteness to our knowledge. It is
on this account that studious men derive so much advantage
from associating together, and communicating the result of
their researches for the benefit of each other.
8. From remarkable and well- authenticated facts, it ap-
pears that, probably from some unexplained condition of the
material organs, the recollection of knowledge long since
obliterated may be suddenly revived. These cases have been
observed to occur most frequently in extreme sickness, and
on the near approach of death. May it not be that, in our
present state, the material and immaterial part of man being
intimately united, our failure of recollection is caused by
some condition of the material organism ; and that, as this
union approaches dissolution, the power of the material over
the immaterial is weakened, and the knowledge which we
have once acquired is more fully revealed to our conscious-
ness, mdicating that when the separation is complete it will
remain with us forever ?
A variety of cases are mentioned by writers on this sub-
ject, a few of which are here inserted :
An instance is mentioned by Coleridge of a servant-girl
NATURE OF iMEMOKY. 241
JD Germany, who, in extreme sickness, >vas observed to
repeat passages of Greek, Latin and Hebrew, though she
was known to have no acquaintance with these hiU'^uafT^cs.
Upon inquiry into her history, it was found that, many years
before, she had been a domestic in the flimily of a learned
professor, who was in the. habit of repeating aloud passages
from his favorite authors while walking in his study, which
adjoined the apartment in which she was accustomed to labor.
This case is the more remarkable, inasiir-icli as the person
had never been conscious herself of having acquired the
knowledge which she, under these circumstances, exhibited.
The Rev. Mr. Flint, a very intelligent gentleman, who, in
a series of interesting letters, has related his experiences in
the valley of the Mississippi, informs us that, under a des-
perate attack of typhus fever, as his attendants afterwards
told him, he repeated whole pages from Virgil and Homer,
which he had never committed to memory, and of which,
after his recovery, he could not recollect a line.
Dr. Abercrombie, in his work on intellectual philosophy,
mentions a variety of cases in which persons in extreme sick-
ness, and under operations for injuries of the head, con-
• versed in languages which they had known in youth, but had
for many years entirely forgotten.
Dr. Rush mentions the case of an Italian gentleman, who
died of yellow fever in New York, who, in the beginning of
his sickness, spoke English : in the middle of it, French ;
but on the day of his death, nothing but Italian. A Lu-
theran clergyman informed Dr. Rush that the Germans and
Swedes of his congregation in Philadelphia, when near
death, always prayed in their native languages, though some
of them, he was confident, had not spoken them for fifty or
sixty years.
Dr. Abercrombie mentions another case, of a boy, who, at
the age of four, received a fracture of the skull, for which
21
242 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
he underwent the operation of the trepan. He was at the
time in a state of perfect stupor ; and, after his recovery,
retained no recollection either of the accident or of the opera-
tion. At the age of fifteen, during the delirium of a fever,
he gave his mother a correct description of the operation,
and the persons who were present at it, with their dress and
other minute particulars. He had never been observed to
allude to it before, and no means were known by which he
could have acquired a knowledge of the circumstances which
he related.
What conclusion we are authorized to draw from these
facts, it is difficult to determine. They, however, indicate
that what we seem to forget, can never be irretrievably lost
to the percipient soul. The means for recalling it in some
inexplicable manner appear to exist, and when, under some
unknown conditions, they are called into action, all or any
part of our knowledge may, on the instant, be brought to
our recollection.
The moral lesson which these facts inculcate is obvious.
If every impression made upon the mind is to remain
upon it forever, if the soul be a tablet from which nothing
that is written is ever erased, how great is the importance
of imbuing it with that knowledge which shall be a source
of joy to us as long as we exist ! And, again ; since knowl-
edge which lies so long dormant may be revived unex-
pectedly, under conditions which we cannot foresee, and at
times when it may have the most important bearing upon
our decisions and our destiny, it is of the greatest conse-
quence to us to store the mind with such knowledge as shall
invigorate our principles and confirm our virtue. He who
reads a corrupting book for pastime may thoughtlessly lay
it down, and suppose that in a few days all the images which
it has created. will have passed from his remembrance for-
ever. But these latent ideas may be recalled by some casual
NATURE OF MEMOllY. 248
association or some physical condition of the i)rain, and 'Mvo
that bias to his mind, in the hour of temptation, wliich will
determine him to a course that shall tend to his final
undoing.
It may not be inappropriate here to suggest the harmony
between this condition of memory and the scripture doctrine
of a general judgment. The teaching of the New Testa-
ment on this subject is, that the whole race of man will bo
summoned before God, to be judged according to the deeds
done in the body. We can easily perceive how all this may
be done, if the view which we have taken on this subject be
correct. Suppose every being to be perfectly conscious of
all the events of his past life, and of all the obligations
which he has violated, and his character in a spiritual world
to be as manifest to others as it is to himself; and the judg-
ment concerning every individual must be immediately
formed by the whole universe. No examination is neede\l,
for the facts which in each case form the basis of the con
demnation are apparent to all. Like choosing its like, the
good would be separated from the bad : and the decision pro-
nounced by the Judge would be reechoed back from the
conscience of every individual, with the assent of every
moral intelligence.
It may be well, in closing this section, to refer to some
singular effects produced on memory by disease. They
do not come under any law with which I am acquainted^
yet they deserve to be recorded for the purpose of directing
attention to the subject. It is by the observation of anom-
alous cases in science, that we are led to the discovery of
new and important laws.
Sometimes, in consequence pf injury or disease, the mem-
ory of a particular period is lost altogether, while what
occurred both before and after that period is rememlxjred
with accuracy. Dr. Beattie mentions the case of a clergy-
244 INTELLECTUAL MILOSOPHY.
man who, in consequence of an apoplectic attack, lost the
recollection of precisely four years.
Sometimes the loss of memory relates to particular per-
sons. Dr. Abercrombie mentions the case of a surgeon who
was thrown from his horse and carried into a neighboring
house in a state of insensibility. From this he soon recov-
ered, and gave minute and correct directions respecting his
own treatment. In the evening he was so much relieved,
that he was removed to his own house. The medical friend
who accompanied him in the carriage made some observa-
tion respecting the precautions necessary to be observed to
prevent unnecessary alarm to his family, when, to his as-
tonishment, he discovered that his friend had lost all idea
of having either a wife or children. It was not until the
third day that the circumstances of his past life began to
recur to his mind.
Cases have occurred in which, from an injury to the head,
the knowledge of a particular language has been lost. In
other cases, not a language but a particular class of words
has been dropped from the recollection. A case is men-
tioned, in Avhich a patient suflFered from an attack of apo-
plexy. On his recovery, he had lost the power of pronounc-
ing or writing either proper names or any substantive
while his memory supplied adjectives in profusion. He
would speak of any one whom he wished to designate, by
calling him after the shape or color for which he was dis-
tinguished ; calling one man ^^red," from the color of his
bair, and another ''tail," from his stature; asking for his
hat as " black," and his coat as '' brown." As he was a
good botanist, he was acquainted with a Vast number of
plants, but he could never call them by their names. A
similar instance occurred, lately, in Livingston county, New
York.
A remarkable case is mentioned in the life of Rev. Wn
NATURE OF MEMORY. 245
Tennent, a distinguished clergyman of New Jersey, about
the middle of the last century. While prosecuting hig
studies preparatory to the ministry, he was taken ill and
apparently died. After lying for some days without man-
ifesting any signs of life, he was resuscitated and recov-
ered. When he regained his health, it was found that ho
had lost all knowledge of the past, and was obliged to com-
mence his studies anew, beginning at the alphabet. He had
proceeded in this manner for some time, and had advanced
as far as the Latin grammar, when, on a sudden, he placed
his hand on his head, complaining of violent pain, and, on
the instant,, his former knowledge had returned to him just
as it existed previous to his illness. The wliolc account is
very remarkable, but I believe its authenticity to be above
suspicion.
Of these, and a vast number of similar facts, I believe our
present knowledge is unable to furnish us with any expla-
nation. They deserve to be recorded as material for future
investigation. Subsequent inquirers may be enabled to use
them so as to point out more clearly the connection between
the mind and the material organism, and thus enlarge our
knowledge of our intellectual faculties and the conditions of
their exercise.
REFERENCES.
Nature of memory — Reid, Essay 3, chap. 1; Stewart, vol. i.,chap. G.
Implies the power of retaining and recalling — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6,
Bee. 1. Locke, Book 2, chap. 10, sec. 1, 2, 8 ; chap. 19, sec. 1.
Includes susceptibility, retentiveness and readiness— Stewart, vol. i.,
chap. 6, sec. 2.
An original faculty — Reid, Essay 3, chap. 2.
Involves conception— Reid, Essay 3, chap. 1; Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6,
sec. 1.
Attended with belief of past existence and personal identity — Reid,
Essay 3, chaps. 1, 4, 6.
Varies in different individuals— Abercrombie, Part 3, sec. i , Stewart,
voL L, chap. 6, sec. 1, 2.
21*
2-16 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
Local and pliiloEophical memory — Abercrombie, Part 3, sec. 1.
Greatly improvable — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6.
Objects which awaken emotion easily remembered — Stewart, vol i
chap. 6, sec. 1.
Ideas fade from memory — Locke, Book 2, chap. 10, sees. 4, 5.
Reviewing fixes knowledge — Abercrombie, Part 4.
Effect of disease on memory — Abercrombie, Part 3, sec. 1.
SECTION III. — THE IMPORTANCE OF MEMORY.
In treating of this subject, I shall consider, first, the re-
lation of memory to our other faculties ; and, secondly, the
importance of a cultivated memory to professional success.
I. The relation between memory and our other intel-
lectual faculties.
Memory is not necessary either to perception or con-
sciousness. We could see, and hear, and feel, and be con-
scious of all the operations of our faculties, as* well without
memory as with it. It is not necessary to some acts of orig-
inal suggestion. Without it we might have a notion of
existence, both objective and subjective. We could not,
however, without it, form those original suggestions which
involve the idea of succession. Thus, without it, we could
have no notion either of duration or of cause and effect.
Memory, on the other hand, is essential to the existence
of all those ideas into which the element of time enters.
Without it our whole knowledge would consist of the im-
pressions made upon us now and here. Our intellectual
existence would thus be reduced to a single point. Whatever
we had known previously to the present moment, whatever
ideas had occupied our minds before the one Avhich now
occupies them, would be blotted out forever. Hence, though
we could form a notion of that which was immediately be-
fore us, we could not retain that notion, or anything corre*
IMPORTANCE OF MEMORY. 247
spending to it, after it was withdrawn. Being una})le to
form conceptions, we could perform no acts either of analy-
sis, generalization, or combination. We could form no
notion of classes, and could have no general ideiis. Wo
could exercise no power of association, for there would bo
nothing within the scope of our mental vision, except the
single idea with which we were at the moment occupie 1.
Equally impossible would it be for us to reason. We reason
by the comparison of propositions ; but every proposition in-
volves two ideas, and one of these must designate a class ;
and without memory, as I have remarked, the notion of
classes would be impossible. But if this be true of the sin-
gle propositions which form a syllogism, how much stronger
is the case when we consider the syllogism itself, and, still
more, the series of syllogisms which form an argument.
Thus, memory holds an intermediate place between those
mental acts into which time does and those into which it doea
not enter. It originates nothing ; it gives us no new ideas ;
it merely retains the ideas given us by the originating fac-
ulties, and presents them to those other faculties whose
office it is, by modifying, comparing, and combining, to
enlarge our knowledge, and extend indefinitely the range
of human intelligence. Thus, though memory originates
nothing, yet, without it, the faculties which originate would
be useless. Though it neither analyzes nor compares, yet,
without it, the powers by which we analyze and compare
might as well not exist. Were we possessed of this alone,
our existence would be an absolute blank ; yet, possessed
of every other but this, our existence would be reduced to
a single point. If this be the relation which memory sus-
tains to our other faculties, it must evidently be one of the
most invaluable of our intellectual endowments. The greater
the perfection in which it exists, the broader foundation is
laid hr the exercise of our powers of analysis, combination.
248 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
and reasoning The more accurately we retain and the
more promptly we recall our knowledge of the past, the
richer is our supply of material for every form of intellectual
exercise.
II. The importance of a cultivated memory to pro-
fessional success.
By a cultivated memory, I mean a memory so improved
by eaucation that it can treasure up with ease, retain with
firmness, and recall with promptitude, the knowledge ac-
quired by the other faculties.
1. Without such a memory it is evident that reading
must be, to a great degree, useless. Without it, a man may
be what Horace calls a ^'helluo librorum^,^^ a devourer of
books ; but he will rarely be anything more. We some-
times meet with men of this class, omnivorous readers, who
seize upon books with avidity, with no other object than,
either present enjoyment, or the reputation of vast general
knowledge. They are pleased with the images spread be-
fore them. These pass away to be succeeded by others^
until the labor is completed, and nothing remains bu*^ a
confused recollection of pleasant or painful emotions, and
the consciousness that another unit has been added to the
number of books which they have read. It is evident that
a man may read, in this manner, forever, without any in-
crease of mental energy, or any real addition to the amount
of his knowledge.
2. A cultivated memory is also indispensable to a vigor-
ous imagination.. Imagination is the power of forming com-
plex conceptions out of materials already existing in the
mind. But it is evidently impossible to combine into im-
ages elements which we have never collected, or which, if we
have previously collected, we are unable to recall. Hence^
we find that those authors who have been remarked foi
boundless fertility of imagination have always been endowed
IMPORTANCE OF MEMORY. 249
with the highest gifts of memory. Scott, Goethe, Coleridge,
Milton, Macauley, might be easily referred to as illustrations.
A distinguished poet must be an intense and accurate ob-
server of nature, and the conceptions formed from actual
observation must be the materials from ^vhich be creates
the images of beauty or sublimity which please or subdue
us. The case is similar in philosophical imagination. Un-
less we are possessed of all the facts in a phenomenon or a
series of phenomena, we can never form any adequate con-
ception of the rationale which binds them together in one
scientific idea. Without an accurate knowledge of the facts
in astronomy, Copernicus could never have formed his idea
of the solar system.
3. The importance of a cultivated memory to reasoning
is equally obvious. Reasoning is a series of mental acts by
which we pass from the known to the unknown. Whenever
a proposition is capable of being proved, there exist certain
other propositions, which connect it indissolubly with truths
already known. These intermediate propositions are called
the argument or proof. Suppose, now, that we desire to
demonstrate a particular proposition ; if we can summon at
will all that we have ever known on the subject, we can
easily determine whether we possess the required media
of proof. If, on the other hand, our knowledge is vague
and undetermined, and we are unable to recall it to our
recollection, we weary ourselves and perplex others by mul-
tiplying irrelevant truths by which nothing is determined.
The value of this power is specially illustrated in the ciise of
forensic or legislative orators. They are frequently obliged to
construct an argument, or reply to an opponent, when there
is neither opportunity for consulting authorities nor examin-
ing digests. All that can possibly avail a man is the knowl-
edge which he has previously acquired, and he must be abla
to bring it to bear ^t once on the point at issue, or the op
250 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
portunity is lost forever. On this power must, therefore^
frequently depend the skill of a debater, or the success of
an advocate. .
4. A cultivated memory is necessary to the attainment
of accuracy of practical judgment.
By practical judgment I mean an ability to predict the
future from a knowledge of the past, and to form an opinion
of the doubtful from a knowledge of the true. This talent,
more than almost any other, gives us influence among men ;
and sometimes seems, in the most favored individuals, to at-
tain almost to the certainty of prescience. Burke, in his
'writings on the French Revolution, predicted the course of
events almost precisely as they subsequently occurred.
Other skilful statesmen have been able, from the present
aspect of affairs, to anticipate the changes which were ap-
proaching in the distance. Several of Napoleon's predic-
tions of the course of events in Europe, have been, in a re-
markable manner, verified by the political revolutions that
have occurred since his death.
The dependence of this talent upon memory is easily per-
ceived. As our judgments respecting the future must pro-
ceed upon the supposition that the course of nature is uni-
form, how can we predict the future without a knowledge
of the past ? But mere general and indefinite knowledge
will not here suffice. He who would attain to soundness of
judgment must possess himself of facts in particular, with
the circumstances by which they were surrounded, the limi-
tations by which they were fixed, and the conditions under
which they existed. This, of course, supposes an accurate
and comprehensive memory. We shall find that the most
eminently sagacious men have been favored with a memory
of this character. Of this type of mind Dr. Franklin
seems to preseit a remarkable instance.
But this, of itself, wiU not confer that eminence of prac-
IMPORTANCE OF MEMORY. 251
tical judgment to which we here refer. We frccjuentl^
observe men capable of amassing a vast collecticui of facts,
but they are all thrown together at random, and ever remain
in a state of chaotic confusion. Their knowledge has neither
been associated by scientific relations, nor chissified accord-
ing to established principles ; hence it is useless for the pir-
poses of investigation, and can form the basis of no prac-
tical judgment. It consists of merely isolated facts, from
which no general principles have been deduced, and hence it
furnishes no rules for future conduct. Such a man, thouirh
ever so extensively read, will ever be incapable of the wise
conduct of affairs. Men are frequently pointed out as walk-
ing libraries, to whom every one applies for the knowledge
of a fact, but to whose opinion no one would defer in any
case of practical importance. Thus, we see that those
powers by which knowledge is rendered available must be
cultivated, as well as those by which it is acquired, if we
would attain to soundness of judgment in the practical af-
fairs of life.
I am, however, aware that, to these, other elements must
be added, in order to form the character of which we are
treating. To a cultivated understanding, a retentive and
ready memory, must be united great freedom from preju-
dices, invincible love of truth, decided moral courage, and
firm reliance on the decisions of the human intellect, if we
would realize that conception of practical wisdom which
Locke somewhere happily denominates ''large round-about
common sense." Without freedom from prejudice we shall
look upon the plainest facts through a distorted medium.
If we have no real love of truth we shall never take the
pains necessary to arrive at it. If we are deficient in reli-
ance on the decisions of our own intellect, no matter how
clearly we may comprehend our position, we shall never
reach a deliberate conclusion. And without moral courage^
252 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
whatever be our conclusions, we shall never dare to carry
them into practice. In this, as in every other case, we per-
ceive that moral qualities form, the most important elements
of human character. Hence we see that, actual ability
depends greatly upon the cultivation of our own nature ;
and is placed mi3re within our own reach than might at first
be supposed.
The distinction between mere learning and that practical
wisdom by which all learning is made available to the pur-
poses of science, or the exigences of practical life, is well
illustrated by Cowper in his Task, one of the most delightful
poems in the English language.
** Knowledge and Wisdom, far from being one,
Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells
In heads replete with thoughts of other men ;
Wisdom, in minds attentive to their own.
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass.
The inere material with which Wisdom builds.
Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place.
Does but encumber what it seemed to enrich.
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much.
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
Books are, not seldom, talismans and spells,
By which the magic art of shrewder wits
Holds an unthinking multitude enthralled.
Some to the fascination of a name
Surrender judgment hood-winked. Some the style
Infatuates, and, through labyrinths and wilds
Of error, leads them by a tune entranced.
While sloth seduces more, too weak to bear
The unsupportable fatigue of thought.
And swallowing, therefore, without pause or choice.
The total grist unsifted, husks and all."
Winter Walk at Noow.
If these remarks be true, it seems remarkable that tho
question should ever have arisen, whether a powerful
IMPORTANCE 3F MEMORY. *z5E
t
memory is compatible with great soundness of judgment.
We see, from the above considerations, tliat soundness of
judgment, without a fair development of memory, is impos-
sible. The mistake on this subject has probably arisen
from two misconceptions. In the first place, a cultivated
and disciplined memory has been confounded with a miscel-
laneous and unclassified collection of facts. In the second
place, the abuse of memory has been confounded with tho
use of it. Memory is properly used when it is employed
to recall our previous knowledge, in order to deduce from it
laws which shall govern our future conduct. It is abused
when we employ it merely for the purpose of recalling
precedents which shall enable us blindly to follow our file-
leader. Here it usurps the place of judgment, and renders
us servile copyists and imbecile imitators. When we use it
to furnish facts, which, by comparison and generalization,
shall enable us to form judgments, we derive from it the
benefit which the Creator intended.
That remarkable powers of memory are commonly asso-
ciated with other distinguished endowments, might be easily
shown by instances. I have already alluded to several men
of genius, who possessed unusual retentiveness and readiness
of memory. I do not, however, remember any individual
in whom this coKibination was so remarkable as the late
Emperor Napoleon. He used to say of himself, that his
knowkdge was all laid away in drawers, and that he had
only to open the proper drawer, and all that he had
acquired on that particular subject was at once presented
before him. It was, I think, at the Congress of Erfurt,
that he astonished the sovereigns of Europe by the minute-
ness of his knowledge of historic dates. When they ex-
pressed their surprise that he should have been able to attain
such extraordinary accuracy amidst the pressure of business
with which he had been so long overwhelmed, he replied,
22
254 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
that his acquisitions of this kind were made when he was a
lieutenant of artillery, and was for a considerable perio(?
quartered in the house of a bookseller ; besides, added he, ]
had always great facility in the recollection of numbers.
The diligent improvement of time, in youth, thus laid the
foundation for the success of the future arbiter of Europe.
I have pursued this subject to a greater extent than
might have seemed necessary, did I not suppose that the im-
portance of this faculty is frequently underrated, especially
by young men. If a man succeed in almost any depart-
ment of intellectual labor, it is often said, by way of dispar-
agement, that his effort is nothing but the result of unusual i
memory. Were this the fact, it would still be true, that the
cultivation of memory to high perfection, so that our past-
knowledge is always available in every emergency, is neither
an* ordinary nor a contemptible attainment. But the asser-
tion is commonly unfounded. While distinguished success,
in any department, can rarely be attained by the exercise of
memory alone, it is equally true that the noblest powers
would be continually liable to mortifying failure without it.
Let us, then, labor to cultivate this faculty by every means
in our power, always remembering that we shall derive from
it the greatest advantage, not by allowing it to supersede
the use of the other faculties, but by training it to act in
subordination to them. He who reasons without facts must
always proceed in the dark ; while he who relies on isolated
facts, neither using his powers of generalization nor reason-
ing, must be willing to remain always a child.
SECTION IV. — THE IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY.
From the preceding remarks, it is evidently of great
importance to every educated man to be able to acquire
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 265
kno\! ledge rapidly, to retain it permanently, and to recall
it with ease. To confer upon us this power, or, at loiist,
to improve it, is one important object of intellectual disci-
pline. I shall proceed to illustrate some of the general
principles on which the improvement of memory depends.
My object is purely practical. I desire merely to present
such views of the subject as will enable us to give increased
efficiency to this important faculty. The facts which we
have to present are all within the range of every man's
consciousness. But though nothing be added to our stock
of knowledge, something naay, perhaps, be gained, if what
we already know can be directed more clearly to a valuable
end.
1. Memory, whether we consider its susceptibility, reten-
tiveness, or readiness, is strengthened only by habitual and
earnest use. If unemployed, or not employed in diligent
study, its power will gradually diminish. This may be
illustrated in a variety of particulars.
Let a man find it necessary, for any particular purpose,
to remember an event, a conversation, or some passage in a
discourse, and he will find that the effort which he makes
confers upon him in some degree the power which he needs.
Let him be placed under the necessity of doing the same
thing frequently, and statedly, and he soon becomes con-
scious that his power rapidly increases. It matters not
what may be the class of objects which we are called upon
to recollect, we recollect with ease what we find it necessary
to recollect habitually. The civil engineer remembers, with-
out effort, localities, the outline of a country, heights, dis-
tances, levels, water-courses, and whatever facts are impor-
tant in the practice of his profession. The merchant
remembers prices in different countries, the amount of pro-
duction in each for a great number of years, the consump-
tion under various circumstances, and the conditions b^
256 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
which it is affected, the rates of exchange, and the fluctu
ations of markets. The lawyer remembers, in the sam€
manner, decisions, arguments, analogies, precedents, and
cases. Neither of these could do more than very imper-
fectly what the other does with facility. The memory,
strengthened by exercise in one particular department of
knowledge, is left in other respects almost in its natural
condition.
Nor is this all. The power of recalling our knowledge is
materially affected by the circumstances under which the
habit is cultivated. He who is accustomed to extemporary
speaking will find his recollection more active when in the
presence of an audience than in the retirement of his study.
He has made that most valuable acquisition, the power of
thinking upon his legs ; and he will perceive truth more
clearly, he will illustrate it more forcibly, and find all his
knowledge more perfectly under his control, in these circum-
stances, than in any other. Another man, who has accus-
tomed himself solely to writing, finds his power of recollec-
tion much more active when surrounded by his books and
papers. The pen has become to him an almost indispensa-
ble instrument of thought, and, without it, he i& frequently
and strangely at a loss. Neither of these men could do the
work of the other. Hence it is that so few men have been
successful in both written and extempore discourse. Hence
it is that, frequently, orations which have produced the
deepest impression during delivery, have appeared so tame
and lifeless when they have been committed to paper. The
excitement of delivery, which enabled the speaker to asso-
ciate so many images of beauty and sublimity with the sub-
ject-matter of his discourse, passed away when the orator ha
attempted to write, and little remains but the plain appeal "
to the understanding. Cicero somewhere alludes to the
difficulty of attaining tc great perfection in both written and
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 2h7
spoken discourse, and justly, if not wisely, compliments him*
self on having been successful where most other emi/ient
men had failed.
The eflfect of society upon the character of our recollection
has frequently been remarked. He who associates habitually
with men of distinguished colloquial ability, is placed under
the necessity of recalling his knowledge on the instant, and
of recalling it on any subject that the occasion may demand.
The peculiar kind of recollection is also greatly modified by
the company with which we associate. If our companions
are men of humor, we find ourselves involuntarily recalling
humorous events and droll associations. If we consort with
men of science, the mind takes a bias in a contrary direction
Thus a n.an of great colloquial excellence transforms into his
own intellectual likeness those who are much in his society.
An illustration of this remark is found in BoswelPs Life of
Johnson. The associates of this great converser were re-
markable for their colloquial talent, and every individual
was more or less tinged with the peculiarities, whether
good or bad, of their master. Men of quite opposite ele-
ments of character were assimilated in their modes of
thought to him whom they all admired ; and they thus
formed a school, of which the lineaments were recognized
throughout the contemporary literary world.
Instances of the power of recalhng all our knowledge
upon a given subject, are found in the lives of men who
have been successfully employed in the conduct of affairs.
We see them forming plans for the future, embracing a
complicated variety of contingencies, for all of which provis-
ion must be made in advance. The motives of men must
be weighed, the efiect of measures upon difierent govern-
ments estimated ; action and reaction must be subjected to
deliberate calculation, and all the elements which would
advance or retard the design must be distinctly present to
22*
258 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the mind. The intellectual eflfort required in a great military
commander is essentially the same. It is said that beforo
the Duke of Wellington took the command of the army of
the Peninsula, the plan of operations which he subsequently
carried into effect had been thoroughly matured and re-
solved upon. Every one must perceive the vast knowledge
of facts, and the wonderful accuracy of judgment, which were
required in order to perfect a plan which could be carried
into effect in the midst of so many and so complicated con-
tingencies. Dumas also relates, that, when the Emperor
Napoleon '-decided to abandon the invasion of England, and
attack the Emperor of Austria, it was necessary to confide
to the chief of his staff not only the idea of the plan of the
campaign which he meditated, but, likewise, to develop all
the details. He dictated to M. Daru, off-hand, and without
once stopping, those memorable instructions, that admirable
plan of the campaign, which we saw executed precisely as
he had fixed it, doubtless after profound meditation. In
these instructions, the march of every day, the places at
which the army should arrive at successive periods, and the
place and almost the day on which the great battle should
be fought, were minutely specified. With these previous ,
instructions the actual result corresponded with astonishing -
accuracy. Every one must be amazed at the amount and
the minuteness of the knowledge which could foresee and
provide for every emergency that might arise in so extended
and vast operations."
I have pursued these illustrations beyond the limit which
the importance of the subject would seem to demand. The
object which I have in view must plead my apology. I
have desired to give prominence to the fact that the memory
is readily improved by exercise, and that it improves in the
precise manner in which it is earnestly and habitually em-
ployed. Every one must see that such command of knowl-
IMPROVEMENT OF MEAIORY. 259
edge as I have exemplified could be the result of nothing
but assiduous and thorough cultivation. A lesson of practi-
cal value to the young may be learned from these consider-
ations. We are thus taught that we may, by diligent and
earnest effort, become equal to the discharge of duties
which now seem out of our power. The Duke of Welling-
ton, in ear'y life, gave no indications of eminent abihty.
We are liable to error in supposing that because we do not
now possess the practical skill which a particular situation
demaads, it would therefore be presumption in us to under-
take it. It is generally safe to believe that what other men,
in. the same circumstances, do, we, if the duty be imposed
upon us, can do also. But, while we adopt this rule, we
shall greatly err if we suppose that we shall be qualified for
any situation merely by being placed in it Place confers
no talent, and it communicates no knowledge ^ while, there-
fore, we may hope to do what other men have done, it must
be under the conditions in which other men have done it.
Unless we take the same pains, and subject ourselves to the
same discipline, as those who have succeeded, we shall un-
questionably fail. Inspiration is, at least, as rare now as it
has been in past ages ; and, if we would attain to success,
we must form our rules of conduct, not on exceptions, but
on general laws. To subject ourselves to the discipline
necessary to success, will not interfere with the inspirations of
genius ; while, should it happen that we are not inspired,
without such discipline our failure will be inevitable.
2. It is a well-known fact that the power of recollection
depends greatly on attention.
The condition of mind which we denominate attention is
that in which we direct our whole mental energies exclusively
to one particular object. It may proceed cither from with-
out or from within : from an objective or a subjective cause.
In tlie former case, the occurrence itself so entirely engrosses
260 INTELLECTLAL PHILOSOPHY.
our thcughts that, without any volition, everything else il
excluded from the mind. Let a traveller in £;irope ride
over a field rising and falling, now in regular and again in
irregular slopes, with here and there a clump of trees, on
one side a windmill, and on the other an old stone house, and
it will leave no definite impression on his mind. He can
look upon just such scenes anywhere, and he has seen just
as impressive landscapes every day of his life. His thoughts
may wander in the direction of home, and his conversation
turn to such subjects as the humor of the moment may sug-
gest. But let him be informed that this is the field of Wa-j
terloo, that this eminence is Mount St. Jean, that yonder is'
the farm-house of La Haye Sainte, that there is the thicket^
and villa of Hougomont, and near him the tree under which
Wellington remained during the greater part of the action;'
that on the slopes beyond the French were posted,. and there'
in the vale is the spot where, for the first time, the Imperial'
Guard faltered, mowed down in ranks, as they advanced to!
the charge ; every other thought now vanishes from his
mind, and it is not possible for him to think of anything'
but that terrible battle, on which the course of empire in'
Europe depended. Such an impression is engraven on th^'
memory forever.
In these cases, as I have said, the occasion of attention is
from without. It is arrested by objects around us, wS are
conscious of no special mental efibrt when it is excited, and'
we could not control it if we would. There is another and
very different form of attention, which depends upon the
exercise of our will. In this case, by an act of volition, we
dismiss all thought irrelevant to the subject before us, and
concentrate upon it all the mental energy of which we are ca-
pable. The more perfectly we do this, the greater will be our'
power of recollection; we shall thus acquire knowledge in
the shortest time, and retain it with the greatest success. The!
IMPROVEMENT OF ME\ DRY. 261
men v^ho have been remarkable for great powers of memory
have possessed in a remarkable degree the power of abstract
attention. The biographer of Johnson observes that whilo
he was reading the appearance of mental effort which ho
exhibited was painful even to his companions. He seemed
wholly unconscious of the existence of anything around him;
his countenance was flushed, the veins of his forehead became
distended, and his whole appearance betokened the intensest
mental concentration. A portrait, by Sir J. Reynolds, pre-
sents him in precisely this attitude.
Of the nature of attention, and the means by which it
may be cultivated, I have before treated ; I need not, there-
fore, repeat what I have said on this subject. It will be suf-
ficient to observe that, if we desire to improve the power of
memory, it is here that we must always commence. Until
we have learned to dismiss from our minds wandering and
irrelevant thought, and fix our intellectual energies on the
subject directly before us, we shall always suffer the evils
of imperfect and feeble recollection. Attention, as we have
before observed, obeys the commands of a determined will. It
is thus in our own power to enlarge and strengthen our intel-
lectual faculties. A weak memory maybe rendered strong,
md a fleeting recollection permanent, by resolutely laboring
[Q improve it. The remedy, however, resides in ourselves,
ind it is the same for all. If we are willing to make the
sacrifices necessary to insure success, observing the laws by
-vhich the improvement of our faculties is governed, there is
10 one of our intellectual powers which may not be improved
*ar beyond what at the commencement we should have be-
ieved possible. The men who earnestly labor to improve
hemselves generally go beyond expectation ; those who rely
►n their undisciplined powers almost always fall short of it.
i^ut, Deyond this, we should labor to acquire, not men'ly
he power of o",casional attention^ but the habit of consUnt
262 INTELLECTUAL PHILC30PHY.
and wakeful mental earnestness. In this manner, alone^
does our exrstenoB become in the highest degree valuable,
since every portion of it brings forth the richest and most
abundant fruit, and no hour and no occasion is suffered to
run to waste An oasis in the desert is, by contrast, ex-
ceedingly beautiful and picturesque ; but how valueless i:
appears when compared with the broad acres of a cultivated
land, clothed as far as the eye can reach with exhaustless
fertility, the hills covered with flocks, the valleys loaded
with corn, supplying with prodigal liberality the wants of
every living thing that finds a home upon its bosom ! So
the transient efforts of genius may delight and surprise us ;
but it is the steady labor of earnest minds that works out
those changes in public opinion, by which error is dissipated,
truth discovered and promulgated, and a new impulse
given to the progress of humanity in wisdom and virtue.
It is by acquiring this habit of constant and earnest
attention, and the power of transferring at will our whole
energy from one subject to another, that some men are en-
abled to perform an amount of intellectual labor which
seems almost incredible. The duties of the Chancellor of
Great Britain, in his judicial office the most important in
the kingdom, as speaker and a leading member of the
House of Lords, and frequently an active member of the
cabinet, could be successfully discharged by no one whose
intellect was not disciplined to incessant and intense exer-
tion. The same remark is applicable to every man who
stands in the front rank of any profession. The demand for
eminent service is incessant ; and nothing can meet this
demand but a mind capable of putting forth its best efforts
without either cessation or weariness.
3. In the third place, readiness, or facility in recalling our
knowledge, depends mainly upon the principles by which it
is associ-ited. The thought which we at this moment need
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 20U
18 brought to our recollection, because it has been eounectuiL
by some li\v of association, with a thought now present.
Our associations are of two kinds, those by casual, and
those by permanent relations. The associations which wo
form from contiguity of time and place, or from nieie exter-
nal appearance, as color, size, etc., are casual; those from
cause and effect are permanent. When we see an event oc-
curring at a particular time and place^ it by no means fol-
lows that a similar event will recur at the same place at a
corresponding time ; nor are similar events, by any tie
whatever, connected with, or related to, that time and place.
Hence, if we associate an event by these relations, there is
nothing whatever to recall our analogous knowledge. If. on
the other hand, we observe an event, and associate it with
its causes and effects, we know that the same cause, under
similar circumstances, will produce the same effect, and,
under modified circumstances, will produce modified effects.
Hence, this form of association connects with the event
which we wish to remember a multitude of other events,
any one of which, if present to the mind, may recall any
one or all of the others.
Inasmuch, then, as casual associations furnish no bond of
connection by which facts are associated together, they can
furnish little aid to the memory, and can assist us but feebly
in the investigation of truth. If a lawyer associated cases
merely with the court-rooms in which they happened to ho
decided, his knowledge would lender but little service in
the, practice of his profession. He must remember tlicm hy
their connection with the principles of equity, if he wishes
to recall them whenever an analogous case occurs in the
course of his pleadings. Were they associated merely by
time and place, the most dissimilar decisions would 1)0
grouped together, so that he could rarely call to mind those
adapted to his purpose. If he associate them by tlie pria-
264 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ciples to which thej are allied, each case would recall tne
principle, and the principle the cases which it controlled
Knowledge, in this manner, becomes linked together. A
sino^le fact brino;s with it the recollection of a multitude of
other facts, and these form the basis of important generaliza-
tions, or the materials for apt and ample illustration.
Or, again, suppose we witness a philosophical experiment.
By casual association, we should connect it with nothing
but the place in which it was performed ; and the various
steps of the process would be thought of only in the order
of their succession. All that would remain to us would be
the naked facts, that, at such a time and place, in such a
lecture-room, the first event w^as followed by the second,
and the second by the third, and so on to the end. If, on
the contrary, the relations of cause and efiect were clearly
explained, and every change referred to its appropriate law,
we should know not only the succession of changes, but
the law which governed each succession. Hence, each event
will be associated with the others by a definite and un-
changing connection. Ever afterwards, any event in the
series will readily call to recollection those thus associated
with it, and also the law on which the succession depended ;
and any one of these laws will also recall not only these
effects, but many others which at any time we may have
had occasion to observe.
From these illustrations it is evident that readiness, or
the power of recalling our knowledge, depends greatly upon
philosophical association In order to associate in this man-
ner, we must form the habit of referring facts to the laws
on which they depend, and of tracing out laws to the facts by
which they are exemplified. If we observe a phenomenon,
we should, if possible, ascertain its cause. If we examine
a specimen, we should refer it to its cla.ss. If we study an
event, we should observe its necessary relations to the events
IMPROVEMENT OF MKMORY. 265
which preceded and which have succeeded it. So, on the
other hand, if we have comprehended an abstract principle,
we should not be satisfied until we have transformed it into
a concrete expression, observed the foots by which it is illus-
trated, and the results to which it leads. If, for instance,
we comprehend a general law in mechanics, we should work
out problems which illustrate its mode of operation, until
the law and the facts which depend upon it are so thoroughly
associated together that they form one clearly defined and
well digested conception. So, in political economy, if wo
are satisfied that a law is true, we should not rest until, if
possible, we have exhausted the results to which it will, of
necessity, lead ; and, on the other hand, if we observe a new
fact in the movements of commerce, or the operations of
finance, w^e should trace it back to its legitimate cause, and
determine the law to which it owes its existence.
In this respect, our systems of education are probably
defective. We determine, in the first place, that a certain
number of sciences must be learned in a given time. In
the time allotted to each, it may be possible either to com-
municate to the pupil some of the facts without the general
principles, or some of the principles without the facts ; but
not to associate the principles with the facts by the patient
labor of tracing out their connections with each other. It
is by this latter mode of acquisition that the mind attains
power and alertness. He who has thus mastered a single
science has gained far better mental discipline than by
cursory attention to several. He who has learned one thing
thoioughly knows how other things also are to be learned ;
and he who has proceeded as far as this has made no con-
temptible progress m his education.
But, though a system of education does not accomplish all
that might be desired, it may yet be of great value. We
may derive important advantage from a distinct knowledge
23
266 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
of general principles, although we have but little power
of carrying them into practice. If we have gained only sc
much knowledge that we are able, in subsequent life, to refer
common facts to general laws, or even to understand the
reference when it is made by others, we have laid the foun-
dations of philosophical association. The observations occur-
ring in our daily occupations will, from time to time, revive
and enlarge our knowledge. Every general law acquired
in youth thus becomes a nucleus, on which our additional
attainments crystallize, and the mass increases by continued
aggregation. Hence it is often observed that young men,
who are well grounded in the severe^' studies, attain, in the
end, to a larger intellectual growth, and succeed much bet-
ter in professional life, than those of greater brilliancy, who
aim at more general attainments, and devote their time tc
what is called universal reading.
From these remarks we learn the value of hypotheses in
philosophy. An hypothesis is a conception of the causes
of a phenomenon which has not yet been established by
proof Since it is not established, it is of no positive valid-
ity, and can neither be received as a truth, nor made the
basis of scientific reasoning. Yet it is not, therefore, value-
less. It offers to our consideration a conjectural law. If
to this law we can refer a number of phenomena which
were before isolated, we are the better able to retain them
in the memory. Suppose, for instance, several isolated facts
have been observed in geology, for which no cause has been
discovered. A theory is proposed which, if it be allowed,
will account for the whole, or a considerable part of them.
This is an hypothesis. By grouping them together as the
result of this supposed cause, an important aid is rendered
to our recollection. Burke, I believe, remarks that an hy-
pothesis is good for as much as it will explain. An hypoih-
esis, moreover, presents a definite subject for investigation-
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMO. Y. 2G7
If it be proved false, science is the gainer ])y the research
which it has occasioned ; if it be proved true, an addiiKni is
made to the knowledge of man.
4. Readiness of memory is materially assisted by method-
ical arrangement.
Every one knows the difficulty of remembering isohited
and disconnected items, such as a number of words selected
at random, or a column of miscellaneous figures. Tliis
difficulty is greatly diminished by arranging these several
items according to some general conception, as, for instance,
by placing the words in alphabetical order, or grouping
them according to the subjects to which they relate. By
such an adjustment some principle of connection is imme-
diately established, and, as one suggests the following, we
easily commit them to memory, and more readily recall
them afterwards.
It is obvious that all sciences, from the necessity of tl:o
case, are susceptible of a natural arrangement. In the dis
covery of knowledge, as I have before remarked, we pro-
ceed from individuals to generals, and from less to more
general, until we arrive at the most comprehensive genus
which the present state of knowledge admits. In the com-
munication of knowledge, this process is exactly reversed;
w^e commence with the most comprehensive genus, and pro-
ceed step by step to the less comprehensive, until we arrive
at varieties and individuals. So, when, ii. any case, we
desire to communicate truths, by patient reflection we shall
be able to discover the general principle on which the whole
essentially depends When this is clearly displayed, it sug-
gests in natural succession whatever is to follow. The order
in which science thus arranges itself, confers important as-
sistance on the memory. When knowledge has no relation
to time, we proceed from more to less genera truth. When
time enters into the development of a subjec the order of
2G8 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
cause and effect is to be preferred. Thus, in natural his-
tory, we proceed from genera to species ; in history, we follow
the order of time, which here is also the order of cause and
effect. In political economy, we treat, in succession, of pro-
duction, exchange, distribution, and consumption ; because
this is the order of the dependence of one class of actions
upon another, and this is the order of changes through
A-hich any object passes that is modified by the industry
of man. It is easy to perceive that our power of recalling
our knowledge of any subject, must be greatly increased by
the simplicity and clearness with which it was arranged,
when it was treasured up in the memory.
When any branch of knowledge is thus reduced to method,
we can readily commence with its more general and element-
ary principles, and trace them through their subsidiary
ramifications, each genus suggesting the several species
which it includes, until all our acquisitions on this subject
are spread in one view before the mind. The want of such
an arrangement is, not unfrequently, a serious embarrass-
ment to a student. He sometimes finds important truths
carelessly thrown together — principles and results, causes
and effects, in a condition of hopeless dislocation ; so that to
treasure them up as available knowledge in their present
form is almost impossible. In this case, if the knowledge is
worth the trouble, our best method is to think the subject
out and rearrange it for ourselves. This will require time,
but it is the only way in which knowledge so inartistically
presented can be rendered useful to the student. The great
work of iVdam Smith, which has wrought so wonderful
changes in the policy of nations, would have "achieved its
triumph at a much earlier period if its effects had not been
weakened by great want of systematic arrangemert.
The power of clear and well-digested method is of great
I
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 2G9
value, not only to the student himself, but also to those
tx) whom he communicates knowledge. The preacher, who
will take the trouble to acquire it, will not so often complain
that his teachings are forgotten, or that his audience is in-
attentive. The lawyer will thus be enabled greatly to
abridge his proceedings, and at the same time leave a
stronger and more durable impression on the court and the
jury. In our addresses to our fellow-men, I hardly know
of an acquisition of greater importance than this, or one
that aids more powerfully our efforts to produce conviction.
From what has been said, we perceive the incorrectness of
the opinion, that the memory resembles a store-house, which
may be filled to overflowing, or so filled as to render further
acquisitions more and more difficult. If the student have
used his memory aright, the greater his acquisitions the
easier will subsequent acquisitions become. If he have
formed the habit of concentrated thought, the less effort will
be required to fix his attention. If he habitually refer his
facts to principles, he will successively arise to higher and
higher generalizations, and the knowledge which he acquires
will connect itself by more and more numerous associations.
We are never embarrassed by the amount of our knowledge,
but only by its miscellaneous and disorderly variety. If
reflection upon a subject presents us with nothing but a
multitude of irrelevant and disconnected facts, without gen-
eralization or arrangement, we may well complain of being
overburdened with knowledge. But, when reflection yields
the fruit of app<^ite principles and illustrative facts, the
wider the range of our acquisitions the greater will be our
intellectual power. It is in consequence of the formation
of such habits that an accomplished public speaker fre-
quently astonishes us, by discoursing with ample fulness, and
with the clearest method, upon occasions which allowed no
opportunity for previous preparation. The attainment of
23*
270 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
fiuch a power is certainly worth all the labor which it can
possibly demand.
Of artificial memory.
Besides the means for the cultivation of memory which I
have suggested above, others, depending upon artificial as-
sociation, have been frequently recommended. Cicero some-
where mentictis the systems of this kind which were in use
in his time. It may be well to indicate the principles on
which such systems are founded.
When we wish to remember a particular fact, we fre-
quently associate it with something which we cannot easily
forget. We sometimes see men desiring to recollect an
engaorement tie a knot in their handkerchief, or bind a
string around one of their fingers. In artificial memory, a
regular system of signs is employed for a similar purpose.
I remember a lecturer on mnemonics, who used for this pur-
pose a sheet or two of paper, divided into a large number
of compartments, in each- of which was engraved a figure of
some well-known object. When a number of items, as a
column of words, was to be remembered, the pupil was
taught to associate each word with an object in one of these
compartments. In this manner a large number of partic-
ulars might be remembered for a short time. The system,
however, which has maintained the most permanent reputa
tion, is that of Gray, in his Memoria Technica, a work of
which Dr. Johnson speaks somewhere with great respect.
The nature of this system may be known from a single
example. Suppose the object is to remember numbers.
The vowels, diphthongs, and the most important consonants,
are so arranged as to correspond with the nine digits and
ciplier, in the following manner :
a e *
1 2
b d
1
0
u
au
01
ei
ou
y
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
t
f
1
a
h
J£
n
X.
ARTIFICIAL MP]MOllY. 27j
This table maj bo used thus : Suppose that I wIsIumI to remem-
ber the fact that Julius Cnesar arrived at the supreme powci
in the year 46, B. C. I observe that the letter o is above
4, and the letter s under 6. Forty-six is then represented
by the syllable os. I write Julio^ for Julius, and thus
recall this date to my recollection. Or, again : Alexander
founded his empire in 331, B. C. The number 331, as
before explained, may be expressed by the letters Ua. I
then write Alexiia instead of Alexander, and am thus re-
minded of the date in question. Various other systems
have been devised, but they all depend upon similar prin-
ciples.
Of the utility of this method of aiding the memory, I
am unable to speak from experience. I have, however, ob-
served, that, whatever may be the immediate effect of these
systems, they are generally soon laid aside. It seems as
difficult to remember the system as to remember the knowl-
edge which it would enable us to retain. Whatever be its
virtue, it can confer upon us no valuable mental discipline.
It would seem better, therefore, to cultivate the memory by
chose methods which give increased vigor to all our other
intellectual faculties. When a subject is capable of philo-
sophical association, it is surely better to fix it in our recol-
lection by philosophical arrangement. When the matter to
be remembered is names, dates, or other isolated fiicts, it is
better to refer to tables and books, where such knowledge is
to be found, than to trust to our memory, unless we are
endowed with special facility for this sort of acquisition.
There is, however, one mode of rendering our knowle Ige
available, which seems to me of great value. It is a well-
arranged common-place book, or a book made for the pur-
pose of recording any important items of knowledge in such
manner as to be easily accessible. The Rev. Dr. Todd, of
Pittsfield, Mass., has prepared a work exceedingly well
272 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
adapted to this purpose. It is called an ^^ Index Rerum."
It consists of blank leaves ruled and paged, with the letters
of the alphabet, so that a student can readily insert a word
designating a particular subject, and under this word record
all the places in which he finds this subject treated. A
student, by the use of such a book, would be able to refer to
all the works which he had read on any particular subject,
by glancing at a single entry in his index. His common-
place book would thus be an index to his whole library ;
enabling him, in the shortest time, and with the least trouble,
to render all his past reading available for immediate use
whenever he should require it.
At the risk of some repetition, I shall close this part of
the subject with a few directions for study, deduced from the
preceding remarks :
1. We should employ our minds as little as possible in
those occupations which require no effort of attention.
He who spends much of his time in reading that which hie
does not wish to remember, will find his power of acquisi-
tion rapidly to' diminish. Light reading is entitled to' its
place, and need not be proscribed altogether. But light
reading need not be useless reading. Facts of all kind^i, to
him who is able to make a proper use of them, are always
of inestimable value. But much that is called light read-
ing tends to no result whatever except present amusement ;
and nothing is more destructive of every manly energy than
amusement pursued as a business. Nor let it be supposed
that the vigorous employment of our faculties is destitute
of its appropriate enjoyment. Here, as everywhere else,
happiness is found, not when we seek for it directly, but
when, thoughtless of ourselves, we are honestly doing our
duty. The weariness caused by labor is relieved either by
rest or by a change of pursuits, and the mind returns with
-enewed relish to its appointed labors. But what changa
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMOR*! 27J
can relieve an intellect jaded and worn down by excessive
excitement, and vexed with the incessant craving of unsat-
isfied desires ?
2. We should strive to observe accurately every fact, and
comprehend clearly every truth to which our attention may
be directed. In this manner alone can we attain to precis-
ion of thought and distinctness of conception. We sliall
thus learn the diiference between what we know and wliat
we do not know : an attainment of more value than mi<^ht
at first seem manifest. He whose mind habitually rejects
crude and undigested conceptions, and vague and intangible
theories, has made no inconsiderable progress in intellectual
cultivation. Nor is it enough that a man can comprehend
what an author has written while the book is under his eye.
He should attain to such a knowledge of the subject that he
can think it out for himself in his own language, and trace
its connections and dependencies by means of illustrations
of his own. In this manner he will be able to understand
what he reads, to remember what he . understands, and to
recall what he has remembered whenever the occasion ren-
ders it necessary.
I am aware that this method of study will seem to require
a much longer time, and restrict us to a much slower
progress, than the course commonly pursued. A man will
be obliged to select his books with greater care, and devote
to his reading a more vigorous and protracted effort, than is
generally thought necessary. He may thus lose, if he ever
possessed it, the reputation of genius; but, what is more
important, he may find the reality. By forming the habit
of earnest and habitual attention, he may thus acquire that
power which is the very element of genius. At first, the
mind laboring in this manner may seem to act slowly ; but,
as soon as efibrt becomes its natural condition, vigorous
action will be as rapid as any other. Those who think
274 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
inteiisely, if they do it habitually, require less time than
other men to perfect their mental operations. It is thus that
the powers of the mind are carried to their highest perfection,
and those intellectual labors are performed which to other
men seem almost miraculous.
3. Our knowledge should, as far as possible, be philosoph-
ically arranged. Facts should be accounted for, that is,
referred to their appropriate laws ; and laws should be ex-
emplified until the use of them becomes perfectly familiar.
In this respect students are very prone to err. I have fre-
quently seen young men, who could pass a creditable exam-
ination in the rules of rhetoric, who could not successfully ■
construct a discourse on the simplest subject, and who were
unable to write three consecutive sentences without a blun-
der. Every one perceives that knowledge of this kind is
useless, and must soon be forgotten. It is this habit of com-
bining theory with practice which, most of all, confers pro-
fessional ability.
The importance of arranging our knowledge methodically,
that is, in its relations to the general principles on which it
depends, need not again be insisted on. I will, therefore,
only add that, in all our efforts to improve our minds, we
should be patient with ourselves. Bad habits cannot be
corrected except by the formation of good ones ; and to form
habits of any kind is a work of time. Strenuous effort, if
we give it time enough, will accomplish all that we could
desire. We must not, however, be disconcerted at the
imperfect success of our incipient efforts. Each one will
accomplish something ; and every effort accomplished, though
but imperfectly, will render less difficult that which succeeds.
• Those who have been the most successful in the end have
frequently confessed that their first attempts were marked
by mortifying failure. It was thus with Demosthenes ; and
if more men were blessed with his determination to succeed,
I
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 276
the world would not so often have complained of the small
number of great orators.
The application of the preceding remarks to the duties of
an instructor is apparent.
The object of a teacher is to communicate knowledge and
BO to communicate it as to develop and strengtlien the
powers of the mind. Hence, in order to succeed, he umst
observe the laws to which the mind is subjected. The mind
of the pupil is similar to the mind of the teacher, age only
excepted. The course which has proved most successful with
the one, will prove the most successful with the other. If
we bear this in mind, we shall perceive the importance of
the following suggestions :
1. I have remarked that our power of recollection depends
greatly upon the clearness of our conceptions. Now, the
ability of young persons to comprehend complicated rela-
tions is, of course, much less than of adults. It is, there-
fore, the duty of the instructor to analyze what is complex
and simplify what is intricate, or else so to direct the mind
of the pupil that he can do it for himself In this manner
every kind of knowledge adapted to the age of the pupil
may be brought within his intellectual grasp. The in-
structor should not merely hold forth to the pupil what is
laid down in the books, but think it out for himself, observe
its elements, and separate them from each other, so that he
may place them in the clearest light before the conception
of the pupil. In these respects instructors frequently fail.
Sometimes they have no clear idea of a subject themselves,
and, of course, can convey none to others. They merely
inculcate by rote what they have learned by rote themselves.
Sometimes an instructor, who understands a subject himself,
forgets the labor by which his knowledge was acijuired, and
becomes unconscious of the difference between himself and
his pupil. What is very smiple to him now, appears to him,
276 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
of course, simple to every one. What became familiar to
him only by severe and protracted effort, seems capable of
being learned by his pupil in a shorter time than is actually
possible. In these respects it becomes an instructor to be on
his guard. He should consider, not what he can do now, but
what he could have done when under the circumstances of
his pupils. He should, therefore, be careful to assure him-
self that what he teaches is understood. He who will bear
these things in mind will not often have to complain of the
stupidity of his pupils. When an instructor finds all his
pupils blockheads, the indication is certainly ambiguous;
there is a blockhead somewhere, but whether it be either
the teacher or the pupil becomes a proper subject of
inquiry.
2. What has been rendered simple may be easily illus-
trated. Skill, in illustration, therefore, is of great impor-
tance to a teacher. He perhaps presents to a pupil a new
idea which is not readily comprehended. The conception
of the one is not grasped by the other ; or, if it is, the pupil
does not certainly know that the idea in his mind is that
which the teacher means to communicate. The teacher
must, therefore, call up some analogous idea with which the
pupil is familiar, so that, from ground common to both, he
may pass by easy gradation to that which is new and
uncomprehended. Things dissimilar in themselves fre-
quently stand to each other in similar relations, thus
affording wide range for analogies. In this manner the
known is made to teach the unknown. Nor is this all.
The illustration associates a new* with a familiar idea.
An mteresting and apposite image is presented, and thus
whatever is learned is more easily remembered. An illus-
tration addressed to the eye is always the most successful.
Hence, maps, diagrams, experiments, are among the mosi
indispensable aids of an instructor.
IMPROVEMENT OF MEMORY. 277
3. It is scarcely necessary to add that the pi ogress
of the pupil will be greatly accelerated by reducing hia
knowledge, as far as possible, to practice. From tlie neces-
sity of the case, it is evident that much of the pupil's time
must be occupied in learning rules. If, however, the teach-
ing is confined to these alone, it becomes intolerably irksome.
The mind struggles against it, and is willing quickly to forget
what is associated with nothing but pain. These difficulties,
however, may in a great degree be removed, by teaching the
pupil, as soon as he has learned a rule, to put it into prac- *
tice. He then aiscovers that the knowledge of rules is a
means of power, for it enables him to do what he could not
do before, and he becomes conscious of progress and
increased ability. Every step in advance brings with it
an inunediate reward, and he proceeds to the next step with
new consciousness of power, and more earnest desire f^r
other acquisitions. It was formerly the practice to carry a
boy through the Latin grammar before he began to trans-
late a word ; and months were consumed in this dry and
repulsive labor. It would be no wonder if, under such a
discipline, he learned to abominate the grammar, the lan-
guage, and the instructor, together. But if, as soon as he
has learned a single rule, or mastered a single inflexion, ho
is taught to use it in the construction of easy phrases, and
when, with the knowledge thus gained, he proceeds to the
next rule, and finds the increased power derived from adding
these knowledges together, further progress becomes desira-
ble in itself, and learning is no longer a drudgery. While it
would be absurd to say that, in all respects, our modes of
teaching are preferable to those of our fathers, it is delight-
ful to a benevolent mind to contemplate the improvements
which have been introduced in the modes of instructing the
young. The labor required is better adapted to the faculties
of the learner, though here, it must be confessed, we yet
24
278 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
need improveraent. Study ministers more to iAe growth d{
the mind, instead of being a barren exercise of memory ; and
a vast amount of misery has been lifted oflF from the human
race — certainly no trifling consideration.
REFERENCES.
Relation of memory to philosophical genius — Stewart, voL L, chap b«
section 8.
Improvement of memory — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, section 8.
Effect of practice in formation of habits ■ — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 2.
Theory and practice — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 4, section 7.
Attention connected with memory — Locke, Book 2 j chap. 10, section 3 :
Abercrombie, Part 3, section 1.
Connected knowledge easily retained — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, section
8 ; sections 1, 2, 4 ; Abercrombie, Part 8, section 1.
Memory aided by method — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, section 8 ; Abw-
crombie, Part 8, section 1. ♦
Nature and use of hypothesis — Locke, Book 4, chap. 12, sections 12,
18 ; Abercrombie, Part 3, section 4 ; Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, section 7.
ArtiMal memory — Stewart, vol. L, chap. 6, section 6.
Rules for study — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, section 5.
Effects of writing on memory — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, section 6.
Visible objects easily renembered — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 6, ee:^OB 2.
Memory a storehomse — Reid, Essaj 3, chap. 7.
CHAPTER VI
REASONING.
8KCTI0N I. — THE NATURE AND OBJECT OF REASONING,
AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT PROCEEDS.
We now come to the consideration of that series of men-
tal acts denominated reasoning. Before, however, we enter
upon this branch of our subject, it may be useful to review
again, very briefly, the ground which we have gone over,
that we may distinctly perceive the point from which we
proceed, and learn the relation which this form of mental
action holds to the other acts of the mind.
By our perceptive powers, we become acquainted with the
qualities of external objects, and, in general, with the facta
in the external world. By our consciousness, we learn the
facts existing in the world within us. By original sugges-
tion, various intuitive truths and relations become objects
of cognition. By abstraction, conceptions of individuals
assume the form of general ideas ; and by memory, all thia
knowledge is retained and recalled to our consciousness a*
the command of the will.
Were we endowed with no other powers than these, we
might enjoy the pleasures of knowledge. Whatever we had
observed or experienced, and whatever had been observed
and experienced by others, might be retained, generalized
and combined, and thus our acquisitions might be both ex-
280 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
tensive and valuable. But, with no other faculties, we could
only know what we or other men had actually observed or
experienced. We could never make use of this knowledge to
penetrate into the unknown. In a word, we could observe,
and feel, and generalize, and classify, and remember, but
we could not reason.
But such is not the condition of the human mind. As
Boon as we acquire any knowledge whatever, we are prompted
to use it for the purpose of acquiring other knowledge. We
are continually saying to ourselves^ if this be thus, then
this other must be so ; or this must be so, because this and
that are so. If this be so, what must of necessity follow 7
This is the language of human beings, young and old, sav-
age and civilized, learned and ignora-nt. It is the impulse
of our common nature, and one of the endowments with
which we hav^ been blessed by a merciful Creator. He has
enabled us to cognize relations existing between certain
truths, from which emanate other truths different from the
preceding, but which, without a knowledge of them, could
never have been discovered.
The results of the exercise of this faculty have been most
astonishing. Unlike our other endowments, every one of
its acts provides a wider field for its future employment, and
thus its range is absolutely illimitable. The perception of
one color gives me no additional power to perceive another
color. A fact remembered furnishes only accidentally a
basis or an aid to wider recollection. But every truth dis-
covered by the reasoning power, and, in fact, every truth,
however acquired, becomes, by use of this power, the means
for proceeding to further discovery. Through the element-
ary cognitions in geometry, our reason at first discovers
certain truths concerning lines, angles and triangles.
Using these increased means of knowledge, it proceeds to dis-
cover truths concerning circles and squares and, using
REASONING. 281
these again, it discovers those concerning solids, spheres and
spherical triangles ; and, using these again, it has been able
to reveal to us the magnitude, distances and motions, of the
heavenly bodies, and thus unfold the wonders of modern
astronomy. The knowledge which we thus obtain is ori-
ginal knowledge ; that is, it is given us specially by this
faculty, and could be given us by no other. How could we
ever learn the distance or magnitude or motion of the plan-
ets, either by perception, or consciousness, or original sug-
gestion, or abstraction, or memory ? The same remark is
true respecting the other sciences. Every science which
presents to us knowledge which could not be attained by the
powers above mentioned, must rely for its discoveries wholly
on reasoning.
We see, then, the nature of this faculty. It cognizes
nothing directly and immediately. It neither perceives the
facts of the outward nor is conscious of the facts of the
inward world; it furnishes no original suggestions, and
neither abstracts nor remembers ; but it receives these data
as they are delivered to it by these preceding faculties, and,
by a process of its own, uses them to discover new truths,
to which none of them could ever have attained. The man-
ner in which this is done, we shall attempt to explain.
Reasoning consists in a series of mental . acts, by which
we show such a relation to exist between the known and the
unknown, that if the former be true, the latter must also be
equally true. Thus, in geometry, the known with which
we commence is the definitions and axioms. Our fii*st dem-
onstration shows such relations to exist between them and
the first proposition, that if those be true this must be true
also. This first proposition is thus added to the known,
and becomes as firm a ground from which to reason as the
definitions and axioms from which we at first proceeded. In
our next step we again show, by mt reasoning powers, that
24*
282 INTELLUCTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
if this increased known be true, the second proposition mnst
be true also. We then add our second proposition to the
known, and with this increased material of knowledge pro-
ceed to the third proposition ; and so on continually. In
each act of reasoning, we observe first the known, reaching
to a definite limit, beyond which all is uncertainty. We
observe, secondly, a proposition in the unknown which may
be true or may be false, of which nothing can with certainty
be affirmed, separated from the known by a chasm, so to
speak, of thus far impassable ignorance. The reasoning
power projects a bridge across this chasm, uniting them
indissolubly together, transforming the unknown into tht
known, adding a new domain to science, and enlarging bj
every such act the area of human knowledge.
If such be the nature of the mental {)rocess which we
denominate reasoning, it suggests to us three distinct topics
for consideration :
First, the nature of the truths from which we proceed.
Secondly, the validity of the results at which we arrive.
Thirdly, the nature of the process by which we pass
from the one to the other.
To the consideration of these subjects the remainder of
this section will be devoted.
I. TIte nature of the truths from which we pro-
ceed.
I have already said that, in reasoning, we design to show :
that if certain things are true, certain other things, whose
truth is now unknown, must be true also. We then must,
of necessity, proceed from the true to the doubtful, from the
known to the unknown. The premises are always, at the
commencement, better known than the conclusion at which we
propose to arrive. From this it is evident that we can never
reason unless from what is either known or conceded ; and,
further, that we can never prove any proposition unless we
FIRST TRUTHS. 283
can find some other proposition better known by wliieh tc
prove it. If any proposition is to be proved, all other pos-
Bible propositions must stand to it in one of three rehitions,
either less known^ equally known^ or better knowji. To
attempt to prove what we know by what we do not know,
or to prove what we know by what we do not know as wdl,
is absurd. Inasmuch as proof brings the conclusion to pre-
cisely the level of the premises, a process of this kind would
diminish instead of increasing the certainty of our conclu-
sion. That an error of this kind cannot be committed. I
would not, however, assert. We not unfrequently hear
men attempt to prove, what every one at the beginning al-
lows, but which, at the conclusion of the argument, every
one is disposed to doubt. Such must always be the result
when we attempt to prove self-evident truths. Secondly : to
attempt to prove either what we know or what we do not
know, by what we only know equally well^ is nugatory.
We of course know no better at the end than at the begin-
ning of our argument, and all our labor is by necessity
thrown away. We could not, by a life's labor in this man-
ner, advance a single step in knowledge. Hence we can
never prove any proposition, unless we can find some prop-
ositions better known than that which we desire to prove.
Hence it follows, that, when we find a proposition so evident
that no proposition more evident can be discovered, the
truth of such a proposition cannot be established by the
reasoning faculty. If it be true, its truth must be deter-
mined by some other power of the mind. Hence, all rea-
soning must commence from truths not made known by the
ason, that is, which the intellection perceives to be true
previous to all reasoning, and from which all the deductiona
of reason proceed. Let us consider the aature of some of
these elementary beliefs, which lie at the foundation of all
reasoning.'
284 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
Were nothing more required than that a man should con-
vince himself of the truth of any proposition, nothing more
would be necessary than that he himself was satisfied that
his premises were true. I do not, of course, say that he
would thus, of necessity, arrive at truth, but he would be
able to convince himself of the truth of the proposition in
question. But, if we reason for the purpose of convincing
another man, it is obvious that he also must admit with us
the truth of our premises, or the propositions from which we
proceed. Unless the two can agree in the premises, argue •
as long as they may, they can make no progress towards a '
conclusion. The argument which convinces the one has no
effect on the other, since he denies the premises on which it
is founded. No argument, then, can have any power over
the mind of another, unless both equally admit the truth of
the premises on which the conclusion rests. But what is '■
>ue of any two men, is true of all men collectively. We
'an never convince the human mind of the truth of our
conclusions, unless there be some truths from which we
proceed, which all men equally with ourselves admit prior
to all argument. If such truths did not exist, all reasoning
addressed to the human race would be nugatory and use-
less. When men reason at great length, without coming to
a conclusion, the cause of their difficulty generally is, that
they have no principles in common. Hence, when we find
ourselves in this condition, the proper course to be pursued
is to refer back to the premises from which we proceed, and
deter -.nine whether they be the same. When men agree in
premises, and reason logically from them, it cannot be long
before some conclusion is reached.
But it is evident that in all matters of science, and, in
fact, in all our reasonings (those only excepted which are
technically termed ad hortmiem)^ we address ourselves not to
one man, or one class of men, but to the whole human race.
FIRST TRUTHS. 285
We proceed upon the belief that what convinces one man,
of fair understanding and in a normal condition of the intel-
lect, will convince all men under the same circumstances
that iSj that there are common truths which all men admit,
and thatj reasoning from them, they must all arrive at the
same result as soon as the argument is fairly presented
And this anticipation is justified by universal experience.
The conclusions of mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, of
geology, chemistry, magnetism, of political economy, and
social philosophy, from the time of their first promulgation,
have established themselves gradually in the mind of man,
until, by the force of their own evidence, they are admitted
as acknowledged truths. Every man who has been con-
vinced of the truth of the reasoning on which their con-
clusions depend, feels assured that every other man who
contemplates them without prejudice will be convinced also.
Hence the universal confidence that is felt in the maxim of
Bacon, '^ Magna est Veritas et 'prevalebitP Such unani-
mous consent to conclusions could not be predicted, and
could not exist, unless there were principles lying at the
foundation of the reasonings, which all men admit, and from
which conclusions follow, by irresistible sequence, which all
men must allow. Such truths, made known to all men by
the original constitution of the human understanding, must
lie at the foundation of all science, and of all knowledge
established by reasoning. They have been called, by Buffier
and Dr. Reid, first truths, and they are said by the-^e phi-
losophers to emanate from the common sense of mankind.
It may reasonably be demanded whether there is any
mode by which we may determine whether or not any
proposition is a first truth. Is there any test by which
they may be practically distinguished from mere propositions
that are inferred from them ? To this I answer,
First, they are incomprehensible.
286 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
i
Secondly, t/iei/ ai^e si?nple.
Thirdly, t/ief/ are necessary and universal.
Fourthly, theij are so evident that nothing 7nore evi*
dent can he discovered by luhich to prove them.
This subject has, however, been already considered undei
the head of the Reality of our Knowledge, pages 95 — 97.
to which pages the reader is referred.
The axioms of geometry are acknowledged to be the foun-
dation truths of that science ; but other self-evident truths
lie equally at the foundation of all other knowledge estab-
lished by reasoning. For instance : that I exist ; that an
external universe exists ; that the testimony of my percep-
tive and my reasoning powers is to be received ; that a
change presupposes a cause ; that the course of nature is
uniform, or that the same causes under the same conditions
will produce the same efiects ; that rational beings act from
motives, and that a change of action must proceed from a
change of motives, and a multitude of others, may be placed
in the number of first truths.
Between the truths that are acknowledged by all as self-
evident, as I have before remarked, a distinction may be
observed. The first truths of geometry, for instance, are
perceived to be such unconditionally. Thus, we could not
conceive of any circumstances in which the whole of any-
thing would not be greater than its part, the reverse of this
truth being manifestly unthinkable. This, as we perceive,
must be true semper et ubiqiie. But that I exist, that an
external world exists, is only a conditional first truth.
Neither I nor the external world have always existed, aud-
it is not impossible to suppose them to cease to exist. It is
not, however, possible to conceive them not to exist, things
being as they are ; that is, I being conscious of the acta
of thinking, perceiving, etc. Thus also, things being as
they are, it is impossible to conceive of an intelligent being
FIRST TRUTHS. 287
as acting witliout motive, but it is not impossible t) suppose
beings constituted so differently from us as to act in this
manner, or to suppose that no intelligent beings had ever
been created. But^ things being as they arc^ the opposite
of these truths is utterly inconceivable.
On these first truths all our reasonings ultimately depend.
They are rarely stated in language, because every m;in
instinctively takes them for granted, and he knows that all
other men do the same. It would, however, be a very valu-
able service to science, if the first truths of all knowledge
in general, and of the separate sciences in particular, could
be plainly stated and accurately classified. In this manner
a large amount of useless discussion would be prevented,
and truth arrived at with much greater facility. Dr. Reid,
in the sixth chapter of his sixth Essay on the intellectual
powers, has stated several of the necessary truths in gram-
mar, logic, mathematics, in taste, in morals and meta-
physics, together with many contingent truths which are
admitted in all our efforts after knowledge. The subject,
however, demands a more extended and minute examination.
Whenever it shall have been done, the labor of intellectual
research will be greatly diminished, and its results moi'o
easily verified.
2. I have stated above that the end to be accomplished
by the reasoning faculty is to render the conclusion at wliich
we arrive, of precisely the same validity as the premises.
From this it is evident that whatever the reasoning fa(!ultj
has logically deduced from first truths is just as valid mat-
ter from Avhich to proceed as the first truths themselves.
Thus, in geometry, from the axioms and definitions we prove
a proposition ; that proposition, when logically proved, is aa
certainly true as the axioms from which wo at first pro-
ceeded. The proposition that the angles at the base of an
feoscehs triangle are equal, is just as valid a premise, in %
288 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
geometrical demonstration, as the truth that things equal to
the same are equal to one another. And, still further, what-
ever is by logical process pnoved from this proposition is
just as valid matter as the proposition itself. And this will
be the case to any extent whatever.
The only abatement to be made to this statement is the
uncertainty arising from the imperfection of our faculties
Ws may, from this imperfection, reason illogically without
perceiving it. If there be this liability, the greater the
number of arguments, the greater the probability that in
some one there will be error. And this liability increases
with the complication of the relations which we are called
to consider. This liability is reduced to the smallest prac-
tical value when the various steps of an argument have
been examined by men skilled in the discovery of truth,
and their validity has been allowed by all succeeding phi-
losophers.
3. Besides these truths given us in the original constitu-
tion of our intellect, and the truths following from them
by logical deduction, other truths are valid matter in our
reasonings. Such are the acknowledged laws of nature,
established by incontestable observation. Thus, it has been
ascertained that the sensation of hearing, under normal con-
ditions, is caused by the vibration of the air ; the perception
of external objects, by the formation of an image on the
retina ; that water boils at 212° and freezes at 32° Fahren-
heit, under ordinary conditions of barometrical pressure;
that the atmosphere is a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen
gases, and water a compound of oxygen and hydrogen, both
always in definite proportions ; that atmospheric air is neces-
sary to animal life. These, and all other laws and general
facts, which at any time have been discovered by experiment
or observation, whether in matter or mind, are valid matter
from which to proceed in our reasonings. We thus see the
FIRST TRUTHS. 289
connection between those powers of the mind which we havo
previously considered and the reasoning faculty. The former
observe and retain and generalize, and thus change individ-
ual facts into general laws. These become the premises
from which, by our reasoning power, conclusions are drawn ;
and thus knowledge is increased, and the dominion of man
over nature extended.
4. I have thus far treated of premises, or propositions
from which we proceed in reasoning, of which the truth is
incontestable. Wherever such propositions can be discovered
we always are bound to use them, for thus alone can we
arrive at pure truth, and enlarge our positive knowledge.
Frequently, however, in our practical conduct, such propo-
sitions cannot be discovered, and we are obliged to form
our reasonings on mere probability. In this case we can
arrive at nothing higher than probability, but this proba-
bility is in many cases far preferable to ignorance, and may
furnish a valuable guide for our conduct. Thus, we say,
concerninor a comino: event, men under certain circumstances
generally act thus or so. A, is under these circumstances,
therefore he will probably act thus or so. Under such or
such conditions of the atmosphere it generally rains ; such
are the conditions this morning, therefore it will probably
rain to-day. Or, again : if there be a war in Europe, there
will be a demand for American grain ; there will probably
be a war in Europe, therefore probably there will be such
a demand. It is obvious that much of our reasoning con-
cerning future events is of this character. It does not
furnish us with certain knowledge, but yet with knowledge
which may be of gi'eat value in the practical business of
life, and the management of affairs.
n. Such are some of the truths from which we proceed
in the use of our reasoning powers. I proceed to inquire,
Becondly, what is the state of mind at which we arrive
25
290 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
provided the reasoning faculty has been employed in ooedi
once to the laws to which it has been subjected.
The states of mind of which we may be conscious in regard
to any proposition, are, I think, the following :
1. We may be in perfect ignorance concerning it, neither
believing nor disbelieving it in the slightest degree. Thus,
were it affirmed that the sun is inhabited, I must say, I
know nothing about it. I have no facts from which to
reason, and am therefore in absolute ignorance ; I have not
even an opinion either in favor of, or in opposition to, the
proposition. It is to me precisely the same as if the affirm-
ation had not been made.
2. I may know that a proposition is true. Here 1
express my state of mind by saying that I believe it, or I
know it. Thus, I know that the exterior angle of a triangle
is equal to the two interior and opposite angles. I believe
that there are such cities as London, Paris, and Wash-
ington.
3. I may know a proposition to be false. Here my sta,te
of mind is expressed by the words, I disbelieve it. Thus, if
the proposition were presented to me, that the angles at the
base of an isosceles triangle are unequal, I know it to be
false, and I say I disbelieve it.
4. Without being able to arrive at either belief or disbe-
lief, I am capable of forming an opinion concerning the
truth or falsehood of a proposition. I weigh the several con-
siderations presented, and I find my mind inclined in one
direction or the other ; though I am fully aware that this
inclination may be reversed by subsequent and more accu-
rate knowledge. Thus, in the present state of knowledge,
I am unable either to believe or disbelieve that the planets
are inhabited, yet 1 may have an opinion on tl e subject in-
clining either to the one view or the other. I therefore
PROPOSITIONS. 2^1
wait for furilier information, prepared to change my opinion
witli the progress of knowledge.
The object of reasoning is to advance our certainty, and
to move the mind onward from the extreme of ignorance on
the one hand, to the opposite extreme of belief on the other.
Hence it may change our mental state from ignorance to
opinion, from opinion to more confident opinion, or from
either of these to certainty or confident belief Its move-
ment is all in one direction, from a lower to a higher degree
of certainty.
From what has been said, it is evident that, when our
premises are indubitable, we arrive, by reasoning, at absolute
belief or indubitable truth. When our premises are merely
matters of opinion we arrive only at opinion. In every
case we raise the conclusion to precisely the same degree of
certainty as the premises from which we proceed : we make
what was before unknown, or less known, exactly equal to
what was before more known. Our conclusion can never
be more certain than our premises, but if our process be
logical, it can never be less certain.
III. We now come, in the third place, to inquire what is
the process by which this relation between the known and
the unknown is rendered apparent, so that we are enabled
to raise the one to the certainty of the other.
We do this by syllogism. A syllogism is a series of
judgments or propositions, the last of which affirms the con-
clusion at which we have arrived. Before considering syllo-
gisms, it will be proper to consider the nature of jud.Lniients,
or the propositions of which they are composed.
Judf^ment is an act of the mind in which we affirm one
thing of another ; that is, we affirm a predicate of a .sul)|ect,
or judge that a particular individual or species is included
in a particular genus or class. Thus, I judge snow to be
white, grass to be green, avarice to be contemptible ; thai
292 IISTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
is, I judge these particular individuals to be comprenended
within the class which I predicate of them.
Our judgment may be either clear and distinct, or obscure
and confused.
A judgment is formed from two conceptions, and it
affirms that one of these may be predicated of the other.
Now, if we have a complete comprehension of both these
conceptions, our judgment must be clear and distinct. On
the other hand, if my knowledge of the conceptions involved
be imperfect, vague, and obscure, my judgment must be of
a similar character. Thus, when the proposition is an-
nounced that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two
right angles, I comprehend the terms employed both in the
subject and predicate, and my judgment is definite and un-
ambiguous. If it be said that the rings of Saturn are chaos,
I find myself to have a very incomplete idea of the rings of
Saturn, and a very indistinct idea of chaos. Hence, I am
unable to form anything more than a very indistinct idea of
the proposition.
It is hardly necessary to remark that judgment enters as
an element into almost all our mental acts. We think in
judgments ; that is, we are always affirming one thing of
another, and we do not consider anything else to be thinking.
To conceive of things without forming judgments, is to make
no progress. We can only be said to think when we form
a judgment, respecting two conceptions, in which one is
affirmed of the other.
The expression of a judgment in words, is called a propo^
sition. A proposition, therefore, must consist of a subject^
or that of which we affirm, a predicate^ or that which we
affirm of it, and a copula^ or that which affirms the relation
existing between them. Thus, if I say, man is a vertebrate,
here man is the subject, vertebrate is the predicate, and is
Is the copula, or that which affirms the one of the other,
PROPOSITIONS. 20%
The subject is that of which we discourse, the predicate ia
the class to which we aflSrm that it belongs, or under which
it is comprehended, and the copula is that which affirms the
existence of this relation.
When we thus affirm a predicate of a subject, we afiirin that
all the qualities of the predicate are possessed by the subject.
When I say, man is a vertebrate, I affirm that all which is com-
prehended by the predicate vertebrate is possessed by ?nan.
In every proposition it is obvious there must be two
conceptions. Of these one must be a general idea, or one
designating a class. To affii^m of two individuals is either
nugatory or false. To say John is John is nugatory, for
the proposition does not advance our knowledge. To say
John is Peter is false, for it affirms something to be different
from what it is.
The subject may be either an individual or a species : the
predicate must be a genus ; that is, it must designate a larger
class than the subject. In a proposition, we therefore affirm
that a particular individual is included within a particular
class. Hence, every proposition must be either true or false.
The subject is either included within the class designated by
the predicate, or it is not. It cannot be neither within noi
without it. Thus, if I say horse is a vertebrate, it is eithei
true or false^ for horse is either included within this class,
or it is not.
We may now proceed to the subject of syllogism.
A syllogism, in the language of Aristotle, is a speech in
which certain things (the premises) being supposed, some-
thing different from what is supposed (the tonclusion)
follows of necessity, and this solely in virtue of he suppo-
sitions themselves.
The principle on which a syllogism depends is the follow-
ing : Whatever is affirmed or denied of a class is affirmed
or denied of every individual urfder that class. Thus, when
25*
294 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
I say snow is white, I mean that snow is comprc nended un^
der the class white, and I affirm this also of all snow what-
ever. When I say snow is not black, I exclude snow from
the class black, and I exclude all snow from this class : that.
is, I deny black of snow.
It will be seen, from what has been said, that logic, or the
science of syllogisms, is formal ; that is, it must proceed
from premises conceded. It of itself takes no cognizance
of either their truth or falsehood. Supposing them to
be true, it governs the forms of propositions, and their rela-
tions to each other, and merely assures us that the conclu-
sion which we infer in obedience to its rules is as true as our
premises. It renders us no other aid than this, but this it
renders most effectually.
It has sometimes been supposed that syllogism was a
mode of reasoning, and a mode of reasoning employed by
philosophers, while other men reasoned in some other and
simpler manner. It has even been said, that, much as philos-
ophers talk about syllogism, when 'they come to reason,
they neglect it all, and reason like common men. To this
it may be replied, that syllogism is not a mode, it is the
mode of reasoning. It is the peculiar process of the reason-
ing faculty. The reasoning power forms syllogisms just as
the imagination forms pictures, each being the purpose for
which these different powers were respectively designed
Philosophers and other men must, therefore, if they reason
at all, reason in the same way, for they have no other
nethod by which to proceed. I do not, of course, pretend
that either of them draws out every argument in the form
of a syllogism. One or both of the premises are frequently
so well known as to be taken for granted, and we need only
state the conclusion which must follow from what is con-
ceded by all. But, in this case, our reasoning, though ever
BO much abridged, may always be reduced to the form of a
SYLLOGISM. 295
gyllogisin, and we always so reduce it, if we desire to test
its truth and examine it with accuracy.
In forming a syllogism in the first proposition we affirm
that a species is included under a genus. By the second
proposition we affirm that an individual or a sub-species ia
included under this species. In the third proposition, or the
conclusion, we affirm the proposition which, of necessity,
follows from the conjunction of the two first propositions or
premises.
Thus, for example, I affirm,
1. All tyrants are detestable.
2. Caesar was a tyrant.
3. Caesar was detestable.
Here, by the first proposition, I affirm that the species
tyrant is included under the genus detestable ; by the
second proposition, I affirm that the individual Caesar was
included under the species tyrant ; and, by the third propo-
sition, I affirm the conclusion which of necessity follows,
namely, that Caesar is included under the class detestable.
In order to illustrate this subject, let us suppose that the
proposition to be proved is, Caesar was detestable. The
predicate is called the major term, the subject the minor
term. When we make this assertion, it is denied by an op-
ponent ; that is, he asserts, on the contrary, that this predi-
cate, detestable, cannot be affirmed of the subject, Caesar.
In what manner is it given us to proceed? Assertion is
confronted by assertion equally decided. In what manner
shall we arrive at the truth, so as to convince an opponent,
or mankind in general, of the validity of our proposition ?
We do this by seeking for what is called a middle term,
or for some class which is included in the class detestable,
and which also includes the subject Oaesar. Suppose 1
choose the term dictator, and say,
1. All dictators are detestable.
296 INTELLECrUAL PHILOSOPHr.
2. Caesar was a dictator.
3. Caesar was detestable.
My opponent refers to Fabius, and other dictators, who
were not detestable. I am, therefore, obliged to change
the first premise, and say, some dictators are detestable. But,
as all dictators are not included in the class detestable, the
conclusion will not by necessity follow, and this argument
must be relinquished.
I seek for another middle term, and select that mentioned
above, the term tyrant. I show by facts that Caesar was
comprehended under this class. I then proceed as before,
and the conclusion follows by necessity, in virtue of the
suppositions themselves.
The above is an affirmative syllogism. In a negative
syllogism the process is modified as follows : We first
affirm that a certain species is wholly excluded from a par-
ticular genus. In the second place, we affirm that the in-
dividual or sub-species is included in this excluded species.
The conclusion follows, by necessity, that the individual or
species is excluded from the first mentioned genus.
For example, suppose it were to be proved that Caesar
was not detestable. This is denied, and we must seek for a
middle term which shall include Caesar, and be excluded
from the class detestable. I choose the term dictator, and
then say,
1. No dictator is detestable.
2. Caesar was a dictator ; therefore^
3. Caesar was not detestable.
Here, however, I am met by the fact that some dictators
were detestable, and for this reason my argument fails,
since some dictators are not excluded from this class.
I must, therefore, select another middle term. I say
therefore
1. Nc brave and generous man is detestable.
STLLOGISM. 297
2. Caesar was a brave and generous man.
8. Caesar was not detestable.
If these premises are granted, the conclusion, as before,
follows by necessity. If any of our premises is denied, we
are obliged to form a syllogism in the same manner, and
prove our premise before we can proceed. But, having es-
tablished the premises, the conclusion cannot be evaded. •
The above instances will illustrate the general nature of
syllogisms. Sophisms are arguments purporting to be syl-
logisms, in which the essential laws of syllogism are vio-
lated. Thus,
1. All quadrupeds are animals.
2. Birds are animals ; therefore,
3. Birds are quadrupeds.
Here it is seen at once that the class quadrupeds, which
is included in animals, does not include birds. Therefore,
nothing is concluded. So again,
1. Black is a color.
2. White is a color ; therefore,
3. White is black.
Here, as before, both white and black are included in the
same genus, but there is no species included in the class
color, which also includes the subject of the conclusion.
I have thought that this subject might be illustrated by a
few simple diagrams. I, therefore, add them in this "place,
for the sake of representing the doctrine of syllogism to the
eye. To those learned in logic, they will, I know, he
deemed superfluous ; but, as this work is designed for those
who are entering upon this study, they may not be wholly
without advantage.
The affirmative syllogism may be represented by tlie tbl-
lowing diagram. For instance.
All vertebrates are animals.
Horse is a vertebrate ; therefore,
I
298 INTELLECTUAI PHILOSOPHY.
Horse is an animal.
<
o
-4^
OS
U
,0
3
u
S
>
0
■
That is, vertebrate is included in animal, horse is included
in vertebrate ; therefore, horse is included in animal.
Take, again, a negative syllogism ; for instance,
No predaceous animals are ruminant.
Lion is a predaceous animal ; therefore,
Lion is not ruminant.
This may be represented by the following diagram :
I
I
That is, predaceous is excluded from ruminant, and lion
is included in predaceous ; therefore, lion is excluded from
ruminant.
This is the regular form of syllogism. The nature of
sophisms or false syllogisms may be illustrated by similar
diagrams. For instance,
SYLLOGISM.
209
All quadrupeds are animals.
Birds are animals ; therefore,
Birds are quadrupeds.
a
g
That is, quadrupeds are included in animals ; birds are
included in animals, but are not included in quadrupeds ;
therefore, nothing is concluded. Again,
Food is necessary to life.
Corn is food ; therefore,
Com is necessary to life.
I
'6
< o
6
That is, necessary to life includes some food, 'mi riot all
300 TXTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
food includes corn but, as necessary to life does not include
all food, so corn is not of necessity included in necessary to
life. So, again,
Black is a color.
White is a color ; therefore,
Black is white.
5
Here color includes black and also includes white. Both
are colors, but we see at a glance that nothing is concluded.
In this manner we may represent various forms of syl-
logisms and sophisms. The above examples will, however,
sufficiently illustrate the nature of both.
In some cases we are able to discover a middle term which
is intuitively true and fulfils all the conditions of proof.
Here our course is plain. But suppose we are unable to do
this, what course remains for us ? We are then obliged to
construct a conjectural syllogism, which will prove our
proposition, provided we can show its premises to be true.
We then take the conjectural premise, and construct a syllo-
gism by which it can be proved. If here one of our prem-
ises is conjectural, we construct another syllogism, until
we have arrived at some proposition lyhigh we are able to
prove. In this manner the premise in question is estab-
lislisd. When both the original premises are proved, the
REASONING.
80i
work is done, and the original conjectural syllogism ia
shown to be true. Or, on the other hand, if, attempting to
prove either of our premises, we find the foundation on which
it rests to be false, we abandon it altogether, and seek for
some other media of proof
This process may, I think, be illustrated by the prop-
osition commonly known as the 4Tth of the first bwk
of Euclid's elements, or that which proves that in any
right-angled triangle, the square of the side subtending the
right angle is equal to the sum of the squares of the sides
containing the right angle. I presume every reader to be
familiar with the proposition, and, therefore, I need only
indicate briefly the illustration which I have to offer.
2
a
1^
N ^
1
I
i'
/
y
r
/
<
The proposition to be proved is that the squares a and A
are together equal to the larger square x.
Here I can find no middle terra of acknowledged truth
by which to prove this proposition. I proceed, therefore,
and construct an argument which will prove it provided the
premises can be shown to be true. Having divided the
larger square, x, into two parts, by the line 6, 7, I say,
26
302 INTELLECTUAL PiilLOSOPHY.
Things equal to the same are equal to each other.
The square x^ and the sum of the squares a and 6, are
equal to the parallelograms a' and b\
Therefore, the square x is equal to the sum of the squares
a and b.
Now this syllogism will prove the proposition if I can
show the premises to be time. But it is not proved that the
squares a and b are respectively equal to the parallelograms
a and b\ This is, in the next place, to be proved.
I say, then, again.
The doubles of equals are equal.
The parallelogram a and the square a are each double
of the equal triangles, 1, 2, 3, and 6, 2, 5.
Therefore, the parallelogram a' and the square a are
equal.
But it is yet to be proved that these two triangles are
equal. This has been taken for granted.
I proceed again.
Triangles having two sides equal, and the angle contained
by these two sides equal, are themselves equal.
These triangles have these sides and angles equal ;
Therefore, these two triangles are equal.
The equality of the triangles proves the square and
parallelogram to be equal, and thus my conjectural syllo-
gism is proved to be true.
The conjectural syllogism with which I commenced,
proved the proposition, provided its premises could be
proved. I have proved the premises, and, therefore, the
proposition is proved.
But, having discovered this truth, suppose I wish to com-
municate it to another. I then reverse the process, and
commence with the proposition with which I just now con-
cluded.
I first show that the triangles are equal ;
REASONING. {QS
Then, that a rectangle and a triangle being on the same
base and between the same parallels, the rectangle is doul)le
of the triangle ;
Hence, the triangles being equal, the rectangle and the
square must be equivalent.
And, hence, the two smaller squares and the greater
square being both equal to the two parallelograms, the two
smaller, and the greater square are equal to each other.
In this instance the example is taken from the mathe-
matics. But the case is essentially the same in all cases
where we attempt to prove a proposition. We first con-
struct a syllogism, which, if true, will prove it. But one
or both the premises may be doubtful. We take the doubt-
ful premise and form a syllogism, which, if true, will prove
it. If, here, one of our premises is conjectural, we make a
third proposition, which, in like manner, we attempt to prove,
until we arrive at some acknowledged truth from which it
proceeds. We then construct our argument, beginning with
the fundamental truth at which we last arrived, and proceed
outwards, reversing our process, until we show that our orig-
inal proposition depends upon truth which all must ac-
knowledge.
Thus, when one of our premises is denied, we must prove
our premise. If the premise of this proof is denied, we
must prove this premise. Going backward, in this manner,
we at last arrive at first truths, or those which every mind,
in a normal condition, perceives by intuition to be true.
Thus, in the proposition just taken for an example, if our
premises were continually denied, we should at last arrive
at the definitions and axioms of geometry. And thus, in any
other reasoning, we arrive, by the same process, at truths
equally obvious to a sound understanding. When we have
arrived at these, reason can go no fiu'ther. If these are
denied, the party denying must be wanting in ordinary
304 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
intellect, or we must have taken as true what is obviously
false. Whichever be the case, there is an end of argument.
We hear it frequently said that all mathematical reason-
mg depends upon definitions and axioms. This is true ; but
their importance depends upon difierent principles. It may
be well to consider briefly the nature of each.
A definition is a conception expressed in language.
Thus, if I am about to prove to another person a proposi-
tion in which I use the conception of lines, angles, trian-
gles, squares and circles, it is evident that my argument
will be useless to him, unless, when I use these words, he
have the same conceptions as myself If, when I say
*' line," he has the same conception that I have when I say
'^triangle," we could never understand each other. It is
necessary, therefore, that I explain, as clearly as possible,
the conception which I form when I use these terms. Hav-
ing done this, and it being certain that we have the same
conception when we use the same words, we are prepared
to proceed in our argument.
An axiom expresses an intuitively perceived relation be-
tween our conceptions. Thus, having defined what we mean
by lines, angles, and other elements of quantity, we say
^' Two straight lines cannot enclose space." ^^ Things equal
to the same are equal to one another." These relations
being conceded by both parties, and the same conceptions
being common to both, we have the elements necessary for
reasoning.
When it is said, therefore, that we cannot reason without
definitions and axioms, the impossibility arises from difier-
ent causes. We cannot reason without definitions, because
we cannot reason together unless the terms wh^ch we em-
ploy create in the minds of each other the same conceptions.
But this cannot be known unless the terms which we use
we adequately explained ; that is, unless they are defined.
AXIOMS AND DEFINITIONS. 806
The reason for the necessity of axioms is difTerent. Wo
must agree as to the laws to which these conceptions are
subjected, or else we can never arrive at a common conclu-
sion. If I show that what I assert is true, for otherwise
two straight lines must enclose space, or that the whole be
less than its part, 1 can proceed no further. But, if my
opponent does not admit these axioms or laws of quantity to
be true, he will never feel the force of my reasoning, and
will, of course, not be convinced.
This is manifestly true in the mathematics. But it is
obvious that the same principles must govern all our rea-
sonings. Unless men attach the same meaning to the same
term, that is, unless a term awakens in each the same con-
ception, they can no more reason together than they could
if each spoke a language unknown to the other. In ordi-
nary discourse, the meaning of terms is sufficiently estab-
lished by usage to prevent any serious diflBculty. It is found,
however, necessary, when accuracy of reasoning is attempted,
to proceed further, and define our terms with the greatest
precision. Were this more frequently done, much valuable
labor would be saved, and diflferences of opinion among hon-
est men would be found less important than they seem to be.
And so of axioms. Unless the relations which exist between
these conceptions are admitted, men may reason together
forever without coming to any conclusion. Thus, were two
men arguing together on the nature of human rights, they
might define man as accurately as they pleased, but, unless
they agreed upon the relation which man sustains to indi-
vidual man and to society, they could never come to any con-
clusion. Neither would be pressed by the arguments of
the other, and what seemed to the one perfectly conclusive,
would to the other seem destitute of all show of reason. It
is to be regretted that much of our reasoning is apt to l>e of
this character.
26*
80t) INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
The whole subject of syllogisms, their nature and classi-
fication, the rules to which they are subjected, and the dis-
tinction between true and false syllogisms, is treated of in
the science of logic. To these the reader is referred for a
further development of the doctrines here briefly alluded
to. I ask leave to commend this study to all persons who
aim at the attainment of mental acuteness, and the thorough
cultivation of their reasoning power.
REFERENCES.
Reasoning, its nature — Reid, Essay 7, chap. 1.
Reasoning, instinctive — Reid, Essay 7, chap. 1.
Reasoning rests on first truths — Reid, Essay 1, chap. 2 ; Essay 6,
chap. 2.
This denied — Locke, Book 4, chap. 2, sees. 7, 8 ; chap. 7, sees. 8, 10,
19, 20.
Cousin's Review of Locke — chap. 9.
Buffier, first truths.
Test of first truths — Reid, Essay 6, chap. 4.
Classification of first truths — Reid, Essay 1, chap. 2 ; Essay 6, chaps.
5,6.
Judgment, its nature — Reid, Essay 6, chap. 1.
Judgment distinguished from testimony and conceptions — Reid, Essay
6, chap. 1.
Judgments necessary and contingent — Reid, Essay 6, chap. 1.
Common Sense, Reid, Essay 6, chap. 2.
Syllogism not the great instrument of reasoning — Locke, Book 4,
chap. 17, sees. 4 — 7 ; Cousin, chap. 9.
Aristotle's logic examined — Stewart, vol. ii., chap. 3, sec. 1.
Effects of study of logic on intellectual habits — Stewart, vol. ii., chapi
P, sec. 2.
Use of definitions — Stewart, vol. ii., chap. 2, sec. 3.
Nugatory propositions — Locke, Book 4, chap. 8, sec. 4.
Propositions true or false — Locke, Book 2, chap. 32, sees. 1—4.
KINDS OF CERTAINTY. 801
SECTION II. — 3F THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CERTAINTY AT
WHICH WE ARRIVE BY REASONING.
I HAVE remarked that by the process of reiisoning, if
properly conducted, we always render the conclusion iis
certain as the premises. This is the sole object of syllo-
gism, and this it invariably accomplishes. I have also
observed that our conclusions may be either certain, or only
probable, according to the nature of the premises from
which they, proceed.
Dismissing the consideration of the cases in which wo
establish probability, and confining our attention to that in
which we arrive at certainty, we perceive that this certainty
is of two kinds. We may arrive, first, at metaphysical or
absolute, or, secondly, at practical certainty. Let us attempt
to distinguish these from each other, and show the pecu-
liarities of each.
I. Of metaphysical and absohite certainty.
When we arrive at this kind of certainty, the matter of
our reasoning is wholly conceptions, or the notions which
we form in our own minds, representing no actual reality.
These are, of course, precisely what we make them, neither
greater nor less, nor in any possible respect different from
our thoughts ; for they are our thoughts themselves, and
nothing else. Hence, when they are distinctly compre-
hend3d, and formed into syllogism according to the rules of
logic, they must lead to a conception of the same chanicter
as the premises, and be inevitably as true. Tliere is no lia-
bility for misconception or ambiguity. The result must bo
v^ true as our thoughts themselves.
The most remarkable example of this mode of reasoning
is found in the pure mathematics. Here the matter alx)ut
which we reason is pure conceptions. We demonstrate truth
808 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
about lines, angles, triangles, circles, etc., not as actual ex-
istences^ but merely as conceptions. By our definitions, we
announce distinctly the ideas intended by the terms which
we employ. These ideas we continue to use without change
throughout our reasonings, and the results at which w^
arrive are concerning these alone.
I have said that in this mode of reasoning we have noth-
ing to do with actual existences. This is evident from the
fact that the pure mathematics might have been carried to
any conceivable degree of perfection, had a material uni-
verse never been created. All that is required for this
mode of reasoning is a thinking mind. Hence we never,
in geometry, attempt to prove anything respecting an exist-
ing figure. We may use a diagram for the sake of concen-
trating our attention, but our reasoning is not concerning it,
or any other thing visible or tangible. No actual figure
exactly corresponds with our definitions, and, if it did, we
have no faculties by which to ascertain the correspondence.
We say the angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are
equal. This we show to be unconditionally true. But it is
true of our conceptions only, and not of the diagram on the
blackboard. We do not know that the lines of that triangle
are perfectly straight, or the sides equal; nay, we know
that it is beyond our power to make them so. But this in
no manner afiects our demonstration. If any one should
attempt to convict us of error, by measuring the triangle
and showing that one angle was greater than the other, we
should smile at his ignorance. We know that our proposi-
tion is true concerning the conception existing in our minds,
and this is all we ever attempted to prove.
I have said that the most striking example of this species
of reasoning is observed in the case of the pure mathe-
matics. I know of no reason, however, why it should not
exist in anv other case in which the matter ;f our argu-
KINDS OF CERTAINTY. 309
merit is pure conception. All that is necessary is that our
terms be accurately defined and clearly apprehended, and
that they be subjected to the laws of syllogistic reasonin«^.
The result must be as purely truth in the one case as the
other. Thus,
1. All accountable beings are entitled to freedom.
2. Sylphs and gnomes are accountable beings.
3. Sylphs and gnomes are entitled to freedom.
Suppose the first proposition clearly understood.
Sylphs and gnomes are imaginary beings, of which I
form a conception just as I please. The conclusion must
follow as clearly and inevitably as in mathematical demon-
stration.
It must, however, be manifest that the range of subjects of
this character is extremely limited, and, therefore, its utility
by no means extensive. We live in a matter-of-fact worll.
We desire to enlarge our knowledge, not of mere cbnceptions
but of realities. We wish to know the laws of things actually
existing, and so to use them as to ascertain other laws of
which we are ignorant. In order to do this, we must
come forth from the region of conceptions into that of real-
ities. Thus, the pure mathematics themselves would bo
utterly useless, except as a discipline, unless we combined
them with existing facts, when they assume the form of
mixed mathematics. Here, however, we arrive not at abso-
lute, but practical certainty. Let us observe the manner
in which II. Practical certainty is attained.
In this kind of reasoning, either one or both of our prem-
ises is some general law, or particular fact, establishcil i»y
observation or experiment. Our conclusion, then, approaches
no nearer to absolute truth, than our fiict or observation
represents the pure and absolute verity. But no one pre-
tends that our faculties are capable of arriving at pure and
absolute truth. It has often been remarked that a perfect
310 INTELLECTU iL PHILOSOPHY.
circle, or triangle, or square, never was constructed, and
that no instrument ever made, could claim to be absolutely
accurate. Our processes may be as perfect as the present
condition of the arts will allow, but we can go no further.
Progress in the arts may enable us to exclude additional
causes of error, and thus arrive at greater accuracy. But
when we have done all, our powers are limited and imper-
fect ; and, to use the words of Johnson, ' ' a fallible being
must fail somewhere." The eye is incapable of discerning
objects below a certain magnitude, or differences which do
not exceed a certain degree. The sensation of touch can
only detect impressions when their impulse attains to a cer-
tain force. Our nerves are easily fatigued, and fatigue im-
pairs their accuracy of observation, and their control over
our muscles. The various passions to which we are subject
influence our whole sentient organism, and frequently unfit
us for observation at a time when their perfect accuracy is
the most needed. It is said that when Sir I. Newton had
arrived very nearly at the close of that calculation which
has made his name immortal, and saw the result to which
he was tending, he was seized with so violent a fit of trem-
bling, that, unable to complete the work, he surrendered his
papers to a friend, by whom it was finished. It is told of
one of the observers sent many years ago to the Pacific
Ocean to observe the transit of Venus, that, at the precise
moment when the transit occurred, he fainted from excess
of excitement. Perfect a^ccuracy can, therefore, never be
predicated of a being in whose organization are involved so
many liabilities to error.
Thus, for instance, in the mixed mathematics we arrive?
it only practical certainty. Here we first establish the
relations existing between the lines of a fio-ure of which we
have conceived. This is pure mathematics, and our result
is absolute truth. We then apply these relations to a figure
KINDS OF CERTAINTY. 811
actually existing, and as nearly identical with the ti;4ure
which we have conceived, as We are able to make it, and
proceed to our result. This result is ohviuusly not ai>-
solute truth; it is only proximate ; that is, just us near to
absolute truth as the actual figure is near to the perfect
conception which forms the basis of our reasonings.
Let us take an example. I demonstrate by pure math-
ematics that the homologous sides of simihir triangles are
proportional. Availing myself of this law, I proceed to
ascertain the height of a steeple. I measure a base line,
and observe the angle formed betw^een the extremity of this
line and the highest point of the object. I find a corre-
sponding tabular triangle in the tables, and by a single pro-
portion arrive at the result. But is this a perfect result 7
Its accuracy depends upon the accuracy of my measure-
ments of the base line and the angle. But are these infallible ]
Was my chain perfectly true ? Was the temperature such as
to have efiected no change upon it ? Was the surface perfectly
level, and was my muscular tension precisely such as to
ensure perfect accuracy, and, at every movement of the chain,
was that tension precisely the same 7 Was the instrument
with which I measured the angle, of perfect construction
and in perfect order ? Was there no tremor in my muscles,
and was my sight of the object absolutely true .^ No one
of these things can be asserted, and, unless they can all be
asserted, perfect accuracy is impossible. But what then /
Are our results valueless ? By no means. They are per-
fect for any and every practical purpose. If we have tiikcn
every precaution in our power to exclude the liability of error,
we have arrived at all the certainty which the present con-
dition of knowledge admits. We know that our result can-
not, except by accident, be perfectly accurate ; bu^ it is so
accurate that neither ourselves nor any one else can detect
any error This is, to all intents and purposes, precisely
312 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
as good to us as absolute certainty. In the one case we
know that there is no error ; and. in the other, although we
admit there may be error, yet neither we nor any one else
is able to detect it.
The case is illustrated in the study of astronomy. We
here first conceive of spherical triangles, and determine, by
demonstration, the relations between them. Here we arrive
at absolute truth. We then measure degrees on the earth's
surface, we take the measure of angles, we make observa-
tions on the times and places of planetary bodies, and, by
constructing triangles as far as possible identical with those
which we have before conceived, we determine the distance
of the sun, and the diameter of the orbit of the earth. But
does any one pretend that these calculations are absolutely cor-
rect ? Their accuracy depends wholly on the perfection of
the observations, which, of necessity, enter as elements into
our calculations. Were our measurements of lines and
angles absolutely perfect? Were our observations abso-
lutely infallible ? This, from the nature of our faculties
and the imperfection of instruments, is manifestly impossible.
Our conclusions must, therefore, share in, or must greatly
magnify, these imperfections. We say the sun is so many
millions of miles from the earth ; but, thus speaking, do we
intend to be understood as enunciating an absolute truth ?
Do we mean that it may not be a hundred or a thousand
miles either nearer or more distant ? All we know is that
we are unable to discover any error ; that we have arrived
at as near an approximation to truth as is possible m the
present condition of science. We can do no more, and we
pretend to do no more. This is as far as our Creator has
permitted us, in our present state, to proceed, and with
this we must be content. When we have approached so
near to the truth that we can discover no error, we have
Arrived at practical certainty, and we need ask for no more.
KINDS OF CEKTAINTY. * ^1*1
Now, if I do not mistake, this is precisely the luethud'it'
our reasoning respecting any matters of fact. We reason
by conceptions. If our premises, matters of fact, the result
of observation, precisely correspond with these conceptions,
our reasonings are true absolutely. But we cannot be sure
that there is this perfect correspondence. We may, how-
ever, be convinced that this correspondence is so nearly
exact that the human faculties can discover no error, and
here, as before, we arrive at practical certainty, or the limit
marked out for us by our intellectual constitution. When
our premises have been established with all the accuracy of
which our Maker has made us capable, and our conclusion
from them follows by the laws of reasoning, we have arrived
at as near an approximation to truth as is possible in our pres-
ent state. If neither we nor any one else can point out
any error, we may well be satisfied ; for we may know that
the error can never be appreciated by the faculties which
God has given us ; and, therefore, to us it is precisely the
Bame as if it were absolutely true.
Thus, suppose we say,
When men can have no motive for testifying falsely,
their testimony is worthy of belief
A and B can have no motive for testifying falsely ; there-
fore the testimony of A and B is worthy of belief
The truth of the first of these propositions would, I pre-
sume, be admitted ; it being one of the acknowledged lawd
of human action, since no man acts without a motive. The
second only can admit of doubt. We, therefore, make it
the object of special examination. We survey all the mo-
tives by which men are known to be influenced. We in-
quire whether any of these motives could have induced
them to speak falsely. We are unable to discover any. Wo
then rely with firmness on the conclusion that they have
testified truly. It may be said that motives for falsehood
27
314 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
may exist which have never been discovered. Be it so. But^
inasmuch as we have been unable to discover them, we have
arrived at the nearest approximation to truth which our
faculties admit, and we must rely on such faculties as we
possess. When, in the full and free exercise of our intel-
lectual powers, we can discover no error in our premises,
and no error in our reasoning, we must receive as true the
conclusions which they necessitate. We have no other re-
source. If we deny this, there is an end to all reasoning,
and everything beyond our own observation is a delusion.
If we now compare these two kinds of reasoning, we ob-
serve the following facts :
1. The process which we employ is, in both cases, precisely
the same. When we attempt to discover tr^ith by reason-
ing, we use syllogism ; for this is the ipode of action im-
posed upon our reasoning faculty. We U3e this, for we
have no other to use.
2. The one kind of reasoning treats onl^- of conceptions
both in its premises and its conclusions. With actual exist-
ences, 7^es gestcB^ it has nothing to do. Of course, it is
excluded from all cases which involve matters of fact. The
other has to do with actual existences, and to them its con-
clusions refer. Hence, this is the mode of reasoning which
we must, of necessity, employ in all the business of life,
and in all those investigations of science which contemplate
things as actual existences.
3. By the one we arrive at absolute certainty respecting
things not existing except in our conceptions. By the other
we arrive at practical certainty respecting things as exist-
ing wholly distinct and separate from ourselves. In the
one case we arrive at absolute truth ; in the other, we ap-
proach as near to absolute truth as the limited and imper-
fect nature of our faculties admits. We approach so d^p^
to it that WG are unable to detect any error. !
r KINDS or CERTAINTY. bl5
It will be observed that these two kinds of rc.isonin«' cor-
respond in general to those commonly termed demonstnitivo
and moral reasoning. I have used different terms frcm tliodo
commonly employed, because I suppose them better adapted
to the subject. It will be seen, if what I have said be
true, that the difference between these two kinds of reason-
ing is much less than has frequently been supposed, both as
to the mode in which they are conducted, and the results at
which they arrive.
From what has been said, I think it will appear that but
little ground exists for the superiority which has been claimed
for demonstrative reasoning, or that which treats purely of
conceptions. It is granted that in this species of reasoning
we arrive at absolute truth ; but then, from its condition.s,
it excludes all actual existences, and can, therefore, furnish no
guide to conduct. As soon as demonstrative reasoning has
to do with matters of fact, it reposes, by necessity, upon
moral reasoning, and, specially, on the evidence of testimony.
Thus, suppose I have demonstrated the distance of the sun
from the earth. It is evident that the facts which form the
elements of my reasoning must be established by what is
called moral evidence. I am told that such and such obser-
vations have been made by different men, through a succes-
sion of years. Now, here is a two-fold liability of error.
In the first place, how do I know that these observations
were ever made at all 7 I have nothing here to rely on but
the testimony of men, which is said to be so vastly inferior
in certainty to demonstration. In the second place, what
assurance have I that these observations were correctly
made? How shall I be sure that all the instruments were
perfect, or that proper skill was employed in the use of
them I Important errors have frequently been made by sci-
3ntific men. Sir Isaac Newton's discoveries were for several
jrears postponed by an error in measuring a degree of the
316 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
earth^s surface. What shall guard us against similar erior 1
Now, if these are not reliable grounds of belief, all our dem-
onstration is useless ; for, on the facts which they deliver
to us, all our calculations rely. Our demonstrations, then,
as soon as they affect any matter of fact, are limited in their
certainty by moral evidence, and they attain to no higher
certainty than moral evidence confers. By the evidence of
testimony, however, we are assured that these observations
were made. From the known characters of the observers,
we have every reason to believe that they were made cor-
rectly. On these assurances our calculations proceed, and
they arrive at a degree of accuracy so great that neither we
nor any one else can discover any error.
From these remarks we perceive the absurdity of demand-
ing what is called demonstrative evidence to substantiate a
matter of fact. Men sometimes tell us, for instance, that a
revelation from God, being a matter of so great importance,
should have been attested by mathematical demonstration.
We see that to ask this is to demand what is absolutely
impossible. Being a matter of fact, it must come under the
laws of evidence which belong to matters of fact. To
attempt to prove a fact by mathematical demonstration is as
absurd as to attempt to prove a mathematical proposition by
testimony.
REFERENCES.
Conclusions either certain or probable — Reid, Essay 6, chapter 4 ;
Essay 7, chap. 1.
Metaphysical and mathematical reasoning — Reid, Essay 7, chapter 1 ;
Locke, Book 4, chapter 4, section 6.
Nature of demonstrative evidence — Stewart, vol. ii., chap. 2, sees. 3, 4.
Superiority of mathematical reasoning — Stewart, vol. ii., chapter 2,
section 3 ; Reid, Essay 7, chap, 2.
Morality capable of demonstration — Locke, Book 4, chap. 2, sections
16, 18 ; chap. 3, section 18 ; chap. 4, section 7.
Conclusions in mixed mathematics as sure as data — Stewart, vol. ii ,
chap. 2, section 4.
EVIDENCE OF TESTIMONY. 817
SECTION III. — OF THE EVIDENCE OF TESTlMo.M.
In demonstrative reasoning our premises rest upon truths
intuitively perceived by every intellect in a normal condi-
tion, or else upon truths proceeding from these by necessity.
In reasoning concerning matters of fact, many of our
premises are general laws, established by observation and
experience. But this observation and experience must be
established by many witnesses. A single individual can
observe but little. We must all rely upon the labors of
others. But how shall we distinguish true from false
testimony ? Many things have been recorded as true,
which have subsequently been found to be false. Wo
need, therefore, to ascertain the laws by which testimony
may be established, so that we may be able to proceed with
certainty in our reasonings. It is, therefore, proper to ex-
amine this part of our subject, and determine, if possible,
the principles on which the evidence of testimony rests.
Testimony is of two kinds, direct and indirect.
I. Of direct testimony.
It must be admitted that the testimony of man is a source
of as certain knowledge as any that we possess. If we refer
to our own consciousness, we find no difference between the
streno"th of our belief in matters of fact and matters of
demonstration. We as perfectly believe that such persona
as Julius Cgesar, Cicero, Alexander, Martin Luther, Wash-
ington, and Xapoleon, existed : that the battles of Mara-
jn, Bunker Hill, Austerlitz and Waterloo, were fought ;
and that there are now standing the cities of London, Pans,
and Vienna, as we believe that the three angles of a triangle
are equal to two right angles. If we ask ourselves which
do we most confidently believe, we can discover no shade of
difference. In any practical matter we should proceed upon
318 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the belief of one as readily a« upon that of the other. This
is true of mankind universally. If this be so, then both of
these grounds of belief must rest equally upon the laws of
human thought. There must exist elementary first truths,
acknowledged by all men, on which our confidence ulti-
mately reposes. That this is true of mathematical reason-
ing is universally admitted. It must, however, be equally
true of any other mode of proof which produces the same
results.
Let us take another case. We are told that, a few years
since, an eclipse of the sun occurred on a Sunday, a little
after noon. It had been predicted by astronomers, and their
predictions concerning it had been extensively published.
Men in every place on this continent declared that they wit-
nessed it. The daily newspapers, immediately after it is said
to have occurred, were filled with accounts of the phenomena
that were said to have been observed. Every fact respect-
ing it was minutely recorded, and the statements of its
various phases were inserted in the transactions of learned
societies throughout the world. Now, granting these facts
to be so, could we any more doubt that an eclipse really
occurred, at the time and in the manner specified, than .we
could doubt a proposition in geometry ? Suppose that one
man, under these circumstances, should doubt the fact of
the eclipse, and another should doubt a demonstration in
mathematics, should we not decide that the mind of the one
was in. as abnormal a state as that of the other ?
Yet I am aware that there are difierences in the belief
in the two cases. In the one case our belief is in the truth
as universal, as true at all times and in all places. In the
other, it is particular ; that is, it is not true of every time
and every place, but only of this time and this place. In the
one case our knowledge is perfect and complete ; thq,t is, we
know the whole df the truth affirmed, and nothing can be
EVIDENCE OF TESTIMONY. 81*
added to render our knowledge more adequate. When I am
convinced that the three angles of a triangle are e(iual lo
two right angles, nothing can be added to the proposition by
which my knowledge can be increased. If I fully compre-
hend the terms, I have precisely the same knowledge of the
truth as Newton himself. He might have seen conse(|uence8
derivable from it which I do not see; but our knowledge of
the proposition itself is entirely the same. In the case of
the other proposition, that at a given time and place there
was an eclipse of the sun, it is not so. We all may l)e equally
confident of the main fact; but of various circumstances
respecting it, our knowledge may be dissimilar and unequal.
Men who observed the eclipse may have been more or less
influenced by their imaginations ; they may have dissimilar
appreciations of the temperature, of the degree of darkness,
of the time and duration of the event. Hence their narra-
tives may in these respects differ; and it may require much
labor to obtain a complete idea of the eclipse; and there may,
after all, remain many circumstances which we know but
imperfectly. All this may be granted, and yet it does not
in the least affect, our belief of the main fact. Nay, all
these variations must exist if the main fact be true. They
follow from the differences in the subjective nature of man.
Hence the rule in testimony is that the best evidence to
any fact is, agreement of witnesses as to the main event, and
difference as to the minor particulars.
The followino; strikino; illustration of these remarks is
worthy of notice. I presume that no one can doui)t that
the battle of Waterloo was fought on the eighteenth of June,
1815, between the French and the allies, under the com-
mand respectively of Napoleon and Wellington. It may
certainly be taken for granted that men believe this fact as
undoubtingly as they do any proposition in geometry. Yet
the time of the commencement of the battle cannot even now
320 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
be settled with precision. In Maxwell's life cf Wellington,
I find the following statement :
*' The time when the battle began has been stated with
marked contrariety. The Duke of Wellington says it com-
menced about ten o'clock, and further observes that when
his troops discontinued the pursuit, at night, they had been
engaged twelve hours. In this General Gneisenau concurs,
but, of course, only from information he had received.
General Alava, who was by the side of the duke the
whole day, fixes it at half-past eleven. Napoleon and Gen-
eral Drouet state twelve as the hour ; while Marshal Ney
names one o'clock. Without tracing minuter contradictions,
this may suffice to show the difficulty of attaining exact
knowledge when it might have been presumed no difficulty
could exist. With one exception, which I think ought to
be decisive, I was equally bewildered by the intelligence I
received from officers whom I had an opportunity of con-
sulting. By one I, was told that the battle began soon after
mid-day, by another exactly twenty minutes past eleven, and
by a third at ten o clock. B-ut Sir George Wood — and his
information is what I conceive cannot be disputed — gave
me the following statement. The action commenced about
half-past ten or a quarter to eleven. There had been skir-
mishing, before, all the morning. A column of the enemy
was advancing against Hougomont, and the first gun that
was fired was from our lines against that column. I gave
the order by the command of the duke. The gun did imme-
diate execution, and killed six or eight. This column then
retired, and went round the wood."— Maxwell's Life of
Wellington, vol. 3, note to page 479.
We perceive, from this incident, how dissimilar is the
adequcteness of our knowledge in a matter of fact, from
that in an abstract geometrical proposition; and yet our
EVIDENCE Oi TESTIMONY. 821
eonfideiiee In the truth of the main fact is as great in the
one case as in the other.
But, it may be very properly demanded, is testimony of
all kinds equally worthy of behef '? Are we not very often
the dupes of false evidence 7 We reply, that in this resj)oct
we are all very liable to be deceived. But the case is the
same with mathematical evidence or demonstration. How
often has it been announced that men have demonstrated
the quadrature of the circle ; but, upon examination, it lias
been discovered that either they have been deceived, or that
they desired to deceive others. Either they had commenced
with false principles, or they had reasoned incorrectly from
true ones. So in the mixed mathematics, innumerable errors
have from time to time been discovered and corrected. This,
however, presents no objection to the validity or reliability of
mathematical reasoning. It only teaches us the necessity of
examining our arguments with care, and assuring ourselves
that our reasonings are conducted strictly according to the
laws of mathematical proof When they are so conducted,
they never did and they never can lead to error. So in the
case of evidence. It is granted that we are liable to be de-
ceived by reliance upon testimony. But this by no means
proves that testimony is worthless ; or that testimony, when
given strictly according to the laws of evidence, is not as
reliable as demonstration. It only teaches us the necessity
of subjecting testimony to its own appropriate laws, that we
may thus separate the true from the false. If, therefore,
we can establish the elementary laws of evidence, and *pply
them strictly to any case of testimony, we receive the 'esult
to which they lead us with unquestioning confidence.
The essential and self-evident truths on which t .e evi-
dence of testimony rests, seem to be t;>'0. The first is
the law of perception, to which allusion has bc^n made
when treating of that subject. It may be expressed at
lr!!2 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
follows : Whenever, in the normal condition of our facul*
ties, we are conscious of a perception, then there exists an
object, such as we perceive, as the cause of that perception.
1 cannot perceive what I will. The consciousness of per-
ception must be excited from without, and it cannot exist
under normal conditions, unless a corresponding object from
without give occasion to it, I am conscious that I per-
ceive the paper on which I now write, and the table at
which I am seated. I could not, by the laws of my being,
be thus conscious, unless there existed here and now these
objects which give rise to it.
Under the term normal conditions, as here used, several
things are to be supposed. For instance, the external cir-
cumstances must be such as to admit of no liability to error.
If I testify to an object of sight, the light must be suffi-
cient to allow me to see correctly. If I testify to an object
of sound, I must be near enough to hear it distinctly. The
same remark applies to the other senses.
The mind must be in a normal condition. The witness
must be sane. He must be free from any violence of pas-
sion or excitement of imagination, which would lead to erro-
neous observation. Thus, if a man were habitually terrified
in passing by a grave-yard, we should receive with great
suspicion his testimony respecting a ghost which he believed
he had seen seated on a tomb-stone. Intense prejudice,
which affected the matter in question, would lead to similar
suspicions.
The senses must be in a normal condition. No one would
repose perfect confidence in the testimony of a man to a
visual fact, whose eyes were either partly blind or subject
to optical illusions.
Here, however, two remarks deserve attention. First,
we always take it for granted that men are in a normal
audition unless there is evidence to the contrary. Nc
EVIDENCE OF TESTIMONY. 828
man is ever called upon to prove his sanity. The very fact
that he is thus called upon, must proceed upon the suppo-
sition that he is able to construct a proof : that is. that ho
is sane. He who affirms that another is insane, must him-
self furnish the evidence; and, in the absence of such evi-
dence, the contrary is to be taken for granted.
Secondly, it is to be remarked that abnormal cases are
extremely rare. We may meet a thousand individuals,
without finding one among them whose condition is. in any
respect, so abnormal as to affect his testimony. And hence,
when a number of persons agree in testifying to the same
fact, the supposition of abnormal action is excluded. Thus,
if only one person had testified that he saw an eclipse, we
might suppose- that his mind or his organs were diseased.
But to suppose that so large a number of persons, in differ-
ent places, were in an abnormal condition, and in precisely
the same condition, at the same time, is manifestly al)surd.
The second general law is derived from the nuturc
of the active powers of man. It may be stated as fol-
lows :
1. Every human action is the residt of motive. That
is to say, when there is no motive there is no action.
2. When there is no motive for speaking fdsehj^
men always speak the truth. The motive which leads
men to speak falsely may be very unreasonable or insuffi-
cient. They will sometimes speak falsely against their own
permanent interest ; but they always speak from a present
motive, as fear, vanity, desire of applause, etc.
3. When no motive can be conceived why men should
testify as they do, but the love of truth ; and every other
conceivable motive woidd impel them to testify differ-
ently, then they testify from the love of truth; that is,
they affirm what they believe to be true. To suppose the
contrary is absurd. For, if no motive but the love '/ truth
K24 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
could impel them to their present testimony, to suppose the
love, of truth removed, — that is, suppose them to testify
falsely, — is to suppose men to act without any motive,
and in opposition to every conceivable motive. This is
diametrically opposed to the laws of human action. To
suppose any one to act in this manner, is to suppose him
not to be endowed with proper human faculties.
But it may be said that motives for speaking falsely may
exist, though we cannot conceive of them. Granted. But
then we have arrived at the point previously mentioned ;
that is, we have come so near the truth that we can discover
no source of error. We have, therefore, attained to that
practical certainty which is all that is given to us in estab-
lishing any matter of fact. When we have gone so far, we
have reached the limit which the Creator has assigned to our
faculties, and we can proceed no further.
Again ; in the case supposed, when many witnesses tes-
tify, this motive which no one can assign, which no one
ventures to announce, and which no one has yet discovered,
must have influenced a number of persons, against every
conceivable interest, to testify to the same thing. To make
such a supposition the ground either of belief or disbelief,
is manifestly absurd ; but to make it the ground of either,
in opposition to testimony established by the laws of evi-
dence, exhibits a state of mind for which it is difficult to
find a name.
But suppose that on such ground as this the evidence of
testimony is to be disregarded, what is the result ? Evi-
dently, that no fact in history or science could be believed,
unless we had seen it with our own eyes. The past would
be a universal blank. Books would be useless, and the
whole of human knowledge must be limited to our own
individual experiences. There is here no middle path.
Either we must receive everything established by the strict
EVIDENCE OF TESTIMONY. 825
laws of evidence, or we must receive nothing. Which is
the alternative to be chosen by a reasonable intelligence, it
is not difficult to discover. He who desires to see this sub-
ject treated with great acuteness and admirable humor,
should read Archbishop Whately's '^ Historical Doubts
relative to Napoleon Buonaparte."
At some risk of prolixity, I will illustrate this subject by
an example to which I have before referred.
It is granted that a great number of persons, of difierent
ages and pursuits, and in various places throughout this
country, testified that on a particular day they witnessed a
total eclipse of the sun. In what manner shall we examine
this evidence, in order to ascertain whether their testimony
is worthy of belief?
In the first place, we appeal to the law of perception.
Was this an event which they were all capable of observ-
ing ? Could they have been conscious of perceiving it, un-
less the event had actually occurred ? On this subject there
cannot exist the shadow of a doubt. Every one will ad-
mit that if these persons were all conscious that they per-
ceived the eclipse, the eclipse must have taken place.
Secondly, were they really conscious that they perceived
it ; that is, did they testify truly ?
Here we turn to the law of human motive. We say no
motive but the love of truth could have impelled all these
persons, of different ages, habits, culture and prejudices, in
many different places, to unite in this testimony. Take
away the love of truth,— that is, suppose them to 8p<':ik
falsely,— and we must suppose them to act individually with-
out any motive ; and, still more, that without any motive
they all, and without concert, united in giving the .^une
testimony. The absurdity of this supposition is, I think.
obvious.
Thi3 testimony would be still more irresistible, if the
28
326 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
persons who testified were, in consequence of their evidence
exposed to contempt, obloquy, persecution, loss of property
and of life. In this case, to suppose them to testify falsely,
would be to suppose them to act not only without any mo-
tive, but in opposition to every motive. It is impossible to
suppose an intelligent being with a human constitution to
act in this manner.
In such a case as this, we show that what is testified to
is true, or else an intuitive law of perception, or an intui-
tive law of human action is violated. When we have done
this, we have done all that reasoning can do. This is all
we do in demonstrative or mathematical reasoning. We
there show that unless a proposition be true, an axiom, or an
intuitive law of quantity, is violated. We can go no further.
In either case, where we have shown this, the proposition in
question has been proved. Facts thus established have
never been shown to be false. Indeed, they never could
be disproved, for we can never be more certain of anything
than of the intuitive laws of our own nature. Suppose that
the opposite of what we have thus proved was also proved,
it could not show the first proposition to be false. It would
only establish an opposite proposition on equivalent evidence,
and we should be perfectly unable to choose between two
contradictory propositions, both being perfectly entitled to
belief
From these remarks it will appear, that, in establishing
any fact by testimony, two points, and but two, are of neces-
sity to be made evident. First, that if the witnesses were
conscious of perceiving it, it re^illy must have occurred.
Here we show that the event was one properly cognizable
by the senses, that the witnesses were in proper conditions,
objective and subjective, for observing it ; that is, that the
impression on their senses must have been made under the
ordinary laws of perception. In the second placp, we show
I
EVIDENCE OF TESTIMONY. 327
that the witnesses testify to what they really believe to }po
true ; that is, they really believe themselves to have been
conscious of the perception in question. We here show tliat
there can be no motive for testifying falsely; that is, to
suppose them to testify falsely, is to suppose them to act
without motive. If we can proceed further, and show that
if they testify falsely, they not only act without any motive,
but in opposition to every motive, we have then the same
evidence as if every witness was on oath.
In this manner we prove any fact in history ; as the death
of Caesar in the senate-house, his conquest of Britain, or
any other event. On these principles trials are conducted
every day in our courts of law. I do not know of any
method by which a student will improve his knowledge of
the science of evidence more advantageously, than by an-
alyzing carefully the evidence in important trials, when the
decision depends upon the establishment of matters of fact.
If the above remarks be correct, they will enable hira to
carry on this examination and analysis with some degree of
success.
IL Of indirect or circumstantial evidence.
In the preceding remarks I have considered the case in
which the witnesses testify directly to the fact in question ;
that is, they declare that they themselves perceived the
fact which they relate.
But cases are continually occurring in which it is impor-
tant to establish a fact to which there were no witnesses.
How, in the absence of witnesses, shall such a fact be
proved 7 This is done by indirect or circumstantial evi-
dence. The principles on which we here proceed are as
follows :
It is obvious, from the regular succession of cause and
effect, to which all the changes in the universe are sub-
jected, that no event can occur isolate^ w\ alone. I do
328 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
not know that, as we are constituted, it is possible for us to
conceive of such an event. Every phenomenon is indissolu-
bly connected with other phenomena, to which it stands in
permanent relations. When we see water changed into ice
we know that it must have been exposed to a temperature
as low as 32''. When water boils, we know that its tempera-
ture has been raised to 212°. If a body at rest begins to
move, or if, when moving, it changes suddenly its direction^
we know that some force must have been applied to it.
These changes could not have produced themselves ; they
are the result of some stated antecedent. Now, if we can
show the existence of a train of facts, so related to the fact
in question, that unless this fact occurred the laws of cause
and effect must have been violated, then we have proved the
main fact by indirect, or circumstantial evidence.
The rules which govern us in this kind of evidence are
the following :
1. When we are not inquiring for a fact, but for the
cause of it, the fact itself must first be established. Thus, if
it be required to prove that A murdered B, we must first
prove that B was murdered, and prove it by direct evidence.
2. In the second place, all the facts, on which we rely to
prove the fact in question, must be established by direct
evidence. Thus, if we rely on the facts A, B, D, to prove
the fact 0, — that is, these facts being proved, that the fact
C must have existed, — we must prove the facts A, B, and
D, by the personal knowledge of witnesses themselves.
3. We must show that the facts A, B, and B, could not
have existed unless the fact C had existed. WTien we have
established these facts, and shown that they can be accounted
for on no other supposition than the existence of the fact 0,
— that is, that unless the fact C occurred, a law of nature
has been violated, — then we have proved this feet by indi*
rect evidence.
INDIRECT EVIDENCE. 829
This, however, will be rendered more eviden by an ex-
ample. Take the following case. B is found alone in a
room, dead, stabbed in the back, and his skull fractured })y
the stroke of a bludgeon. The first thing to be established
is that the man is dead ; and, secondly, that his death waa
occasioned by the wounds upon his person ; and, thirdly, that
the wounds could not have been inflicted by himself: that
is, that he died by the hands of another, and not by his own.
These facts must be proved by direct evidence. It is thus
shown that the man was murdered. The question next to
be answered is, who was the murderer ?
Here it is shown that A and B unlocked the door and
entered the room together. A noise, as of altercation, was
heard. No one entered the room until A left it, and the
first person who entered it after his departure found B dead
in the manner described. Now, these facts having been
established, it is proved that A is the murderer. The man
is dead. He died of these wounds. They could have been
inflicted by no person except A or B himself They are so
situated that B could not have inflicted them on himself;
they must, therefore, have been inflicted by A.
But, besides these, other antecedent and subsequent facts
may confirm the supposition of the guilt of A. For instance,
men do not commonly commit such a crime without a vio-
lent motive. If such a motive existed, it gives confirmation
to the supposition of his guilt. And, again, when a man
has committed so atrocious a crime, he is commonly appre-
hensive, and takes means to escape the consequences. If
B was known to enter the room with a purse of gold and
was found with his pockets rifled, and if this purso waa
found in the possession of A, this will furnish a motive for
the deed. If A immediately afterwards changed his name,
disguised his person, and was preparing immediately to
escape from the vicinity, and no reason but his guilt can be
28*
880 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
assigned for his conduct, this is a strong confirmatory cir<
cumstance. The supposition that he was the murderer can
alone account for all his subsequent conduct.
Hence, we see the points which are to be made out by
the prosecution in any trial where the evidence is circum-
stantial. First, the crime must have been committed. For
instance, if it be a case of murder, the body must be found,
and it must be proved that the death was caused by violence.
Second, the facts must be such as can be accounted for on
no oth-er supposition than that the accused was the murderer.
If they can be accounted for on any other reasonable suppo-
sition, then the case is not proved. And, on the other
hand, the ground of the defence is, first, that the deceased
did not die by violence ; or, in general, that he was not mur-
dered ; or that, if murdered, the facts can be accounted for
on some other supposition. The facts in all cases must be
established, as I have said, by direct testimony.
In every trial, where the evidence is circumstantial, we
hear much said about the uncertainty of this kind of evi-
dence, and various cases are mentioned in which the lives
of innocent men have been sacrificed in consequence of this
uncertainty. This may have been the case when the prin-
ciples of evidence were less perfectly understood than at
present. But, if a trial is conducted according to the rules
of evidence as at present established, circumstantial proof
may be relied on with as much certainty as direct. Men
may be mistaken as to a fact, or they may swear falsely ;
but a well-connected chain of circumstances can rarely de-
ceive us. It is somewhat remarkable, that, in a late trial
for murder in Boston, where the evidence was circum-
stantial, the circumstances proved, all led to the true result ;
while the direct evidence, intended to prove an aliH, was
absolutely, though innocently, erroneous.
This kind of evidence is frequently resorted to m scientifio *
INDIRECT EVIDENCE. 881
investigations. Certain facts are observed. In what man-
ner are they to be accounted for? that is, what must have
been the nature and the order of the changes hy wliicli these
appearances were produced ? When we have conceived of
a cause, or succession of causes, which will account for all
the facts, and which alone can account for them, we may
consider such cause or causes as matter of esUiblished" truth.
Thus, a geologist observes that a river has cut its way
through banks a hundred feet high. Some thirty feet be-
low the surface of the soil a layer of vegetable matter is
discovered, the stumps of trees, standing upright, imbedded
in the soil where they grew, and the trees broken off lying
upon and by the side of them. Some thirty feet lower,
another stratum of a similar character is observed. From
the position of these trees it is evident that they also must
have grown on the spot where they are found, and, of course,
that each of these layers must have been, at the time of its
growth, on the surface of the earth. There is but one way
in which these facts can be accounted for. After the lower
layer of trees had grown to its present size, the surface of
the earth must have subsided until they were covered with
drift for thirty or more feet. The subsidence was then ar-
rested until another forest grew up. Another subsidence
must have occurred until the drift covered the timber again
to a similar depth. Then the whole surflice miist have been
upheaved to its present position, and, afterwards, the river
must have cut its way through the mass, thus laying bare the
mode of its formation. As no other cause can be assi-no«l
for these effects, we are warranted in believing that such
events as these actually existed.
It will be seen that direct and circumstantial evidence
may frequently be found corroborating each other, and they
then present the strongest possi])le ground of belief If any
marked event occur, not only will it be seen by witnesses.
332 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
but it will be preceded by its appropriate causes, and fol-
lowed by its appropriate effects. Thus, the death of Caesar
is proved by the testimony of eye-witnesses, and contem-
porary writers. But, besides this, the civil wars in the
Roman empire, and the character of the parties that were
formed immediately after that event is said to have taken
place, can be accounted for on no other supposition than
that of his violent death. So the invasion and occupation
of Britain by the Romans is proved by the testimony of
historians. But if such an event had occurred, we should
naturally expect that some traces of their occupation would
be observed in that island. Hence, we examine, and find
there the remains of Roman encampments, walls, roads,
Roman coins of that age, and inscriptions which could have
been made by no other people. These facts can be ac-
counted for on no other supposition than that of the conquest
and permanent occupation of Britain by the former con-
querors of the world. This coincidence of direct and indi-
rect evidence furnishes the most perfect ground of belief
which we can conceive to any matter of fact.
REFERENCES.
Evidence of testimony — Reid, Essay 7, sec. 8 ; Stewart, voL ii, chap
2, sec. 4 ; Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 3.
Different kinds of evidence — Reid, Essay 2, chap. 20.
Testimony of others a source of knowledge — Locke, Book 4, chap. 16,
«ecs. 6 — 8 ; Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 3.
Law^ of testimony — Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 3.
Natural bias to truth — Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 3 ; Reid's Inquiry,
chap. 6, sec. 24.
Hume's argument against miracles — Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 3
Case when witnesses are numerous — Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. ^
Circumstantial evidence — Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 3.
PROBABLE REASONING. 884
SECTION IV. — OTHER FORMS OF REASONING.
I. Of probible evidence.
Thus far I have treated of those modes of reasoning' iu
which our premises are acknowledged to be true, and our
conclusion is equally, that is, absolutely true. But all of
our reasoning is not of this character. It fre([ueiitly hap-
pens that our premises rise no higher than probability, and
our conclusions can only reach the same level. Our process
is, however, precisely the same, the only difference consists
in the degree of certainty to which we arrive.
When the reasons for believing a proposition to be true
are not such as to establish belief, but only to show that it
is more likely to happen than not, we say that such a propo-
sition is probable. Thus, if the wind is in a certain quarter.
I say that it probably will rain. I examine the evidence
that may be adduced in favor of the proposition that the
planets are inhabited, and I say that it is or is not probable.
It may require the cooperation of several causes to render
an event certain. If, however, only a part of these causes
unite in a particular case, the event may occur, though we
cannot expect it with confidence. So, if an intelligent being
has several times, under given circumstances, acted in a par-
ticular manner, we form a distinct anticipation that he will
act in the same manner under similar circumstances. But
here our anticipation only amounts to a probability, for wo
know not what changes may have taken place in his charac-
ter since we last observed him ; and there may have arisen
circumstances which affect him '>f which we are ignorant.
When, in this manner, we attain to mere probability, weaill
our state of mind opinion ; that is, we judge a proposition
more likely to be true than false.
We take such opinions as the grounds of our reasonings
i34 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
m. a large number of cases in practical life. Thus, w«
say,
It is probable that the character of a human being will be
improved by affliction.
A. B. has suflfered affliction ; therefore,
A. B. is probably improved in character.
Or, again :
If there be war in Europe, the price of breadstuffs will rise.
There will probably be a war in Europe ; therefore.
It is probable that the price of breadstuffs will rise.
When only one of our premises is a doubtful and the
other a certain proposition, the probability of our conclusion
is equal to that of our doubtful premise. Thus, it being
granted that if there be war in Europe prices will rise, the
probability of our conclusion is precisely as great as the
probability of a war. When, however, both of our premises
are mere probabilities, the probability of our conclusion is
greatly reduced, and can rarely furnish a ground for an
opinion. Thus,
If the south wind blow to-morrow, it will probably rain.
The south wind will probably blow to-morrow ; therefore,
It is (very slightly) probable that it will rain.
When so slight an indication of an event is given, it is
manifestly of very little use in forming a judgment.
Erom the fact that we reason from probabilities, very
commonly, in the practical business of life, it has happened
that this mode of reasoning has sometimes been confounded
with that by which we arrive at practical certainty. It haa
sometimes been said that moral reasoning, or reasoning
concerning matters of fact, is nothing else than a succession
of probable arguments, each one reducing the liabilities of
error, until they become so small as to be inappreciable.
The cases, however, are dissimilar. In the one case, we pro-
ceed from an approximation to truth so near that neither
PROBABLE REASONING. 83»>
we nor other men can discover any error, and the result id
of the same character. In the other case, we proceed from
an approximation to truth, but so distant that we can appre-
ciate our liability to error ; we know the uncertainty of our
premises, and the result is a mere approximation similar
to them, producing not belief, but merely opinion. For in-
stance, suppose we endeavor to ascertain whether the l)attle
of Waterloo was fought on the 18th of June, 1815 We
proceed according to the laAvs of evidence as before stato<l.
We apply the rule of perception, and the rule of human
motive. We can discover no error, and no other man can
discover any. I rely upon the result at which I have
arrived with perfect confidence, and the state of mind of
which I am conscious is belief, full, entire, and unquestion-
able. Again ; the question is asked, when did the battle
commence? I find that here the accounts vary. The best
authorities differ, some placing it as early as ten o'clock,
and others as late as one. I form an opinion, by comparing
the accounts, and balancing the probable motives which
would lead men into error. I form an opinion as to the
time, but it is not belief. I am conscious of a state of mind
very dissimilar to that in the preceding case.
Or, again; from the data established by ol).servatiun a.s
accurate as the faculties of men will permit, we determine
the distance and magnitude of the planet Jupiter. No error
can be discovered either in our data or our reasoning. Wo
know that there may be error, but that it cannot exceed a
certain amount, and we rely on the result under thi.s con-
dition with absolute certainty. But when it is said the
planet Jupiter is inhabited, we collect our data, and they
give us nothing but a probability to reason from, and we
arrive at nothing but an opinion. The states of mind dif-
fer not in degree but in kind. The one proceeds from data
in which no error can be discovered by the faculties which
336 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
God has given us. The other proceeds from data which we
know to be uncertain, and the uncertainty of which we are
able to appreciate. They, of course, lead to an entirely dif-
ferent subjective result, and a line of distinct demarcation
must ever separate the one from the other.
II. Reasoning from induction.
The object of this mode of reasoning is to establish a
general law, from the observation of particular instances.
The principle on which it depends has been already ex-
plained, when treating of cause and effect. See pages 153
-158.
It is in conformity with our intuitive beliefs, that, from
observing a change, we proceed to ascertain its cause. We
know that, wherever the cause exists, the effect must neces-
sarily follow, and that wherever an event always follows a
given antecedent, this antecedent must be the cause. We
therefore observe all the various phenomena which pre-
cede a change. We ascertain, so far as possible, which of
them is the invariable antecedent ; in other words, that which
being present the effect exists, and which being removed the
effect ceases. When this has been done, we consider our-
selves to have ascertained the cause.
Having thus determined, by experiment, the cause in this
particular case, we proceed as follows :
What is the cause of this effect in one case must be the
cause in all cases.
The event A is the cause in this case ; therefore,
The event A is the cause in all cases.
It frequently happens that there are several antecedents,
and the greatest skill and the most persevering sagacity are
requisite in order to determine which of them is invariable.
We are obliged to try every variety of combinations, in order
to ascertain with perfect precision the cause, and to sever
It from every occasional and variable antecedent. When,
I
ANALOGY. 887
)r, this is done, we generalize with entire confidence,
and (consider the law as established.
The manner in which we proceed, in such a case, is illus-
trated most happily in the process employed by Sir Isa^ic
Newton to discover the cause of the solar spectrum. The
full account may be found in the third cliapter of Sir David
Brewster's life of this great philosopher.
in. Of reasoning from analogy.
In this form of reasoning, we do not attempt to prove a
proposition true, and we may not even attempt to prove it
probable. All that we generally desire is to prove it not
improbable.
In the other cases of which we have treated, we proceed
upon the supposition that the same cause, under the same
conditions, will produce the same effects. Here we proceed
upon the supposition, not that the same cause will produce
the same effect, but merely that similar causes may produce
similar effects, in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
If this mode of reasoning were reduced to a syllogism it
would take substantially the following form :
1. Similar causes may produce similar effects.
2. The cause A is similar to the cause B ;
3. Therefore the cause A and B may produce similar
effects.
Tlie principal uses of analogical reasoning are the follow-
ing:
1. It is frequently employed with success in answering
an a priori objection. It is thus used with great acuteness
and unanswerable force, by Bishop Butler, in his Analogy.
Thus, if men deny the existence of God, and hence infer
that there can be no future state of rewards and punish-
ments, his answer is as follows : It is granted, even by
atheists themselves, that in the present state we are rewarded
for some actions and punished for others ; that is, that wo
29
338 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
find ourselves under a moral government. But, if we ex.et
under such conditions now, when, by the supposition, there
is no God, there can be no reason assigned why we may not
continue to exist after death, and exist under the same con-
ditions as at present ; that is, under a moral government, in
which we shall be rewarded and punished according to the
character of our actions. The whole of this admirable
treatise, one of the most remarkable that any language can
produce, is intended to show that the principles of moral
government taught in the Scriptures are strictly analogous
to those everywhere exhibited in the government of the
world, as seen by natural religion. Hence, it is evident
that if God has adopted these principles for our government
in one case, there can be no a priori reason why he should
not adopt them in another case. "• It will here be found,"
says he, *• not taken for granted, but proved, that any rea-
sonable man, who will thoroughly consider the matter, may
be as much assured as he is of his own being, that it is not
so clear a case that there is nothing in it."
While, however, analogy claims to do no more than this,
it, in many cases, in fact, does much more. It is evident
that the greater the similarity of cause the greater is the
probability of the similarity of effects. It may thus, in
some cases, approximate to proof; at the least, it furnishes
grounds for a decided opinion. Thus, the similarity of
many of the effects of electricity and galvanism created the
opinion that they were the same agent, before their identity
was discovered.
2. It will readily appear that an iniportant use of analo-
gy is to aid us in scientific investigation. Suppose, for in
stance, that we have discovered the cause for a well-known
effect. We observe anotlier effect of a similar character,
and we instinctively are led to inquire, may it not arise froiu
the same or a similar cause ? Hence, in our search aftei
ANALOGY. 389
causes, we are greatly aided, and much uselcodlahor is saved,
by such an indication. Thus, Sir 11. Davy discovered tho
metallic basis of potash. But there are other alkalies in
many of their sensible properties nearly j?llied to potash.
How natural was it for him to expect that the same hiws
governed them all, and that they all were formed in tlic same
manner from metallic bases !
3. Analogy is frequently used by the orator with great
eftect. Thus, if it is admitted that a man has acted in one
way at one time, there is no reason why he might not he
expected to act in the same way at another time. Or, if it
is honorable for one man to act in a particular manner in
one case, there can be no reason why it is not honorable for
another man, in a case essentially alike, to act in a similar
manner. This mode of reasoning is used with the haj)piest
success by Erskine, in the introduction of his argument for
Stockdale. He commences by alluding to the fact that, though
connected by ties of the closest ' intimacy with the poHtical
party who had directed the prosecution, yet, Mr. Stockdale
had not hesitated to entrust him with his defence. He adds,
^' This, however, is a matter of daily occurrence. So unsul-
lied is the character of the English bar, that no political
bias ever interferes with the discharge of the duty of an ad-
vocate ; that, whatever may be our public principles, or tho
pi-ivate habits of our lives, they never cast even a shade
across the path of our professional duties. If this be char-
acteristic of the bar of an English court of justice, what
sacred impartiality may not every man expect from its ju-
lors and its bench." Many similar instances may be found
in the speeches of this eminent orator, perhaps the most
consummate advocate of modern times.
It is, however, obvious, that this mode of reasoning is lia-
ble to great abuse. The whole force of the argument de-
pends on the similarity of the cases. But if an advocaU
340 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
can present cai^es seeming to be similar, while, in fact, they
are widely diverse, he may draw from them the most erro-
neous conclusions. It is, therefore, the business of an oppo-
nent, or of an inquirer after truth, to examine reasoning of
this kind with the closest scrutiny ; and, when it is defective,
point out the dissimilarity of the cases, and show the result
to which such analogies would lead, if we allowed them to
form the foundation of our judgment.
REFERENCES.
Probable evidence — Stewart, vol. ii., chap. 2, sec. 4 ; Locke, Book 4,
chap. 15 ; Abercrombie, Part 2, sec. 8.
Induction — Reid, chap. 6, sec. 24; Stewart, vol. ii., chap. 4, sec. 1,'
Cousin, chap. 9.
Analogy — Reid's Inquiry, Essay 1, chap. 4; Stewart, vol. ii., chap. 2,
sec. 4, chap. 4, sec. 4 ; Locke, Book 6, chap. 16, sec. 12; Abercrombie,
Part 3, sec. 4.
Herschel's Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy.
Remarks on Analogical Reasoning in Whately's Rhetoric. •
Bacon's Novum Organon.
SECTION V. — ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE REASONING
POWERS.
It is appropriate to close this chapter with a few sugges-
tions on the manner of improving the reasoning powers.
If the remarks in the preceding pages are correct, it will
appear that the process which we employ in reasoning is, in
all cases, essentially the same. Our object is to show such
a relation between the known and the unknown, that, if one
DC true, the other is equally true ; or, if one be only prob-
ible. the other is equally probable. If our premises are
ienied, we proceed to show their relation to something bet-
ter known and more universally admitted, and thus fall
back, step by step, until we rest upon those elementary
truths which are given us in the constitution of the human
t
IMPROVEMENT OF IlEASONINQ. 841
intellect. From these, m the first place, all our knowledge
proceeds.
The manner in which we accomplish this is by syllo<;i8m.
We show that what is true of a chiss is true of every indi-
vidual under that class By making it evident that indi-
viduals or species are included under classes to which they
were not supposed to belong, or that a predicate can be
affirmed of a subject which could not have been affiimed of
it before, new knowledge is evolved, and the domain of
science is enlarged.
To proceed in this manner is, I suppose, the instinct of
our nature. A human being begins to reason almost as
soon as he begins to think; and were he incapable of
reasoning, that is, of inferring a conclusion from premises,
we should at once perceive that he was destitute of a ra-
tional soul, or deficient in an important element of our in-
tellectual nature. Logicians unfold the process and develop
the laws by which reasoning is performed, and thus enable
us the better to distinguish between valid a^-guments and
sophisms. To be able to do this is of great utility in the
work of mental cultivation. We thus are rendered capable
of determining whether our reasonings are, or are not, in
accordance with the laws of the human mind. When this
attainment has been made, we can rely with confidence upon
the decisions of our own understanding. This is an impor-
tant condition of all intellectual progress. We can never
proceed boldly in the work of investigation, until we can
say, with Sir Isaac Newton, ^' When I see a thing to be
true, I know it is true.''
If, then, we would cultivate our reasoning power with
luccess, it is important to understand the nature of the
human mind, and especially the process by which it estab-
lishes truth by reasoning. The first of these is treateil of
in works on intellectual philosophy. This, however, is not
29*
342 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
alone suf^sient for our purpose The whole subject of
reasonin; ^ in all its ramificationSj is unfolded in the science
of logi^ . By a diligent study of this science, our acute-
ness " /ill be greatly sharpened, and, what is probably of
greater consequence, the mind not only becomes accustomed
to all the forms of reasoning, but learns instinctively to
reject every conclusion not warranted by logical principles.
I lately met with the following curious illustration of
the utility of the study of logic in cultivating the power
)f the mind^:
^^ The Asiatic Journal, 1827, records the following
instance of acuteness in a young brahmin. After the
introduction of juries into Ceylon, a wealthy brahmin,
whose unpopular character had rendered him obnoxious to
many, was accused of murdering his nephew, and put upon
trial. He chose a jury of his own caste ; but so strong was
the evidence against him, that twelve out of thirteen of the
jury were thoroughly convinced of his guilt. The dissen-
tient juror, a young brahmin of Camisseram, stood up, de-
clared his conviction that the prisoner was the victim of a
conspiracy, and desired that all the witnesses should be
recalled. He examined them with extraordinary dexterity
and acuteness, and succeeded in extorting from them such
proofs of their perjury, that the jury, instead of consigning
the prisoner to an ignominious death, pronounced him inno-
cent. The affair made much noise in the island, and the
chief justice, Sir Alexander Johnston, sent for the juror who
had so distinguished himself, and complimented him on the
talents he had displayed. The brahmin attributed his skill
to the study of a book which he called ^ The Strengthener
of the Mind.' He had obtained it from Persia, and had
translated it from the Sanscrit, into which it had been ren-
dered from the Persian. Sir Alexander Johnston express-
ing a curiosity to see the book, the brahmin brought a Tamil
imphjvement or reasoning. 343
manuscript, on palm leaves, which Sir Alexander found, to
his infinite surprise, to be the. ' Dialectics of Aristotle I
regret that I am not able to verify this anecdote by a refer-
ence to the original work. I give it as I found it m t%
periodical on education.
The study of rules and the comprehension of prirciplea
will, however, be of very little value, unless our knowledge,
as we have before recommended, be reduced to practice.
By the habitual practice of earnest investigation, without
any knowledge of the rules of logic, a man will become an
able reasoner ; while, without this practice, no matter what
be his understanding of the rules, he will never ac(|uire the
power of convincing others.
2. I, therefore, remark that the power of ratiocination
may be improved by the study of works of a syllogistic
character. Among these, it is common to assign the first
place to the pure mathematics. A geometrical demonstra-
tion is composed of a succession of pure syllogisms, free
from any admixture of contingent truth, and receiving as
premises only what every human mind must necessarily
admit. The appeal is made exclusively to the understand-
ing ; the conceptions are definite and precise, and the con-
clusions follow from their own intuitive evidence. This,
then, would seem to present the simplest and purest exercise
of the reasoning power. For this cause, the mathematics
have always formed an important branch of a liberal educa-
tion. They give exercise to the reasoning power, and they
may be pursued at an early period of life, when other
reasoning could not be so easily comprehended.
On the use of the mathematics for the purpose of intel-
lectual cultivation, however, the highest authorities on the
subject of education differ. Sir W. Hamilton ^ contends,
* On the Study of the Mathematics as an Exercise of the Mind.— DiBCUi
lions on Philosophy, etc. London, 18-32 : pp. 2oG — i3*J7.
344 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
with great power and exuberance of learning, that they are,
of all intellectual pursuits, the least adapted to produce the
effect so commonly ascribed to them. It must be admitted
that they discuss the relations of nothing but quantity, and
the simplest of these relatiDns ; and that the matter of which
they treat, and the mode in which they treat it, are entirely
unlike those which must be employed in the affairs of life
and the mvestigations of the other sciences-. Whoever will
read this very able discussion will at least be convinced
that the ordinary opinion on the universal adaptedness of the
mathematics to mental discipline requires a thorough reex-
amination. It is also a duty manifestly imposed upon
teachers to consider this question with a mind unbiased by
preconceived opinions, and observe carefully the effect of
this study on the reasoning powers of their pupils. In all
our institutions of learning we require that every candidate
for a literary degree shall devote a considerable portion of
his time to the mathematics, not for any practical purpose,
but purely as a means of special intellectual culture. It
sur.ely cannot be inappropriate to inquire whether it actually
produces the anticipated results.
3. In the mathematics, our reasoning concerns nothing
but the necessary relations of quantity, and, therefore, we
arrive at absolute truth. A very small part of our practi-
cal reasoning is, however, of that character. We desire to
have the truth, not concerning abstract conceptions, but
concerning matters of fact, or that into which fact enters as
a necessary element. Hence, were we to confine our reason-
ing to the mathematics, it may be doubted whether we
should increase our power of general ratiocination. It has
been frequently remarked that persons who have addicted
themselves exclusively to this science, have been singularly
deficient in the reasoning power which is required in the
several professions, and in the ordinary affairs of life. I
IMPROVEMENT OF REASON. 845
have not perceived that original ability in young men waa
at all measured by proficiency in the mathematics. Mm
of decided talent generally succeed well iu anytliing. an.l,
of course, in abstract science. The general reasoning power
is not more closely connected with special talent for mathe-
matics, than with special talent for philology, pliih>sophy,
physics, or any other branch of learning.
It will, therefore, be necessary for us to accustom our-
selves to reasonings concerning matters of fiict, or, as it is
called, moral reasoning. In order to do this, it will be use-
ful to examine argumentative treatises, discourses, sermons,
pleas at the bar, or anything which, by consecutive proof,
professes to arrive at a conclusion. I hardly know of any
work better adapted to such a purpose than Butler's Anal-
ogy. It will aid us in this labor, first, carefully to read
the work which we attempt to examine, taking notes of
every step of the argument, and thus, in the briefest manner,
forming for ourselves an analysis of the whole. Then, fix-
ing our minds distinctly upon the thing to be proved, we
should examine the general syllogism by which it is es-
tablished, and the proofs on which the several propositions
! rest. Where an argument is abbreviated, we should supply
i the propositions that are suppressed, and the conclusions that
are omitted. In this manner we shall be able fully to ap-
preciate the value of the whole argument, yielding an intel-
ligent conviction to its proofs, and rejecting whatever is
sophistical. A practice of this kind will have a marked
effect upon our power of ratiocination.
By pursuing the course here indicated, we may be enabled
to understand, appreciate and verify, the various forms of
.argument. We thus become skilful in detecting sophistry,
and distinguishing truth from falsehood. This may l>e lonne^l
passive syllogistic power. It is an important preparation
for further progress, but is in itself only a partial develop-
346 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ment of tho reasoning faculty. We need the aoility, not
only to understand and appreciate the arguments of others,
but also to originate and construct arguments for ourselves.
This is the great purpose which this power was intended to
accomplish.
4. We may improve ourselves in this respect by mathe-
matical study. As soon as we have acquired the command
of a few theorems in geometry, we should attempt to demon-
strate for ourselves. Problems for this purpose should be
provided in our text-books. It would be well if the student
should never make use of the demonstration in the book,
until he had exhausted his ability to originate one for him-
self In this manner, thouo;h he mio^ht seem at first to
make but slow progress, his real mathematical power would
rapidly increase. If mathematical studies are to be used as
a means for mental discipline, the practice of original demon-
stration must be invaluable. Were it more frequently
adopted, I have no doubt that it would add materially to
vigor and alertness of mind. In this respect, algebraical
problems possess a peculiar advantage. I know of no ex-
ercise that calls into more active use the power of grasping
firmly a particular conception, and tracing it out unchanged
through various and complicated relations, than thenefibrt to
form a difficult algebraical equation.
5. If we would educate our reasoning powers, we must
pursue the same course in subjects not mathematical. We
must learn to form arguments for ourselves on all matters
of investigation that come under our notice. When a doubt-
ful question Jirises, instead of avoiding it, we should earnestly
bend ourselves to the labor of solving it. We should be in
the habit of forming logical plans of thought on every sub-
ject of study. Whether we write or speak, we should always
have an end in view, towards which every thought tends by a
natural succession, and a logical arrangement. If a lawyer
IMPROVEMENT OF IlEASOV. 347
makes a plea, he should not be satisfied with merely pre-
senting a variety of considerations that have a bearing; qq
the subject; his argument should be direct and conchisive.
If a pre?.cher construct a discourse, he should have in view
a particular moral condition to which he desires to lead liis
audience, and every paragraph and every sentence should
tend to lead them to this condition.
If, however, we desire to cultivate our intellect to the
best advantage, two cautions are here to be observed. The
first respects reliance on authority. Many men, when a
proposition is to be proved, spend their time in hunting up
authorities, and collecting the opinions of others. By these
they expect men to be convinced, without once asking the
question whether they are convinced themselves. I would
by no means speak lightly of the learning of the past, or
of the opinions of eminent men ; but it must still be apparent
that an opinion, whether of an ancient or a contemporary,
is worth just as much as the reason on which it is founded.
No matter how high the authority, we should never attempt
to convince another by an argument the force of which we
have not ourselves acknowledged. We may embarrass and
confound men by an array of learned authorities, but we
shall rarely convince them unless we have first convinced
ourselves.
But it is hardly enough that we ourselves be convinced
by the teaching of others. We should, if possible, convince
ourselves by reasons drawn from the fountain of our own
reflections. A student who desires to develop fully his o^\'n
powers, must make his own mind his chief reliance in all
his intellectual labor. If he cultivate this habit, he will
frequently find it less laborious to think out an argument
for himself than to seek for it in books. A man endowed
with a ready memory and sufficient command of language,
may, without any active use of his reasomng powers, speak
34S INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY
or write upon a subject with fluency and elegance. Such
men in youth create great expectation, but when the hour^
arrives for decided intellectual trial, they fail. On the
other hand, he who thinks for himself and relies on his own
resources, may at first seem slow of apprehension and want-
ing in richness of thought, but his powers are invigorated
by every effort. The exercise of his faculties yields con-
tinually a richer and more abundant product, and thus con-
firms his confidence in his own intellectual power. We
should, therefore, resolve in the beginning that whatever we
produce shall be, as far as possible, our own ; at least, that
it shall have passed through the processes of our own think-
ing, and thus become assimilated with the working of cur
own intellect. No habit is so fatal as plagiarism to all
vigor of the understanding. It inevitably induces indolence,
mental imbecility, and utter inability to carry on a train
of original thought.
6. In order to improve the reasoning powers, it is im-
portant that we always labor for truth. Many persons, in
order to acquire skill in debate, are in the habit of defend-
ing the true or false indiscriminately, believing that they
can cultivate their own understanding by misleading the
understanding of others. A man may learn thus to embar-
rass and confound an antagonist, but he does it at great
sacrifice. By earnestly seeking for truth, and rejecting all
sophistry, the mind acquires a tendency to move in the right
direction. Chemists speak much of the affinities of various
substances for each other. There is a natural affinity in
the human mind for truth, and this affinity is strengthened
by seeking for it with an honest and earnest purpose. If
we in our investigations inquire for nothing but truth, it
ipontaneously reveals itself to us. The whole history of
philosophical discovery illustrates this remark. Hence
nothing can be more unwise than to destroy the original
IMPROVEMENT OF REASON. 849
delicacy of the faculty of reason by employing u uui\^
criminately in the support of truth or falsohiHKl. Wc may
thus gain the praise of acuteness or readiness in debate ;
but we lose what is of incomparably greater consecpicnco,
the instinctive love of truth, and the delicate discrimina-
tion between truth and error.
. And, lastly; it is impossible for us to reason well, or
BO to reason as to increase the sum of human knowledge,
without the possession of large and accurate knowledge.
Reasoning is the process by which we pass from the
known to the unknown. The known, then, lies at the
foundation of our process. Unless there be something
known, we cannot begin to reason ; and the greater the
amount of our knowledge, the larger is the material
with which we labor. The more exact our knowledge is,
the more successfully can we use it in the discovery of
truth.
AWe men, of marked independence of mind, and strong
tendency for investigation, by failing to know what other
men have discovered, are liable to waste their energies in
search of that which has been already discovered. Hence,
after arriving at valuable truth, they find themselves
in the rear of their age. Though the cases are rare,
able men sometimes fall into this error. If this be the
case with men of unusual endowments, how much more
does it deserve the attention of those who can boast of
no extraordinary talent ! He who would enlarge the field
of human knowledge, must stand upon the limits of the
known, before he can expect to enter the field of the
unknown.
REFERENCES.
Cultivation of the reasoning faculties-^ Abcrcrombic. Part 3, »ection 4
Mathematicians not good reasoners — Abercrombie. Part U, Bcction 4
30
350 rr^TEL^ECTUAL PHI. OSOPHY.
Difference between sound judgment and ingenious disputation — Aber.
crombie. Part 3, section 4.
Power of reasoning depends on extent of knowledge — Abercrombie,
Part 3, section 4.
Use of authorities — Locke, Book 4, chap. 20, section 17.
Advantage of clearness and exactitude of knowledge — Locke, Book 4
ehap. 12» seotido 14»
CHAPTER VII.
LVIAGEnATION.
SECTION I. — THE NATURE OF THIS FACULTY
The next faculty of which we propose to treat 13 the
Imagination- It is the power by which, from simple con-
ceptions already existing in the mind, we form complex
wholes or images. Thus, the painter, selecting several beau-
tiful views from various landscapes which he has observed,
forms them into a smgle picture. The novelist unites the
elements of several characters which he has observed in the
conception of his hero.
It is manifest that some form of abstraction must, by
necessity, precede the exercise of imagination. Were we
not able to analyze the concrete, and contemplate its several
parts separate from each other, we could never unite them
at will, so as to form an original image. The parts must
be mentally severed before they can be reunited in a new
conception. It is this power of reuniting the several
elements of a conception at will, that is, properly, imagina-
tion. Imagination may then be designated as the power of
combination.
There is, however, a difference in the m:inner in which
the power of combination receives and mcxlifies the materials
derived from abstraction. In treating of abstraction I
attempted to show that it included three acts ; first, anal/
352 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
sis, by which the qualities of a concrete obje<;t are separated
from each other ; second, generalization, by which these
simple elements of an individual become a general abstract^
idea ; and, third, combination, by which these last are united
in a complex conception, representing not an individual
but a class. The act by which we form classes, may,
perhaps, more properly be called conception than imagina*
tion.
The act of imagination proper, differs from that act by
which we form classes. In the first place, the mode of
abstraction in the two cases is unlike. In forming concep-
tions of classes we first separate qualities from each other.
In collecting the elements for a picture in the imagination,
we separate not qualities so much as parts. Again ; before
we can proceed to form classes, we must first generalize our
individual abstractions, and thus form general abstract ideas.
In imagination proper we do not generalize, but at once
unite the ideas of individual parts which we have previously
separated from each other. In the third place, the result
is dissimilar. In the one case we form a notion of a class,
meaning no particular individual ; in the other, we form a
notion of an individual, which is the more perfect in pro-
portion to its distinct individuality.
The difference between these cases may be illustrated by
a familiar example. Suppose that a physiologist wer^
attempting to form a scientific conception of an animal, say,
for instance, of a horse. He would examine the first speci-
men with all the accuracy in his power, taking note
specially of all the qualities of its external appearance and
internal structure. He would, in the second place, examine
other specimens, taking note of each particular quality as
before. These qualities would then not belong to one speci-
men, but to them all, or would become general abstract
ideas. Ho would next distinguish those that were constant
IMAGINATION. 853
•m those which were variable, uniting the constant into
a single conception, and rejecting the others as valuers.
This conception thus formed would represent the class, and
would correspond to the word horse, whenever he or other
physiologists used it.
But, were an artist required to paint the charger of a com-
mander-in-chief on a battle-field, he would proceed in a very
. different manner. Observing several horses, he would jkt-
eeive one remarkable for the beauty of its head. The Ixxly
of another, and the neck of a third are distinguished for
elegance of form and symmetry of proportions. Without
any act of generalization, he would unite such of these sev-
eral parts as he chose into one image, which he would
transfer to the canvas. This picture would not be the
representation of a class, but of an individual. The object
of the painter would be, not to form an image which should
stand for all horses, but a picture of a more beautiful horse
than had ever existed, thus making this representation to
stand out by itself, distinguished from every other that had
ever been conceived.
Imagination proper is, therefore, the power of forming
not general conceptions, designating classes, but particular
images representing individuals. It is the power by which
• we form pictures in the mind, of some object or event.
Hence, it would seem that those writers have erred who
state that this act of the mind closely resembles the process
of reasoning. The two acts are really remarkably unlike.
The materials used in the reasoning process are always
propositions, that is, affirmations respecting genera and
species. The imagination, on the contrary, employs con-
ceptions of separate parts, which it combines into an indi-
vidual whole. The process which they employ is dissimilar ,
the one forming syllogisms, the other uniting elements. The
result at which they arrive is different. The one ends ia
30*
S54 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
a proposition affirming a predicate of a subject; fce other snda
in a picture affirming nothing. The one asserts a tiuth,
the other presents a conception. That the most gifted men
are frequently endowed with both of these powers in a high
degree, and that the possession of both is necessary to great
intellectual effi^rts, is granted; but this no more proves
them to be either identical or similar, than the necessity of
reason and memory to intellectual effiDrt proves these faculties
identical.
If we examine the several acts of this faculty, we may,
I think, observe a difference between them. We have the
power to originate images or pictures for ourselves, and we
have the power to form them as they are presented to us in
language. The former may be called active, and the latter
passive imagination. The active I believe always includes
the passive power, but the passive does not always include
the active. Thus we frequently observe persons, who delight
in poetry and romance, who are utterly incapable of creat-
ing a scene or composing a stanza. They can form the pic-
tures dictated by language, but are destitute of the power
of original combination. Even this secondary and inferior
form of imagination is possessed in different degrees. Every
one in the habit of giving instruction, especially when de-
scription is necessary, must have been convinced of the great
difference of individuals in this respect. Some persons
create a picture for themselves as soon as it is presented in
language. Others form it with difficulty, after repeated
trials ; and at last we are uncertain whether the conception
in our own mind is the same as that awakened in the mind
of another. It is on this power, chiefly, that the love of
poetry and fiction depends. Hence, we frequently find per-
sons of good sense and strong judgment, who never manifest
any taste for imaginative writing. This type of character
is most frequently observed in those who have not com-
I
IMAGINATION. 855
menced their education until late in life. The imagitiation
is most active in youth, and if it remain undeveloped until
the period of youth be past, it rarely attains its full power
or its natural proportions.
The active power of imagining is bestowed with still
greater diversity. Some men are poets by nature. Ilenco
the maxim, looeta nascitiir non Jit^ — a poet is formed by
nature, not by education. Men endowed with a creative
imagination are continually perceiving analogies, forming
comparisons, and originating scenes of beauty or grandeur,
out of all that they observe and all that they rcmeuiber.
Johnson was sitting one evening by the side of a table, on
which two candles were burning. The conversation turned
on Thomson. ^^ Thomson," said he, /'could not see
those two candles without forming a poetical image out of
them." On the other hand, we are told of a celebrated
mathematician, who, after reading the Paradise Lost, laid
down the book in disgust, with the significant question,
'•What does it prove ? " In the one case, the imagination
had been exclusively cultivated ; in the other, the reasoning
power. The one had been accustomed to form pictures, the
other demonstrations. Neither could have been interested
in the labors of the other. Both would probably have
derived advantages from a more generous and universal cul-
tivation of their intellectual powers.
This distinction leads us to observe a mistake, frequently
made, respecting the mode of cultivating the imagination.
Young persons sometimes spend their time in reading works
of fiction, and tell us that their object is to improve tlii.s
power of the mind. This kind of reading produces an effect,
but not the efi'ect intended. It improves nothing but the
passive power of the imagination : that is, it enables us the
more readily to conceive of scenes presented to us by Ian-
guage. It cannot enable us to create scenes for ourselves.
C56 INTELLECTUAL PHILuSOPHT.
If this passive imaginative power is exclusively cultivated,
it is even liabb to paralyze the power of creation by con-
demning it to perpetual inaction. Sir Walter Scott was,
from boyhood, a vast reader of romances, but he was also
an indefatigable story-teller, and would detain his school-
fellows, by the half-day together, with fictions of his own
creation, wrought out on the instant from the stores of his
inexhaustible fancy..
Again ; a distinction may be observed in the nature of the
active power of the imagination. Some men instinctively
employ this faculty in the creation of images of beauty or
sublimity. They address themselves to the taste, and their
object is merely to please. Such men are by nature poets.
Whatever they see or hear becomes at once materials for the
exercise of the fancy. Analogies between the seen and the
unseen, the relations of matter and the relations of mind,
the objective and the subjective, are continually revealing
themselves, and thus giving birth to comparisons, meta-
phors, similes and pictures. No one can read the poetry of
Milton, Shakspeare, Burns,. Cowper and Thomson, with-
out observing this wonderful power of creating at will
images of transcendent loveliness, from either the lowliest
or the loftiest object that the eye rests upon.
But there is another and a smaller class of persons, richly
endowed with imagination, in whom this faculty acts on
somewhat different principles, and tends to a very different
result. The materials which they employ are not scenes,
or images of individual beauty, but laws of nature. They
address not the taste, but the reason. Their object is not
to please, but to instruct. The result at which they arrive
is not a picture that can be painted on canvas, but a complex
conception of truth united in one idea, and tending to a par-
ticular conclusion. Such men no sooner observe a phenome
non than they summon from the whole field of their knowledge
POETIC IMAGINATION. 867
every law that could relate to this particular case, and hc-
lect and combine into one conception such of these laws aa
will reasonably account for the change. Most men, when
they observe a phenomenon, know that it must liave a cau.se,
but never give themselves the trouble to seek for it. Others
are perpetually searching after causes, but seem condeumed
to search forever in the wrong direction. Men who are
preeminently gifted are generally endowed with this power
of combination in a remarkable degree. Such were Ar-
chimedes, Plato and Aristotle, among the ancients, and
among the moderns, Newton, Sir H. Davy, Cuvier, and
many of the illustrious men yet spared to us. It liaa
appeared to me that the study of chemistry, when pursued
into the regions of original investigation, has a strong ten-
dency to cultivate the highest exercise of this endowment.
As these two forms of the imagination are of special
mterest, and are to a considerable degree dissimilar, we shall
in the following remarks consider them separately.
SECTION II. — POETIC IMAGINATION.
Imagination, as we have said, is the power of combina-
tion. In poetic imagination, its elements are not general
abstract ideas, but rather notions of the several parts of
different wholes, which may be united at will. The pic-
tures of the imagination are not representations of chisses,
but are individual images which the mind forms for itself
from the conceptions which it has already treasured up.
Thus, when a painter would delineate on canvas an ideal
landscape, he has recourse to the various elements of pic-
turesque beauty which are present in his recollection. Ho
uas been in thJ habit of observing the aspects of nature Id
all their infinite variety. Tree and shrub river and stream-
358 IM^ELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
let, meadow and hill-side, sunlight and shadow, at mornings
noon and evening,.are all vividly impressed upon his recol-
lection. He forms, at first, a general conception of the picture
which he is about to execute. He forms, perhaps, another. '
and another, until the prominent features of his design are
determined upon. When the elements of his combination
are such as he approves, he proceeds to fill up the outline
with such of the accessories as will best harmonize with his
subject. When his conception is thus matured, he proceeds
to give it form and coloring. The idea which at first ex-
isted in his own mind alone, now begins to appear in all the
loveliness of a finished picture. It is said that Cole, the
distinguished American landscape painter, never drew a line
upon canvas until he had not only matured the whole scene in
his mind, but even written out the description in full. From
this written delineation he rarely made any variation when
he transferred his conception to canvas. The case is the
same in any other of the fine arts. One of the most im-
pressive ideas that crowds upon the spectator, as he, for the
first time, looks upon the interior of a gothic cathedral, is,
that all this magnificence of beauty, even to its minute
details, must have existed in the mind of the architect be-
fore the first stone of the mighty fabric was laid. It aU
appears like a gorgeous epic, — an Iliad, or a Paradise Lost,
in stone.
In the preceding cases our design is simple. It is
merely to present a conception which shall awaken th^
emotion either of beauty or sublimity in the minds of our
fellow-men. Our labor is, in the first place, purely concep-
tual. It consists in creating in our own minds a picture.
Suppose this to have been done ; the next step is to give to
this conception some external expression^ by which we shall
transfer to the minds of wther men the very image which
we have created in our own. Hence we see that two ele*
POETIC IMAGINATION. 359
ments must be combined in the character of an eniihfiit
artist. First, he must be endowed \vith a rich and vi«M>roua
imagination, by which he may form beautiful and strikin;^
conceptions.; and, secondly, he must be a])le to realize hm
conceptions in some material form, so that they may create
their proper impression upon the minds of others. Artidfa
may fail from the want of either of these elements. If a
man be ever so highly gifted with imagination, but be dv-
ficient in power of execution, unable to establish any medium
of communication between himself and other men, he will
be forever exposed to mortifying failure. He may speak or
lecture well on his art but he can never become a success-
ful artist. Such was apparently the case with Ilaydon. On
the other hand, when imagination is w^anting, the prac-
titioner may be a skilful copyist ; if a painter, he may draw
with accuracy, or represent with fidelity, whatever he sees ;
but he can never attain to the highest conception of art.
The manner in which these two processes are united in
art is various. Sometimes, as I have before remarked, the
conception is elaborated and perfected in the mind, befori- it
receives any external expression. Gray's Elegy and Burns*
•'Bruce's Address to his Soldiers," are s;iitl to have been
completed before a word was written. In other cases,
the rough draft is first committed to canvas, or written out
in words, and this is elaborated and modified, until it haa
attained to all the perfection of which the author is caj)ahle
Milton was for many years engaged in the plan of Panidise
Lost, and there now exist in the Library of Trinity College,
Cambridge, his various drafts, approaching nearer to tho
plan which he finally adopted. Which of these rro<les b
to be preferred must be left to tho mental habitfl of the
artist. As a general rule, however, it may be remarket!
that the more thoroughly any work is excogiti.t..] in tl.r l)f>.
360 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ginning, the less will be the labor of composition, and the
more marked and observable the symmetry of the whole.
But suppose that this first; intellectual labor has been
accomplished, and a conception has been formed which we
desire to present to our fellow-men. What shape shall
this expression assume ? The answer to this question will
depend upon the endowments special to the individual.
If this conception has been formed in a mind endowed
simply with the power of language, it will be expressed in
prose.
Suppose, that, in addition to the power of language, an artist
possess also an ear for rhythm, he will express it in poetry.
If, on the other hand, he be endowed with the power of
delineating form, he will execute his conception in marble
or stone, and become a sculptor or an architect.
If he have the power of expression, not only in form, but
also in color, he will be a painter.
Thus, the fountain from which all the fine arts take their
rise is precisely the same. It is the power of creating in
our own minds images of beauty or sublimity. Hence
flow the various forms of art in the channels marked out by
our individual endowments. It is rare that an individual is
gifted with more than one of these modes of expression,
though, in highly favored instances, they are occasionally
combined. Michael Angelo was equally distinguished in
sculpture, painting and architecture ; and was, besides, no
mean poet. Washington AUston was both a painter and a
poet. Such gifts are, however, uncommon, and success in
a single department may well satisfy the ambition of any
artist.
We see, then, the reason of the rule in rhetoric, that, in
order to test the correctness of a metaphor, we should con-
ceive of it as represented on canvas. We here recognize
the principle that the spiritual part of the work is the same
POETIC IMAGINATION. ,,C,\
m both modes of expression; arnhve piesent it to thedecw-
ioii of taste, in any manner that will best display its form
and proportions. Thus, Horace coiTectly remarks,
I
" Pictoribus atque poetis,
Quidlibet audendi semper fuit oequa potcstas.'
Hence a conception expressed in any one of the fine arts
is readily transferred to the other. A group in painting is
easily rendered in marble. Either of these also furnishes
subjects for poetry, while the conceptions of Shakspeare,
Milton, Scott and Bunyan, have supplied inexhaustible ma-
terials for the painter and engraver.
The relation of poetic imagination to taste is easily ex-
plained. By the imagination we create pictures in the
recesses of our own* consciousness. By poetry, painting,
sculpture, and the other fine arts, we give to our concep-
tions an outward manifestation. By this outward manifes-
tation we transfer our own conceptions to the minds of other
men. They, by the passive power of the imagination, form
for themselves the image which we represent. Hence, the
imagination in us, addresses first the imagination of others.
But this is not its ultimate object. Its design is to please
the taste. Unless the emotion of beauty or sublimity is
awakened, we fail to accomplish our object. If we do not
form an impressive manifestation of our own conception, it
will fail to create a corresponding conception in other men.
After the conception has been awakened, if they look upon
it with disgust or indifference, our labor has been thrown
away. We see, therefore, that in order to form the charac-
ter of a finished artist, there must be combined great vi;,'or
I of imagmation, and great delicacy ol taste. The author
must be able instinctively to determine whether his concep-
tion is really beautiful, that is, whether it will give pleas-
ure to the universal mind of man.
31
362 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
When taste is deficient and the imagination Tigorous, a
writer or artist will abound in conceptions ; but they will be
puerile, oiean, disgusting, unnatural or misplaced ; or, what
is perhaps more common, beauty and deformity will be
strangely and unaccountably mingled together. In such a
ease, the world sometimes passes them by in silence, some-
times overwhelms them with ridicule ; or, provided the fol-
lies and eccentricities are strongly marked, at first it gazea
upon them with wonder, then applauds them as criginalj
and then consigns them to oblivion. In the words o^
Horace :
*' Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam
Jungere si veiit, et varies inducere plumas
Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum
Besinet in piscem, mulier formosa^superne,
Spectatum admissi risum teneatis, amici.
Crediti, Pisones, isti tabulae fore librum
Persimilem, cujus, velut aegri somnia, vanae
Fingentur species, ut nee pes nee eaput uni
Keddatur formae."
Ars Poeti<3A, 1 — 9.
It IS possible, however, that the cause of the failure of
an author, or of an artist, may be precisely the reverse.
His taste may be too far in advance of his contemporaries.
In this case they will derive no pleasure from his concep-
tions, be they ever so perfect, and his works will fall dead
from his hand, though ever so deserving of immortality.
Pamters have perished from want, the least deserving of
whose pictures have since commanded a price which would
have rendered the artist opulent. The manuscript of
Paradise Lost was sold for five pounds ; while, at pres-
ent, the annual profits from the sale of his work would have
been a fortune to the patriot-poet. The progress of taste
may thus create a demand for a work of the imagination,
which did not exist in the life-time of the artist or the
POETIC IMAGINATION. 868
author. Homer is said to hiive l)(';;.^e(l liis hreiul while
living ; although, centuries after his ileatli, seven of iho
most illustrious cities contended for the honor of havin«'
been his birth-place.
I have thus far treated of imagination as the power by
which we form pictures at will. The object here is simple.
The combinations thus formed address themselves to the
taste. If they give us pleasure nothing more is demanded,
and our object has been attained. If the painter execute a
beai.tiful picture, or the sculptor a beautiful statue, we ask
for nothing more. So, if the novelist or the descriptive
poet present us with a succession of pleasing or exciting
scenes, they may be entirely successful. More commonly,
however, in writing, some other design is intermingled with
this. Thus, when in earnest composition, we desire to
lead the mind of the reader to a given result, some moral or
intellectual idea, by the association of resemblance or con-
trast, suggests an event or object in nature or art to which
it is analogous. We turn aside and form an image of the
suggested idea. . Here, however, our object is two-fold. To
introduce an image merely because it was beautiful, might
distract attention from the proper course of thought, and
thus interfere with our principal design. Besides being
beautiful, the image must illustrate and enforce the idea
which suggested it. When both of these objects are accom-
plished, the great end of this form of imagination isatt^iinetl,
and to attain it is one of the most difhcult achievements in
literary labor. Those comparisons and metaphors which
spring so spontaneously from the subject, that it appears
impossible to have given utterance to the thought in any
other manner, while they irradiate it with brilliant and un-
expected light, have commonly been the result of iniens*
labor, and are the pr Kluct of the most ex(iuisitc artiitio
skill/
36^ INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
It may serve to illustrate this use of the imagination if
we present a few examples. Moore, a writer of exuberant
fancy, has occasion to allude to the fact, that the affections,
by their nature, demand an object on which they may lean,
and which they strive to appropriate to themselves. This
idea naturally suggests the image of a vine, which can only
be sustained by entwinmg itself around a support. This
illustration, however, has been so often employed, that it
has become trite. The poet looking more narrowly upon
the object, observed that it clung to its support by means
of a tendril. Hence he elaborates the following beau-
tiful comparison :
" The heart, like a tendril, accustomed to cling,
Let it grow where it will, cannot flourish alone.
But will lean to the loveliest nearest thing
It can twine with itself and make closer its own."
Burke visited Versailles very aoon after the marriage of
Marie Antoinette. lie saw what seemed the commencement
of a brilliant and happy career, herself the most remarkable
object in the court which she adorned. When, in his re-
marks on the French revolution, he had occasion to refer to
this event, her position suggested to his rich and poetic im-
agination the appearance of the morning star. His mind
turned at once towards the beautiful image, and he says,
'' It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen
of France, then the dauphiness, at Versailles ; and surely
never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch,
a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon,
decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began
to move in, glittering like the morning star, full of life, and
splendor, and joy."
Thus Longinus, when he is comparing the eloquence ef
Demosthenes and Cicero, turns to nature for analogies-
POETIC IMAGINATION. JIG-I
By two very striking images he gives us an impression of
the peculiar character of each, beyond the power of an^
mere description. He compares the one to the tliunderl)olt,
which by a single stroke, scatters in splinters the giant oak
leaving a second stroke superfluous ; the other to a con-
flagration in a forest, spreading on every side irresistible
destruction, furnishing for itself the material which it con-
sumes, and gaining breadth and intensity at every step of
its progress.
In these cases a two-fold object is accomplished. h\ the
first place a new and beautiful image is introduced, to which
the mind recurs with pleasure ; and, secondly, the original
idea is rendered vastly more definite and impressive. In
this manner we render taste and imagination subservient to
reason. We convince men, and make them pleased to be
convinced, and thus rarely fail of success.
In the above instances it will be perceived that a visible
image is presented to the mind, numerically distinct from
the idea to which it owes its origin. In many cases, how-
ever, this is not done. The image is only casually and for
a moment present to the mind of the writer, yet its presence
suggests the use of words which belong rather to it than to
the principal thought. Thus, he who resists successfully a
host of enemies, naturally suggests the idea of a man making
headway against a violent stream. We do not, however,
introduce the image, but only use terms suggested by it, and
say, he stemmed the torrent of opposition. When we think
of the origin of our nation, its struggles with the aborigines,
its exposure for years to universal destruction, we are natu-
rally led to think of a tree just planted, which any hand
may pluck up; or of childhood, which, in its helplessness,
any assailant may overcome. We do not express the image
in full, but its presence renders it almost imi)0S3ible for ni
to speak upon the subject without employing the terms,—
31*
366 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
^' the germ of a nation." ^' the planting of a people," " the
infancy of the republic," etc. So, Avhen we reflect upon
the progress of a great truth, first discovered by a retired
philosopher, then modestly brought to the notice of the world,
receiving testimony from kindred sciences, until, gaining
strength at every step, it is universally acknowledged, we
naturally think of a spring, which, rising in the recesses
of the mountains, receives tributaries on every side, until it
gradually spreads out into a mighty river. Hence, we
speak of '' ascending to the fountain head of knowledge,"
of ''the current of opinions," of ''a flood of evidence," and
the like. Instances of this kind are found in abundance in
the books on rhetoric.
There is another relation, somewhat difierent from the
above, in which the imagination stands to the art of per-
suasion. By the imagination we form pictures of objects,
scenes, events, characters, and the like. It is a well-
known fact that our emotions are excited as truly by a con-
ception as by the reality. We are moved by the incidents
of a romance, we love one fictitious character and hate
another, we grieve over the distresses of virtue, we rejoice in
the punishment of crime, just as though what we read were
veritable narrative. And this efiect is produced by the con-
ceptions themselves, for our emotions are not quelled even by
the reflection that all this is fiction. In this manner, the
imagination may be made to address our domestic afiections,
our passions, — worthy or unworthy, — our conscience, or our
piety. Thus, the inimitable parables of our Saviour convey
the most sublime and touching lessons of universal truth.
The allegory of Bunyan overflows with religious instruction,
and exquisite moral sentiment. Homer has instilled into
the bosom of millions besides Alexander, the love of war,
and the inextinguishable thirst for glory. We thus per-
ceive that the passions ani sentiments of mankind, either
POETIC IMAGINATION. 367
br good or for evil, are greatly under die power of tho
Imagination.
The manner in which the orator avails himself of thin
principle is the following. In the attempt to convince men
fUT first appeal is to their reason. We construct a train of
rgument which proves our propositions to be true, and we
present such motives as should induce them to act in tho
aanner we desire. If we are deeply in earnest ourselves,
pur earnestness will not fail to call into exercise every
power of the mind. Notions of things material and imma-
fcerial, visible and invisible, related to our subject by all the
siws of objective or subjective association, will with various
legrees of distinctness rise before us. These various mate-
irials the orator uses in such manner as he perceives best
iapted to accomplish his purpose. In the words of Shak-
ppeare,
** The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to he.iven ;
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shape, and gives to airy nothings
A local habitation and a name."
Mid-summer Night's Dream.
When an image, a picture, or an event, presents itself to
the imagination of the orator, better adapted to e.xcite tho
emotion which he wishes to arouse than the naked statement
of his argument, he spreads this picture before tho niimi
with all the graphic power of which he is capable. We are,
as I have said, affected by conceptions as truly as by reality.
The emotion excited by the accessory is readily transferreil
to the principal idea, and thus we are sunk in s;ulnc^
melted into compassion, aroused to indi<;nation, or inflamed
to patriotism, as we listen to the ct^'nest appeals of imjMUi.
sioned eloquence. It is by this combination of the reasoning
868 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
power with the imagination^ that the greatest triumphs of
the art of persuasion have been accomplished.
Sometimes the imagination personifies an abstract princi-
ple, and, 'nvesting it with every element of grandeur and
sublimity, awakens emotion which is at once transferred to
the principle itself Curran, in his defence of Eowan, —
who had been indicted for the publication of a paper in which
he pleaded for universal emancipation, — affirms that his
client had claimed nothing more than was the birthright of
every Englishman, and that universal emancipation is an
essential element of the British Constitution. His imagina-
tion, fired with so noble a theme, at once conceives of uni-
versal emancipation as the genius presiding over British
soil, and he proceeds to clothe this being with every attri-
bute of majesty, thus transferring to the principle which he
defends, the sublime emotions which his conception has in-
spired. '^ I speak in the spirit of British law, which makes
liberty commensurate with and inseparable fi:om the British
soil, which proclaims even to the stranger and the sojourner,
the moment he sets his foot on British earth, that the soil
on which he treads is holy, and consecrated by the genius of
universal emancipation. No matter in what language his'
doom may have been pronounced ; no matter what complex-
ion incompatible with freedom an Indian or an African sun
may have burned upon him ; no matter in what disastrous
battle his liberties may have been cloven down ; no matter
with what solemnities he may have been devoted on the altar
of slavery, — the moment he touches the sacred soil of
Britain, the altar and the god sink together in the dust,
his soul walks abroad in her own majesty, his body swells
beyond the measure of the chains that burst from around
him, and he stands redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled,
by the irresistible genius of universal emancipation. '^ The
tfiect of such a conception upon a hearer is obvious. He,
POETIC IMAGINATION. 869
who before looked upon tha doctrine as merely a matter of
abstract right, now cherishes it as a sublime and most enno-
bling sentiment, and not only justifies, but honors and ven-
erates the man who promulgates it.
It is obvious that the same means may bo successfully
used to arouse indignation against a person or an opiuion.
The same great orator, wishing to discredit the testimony
of a government witness, presents before us an image which
can awaken no emotion but those of loathsomeness and detes-
tation. Referring to the confinement of this person in the
Castle before the trial, he styles him '' the wretch that is buried
*a man, who lies till his heart has time to fester and rot, and
is then dug up a witness." He asks, " Have you not seen
him, after his resurrection from that tomb, after having been
dug out of the region of death and corruption, make his
appearance upon the table, the living image of life and death,
and the supreme arbiter of both ? Have you not marked,
when he entered, how the stormy wave of the multitude
retired at his approach ? Have you not marked how the
■'human heart bowed to the supremacy of his power, in the
' undissembled homage of deferential horror 7 how his
■glance, like the lightning of heaven, seemed to rive the body
' of the accused and mark it for the grave, while his voice
warned the devoted wretch of woe and death, — a death
which no innocence can escape, no art elude, no force
resist, no antidote prevent? There was an antidote.—
a juror's oath; but even that adamantine chain, which
bound the integrity of man to the throne of eternal justice,
is solved and melted in the breath that issues from the in-
former's mouth. Conscience swings from her moorings,
and the appalled and afirighted juror consults his own safety
in the surrender of the victim."
From such instances as these it is easy to perceive the
xnannernn which the orator may make even the imaginatiou
870 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
to aid in tlie work of persuasion. He may bring the past
the present, and the future, before the mind of the hearer
and awaken, by means of it, any train of sympathy that he
desires. The pages of ancient and modern eloquence are
studded with gems of this kind, illustrating the power of
the consummate orator to wield the passions of men at his
will, and too" frequently, I must confess, to make the worse
appear the better reason.
SECTION in. -^ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF POETIC IMAG-
INATION.
Imagination, as we have before said, is the power of
combination, — the faculty by which, out of materials
abeady existing in the mind, we form new and original im-
ages. Of course, our power of combination must be limited
by the amount of the materials on which it may be exerted.
Knowledge of all kinds is the treasury from which our
power of combination must be supplied. The works of the
classical poets of all languages furnish us with a great variety
of beautiful imagery. But these poets themselves derived
their images from nature. The same book is open to us, and
we must study it for ourselves if we would attain to freshness
and vigor of imaginative power. He, therefore, who would
cultivate this faculty with success, must observe nature in
all her infinite variety of phases, by day and by night, in'
sunshine and in storm, in summer and in winter, on the
prairie and by the seaside, and delight himself in the beauti-
ful and the grand wherever they may exist in every aspect
of creation around him. Says Imlac, in Rasselas, '' I ranged
mountains and deserts for images and resemblances, and
pictured on my mind every tree of the forest and flower of
CULTIVATION OF THE IMAQINAnON. 871
the valley. I observed with equal care the crags of the
rockj and the pinnacles of the palace. Sometimes I wan-
dered along the mazes of the rivulet, and soniotimes
watched the changes of the.summer cloud. To a poet noth-
ing can be useless. Whatever is beautiful and wluitever ia
dreadful must be familiar to his imagination : he must he
conversant with all that is awfully vast or elegantly little.
The plants of the garden and the animals of the wood, the
minerals of the earth and the meteors of the sky, must all
concur to store his mind with inexhaustible variety ; for
every idea is useful for the enforcement or decoration of
moral or religious truths, and he who knows most will have
most power of gratifying his reader with remote allusions
and unexpected instruction." — Rasselas, chap. 10.
The habits of those who have been most distinguished for
richness of imagination will, I believe, confirm the truth of
these remarks. The poetry of Homer, Shakspeare and
Milton, is replete with images which could only have been
derived from close observation of nature, as she presented
herself to them in their dissimilar walks of life. But we
may recur to more recent instances. It is recorded of the ^
distinguished American, whose exquisite portraits of nature
have rendered classic the banks of the Hudson, that he once
invited a friend to visit his '• studies." He led him to some
of the mountains that overlook his favorite river, and re-
marked that he was accustomed to spend whole days, from
sunrise to sunset, in those majestic solitudes, observing the
never-ceasing changes wrought upon the scenery around
him in every hour of the day, and that thus he labored to
acquire a familiarity with every appearance of natural
beauty. The boundless range of the imagination of Sir
Walter Scott has been long acknowledged. Until, how-
ever, his memoirs were published, ni one would have be^
lieved that he depended on minute observation for tha
612 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
materials of his fancy. Before he wrote Rokeby, hu visited
his friend Mr. Morritt, in whose grounds the scene of the
poem was to be laid. ^'The Monday after his arrival, he
said, ^ You have often given me the materials for a romance,
now I want a good robber's cave and an old church of the
right sort.' We rode out and found what he wanted in the
ancient slate quarry of Bignal, and the ruined abbey of
Eglinstone. I observed him noting down even the peculiar
little wild flowers and herbs that accidentally grew around
and on the side of a bold crag near his intended cave of
Guy Denzil, and could not help saying, that, as he was not
to be on his oath in this work, daisies, violets and primroses,
would be as poetic as any of the humble plants he was ex-
amining. I laughed, in short, at his scrupulousness ; but I
understood him when he replied that in nature herself no
two scenes were exactly alike, and that whoever copied truly
what was before his eyes, would possess the same variety in
his descriptions, and exhibit, apparently, an imagination as
boundless as the range of nature in the scenes which he
describes ; but whoever trusted to imagination, would soon
find his own mind circumscribed and contracted to a few
favorite images, and the repetition of these would soon pro-
duce that monotony and barrenness which have always
haunted descriptive poetry in the hands of any but the pa-
tieiit worshipper of truth. ^ Besides,' said he, ' local
names and peculiarities make a fictitious story look so much
better in the face.' In fact, he was but half satisfied with
the most beautiful scenery which he could not connect with
some local legend,''^ — Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. 1,
page 426.
Nor was Sir Walter Scott a close observer of nature
merely in the forms of inanimate creation. His amazing
power of delineating every variety of human character may
be traced to the same source. When ^^ The Pirate" appeared,
IMPROVEMENT OF THE IMAr.INATION. f^JS
every one wondered at the fertile fancy of the Great Un-
known, and his power of conceiving so accurately the mnn-
ners, and even the modes of conversation of the people of
the Hebrides. Those, however, who Imd accoinpaniod tho
author in his visit to these regions, recognized in many of
the most striking passages of the novel an almost literal
record of the events which had transpired under their
own eyes. We thus perceive that the exhaustless richnei«
of the imagination of the great novelist was derived from
a remarkably exact observation of nature and mankind,
aided by a memory from which nothing seems to have
escaped that could minister to the success of his literary
labors.
It is related of Stothard, an eminent English artist, that
nothing could exceed the care with which he was in the
habit of copying the minutest object in nature, in which he
detected any special beauty. " He was beginning to paint
the figure of a reclining sylph, when a difficulty arose in his
mind how best to represent such a being of fancy. A friend
present said, ^ Give the sylph a butterfly-wing, and then you
have it.' ' That I will,' said Stothard, ' and, to be correct,
I will paint the wing from the butterfly itself He instiintly
sallied forth into the fields, caught one of these beautiful
insects, and sketched it immediately. * * He became
a hunter of butterflies. The more he caught, tlie greater
beauty did he trace in their infinite variety, and he would
often say that no one knew what he owed to these insects, —
they had taught him the finest combinations in that diflicult
branch of art, coloring. '^ * Whenever he was in the
fields, the sketch-book and the color-box were brought forUi
from his pocket, and many a wild plant, with ita delicate
formation of leaf and flower, was carefully copied on tho
spot. The springing of the tendrils from the stfem, and
every elegant bend and turn of the leaves, or the drooping
32
374 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
of a bell, was observed and depicted with the utmost
beauty." He who observes nature in this manner will
never have occasion to complain of deficiency of materials
for the use of the imagination.
2. It is evideni, however, that the successful use of the
imagination does not depend merely upon our power to
form pictures. We must do more than this. To conceive
of a mountain more vast than another mountain might be
considered an exercise of the imagination. But this would
excite no emotion either of/ novelty or sublimity. The
theogony of Boodhism is replete with conceptions of this
kind, but it Tiwakens no other feeling than that of disgust.
If we hope to cultivate this faculty, we must acquire the
habit of associating the visible with the invisible, the mate-
rial with the spiritual. Had Goldsmith, in his celebrated
simile, compared the cliff to another, cliff, or the village pas-
tor to another village pastor, his conception would have been
powerless, and w^ould scarcely have escaped contempt. It
is the unexpected coincidence between a sublime object in
nature and the moral elements of a noble character, that
presents one of the finest images to be found in the English
language. We must learn to associate these two classes of
objects together, so that, whatever be the point of observa-
tion which the mind occupies, it shall habitually seek for
appropriate analogies, and turn in the direction in which
they will most readily be found. Thus, it was remarked
above of Sir W. Scott, that '' he was but half satisfied with
the most beautiful scenery which he did not connect with
some local legend." Thus, a poetic imagination instinctively
sees all things double, blending, in beautiful harmony,
thought, sentiment, subjective emotion, with whatever is most-
analogous to it in the objective world of nature or art.
We may cultivate the imagination by studying atten-
tively works most distinguished for poetical combination
IMPROVEMENT OF THE IMAGINATION. 87f
ll cii-} studying attentively^ in distinction from the niera
cursory perusal of classical authors. We must not only
read but meditate upon the beautiful and suidinie in
thought, until we feel the full force of every analogy ; en-
tering into the spirit of the writer himself if we would
avail ourselves of the most successful cfTorts of human
genius. We thus acquire the intellectual liabits of the nian-
ters cf human thought. In the language of poetry, wo
catch a portion of their inspiration, instead of servilely ren-
dering their thoughts in our own language. It is by the
diligent study of a few of the best writers, and not the hasty
readirg of many, that we derive the greatest benefit from
the study of the classics of our own or any other country.
The late Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, who had acquired uncom-
mon power in the use of the English language, ascril)ed her
success, more than to anything else, to the fact, that for sev-
eral years in her youth, she was limited in her reading to
the Bible, the Dictionary and Milton's Paradise Lost.
But, after all, the study of the classics is mainly bene-
ficial as it enables us to study nature for ourselves, and to
discover the fountains from which genius in all ages hixs
been invigorated. When we have learned to i\5sociatc the
seen with the unseen, we have acquired a language which
enables us to read with new eyes the inexhaustihle volume
of the works of God. The world of matter and the world
of thought stand up before us in grand parallelism, each
reflecting light upon the other. Thus, in the descriptions
of Washington Irving, every flower, every animal, every
bird, the hill-side, the waterfall, the field and the forest, all
seem endowed with life, and almost with- reason; they l)e-
eome our companions, and are ever suggesting to us some
idea of playful humor or of aff'ecting sentiment. Thus, the
most common occurrences awakened in Burns thobo analo-
3T6 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
gies with human life and manners, whica gave occasion t''.
some of his most exquisite odes.
But, lastly, this habit, like any other, can only be culti-
vated by practice. We must form the combinations of the
imagination, if we would learn to form them. We must
assiduously cultivate the practice of writing, if we would
learn to write well. If we would write well, we must write
earnestly, having an end in view, and being deeply interested
in the efibrt to attain it. In this state of mind analogies
the more readily suggest themselves. As they arise dimly
and flit before us at a distance, we should summcn them
into our presence, and shape them if possible to our purpose,
If they are intractable we must labor the more strenu^;usiy,
viewing them from different points, and striving to seize up-
on their analogy with the idea which we wish them to illus-
,trate. We may frequently fail, or at best succeed but im-
perfectly. This, however, should not discourage us.
Nothing was ever exquisitely finished without unwearied
and patient labor, and at the cost of repeated and mortifying
failure. By untiring and well-directed effort, great things
may in the end be accomplished. We must be patient with
ourselves, and not expect to do without labor what other
men have done in no other manner. Paradise Lost was the
work of almost a lifetime. Cowper somewhere informs us
that his poetry, which seems to flow without effort, cost him,
on an average, half an hour for every line. If incessant
toil was necessary to successful effort in minds so highly
gifted, ordinary men surely need not to expect to oucceed
without it.
REFEEENCES,
Imagination in general — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 7, sec* 1.
Steps in the process — Stewart, vol. i., chap. 7, sec. 1.
PHILOSOPUICAL IMAGINAliON. 87T
Difiference between abstraction in reasoning and imagination — Stew-
art, vol. i., chap. 4, sec. 1.
Relation of imagination to character — Stewart, vol. i., ohap, 7. mo^
4—6.
Manner in which imagination pleases us — Stewart, vol i., chap. 6,
Part 1, sec. 4.
Relation ef imagination to fine arts — vol. i., ch. 7, sec 2
SECTION IV. — PHILOSOPHICAL IMAGINATION.
There is another mode in which the imagination acta, of
BuflScient importance to deserve particular attention. It
may be denominated Philosophical Imagination. With some
remarks concerning it we shall conclude the present chapter.
In this form of imagination, as in the preceding, we com-
bine the elements which previously existed in the mind.
The elements, however, are in the two cases dissimilar. In
poetic imagination, as I have said, we make use of parts
of individual wholes, which we combine anew, forming an
image at will. In philosophical imagination our elements
are single general truths or separate laws of nature, or the
various relations of these laws to each other. These wo
combine into a conception of a new and more complicated
law or general philosophical truth.
The conceptions when formed by these separate acts ^ of
imagination are also exceedingly unlike. By poetical im-
agination we form an individual picture, which may be
represented to the senses. Qy philosophical imagination we
form not a picture, but an ideal conception of some general
truth. By the one we form images, by the otner we frame
hypotheses. In the one case, the conception is addressed to
the taste, and if the emotion of beauty or sublimity is
awakened, our object is accomplished. In the other, th«
taste is wholly neglected, and our appeal is exclusively to
32*
378 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the understanding. If the conception is analogous to truth,
or if its truth or falsehood can be definitely determined^
nothing more is required. The design of the one is to give
us pbasure ; of the other, to enlarge our knowledge.
The nature of the conceptions which we are considering
may be understood by examples. Copernicus, having ob-
served the various established facts respecting the motions
of the heavenly bodies, sought to form a conception of their*
various relations which should account for every fact by
bringing it under the control of some understood and
acknowledged law. Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe had made
the same attempt before, but they imagined laws nowhere
existing, and left many of the facts wholly unaccounted for.
^-^pernicus siXpposed the sun to be the centre of a singk
system, the stars being themselves centres of systems at
infinite distances from it ; the earth and planets to move
around the sun in orbits nearly circular, and the moon to
be a satellite of the earth, revolving around it, and thus
with it revolving around the centre of the system. By this
conception, all the facts thus far observed were accounted
for. Dr. Black, reflecting upon the facts which he had
observed respecting the freezing of water, the melting of
ice, and the formation and condensation of vapor, sought to
form a conception of some general law, which should account
for all the phenomena. He was thus led to originate the
doctrine of latent heat, and immediately saw that this would
fulfil every requirement. Each of these is an instance of
philosophical imagination. It is an original conception cf
some general law, or combination of laws, addressing itself
to the understanding, and harmonizing facts otherwise
apparently contradictory.
These illustrations appertain to science. But essentially
the same exercise of the imagination must be employed in
every original design. We can never either think or act
p
_ PHILOSOPHICAL IMAGINATION. 879
efficiently, unless we think or act in conformity with a plan.
There must always exist some ideal which wo propose cither
to prove, or else to realize in action. This ideal must be the
product of the imagination. The ideal of Paradise LosI
was thoroughly thought out before a line of it was written.
So the plan of every great enterprise iDust be matured, and
its detail thoroughly arranged, before it can be commenced
with any hope of success. We see, then, how imi)ortajit an
element of individual or social progress is found i:> the exer-
cise of this faculty.
It must be apparent that great diversities of chi-mcter
must necessarily arise from the different degrees in which
this endowment is bestowed. Some men have no ideals.
They form no plans beyond those demanded in the conduct
of the ordinary affairs of life. In all things else they follow
instinctively the beaten track, and yield with unquestioning
submission to the opinions of those who have gone before
them. They have no other rule of action than implicitly to
follow their file-leader, fully convinced that nothing can bo
better than what has been, and that a course of action must
of necessity be wise, provided it has been for a long while
pursued. Others, again, are overburdened with imaginings.
They do nothing but form plans, and originate projects
which have no foundation in general principles, and must
inevitably end in ludicrous failure. Such men, however,
rarely attempt to realize their own schemes ; they are satis-
fied with the attempt to force them upon others. They aro
the builders of castles in the air, ever striving after imjK^si-
bilities, spending tbeir lives in the fruitless labor of i)Ui>u.
ing phantoms and grasping after unsubstantial shadows.
That man is rarely endowed who is able to originate idcaU
resting on truth, and to work them out with that \k>U mffu'iiy
which^nsures the possibility of realizing them in action.
When such power is united with executive talent, and guidod
380 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHT.
by enlarged benevolence, it designates a man who was created
for the benefit of his race.
It is important to observe the relation which a philosophi-
cal imagination sustains to the reasoning power in out
investigation of truth.
I have said that reasoning is the process by which we
pass from * the known to the unknowHj and thus transform
the unknown into the known. Suppose the philosopher to
stand on the utmost limits of the known. His reason is
prepared either to prove or disprove any proposition that
may be presented. But there is no proposition presented.
There is nothing within the cognizance of the understand-
ing, but on the one side the known, and, on the other,
absolute silence and darkness. Reason presents no proposi-
tion. Its sole province is either to prove or disprove what is
placed before it. None of the other faculties which we
have considered can present propositions to the reason, as
the matter on which its powers shall be exerted. Hence
the necessity of the imagination. Its office is to pass beyond
the limits of the known, and form a conception which may
be true of something in the unknown. This, it presents in
the shape of a proposition or a philosophical conception.
As soon as this is done, an opportunity is offered for the
exercise of the reasoning faculty. There is something now
to be proved, and there may be something by which to prove
it. We at once endeavor to discover some media of proof
which may show a necessary connection between what is
known, and this proposition which is, as yet, unknown.
Until this connection can be shown, our proposition is a mere
suggestion, a theory, an hypothesis. As soon as this con-
nection has been established, what was before hypothesis
becomes acknowledged truth, and by just so much is the
dominion of science extended.
Or, to express the same idea in another form, experiment,
PHILOSOPHICAL IMAGINATItN. 88i
or the attempt to discover new truth, is notliin;^ n ' -^ m
putting questions to nature. But a question supj..-, -no
definite object of inquiry. The answer of nature, if she
answer at oil, is always either yes or no. Philosopliical
imagination enables us to put the question in a form ca])al)lo
of a definite answer. It suggests a conception which may
be true or false, but which must be either one or the other.
By experiment or demonstration we put the (question to
nature, and receive her answer either afiirmative or nega-
tive. If the answer be negative, we surrender our proposi-
tion as worthless, and the imagination suggests another, and
another, until an affirmative answer is received. The work
is then accomplished, and a new truth is added to the sum
of human knowledge.
Thus the conceptions of Ptolemy and of Copernicus were
both mere hypotheses of equal value, until one was proved
to be true. The conception of Newton, that the motions
of the bodies which compose the solar system are all sub-
jected to the law of gravitation, was a mere hypothesis, a
creation of the imagination, until it was scientifically estab-
lished. He himself so considered it, and I believe never
mentioned it until he had proved it. He considered it merely
a question which he had put to nature, unworthy of atten-
tion until he had received an affirmative answer. At first,
he supposed that the answer which he received was negative.
Taking for one element of his calculations the length 'jf a
degree of the earth, as it had been measured by the French
mathematicians, he found that his hypothesis could not be
established, and he laid it aside for several years. A new
and more accurate measurement was afterwards obtained,
which brought to his recollection his almost fcrgotten com-
putations. He commenced them anew, with more accurate
data, and soon arrived at the result which added hi.s uninn
to the brief Hst of those who must always be remembered
382 INTELLEbiOAL PHILOSOPHY.
The samo process must be performed in every case where a
scientific truth is discovered. The proposition of the square:j
on the sides of a right-angled triangle was a mere hypoth-
esis to Pythagoras until he had demonstrated its truth.
These illustrations have referred to science. The truth
here suggested is, however, of wider application. Thus, the
ingenious inventor has become acquainted with some natural
law which he believes may be rendered available for the
service of inan. He must form in his own mind a concep
tion of the manner in which this result may be accomplished.
At first a rough draft is present before him. He per-
ceives it& imperfections, and labors to correct them. One
and another plan suggests itself, until he has before him a
whole system of arrangements by which the result may be
attained. Months of anxious thought were consumed by
Watt and Fulton before they perfected those conceptions,
which, when realized in the form of inventions, have revolu-
tionized the manufactures and commerce of the world. The
same remark will apply to a military commander, who,
before a sword is drawn, must form in his mind the whole
plan of a campaign. Thus it is that an act of the imagina-
tion must precede every other, when an important truth ia
O) be discovered, or great enterprise to be achieved. We
must, first of all, form a conception of what we would do, or
prove, and of the means by which it is to be accomplished.
We may, it is true, fall short of our ideal ; but, except by
accident, we cannot go beyond it. Hence this creative
power lies at the foundation of all great excellence. Other
things being equal, he will certainly arrive at the most
em^jnent success, who is able to take the largest, most com-
prehensive, and most truthful views of that which he desires
to accomplish.
I shall close this chapter by a few suggestions on the
mode of improving a philosophical imagination.
PHILOSOPHICAL IMAGINATION 883
It is obvious that this power, to be of imy pmcticul v;iluc
iLUSt derive its materials from essential truth. Fancies eai.
never form the elements of a philosophical imagination. Wo
desire to discover truth ; but truth can only lx» discoverctl
by means of truth. The more thoroughly, therefore, wo are
acquainted with the known, the more easily shall we dis-
cover the regions which may be reclaimed from the unknown.
He will be more likely to extend the limits of human
knowledge who has made himself acquainted with alrea«ly
discovered truth. Newton, at an early age, was familiar
with all that was then known of the science of astronomv ;
and this knowledge pointed out to him the line in which dis-
covery was to be made. Columbus was profoundly learned
in the geography of his age. He was intimately accjuaintcd
with all that had been discovered of the figure of the eartii,
and the proportions in which its surface was covered with
land and water. This knowledge first suggested to him the
idea of a new continent. Had he known of nothing beyond
the shores of the gulf of Genoa, his mind coultl never have
formed this magnificent conception, and after-ages would
never have heard of the " world-seeking Genoese."
2. I have before remarked the power of generalization to
Aid in the discovery of truth. We may here observe the
mode in which it tends to this result. Every object in
nature, every change, every law, is the type of a class more
numerous than we are able to conceive. These types are
repeated and diversified in infinite variety, but they arc all
characterized by the same essential elements, unseen, it may
be, by the casual observer, but understood by the far..^i.i,ditcd
: interpreter of nature. He who is able to distinguish the
essential elements of a type from its accidentiil circum.
j stances, trace them out through their various manifestations,
i »nd expand them to their widest generalizations, will find^hii
mind replete with conceptions of all possible truth. Gen-
384 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
eralization pointed out to Newton those conceptions which
led to most of his discoveries, and also gave rise to many
suggestions which were not proved to be discoveries until
more than a century after his death. In his experiments
on light, he observed that the refracting power of different
bcdies was in proportion to their combustibility, and that the
diamond possessed the former power in an unusual degree.
Applying this law to this particular case, he was led to con-
ceive that the diamond itself might be combustible. Though
a mineral, and the hardest of known substances, he disre-
garded these accidents, and, boldly generalizing his idea,
predicted a discovery which only a few years since has been
established.
3. In the works of a great artist, there is always to be
observed a manner peculiar to himself, which a true connois-
seur will readily detect. We call this peculiarity the style
of an author or an artist. It is derived from the intellec-
tual and moral character of the individual, and is that which
renders his outward works the index of his inward and spir-
itual mind. It is natural to suppose that this peculiarity
should be apparent in the works of the Creator. There is
a speciality in his mode of treating subjects, a style which
designates all the works of his hand. He who, by deep and
profound reflection on the works of God, has become most
familiar with the laws of that w^hich we call nature, and
with the relations which these laws sustain to each other,
will be the most likely to penetrate into the unknown, and
originate those conceptions which lead to the discovery of
truth. The further he advances in his investigations, the
richer will be the field of discovery that opens before him.
If I may be allowed, I will use an illustration which I
once employed when treating on this subject. '^ Suppose I
should present before you one of the paintings of Raphael,
and, covering a part of it with a screen, ask you to proceed
PHILOSOrillCAl, i;i \.;|\ • n-.v
I
^with the work, and designate where the next lines should l>o
drawn. It is evident that none but a painter ever nei-tl
make the attempt, and that, of painters, he would Ik; the
most likely to succeed who was best acquainted with tho
genius of Raphael, and had most thoroughly meditated on
the manner in which that genius manifested itself in tho
work before him. So, of the system of the universe. We
see but in part; all the rest is hidden from our virw.
He will, however, most readily discover where the nut
lines are drawn who is most thoroughly acquainted with
the character of the author, and has pbserved with the
greatest accuracy the manner in which that character is dis-
played in that portion of the system which he nas revealed
to us. It is evident, also, that just in proportion as tlie
work advanced, and portion after portion of the screen was
removed, just in that proportion vtould the difficulty of com-
pleting the whole be diminished." — Discoui-sc on the Phi-
losophy of Analogy.
If these remarks be true, they throw some light upon
the subject of education. The power of forming conceptions
which shall lead to discovery in science, or to the practica-
ble in action, is clearly of vast importance. Can this power
I be cultivated ] On this question there can be no doubt. It
• steadily increases with the progress of the human mind.
We naturally inquire whether the cultivation of this ele-
ment of intellectual character has been regarded with suffi-
cient attention by those who form our courses of higher
education. A large part of the studies which we pursue
add very little to our power of forming conceptions of anj^
character whatever. A larger infusion of the study of
physical science, not merely as a collection of fact.s, but as
a system of laws, with their relations and dc'iKHideneios,
would be of great value in this respect. We thus study
the ideas and conceptions of the Creator. We become lO-
33
386 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
quainted with his manner of accomplishing his purposes,
and learn, in seme measure, the style of the Author of all
things. Surely, this habit of mind must be of unspeakable
value to a philosopher in the discovery of truth, or to a man
of aflFairs in devising his plans, since these can only succeed
as they are in harmony with the designs of infinite wisdouj
and benevolence.
*' There 's a Divinity that shapes our ends.
Rough-hew them as we will."
REFERENCES.
Nature of hypothesis — Reid, Essay 1, ohap. 3,
Importance of ideals — Stewart, vol i., chap. 7, sec 6,
Certain style in nature's works -^ vol. ii., chap. 4, m^ 4
I
CHAPTER VIII,
TASTE.
SECTION I. — THE NATUl^E OF TASTK.
We have now considered the most important (f those
powers of the human mind which may be strictly termed
intellectual; that is, which are employed in the ac(iuisition
and increase of knowledge. By the use of these wc mi;;ht
prosecute our inquiries in every direction, and extend tho
hmits of science, as far as it has been permitted by our Crea-
tor. But were this all, we should be deprived of much of
the innocent pleasure which accompanies the einj)l()yinfnt
of our faculties, and thus lose an important inducement to
mental cultivation. We find that many of tlie phenomena
which we observe, are to us a source of happiness, freijuently
of an exquisite character. This happiness is bestowed upon
us through means of another endowment, which we denomi-
nate taste. It is so intimately associated with the faculties
' purely intellectual, that our view of them would be imiKM-fcct
( iid we not bestow upon itat least a brief examination.
Taste is that mental sensibiljty by which we cognize the
beauties and deformities of nature and art,— enjoying
pleasure from the one, and suifering pain from the other.-
In this definition we speak of taste is a sensibility, mliioi
86S INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
m
than a faculty. A faculty is the power of doing something,!
of putting forth some act, or accomplishing some changeJ
Such is not the nature of taste. It creates no change. It
merely recognizes its appropriate object, and is the seat of the
subjective emotion to which the object gives exercise. When
an object is presented, taste recognizes its aesthetic quality ;
it is sensible of pleasure or pain, and here its office terminates.
Of the universality of this endowment there cannot be a
question. The consciousness of every man bears testimony
to its existence. When we look upon a rainbow, we are
sensible of an emotion wholly different from that with which
we look upon the dark cloud which it overspreads. The Kii
cause of the emotion we call the beauty of the rainbow, and
the emotion itself we recognize as one of a peculiar charac-
ter, unlike any other of which we are conscious. We ob-
serve that all men are affected by a multitude of objects in ri
the same manner as ourselves. Young and old, cultivated ta;
and uncultivated, observe this quality in many of the same ffe;
objects, and are affected by them in the same manner. It
is not asserted, however, that all men recognize the quality
of beauty in the same things, or that all men are conscious iir
of the same intensity of aesthetic emotion. These may vary
by association and culture. What is here affirmed, is, that
all men, in various degrees, are conscious of the pleasure i[^
lerived from the observation of objects which they term
Deautiful, and that there are objects, which all men of the
same or a similar degree of culture, designate by this epi-
thet. Hence, particular scenes have been, by all observers,
denominated beautiful or sublime. Hence, descriptions of
localities or events have been transmitted from age to age,
from nation to nation, and from language to language, ever
awakening the emotions to which they at first owed their
celebrity. Anacreon's ode to Spring, Homer's description
of a storm in the ^gean, Horace's Fountain of Brundu- ^i
lio:
NATURE OF TASTK. ggp
rium and the pleasures of a country lito, Milton a liaicicr.
of Eden, seem beautiful to all men ; and every man, when
he applies to them this designation, is certain that ho usca
language which is perfectly well understood by the men
■ whom he addresses.
It may serve to render our notion of taste more defmito
if we distinguish it from some of the faculties with which
it is liable to be confounded.
Taste is sometimes confounded with imagination. Thus
figurative language and works of art in general are some-
times said to be addressed to the imagination. This is not
strictly true. The conceptions of the fine arts are created
by the imagination of one, and reproduced by the imagina-
tion of another. This is, however, only the means to an
end. Our ultimate object is to present them to taste, for,
unless the taste be gratified, no matter how strongly they
;may be imagined, the whole object for which they are
created, fails.
Imagination is the faculty by which we combine : tasto
is the sensibility by which we feel. Imagination forms pic-
tures ; taste determines whether or not a certain quality
^exists in them after they are formed. By my imagination,
il form a conception of a landscape ; by my taste, I decide
upon the beauty of the conception which I have createil.
ilmagination creates ; taste judges of the creation. Imagina-
tion itself is the seat neither of pleasure nor pain ; all the
[pleasure which we enjoy, or the pain which we suffer, fi-om
the works of the imagination, is derived from taste.
These endowments may be conferred in very different degree
upon the same person. A fertile imagination, as I have
before remarked, is sometimes combined with a very im|>ur-
Ifect taste. In such cases, an artist will form images in
great profusion, but they fail to please, and sonietuiKM di^
gust us. Such seems to have been the case with Fuseli. a
33*
S9G INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
painter of boundless imagination, but frequently combining
in his conceptions the sublime and the ridiculous. This
peculiar type of character is not uncommonly found in pAv«.
sons passing into insanity, or in that condition of the intel-
lect, sometimes existing through life, in which the individual
dwells habitually upon the narrow confine which separates
sanity from madness. The late Edward Irving, a man of
powerful imagination and withal of commanding eloquence,
seems for many of the later years of his life to have exem-
plified this remark.
It is, however, more common to find men endowed with a
correct taste, but deficient in imagination. Such persons,
have no power of original creation, while they will decide
correctly concerning the creations of others. They are
good critics, but bad artists. For a man of so eminent en-
dowments, I think that Addison may be considered much
more remarkable for taste than imagination. I think it was
the great Lord Chatham who remarked, that few men were
endowed with the '•'prophetic eye of taste," that is, who
could create for themselves a conception, and judge correctly
concerning its beauty, before it had assumed a visible reality.
His remark was made w^ith reference to landscape gardening,
but it is of general application. We know that almost every
man can determine whether grounds are laid out beautifully,
while very few men have the talent for so laying them out
as to confer permanent pleasure on the beholder. Distin-
guished success in the fine arts can only be attained by
those, in whom both of these endowments are in an eminent
degree united. Homer, Milton, Shakspeare, M. Angelo,
Raphael, were all thus preeminently gifted.
Taste and conscience have many points both of similarity
and difierence. Both of them belong to the class of original
suggestions. Both take cognizance of a peculiar quality in
An external object, and both derire either pleasure or pai^?
NATURE OF TASTE. 8Vk
fh)m the cognizance of this quality. Wlien I sec an art
done, I recognize in it the quality of right or wrong, ami I
am conscious also of a subjective emotion. So I perceiva
an external object. I observe in it the quality of beauty or
aeformity, and it awakens its corresponding aesthetic emo-
tion, which is either the pleasure or pain of tiii*te. In these
respects they singularly coincide.
In many important particulars, however, they are widely
dissimilar.
Conscience observes the peculiar quality which it detects,
in nothing but the voluntary actions of responsible beings.
Taste discovers the quality which it cognizes, in all objects
material and spiritual, in all actions, and in all rehitions.
The one is called into action by the quality of right or
wrong; the other by beauty or deformity. The difference
between these two qualities is manifest at once to our con-
sciousness. Every one knows that the quality which ho
recoornizes in a rose, and that which he reco;i;nizes in an act
of noble self-sacrifice, are as different as any two objects
within the range of his knowledge. The subjective emotion
awakened by conscience is wholly unlike that awakened by
taste. The emotion of conscience is complicated with a
variety of other emotions, as, for instance, of moral appro-
bation or disapprobation, the conviction of good or ill desert,
the assurance of consequences which must result from
moral action. The pleasure of taste is simple, terminating
in itself, and wholly destitute of any moral emotion. No
man can pay even a casual attention to the deliverances of
consciousness, without being convinced of the wide difTiT-
ence both objective and subjective, of these two endowments.
The character of taste varies greatly with age. In youth,
bright colors and strong contrasts please us. We arc inca-
pable of being affected by anything which does not imprena
us strongly. As we gr^w older, we dcriy« more plcaijuro
$92 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
from form^ proportion, symmetry and expressi^n. Lesi
dazzling colors, and more subdued contrasts become agree-
able, and we behold with indifference what we once admired
as beautiful. In this respect, savages resemble children.
No color pleases them so much as scarlet, no matter in what
form it may become a part of the dress. Their ornaments
are such as force themselves upon the notice, without any
regard to the relation which they sustain to the character
of the wearer, or their harmony with the general impression
which he supposes himself to produce. Ornaments, in a
more advanced state of society, worn merely to attract
attention, or for the display of wealth, manifest the same im-
perfection of taste which we observe in savages.
SECTION II. — TASTE CONSIDERED OBJECTIVELY. — MATE-
RIAL QUALITIES AS OBJECTS OF TASTE.
The objects adapted to awaken the emotion of taste are
innunerable. The Creator, having bestowed upon us this
sensF^ility, has made the universe around us to minister tc
its gratification. The heavens above, the earth beneath,
all the changes of the seasons, all the products of animal
and vegetable life, the gems of the mine and the pearls of
the ocean, the ripple of the brook and the thunder of the
cataract, the prancing of the war-horse and the bounding
of the fawn, the wing of the butterfly and the plumage of
the bird of Paradise, the carol of the lark and the wild
scream of the eagle, with the ten thousand objects which
meot us wherever we look abroad upon the works of God,
are intended to awaken the emotions of beauty and sublim-
ity, and fill us with humble adoration of Him who is the
ftivei of every good and perfect gift.
OBJECTS OF TASTE. HOJ
To attempt an enumeration, of jiU the ohjocts in whicli wf
^discover beauty or sublimity would be uselciW. We shall
aerely indicate some of the classes of objects by which wo
Fare thus affected, principally for the sake of directing atton-
jtion to the aesthetic elements existing in the w^rld around uh.
The qualities of external objects which address them-
selves to the taste are those which arc perceived by the eya
and the ear.
By the eye we perceive color ^ form^ and viotion.
Color as an object of beauty.
Colors may be divided into prismatic and plain.
The prismatic colors are violet, indigo, blue, green, yel-
low, orange and red. These all are beautiful separately,
and, in an eminent degree, when combined. What can bo
more exquisitively beautiful in color, than the summer rain-
bow or the solar spectrum 7 No human being probably ever
looked upon them without intense delight.
A distinction may, however, be discovered between tho
prismatic colors. The first three of the series, in the order
in which I have mentioned them, may be denominated grave,
the last three gay, while the remaining one, green, i>ossesse3
a character intermediate between them. Hence, gay color*
are most appropriate to festive occasions, while graver are
adapted to occasions of solemnity. The dresses of men are
generally either black or blue ; those of women, of every
variety of color, but more commonly gay. How strangely
inappropriate would it seem if the dresses of a we<liling
party or a ball-room, and those of a court of justice were ex-
changed for each other ! The colors of the garden and the
field are commonly either white or some modification of rtnl,
orange, or yellow. The grave colors are here obsiTVcil but
rarely, and then in their lighter shades ; or, by being mingled
with the others, they increase their effect by contrast
The color, however, which is most abundantly Bpreail
894 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
over nature is green. It is universally agreeable ; it admits
of an infinite variety of shade, and, without producing any
vivid emotion, harmonizes most happily with all. A grove
is an appropriate place for a festive entertainment, and trees
are the indispensable ornament of a cemetery, where every-
thing reminds us of the sorrows of separation and the so-
lemnities of eternity.
Color sometimes becomes an element of sublimity as well
fts of beauty. The sublimity of a thunder cloud is increased
by its intense blackness. The deep blue of the heavens, in
a clear night, adds greatly to the grandeur of the spectacle
which they exhibit.
Many of the objects which we perceive are clothed with
plain colors, as gray, brown, dusky, or wood color. These
produce in us no emotion, either of pleasure or pain, but
they relieve the eye when fatigued by the brilliancy of the
prismatic colors. Thus, the earth when not covered with
vegetation, the trunks and branches of trees, and most of
our domestic animals, are clothed in plain colors.
Form, — We detect the quality of beauty in the simplest
varieties of form. Thus, a straight is more beautiful than
un irregular line. A curved, irrespective of utility, is more
beautiful than a straight line. A spiral line, as of a vine
entwined around a column, is more beautiful than either.
The stems of flowers that bend gently downward, like the
lily of the valley, are more beautiful than those which stand
straight and inflexible, like the hollyhock. Every one has
remarked the difference between the serpentine bending of
a river, seeming to turn at will in any direction which it
prefers, and the stiff rectilinearity of a canal, carried through
hill and over valley, without a single graceful flexure to
vary its monotony.
Angles seem capaMe of greater beauty than could have
been anticipated. The obtuse angle of the roof of a Greciao
OBJECTS Ot VASTE. /JJf,
temple is remarkably agreealile. Tlic ^vll(>le eflect of the
edifice would be destroyed by raising tlif roof to un acute
angle. On the contrary, a pyramid standing on tliu ground,
if its apex were obtuse, would appear squat and di.sgn^tiri'^r
Yet, an acute-angled roof is not always displeasing
Gothic edifict>it is indispensable, and here an obtuse an-lc
would be intolerable. That this difibrence exists must, I
think, be admitted by all. The reason of it I am unable
to discover.
Figure. — Irrespective of utility, figures bounded hy
curves are more beautiful than those bounded by straight
lines. A sphere is more beautiful than a cube, a circle
than a square, an ellipse than a parallelogram, a cylindri-
cal than a rectangular column. The lines of i)eauty in the
human countenance are all curves. What could be more
shocking than a human face, formed by right lines? The
petals of flowers, the outline of fruits, are almost univer-
Bally bounded by curves.
Regular figures are always more beautiful than irregular.
A square is more beautiful than a trapezoid. A room of
which the opposite sides are not equal, or a window or door
not exact parallelograms, afiect us painfully. The roof of a
house of which the sides slant unequally is everywhere dis-
agreeable.
Simple forms are generally more beautiful than complex.
Every one admires the simple majesty of a Grecian temple,
the mere combination of a few right lines and circles. Yet
this rule is, by no means, exclusive. The Gothic cathedral
is remarkable for its extreme complexity, both of doaien
and ornament, and yet it is preeminently beautiful
Proportion.— Vvo])ori\on is a relation existing U'.^s.. i
the parts of the same figure, as between the length aixl
breadth of a parallelogram, the two diameters of an ellipse,
the diameter and height of a column, or the base and eler*.
896 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
tion of a building. In some of these we discover beauty ;
in others deformity. A building with no other beauty
than that of proportion is frequently decidedly agreeable.
It requires the highest skill in an artist to determine before-
hand the proportions that shall please all men in all ages.
In this respect the taste of the Greeks was preeminent
The canons which they established for the proportions of
tlie several parts of a temple have never been improved.
It has been found that no material departure can be mado
from them without producing deformity.
Uniformity J or perfect similarity of corresponding parts,
is another source of beauty. We admire a tree, of which
the opposite branches are equal, and project at the same
angle from the trunk. A building with equal wings on
the opposite sides is frequently beautiful ; but if the wings
be of different magnitudes, or dissimilar construction, it is
considered a deformity. The limbs on the opposite sides of
the body, the features on the opposite sides of the face, are
uniform ; when it is otherwise, we are pained by what seems
a monstrosity.
But, while uniformity is pleasing, it is necessary to observe
that its opposite, variety^ is equally pleasing. In objects
designed to accomplish the same purpose we expect uni-
formity ; but when the design is diflFerent, or even suscep-
tible of modification, we are delighted with variety. We
love to see the opposite branches of the same tree uniform ;
but we also love to see the different trees of a forest or a
park marked by every possible variety. We are pleased
when the windows of a house, in the same story and in the
same line, are uniform ; but we are also pleased to see the
windows of different stories dissimilar. . If two rows of
columns are placed one above the other, in the front of a
building, it would be monstrous to see different orders of
OBJECTS OF TASTB. g/f
architecture occupying the same line ; but wo are plciukxl
when the upper row is of a different order from the lower.
Magnitude has an important influence on all our wsibetic
ideas. Vastness is a quality which addresses strongly the
sensibility of taste. Every one has felt the emotion of .sul>.
liniity when travelling through a mountuinous country.
Hence a region like Switzerland becomes a favorite resort
for the lovers of nature from every part of the civilized
world. The ocean is at all times a most impressive object,
especially when lashed into tempest. Here vastness in
magnitude combines with resistless force to create the
strongest emotion of sublimity. On the other hand, small-
ness, if combined with regularity, may be eminently beau-
tiful ; but, without regularityj littleness awakens no emotion.
An overhanorino^ cliff is sublime ; a fraf];ment broken off
DO I o
from it is indifferent : but a delicately-formed crystal found
in that fragment may be remarkably beautiful. The temple
of Minerva, or Lincoln cathedral, impresses us with awe,
and awakens the emotion of sublimity ; but an accurate
model of either, of a few inches in magnitude, would bo
exceedingly beautiful. A cascade in a brook is beautiful ;
but the cataract of Niagara is inexpressibly sublime.
Such are some of the facts relating to beauty of form
It is proper, however, to remark that they are only geneml,
not universal ; that is, we frequently observe beauty which
seems at variance with the most commonly observeil laws.
We can never say that, because a particular form or pro-
portion is beautiful, therefore, in different circumstances, a
form directly the reverse milt be disagreeable. Ournotiona
on these subjects are frequently modified by association.
But where no association exists, we observe contradictions
which can be harmonized by no laws with which I am ac-
quainted. A remarkable instance of this occurs m the
wonderful beauty of the Grecian temple and the Gothic
34
398 li^TELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
cathedral, of which the canons are precisely the reverse of
each other. In deciding upon any form of be/iuty, our
appeal must, therefore, be to the sensitiveness of our com-
mon nature. The taste of mankind is here ultimate, and
seems frequently to set all our laws at defiance.
Motion as a source of beauty.
Motion is in itself pleasing. A ship under Bail is vastly
nuDre beautiful than a ship lying at anchor or at the wharf
But motion is of various kinds, each exhibiting some
peculiar form of beauty.
Motion may be either quick or slow. Though both aiw
agreeable objects to the taste, slow motion tends more to the
beautiful, and swift to the sublime. The slow sailing of a
hawk is beautiful ; when pouncing upon his prey, the motion
tends to the sublime. The gentle flow of a river is beau
tiful ; when it falls over a precipice it is sublime.
In general, it may be remarked, that no motion is beau-
tiful which betokens toil or violent effort. The nearer it
approaches to utter unconsciousness of exertion, other things
being equal, the more beautiful it becomes. Every one
must have observed the aesthetic difference between the toil-
some gait of a rhinoceros, or an elephant, and the elastic
bounding of a deer. The motion of a vessel under sail,
for this reason, is, I think, more beautiful than of one pro-
pelled by steam.
Motion in curves is more beautiful than that in straight
lines, both because of the greater beauty of the curved line,
and because curvilinear motion indicates less effort. For
these reasons, the motion of a nsh in the water has always
seemed to me remarkably beautiful. The waving of a field
of grain, presenting an endless succession of curved lines,
advancing and receding with gentle motion, uniform in the
midst of endless variety, has always seemed to me one of
the most beautiful objects in nature. On the contrary,
OBJECTS OF TASTE. 899
jolting and angular motion always displeases us. How dif.
ferent is the effect produced by the motion of one man od
crutches, aid of another on skates !
Ascending motion is more graceful than descending, if it
do not betoken effort. The ascent of a rocket is more l)cau-
tiful than its descent, especially if it ascend in a curved line.
For this reason a jet d'eau is vastly more beautiful than a
waterfall of the same volume. Ascending motion in spiral
lines is exceedingly beautiful, as for instance, the ascent of
a hawk, as it moves slowly upw^ard, in oft-repeated circles.
It is manifest that many objects derive their pow<fr to
please us from a single one of these qualities. Thus, the
evening cloud displays rarely any other beauty than that of
color. Others combine several of them, conducing to the
same result. Thus the rainbow unites beauty of color with
beauty of form. The greater the number and the more intense
the degree in which any object unites these several qualities,
the more impressive does it become, and the more Huiver-
sally is it selected by pcets and artists for lesthetic effect
Thus the human form, especially the countenance, combin-
ing beauty of color, form, motion, and expression, is always
considered the most remarkable object in nature, and is
selected by painters and sculptors, as the finest subject on
which their art can be employed.
Objects of taste addressed to the car, or beauty nf
sound.
That sound is a source of beauty, independently, and
especially in combination with other objects, will be readily
granted by every lover of nature. How greatly is the effect
of a summer's landscape increased by the singing of birds !
Sounds differ in their degree of loudness.
Loudness awakens the emotion r,f sublimity, as m lh«
instance of a peal of thunder or the roar of a c.»tanu-L
Soothing sounds, as the singing of birds, the hum of bce^
400 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
the rustling of the trees of a forest, add greatly to the
effect of a summer's landscape. Low, continuous sound
tends to repose, and harmonizes with all our ideas of the
peace and quietness of a country life. These circumstances
are beautifully combined by Virgil, in describing the peace
of Italy, in contrast with the civil wars by which it had
been so lately devastated :
*' Sepes
Hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti,
Saepe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro
Hinc, alta sub rupe, canit frondator ad auras.
Nee tamen interea, raucae, tua cura, palumbes,
Nee gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab ulmo."
1 Bucolic.
So Shakspeare, alluding to the power of gentle sounds
" That strain again ; it had a dying fall.
0, it eame o 'er my ear like the sweet south
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor."
Twelfth Night, Act 1, Seene 1.
But, while loudness of sound awakens the emotion of sub-
limity, it must not be supposed that its opposite, absolute
silence, is unimpressive. Deep silence is frequently emi-
nently sublime, especially when it occurs in the intermission
of the roar of the tempest, or in preparation for the awful
catastrophe of a battle. Campbell, in his ^'Battle of the
Baltic," illustrates this fact in these remarkable lines:
As they drifted on their path,
There was silence deep as death,
And the boldest held his breath
For a time.
* Hearts of oak ! ' our captain cried, and each gaii«
From its adamantine lips.
OBJECTS OF TASTE. 401
Spread a death-shade round thj ships.
Like the hurricane eclipse
Of the sun.*'
The late Dr. Jeffries, of Boston, in the narrati\o of hifl
passage across the English Channel with Montgolfier, in a
balloon, has the following striking remark :
''Amidst all the magnificent scenes around mo and under
me, nothing at the time more impressed me with ita novelty
than (if I may be allowed to use the expression) the aw-
ful stillness or silence in which we seemed to be enveloped,
which produced a sensation that I am unable to describe,
but which seemed at the time to be a certain kind of stillness
(if I may so express it) that could be felt." — Narrative
of Two Aerial Voyages, page 52.
Sound may be either lengthened or abrupt. Continuous
sound is grave ; abrupt sound is exciting. We all have ob-
served the difference between the long, reechoed bellowing^
of distant thunder, and the sudden rattling reverberation
of thunder near at hand. Music with few or distant inter-
vals harmonizes with a melancholy train of thought. Mu-
sic with rapid and frequent intervals is cheering and ani-
mating. Every one knows the different effects of a dirge
and a quick-step, or of the same air played in cj lick and in
slow time.
The effect of music on our emotions is thus admirably
iesciibed by Cowper :
•* There is in souls a sympathy with sounds.
And as the mmd is pitched, tlie ear is pleased
With melting airs or martial, briak or grave.
Some chord in unison with what we hear
Is touched within us, and the heart replies.
How soft the music of yon village bells.
Rolling at intervals upon the car
In cadence sweet ! now dying all away.
Now pealing loud again, and louder still,
34*
402 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
Clear and sonorous as the gale comes on
With easy force it opens all the cells
Where memory slept."
Task, Book 6.
I have thus far spoj:en of sounds which produce an
aesthetic effect upon us by themselves. It is, however,
probable that sounds depend more upon association for their
effect, than either color or form. The effect of music is
greatly increased by uniting it with appropriate words. The
most common air, if associated with the remembrance of
home and country and friends, beconies deeply affecting. I
have heard the Swiss herdsman's song, and it seemed to me
dull and monotonous, without any power of appeal to the
heart. Yet it is said to effect these mountaineers, when in
a foreign land, even to weeping ; so that the playing of it is
forbidden in the armies with which they are in service.
It is on this account that common sounds, nay, sounds in
themselves displeasing, become, under peculiar circum-
stances, delightful. There is nothing intrinsically pleasing
in the lowing of cattle ; when heard close at hand, it is dis-
agreeable. Yet I have heard seamen speak with deep feel-
ing of the delight with which they listened to these sounds,
when, after a long voyage, they first heard them from their
native shore. In a word, anything pleases us which recalls
deeply-affecting reminiscences ; and music possesses this
power in a remarkable degree. Cowper expresses this truth
^ith exquisite taste in the following passage :
** Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds
Exhilarate the spirit, and restore
The tone of languid nature. Mighty winds,
That sweep the skirt of some far-spreading wood
Of ancient growth, make music not unlike
The dash of ocean on his winding shore.
Ten thousand warblers cheer the iay, and one
OBJECTS OF TASTE. 405
The livelong night. Nor these uh)no, whom not«
Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain,
But cawing rooks, and Ivites, that soar sublime
In still repeated circles, scrwiming loud,
The jay, the pie, and e'en the boiling owl.
That hails the rising morn, have charu.H for mo.
Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and hanh.
Yet heard in scenes where peace forever reigm.
And only therc^ please highly, fur her sahe,**
Task, Hook 1.
SECTION III — OBJECTS OF TASTE. IiMMATERIAL QUAL-
ITIES.
There can be no doubt that we discover in the- cre:ition
around us much that is beautiful which ca/uiot be referred
to any material quality. There are various attributes of
human beings which do not discover themselves to the
Senses. There are various affections of our spiritual nature
which we are able to contemplate distinctly by thenisclvcri.
These affections are capable of producing in us the emotion
of beauty and sublimity, or of deformity and meanness. A
brief consideration of some of these is neces.sary to the
completion of the plan which we have proposed.
The order in which these emotions arise is probably the
followino-. We first become conscious of the emotion of
o
bBauty from the contemplation of material objects. Color*
and sounds first delight us ; then form and motion. But,
as our minds assume a subjective tendency, we think of
the actions, the motives, the governing principles, and char-
acters of men. We find that some of these awaken in us
an emotion exceedingly analogous to that of which we were
conscious when we observed the beautiful and sublime in
external nature. We give to both clas^ses of emotion the
same name, and designate the objects which awaken them
404 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
by the same epithet. Thus, we speak of a beautiful flowet;
and of a beautiful sentiment, of a sublime scene and a sub-
lime action, employing the same term to designate the aes-
thetic quality in the object, whether it be materistl or imma-
terial.
It may, however, be well to observe, in passing, that the
amotion of taste, when we contemplate a moral action, is
different from the moral emotion. In the latter case, we
look upon it as right or wrong ; as fulfilling or violating
obligation ; as a matter for moral approbation or disappro-
bation, and as involving consequences greater than we can
adequately conceive. In this case, we merely contemplate
its aesthetic quality, as something which excites within us
the emotion of the beautiful or sublime, without any consid-
eration of its merit or demerit, or any view of its conse-
quences either here or hereafter. Hence it is that there are
many more admirers of goodness than good men. A pro-
fane and impious poet may discourse eloquently on the
character of a holy God, as Rousseau paid a striking tribute
to the moral sublimity of the death of the Redeemer.
I proceed to mention a few examples of immaterial qual-
ities which seem to possess remarkable aesthetic power.
Unusual power of intellect, successfully displayed, pre-
sents an object singularly pleasing to the taste. Newton, in
his study, arriving at the result of his labors, and over-
whelmed with the consciousness that he had revealed to
mankind the mechanism of the universe ; Milton, in pov-
erty and blindness, working out his immortal epic ; Gibbon,
seated on the ruins of the Coliseum, resolving to develop
the cause of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, —
are illustrations of this form of sublimity.
High intelligence, leading to important and self-reliant
action, presents a still more impressive object of the spirit-
ually sublime. A general, on the eve of a great battle,
IMMATERIAL OBJECTS 0. TASTE. 406
prepared for a contest on which vast issues dcpoiid, aa Na-
poleon at the battle of the Pyramids ; Columbus medilaling
the disco vt-ry of America, and fully resolved to Oevote h'\»
life to the search for an unknown world; Clarkson rcsolv-
ing to lay aside every other object, and live thereafter only
for the abolition of the African slave-trade,— may all U
cited as instances of this kind.
The social and domestic afiections, when conspicuously
displayed, furnish many illustrations of beauty and sui)lim-
ity. The aflFection of the parent for his prodigjil son, in
the inimitable parable of our Lord ; the Roman daughter
nourishing from her own breast her father who wa^j
condemned to die by starvation ; the lament of David over
Saul and Jonathan, and his bitter wailing over his son Ab-
salom; the parting of Paul from the elders at Miletus, —
are all illustrations of the power of affection to create the
emotion of the beautiful, and they have been fre<juently
used for this purpose by poets and artists.
Still more impressive are the exhibitions of high moral
excellence.
The noble bearing of the three Hebrews, when threatened
with instant death unless they would worship the golden
image of the king of Babylon, is a fine illustration of tho
morally sublime. ^'0, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not care-
ful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us, and he will deliver u»
out of thy hand, 0 king ! But if not, be it known unto
thee, 0, king, that we will not serve thy Gods, nor wor-
ship the golden image which thou hast set up.''
The description by Hwace of a man of steadfast purpoM
ani incorruptible integrity, has for ages called forth Om
admiration of scholars :
•• Justum et tenacem propositi virum
Non civium ardor prava jubentiam.
406 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
Non vultus instantis tyranni,
Mente quatit solida, neque Auster,
Dux inquieti turbidus Hadrise,
Nee fulminantis magna manus Jovis.
Si fractus illabatur orbis,
Impavidum ferient ruinse."
Lib. 3. Carmen 3. 1^8.
An act of supposed patriotism is thus celebrated by
AJcensiie :
" Look then abroad through nature, to the range
Of suns and stars and adamantine spheres,
Wheeling unshaken through the void immense.
And speak, 0 man ! does this capacious scene
With half that kindred majesty dilate.
Thy strong conception, as when Brutus rose
Refulgent from the stroke of Caesar's fate.
Amid the crowd of patriots, and his arm
Aloft extending, like Eternal Jove
When guilt brings down the thunder, called aloud
On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel.
And bade the father of his country hail !
For lo ! the tyrant prostrate in the dust.
And Rome is free again."
1 adduce this passage without any sympathy with its
ethical sentiments, and merely as an example of the power
of supposed patriotism to awaken emotion. It is a con-
spicuous instance of the power of love of country to
ennoble, for the moment, assassination itself How different
is the type of moral sublimity revealed to us in the New
Testament ! For example, I need only refer to the dying
prayer of Jesus, '^Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do ! '' The reply of our Lord to the soldier who
3mote him has always seemed to me eminently sublime :
''If I have done evil, bear witness of the evil; but if
well, why smitest thou me ? "
The effect produced upon us either by material qualitiea
or immaterial energies is greatly increased by contrast. A
large object seems larger, and a small object smaller, when
IMMATERIAL OBJECTS OF TASTE. 407
placed in juxtaposition. A beautiful form appears in>r6
beautiful by contrast with deformity. Lofty d is in tr rest xl-
ness is more sublime when opposed to meanness, and })ra>vTy
when contrasted with pusillanimity. Of this principle ar-
tists of every profession, wherever it is possible, avail them-
selves. We thus see youth and old age introduced into llic
same group, in an historical painting, wildness and cultiva-
tion into the same landscape. So, in romance and tragoJjr,
characters of the most opposite elements are brought into
contact, to deepen the impression produced by both. TLus,
Brutus and Cassius, Othello and lago, Duncan and Macbc th,
add greatly to the impression of each other. Instances of
the same kind may be given without number.
It is universally observed that the external indicationf of
the benevolent affections, or of those which we recognia 3 aa
beautiful, are themselves beautiful ; while those which in-
dicate the malevolent affections are displeasing. Hence, wo
frequently meet a person whose countenance, without a single
beautiful feature, is remarkably agreeable, simply by reason
of the expression. In other cases, when the features them-
selves are beautiful, they fail to impress us favorably, be-
cause they are disfigured by the indications of meanness.
selfishness, passion, or treachery. Hence it is that mcml
and intellectual cultivation have so powerful an effect in im-
proving the human countenance. It is only when the ma-
terial and spiritual elements are united, that we observe the"
highest style of human beauty. We can thus readily dis-
tinguish the works of a first-rate artist. A sculptor or a
painter may be able to delineate a form of faultless prc|X)r-
tions, and yet only attain to mediocrity in his profeaelon.
He who to skill in delineation adds the power of exprcaning
the indications of intellectual and moral clianirter, i,^ alono
destined to the immortality which the arts of design can
confer. It is one thing to copy a model, and is a very dif
408 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
ferent thing to form a conception of character, and, then, tc
represent it in marble, or on canvas, so that we reproduce tho
same conception in the mind of every beholder.
Some of the innocent and painful emotions, as sorrow,
grief, regret, disappointment, may be agreeable objects of
taste, in their external manifestations. Here, however, a
cautious line of discrimination must be observed. As soon
as emotions become intense, they cease to be pleasant to the
beholder. Thus, the external indication of sadness may
render a beautiful countenance more attractive ; but the
distortion produced by convulsive grief is unpleasant.
Hence, he who is overwhelmed by calamity, and is obliged
to give utterance to his emotion in sobs and weeping, covers
his face, or retires from the view of others. The same re-
mark, in fact, applies to all the emotions. A smile may be
pleasing in an historical picture, but a broad grin, or wide-
mouthed laughter, would be intolerable. In reference to
this subject. Dr. Moore, in his ^' View of Society and Man-
ners in Italy," objects to the conception of the celebrated
group of Laocoon. He affirms that the physical agony
expressed in the contortion of the features and limbs of the
parent and children, as they writhe within the folds of the
serpents, is too intense to be contemplated without positive
pain, and that, therefore, the effect of the group is distress-
ing and, of course, unpleasant. The artist has exhibited
his conception with admirable skill ; the fault is in the con-
ception itself
SECTION IV — THE EMOTION OF TASTE; OR TASTE CON-
SIDERED SUBJECTIVELY.^
The emotion of taste, or that state of mind of which we
are conscious when we contemplate any object of unusual
TAgTE CONSIDERED Srii.I i:rTl\ ELY. 4iit.
•esthetic power, is exceedingly simple. Every one knowi
what it is, yet it is impossible to analyze, and difficult to do-
scribe it. It is not connected by necessity wixh any result.
Sometimes we may desire to possess the object, as, for in-
stance, a picture that pleases us ; but this desire is by no
means universal. Who ever desired to own the falls of
Niagara ? Nor does the possession of a beautiful object in-
crease the pleasure whicb it gives us. The traveller through
a beautiful country enjoys the scenery around him just as
much as if it were his own.
The emotion of gratified taste is eminently pleasing. To
be assured of this, we need only observe the sacrifices which
men undergo to obtain it. We travel hundreds of miles, at
great personal inconvenience, and are satisfied if at the
end, we can look upon a magnificent cataract, or spend a
few days amid scenes of picturesque beauty. What rail-
lions have been attracted to Italy to survey the creations of
art which adorn the crumbling tomb of that '^ lone mother
of dead empires ! " And, if we look upon the world around
us, we shall be surprised at the vastness of the expense in-
curred in the gratification of taste. We do not spend much
on mere specimens of art, but when anything is demanded
by utility, we are willing to treble the cost, if it also gratifies
our love for the beautiful.
The emotion of taste, like the objects which excito it,
is of a twofold character — that produced by the beautiful,
and that by the sublime. The distinction easily unfoldii
itself to our consciousness. Every one knows that the
emotion produced by a parterre of flowers, a jet d'cau, in un-
like that produced by the sight of the ocean in a storm, a
magnificent mountain, the Parthenon of Athens, or the
pyramids of Egypt. Both are emotions of Uistc. liolh
are eminently sources of pleasure. The character of the
one may, however, be readily distinguished from the other.
35
410 INTELLECTIJAL PHILOSOPHY. ,
No sharp line of discriminatk)n can. however, be drawL
between the classes of objects which give ri.se to these dif-
ferent emotions. In many cases, they insensibly blend with
each other. A river at its commencement, and for a por-
tion of its course, is simply beautiful. When it pours itself
into the ocean, like the Mississippi or Amazon, it becomes
an object of sublimity. It may be, however, impossil)le tc
designate the point at which one quality ends, and the other
begins. The same is true of immaterial qualities. An act
of kindness, compassion, or gratitude, is generally beauti-
ful, while a conspicuous act of justice is sublime. These,
however, may be reversed. A trifling or graceful act of
justice may be beautiful : an act of godlike compassion, as
the death on the cross, is passing sublime.
We may observe a diiference in the character of these
emotions, and in the sentiments with which they harmonize
The emotion of beauty is calm, moderately exhilarating, at-
tractive, and harmonizes with all the bland and social affec-
tions, whether grave or gay. The emotion of the sublime
is exciting, engrossing, filling the mind with awe, some-
times with terror, and associating with grave resolves and
momentous and soul-stirring action. Thus ornament may
increase the hilarity of a ball-room, or it may add deeper
impressiveness to the sadness of the tomb. The sublime
may add intensity to the emotion which impels us to heroic
achievement, or, overpowering all our faculties, may over-
whelm us with sudden amazement.
The emotion of taste is commonly transient. Its object
being to give us pleasure, the impression which it creates is
easily effaced by collision with the sterner realities of life.
It is, in its nature, evanescent. An object that pleases us
to-day, will affect us less powerfully to-morrow, and, if it be
continually in our presence, will soon cease to affect us at
nil. Personsf living in the vicinity of he most magnificent
TASTE CONSIDERED SUBJECTIVKLY. 411
sceiiCiy, view it without emoiion. Frum ilus tiu't, llu- .n-
tist finds it necessary to employ every nieuiis in his powci
to deepen the impression which he designs to creato. The
manner in which this is done must depend upon the mcjuui
at his disposal. The painter, in his representation, ia
limited to a single moment of time. In forming his con-
ception, he must, therefore, arrange every circumstance of
his picture, so that it shall on that instant conduce to the
principal eflect. In language, we are not thus limited, and
may accomplish our result by means of repeated impres-
sions. As, however, the mind aflFected by one object would
be less affected by another precisely similar, it U'comea
necessary to arrange every circumstance climactically, so
that the emotion first excited may be rendered at every step
more intense. The effect of such an arrangement is beau-
tifully illustrated by Shakspeare in the following passage :
" Knew ye not Pompey ? Many a time and oft
Have ye climbed up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea to window tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The livelong day, in patient expectation.
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome.
And when you saw his chariot but appear.
Have you not made an universal shout.
That Tiber trembled underneath his banks.
To hear the replication of your sounds
Made in his concave shores ? "
Juuus CiESAB, Act 1, Scene 1.
For the same reason novelty adds greatly to the power
of an esthetic conception. The most beautiful object bj
repetition becomes incapable of moving us. Hence we aro
specially gratified Avith a new illustration, an unex|K»ctca
resemblance or contrast, or any object, cither of beauty or
sublimity, which meets us for the first time. Hence thf
power of a mind that looks ufca a subject by iU own liglH
112 intellbjtual philosophy.
and discovers new relations that have escaped the observation
of others. Such writers, even with many defects, will al-
ways please ; while he who is content to be an imitator, may
be faultlessly correct, and inimitably proper, but he comes to
us with a thrice-told tale, and leaves us wholly unaffected.
Wit is generally mentioned as one of the objects by which
the emotion of taste is excited. It seems to me but partially
connected with the subject, and therefore cannot here, claim
any separate discussion. In the place of any analysis of
its nature and effects, I shall merely quote the following
passage from Dr. Barrow as the best description of wit and
its modes of affecting us with which I am acquainted.
'' Sometimes it lieth in pat allusion to a known story, or
in seasonable application of a trivial saying, or in forging
an apposite tale : sometimes it playeth in words and phrases,
taking advantage from the ambiguity of their sense, or the
affinity of their sound : sometimes it is lodged in a sly ques-
tion, in a smart answer, in a quirkish reason, in a shrewd
intimation, in cunningly diverting or cleverly retorting an
objection : sometimes it is concealed in a bold scheme of
speech, in a tart irony, in a lusty hyperbole, in a startling
metaphor, in a plausible reconciling of contradictions, or in
acute nonsense : sometimes a scenical representation of per-
sons or things, a counterfeit speech, a mimical look ot ges-
ture passeth for it : sometimes an affected simplicity, some-
times a presumptuous bluntness, giveth it being : sometimes
it riseth from a lucky hitting upon what is strange, some-
times from a crafty wresting obvious naatter to the purpose :
often it consisteth in one knows not what, and springeth up
one knows not how. Its ways are unaccountable and inex-
plicable, being answerable to the roving^ of fancy and the
windings of language. It is, in short, a manner of speak-
ing out of the plain way, which, by a pretty and surprising
uncouthness in conceit or expression, doth affect and amus6
I
TASTE CONSIDERED SUBJECTIVELY. 413
the fancy, stirring in it some wonder, and breeding some
delight thereto. It raiseth admiration, as signifying a nimble
sagacity of apprehension, a special felicity of invention, a
vivacity of spirit and reach of wit more than vul"^ir. It
seemeth to argue a rare quickness of parts, that one can
fetch in remote conceits applicable ; a notable skill, tliat ho
can dexterously accommodate them to the purpose Ixjfore
him, together with a lively briskness of humor not apt to
dash those sportful flashes of the imagination. It also pro-
cureth delight by gratifying curiosity with its rareness or
semblance of difficulty (as monsters not for their beauty but
their rarity ; as juggling tricks, not for their use but their
abstruseness, are beheld with pleasure), by diverting the mind
from its road of serious thoughts, by instilling g^iyety and
airiness of spirit in way of emulation or complaisance ; and
by seasoning matters, otherwise distasteful or insipid, with
an unusual and thence grateful tang.'' — Sermon against
Foolish Talking and Jesting.
A few remarks on the improvement of taste may be
appropriate to the close of this chapter.
I have said above that taste is that sensibility by which
we recoojnize the beauties and deformities of nature and art,
derivmg pleasure from the one, and suifering pain from the
other. Erom this definition it is evident that the function
of taste is two-fold ; first, it discriminates between beauty
and deformity, and, secondly, it is a source of pleasure and
pain. Cultivation improves it in both these respects. It
• renders us better capable of distinguishing between beauty
and deformity in their nore delicate shades of difference;
ajid, as this power of discrimination is improved, the pleas-
ure which we derive from gratified tiiste l)ecomes more
exquisite and enduring, and the pain which we suffer from
deformity is, in a corresponding degree, increased.
When we speak of the improvement of taste, the (luestioo
35*
414 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
naturally arises. How may we know when our taste is im-
proved ] The taste of men varies greatly under different
circumstances. The taste of childhood differs from that of
youth, and that of youth from manhood. The taste of
savages in all ages is unlike that of civilized man. And
among nations that have made the greatest progress in civil-
ization and refinement, we find that there have been great
diversities in this respect. The taste of Egypt was exceed-
ingly different from that of Greece. The taste of Greece
and Rome were by no means identical. Neither of them
bore any resemblance to the taste of India. Or, if we draw
nearer to the present time, the taste of the Mahommedans
was very dissimilar to that of the Catholics of the middle
ages. And we perceive corresponding difference at the
present day. The taste in architecture of France, Ger-
many, Italy, and Great Britain, is by no means identical.
The same remarks apply to poetry and the other fine arts.
Hence the question has frequently arisen. Is there any
standard of taste ? Are there any canons to which we may
appeal when a difference of opinion exists, or by which w€
may be guided in our attempts at self-cultivation? It may
be worth while briefly to examine this question.
If by a standard of taste be meant a system of arbitrary
rules, established by reasonings or dictated by authority, to
which all the works of art must conform, and by reference
to which their merit must be decided, it is manifest that no
such standard exists. Who ever established it 7 = By what
course of reasonings were its principles demonstrated? Who
was ever competent to decide for all men, at all times ; and
to whose decisions have men ever yielded implicit submission?
It is obvious that such a standard does nof and cannot exist.
But, if, by a standard of taste, it be meant that on a great
variety of questions in aesthetics there is a general agree-
ment of mankind in all ages, and among, all nations, of the
IMPROVEMENT <»r T\<Tr. 41."^
same or of similar degrees of culiure, aiij tlint thw ngrco
ment having been observed, many general lawn may !»o
deduced from it by which the artist may be safely govei ned,
and by which we may all test the accuracy of our individual
decisions, then we must answer this (juestion in the afTirma-
tive. No one will doubt that some forms, colors, and pro-
portions, are more agreeable to mankind than others ; iluit
some positions are graceful, and others awkward ; that some
modes of thought and expression give us pleasuiv. and (jthera
give us pain. If mankind are made with similar faculties,
such must be the result. Although nations may differ widely
in their decisions at a particular time, yet intercourse with
each other and progress in civilization tend to unanimity of
opinion even on questions upon which there existed at first
great diversity. Thus, when Greece and Rome came into
contact, Greece asserted her superiority over her concjueror,
and every Roman artist and poet copied with even servile
fidelity the models which were brought from the city of Peri-
cles. It is the object of the artist to observe these general
facts, not for the purpose of giving laws to nature, but of
recording the laws .Aich nature has herself establishcil.
Just so far as these laws have been discovered, they become
the standard to which the artist must conform if he dcairca
to succeed, that is, to please humanity.
It would seem, then, that in our in(|uiries on tlii.s sub-
ject we are merely determining a question of fact. We ask
what sesthetical forms have been found universally U) plca.se
mankind, or rather that portion of mankind whose circum-
stances have been favorable to a correct decision ? When
this question has been answered, we are to receive it as an
ultimate fact. That which human nature pronounces to »«
beautiful is beautiful to man, and that which it pn)nouiicci
deformed is deformed. We may, it is true, witli lulvantagf
frequently analyze a complicated decision, it order to detar-
416 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
mine with more accuracy the particular elements on which
it is founded, and thus arrive at a simpler and more general
law. Thus, the voice of mankind has pronounced the epic
of Homer to be beautiful. This decision cannot be ques-
tioned. We may, however, examine it, to determine the
qualities on which this decision is founded. There is the
general plot, the delineation of character, the description of
events, the vivacity of dramatic action, the language and
rhythmical power, the machinery or intervention of the
gods, the quarrels of the chiefs, the catalogue of the ships,
the lists of the slain, the slaughtering of animals, and the
culinary arrangements of the chiefs. We may certainly
analyze this complex variety of elements, and determine
which is essential and which injurious to the general effect.
In this manner we are enabled to ascertain what it is that
pleases mankind, and thus form a more definite idea of the
standard of poetic excellence.
Our labor here, however, consists mainly in analysis.
We may examine separately the various elements of success
or failure, but we cannot reason from them with any decided
confidence. Because a particular form is beautiful in one
position, we cannot determine that it will please under all
circumstances. Because a particular "combination of form
is beautiful, we cannot determine what will be the effect of
an entirely opposite combination. An artist of originality
may repose a reasonable confidence in his own sensibilities,
but he can never be sure that a conception will please, until
he has submitted it to the judgment of mankind.
Writers on this subject, of distinguished ability, have con-
tended that there is no established relation between the
numan sensibility and the external world, by which we are
entitled to say that anything is in itself beautiful. They
afiirm that our idea ji beauty is merely derived from asso-
ciation. In reply to this assertion, it may be remarked that
IMPROVEMENT OF TASTE. 417
our own consciousness testifies clearly to the character of the
emotion of taste. It may clearly be distinguished from
every other emotion, and also from every act of tlie inui-'i-
nation, the reason, or any of our other faculties. It diffen
from them all in its nature, its origin, and its resulta. If,
then, it be an original and peculiar aflfection of tlie mind,
its existence need not and cannot be accounted for by a&so-
ciation. As Mr. Stewart very appositely remarks : ** Tha
theory which resolves the whole effect of the beautiful into
association, must necessarily involve that species of piiralo-
gism to which logicians have given the name of reasoning
in a circle. It is the province of association to impart to
one thing the agreeable or disagreeable effect of another ;
but association can never account for the origin of a clasd
of pleasures different in kind from all the others we know.
If there was nothing originally pleasing or beautiful, the asso-
ciating principle would have no material on which to operate."
As to the manner in which this faculty may be improved,
but little can be said in addition to what was remarked when
treating of the imagination. Both faculties are employed
upon the same objects, and the mode of cultivation is in
most respects the same. A few brief suggestions arc all that
I shall here offer.
It is universally admitted that all the forms of nature
possess some portion of aesthetic power. As we Ix^conio
familiar with these, and hold communion with nature in all
her aspects, whether grave or gay, beautiful or sublime, wo
cultivate our aesthetic sensibility, we more readily recognize
the beautiful, and rejoice in it with more exquisite emotioiLH.
We shall also derive great benefit from studying wilb
care classical productions in the various departments of the
fine arts. When an artist has been eminently successful; he
has united in one conception all the elements of the beauti-
ful within his power, excluding from it all that could difc-
418 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
tract the attention or diminish the effect. Hence, if we
comprehend his design, understand his mode of developing
it, and meditate upon his work, until we sympathize with
his sentiments and share in his enthusiasm, our taste will
become in some measure assimilated to his. He who haa
caught the inspiration of Raphael must possess already the
spiritual element of a painter ; and he who can feel the
sentiments which inspired Milton and Shakspeare, must be
endowed with some portion at least of poetic genius.
If, however, we desire to improve our taste, we must do
it not by the indiscriminate study of models, but only by
the contemplation of the most eminent. We m.ust confine
ourselves to the most faultless models if we would cultivate
our love for the beautiful. If the student would form a
classical style, and acquire a discriminating love for literary
excellence, he must limit his reading to the works of those
whom the suffrages of humanity have numbered among the
masters of thought and expression. A vast amount of mis-
cellaneous reading may enable us to abound in small knowl-
edge and flippant criticism. It is only by communion with
those whose works ^^the world will not willingly let die,"
that we learn to emulate their intellectual achievements, and
become the instructors of our fellow-men.
In studying the works of others for our own improve-
ment, one caution is however to be observed. They are the
productions of fallible men like ourselves. We are, there-
fore, to bring to the examination of every work of art, the
exercise of a calm, discriminating judgment, prepared to
distinguish beauty from deformity wherever they exist. We
must exercise our own taste, if we would cultivate our sen-
sitive nature. When we study the works of others to
awaken our own sensibilities, to correct our errors, and to
arouse ourselves to emulation, we develop our own faculties.
But, if we study only to bow before a piaster as we would
IMPROVEMK.XT (>F TASTK. 41!«
worship our Creator, we become servile copyists and tie-
graded idolatei-s. It is not impossible that our voneraliim
for the ancients has in some degree prcxluccd tliis vKi^x
upon modern literature. I have always l)cen struck with
the remark of one of the Italian masters, who, when ii work
of an earlier artist was spoken of with servile adoration,
turned away and said, ^' I too am a painter." To study
the works of others that we may be able to equal them, cul-
tivates the power of original creation. To study them only
that we may learn how to do feebly, what they have done
well, is fatal to all manly development, and must consign
an individual or an age tc the position of despairing and
wondering mediocrity.
0
p
p
i
APPENDIX.
Note to pages 101, 102.
It is stated in the text that, under certain abnormal circumgtancfi, wt
become capable of perceptions, or cognitions, without the aid of the o*gaDf
of sense. While I was lecturing on this subject, a few years since, one of
my pupils informed me of some facts, of a very decided character, in pos-
session of his brother, J. M. Brooke, Esq., of the United States Navy. At
my request he wrote to his brother, stating my wish for information. Mr.
Brooke soon after very kindly wrote to me as follows :
Washington, Oct. 27, 1851.
Sir : It affords me pleasure to comply with your request, ma<le through
my brother William, relative to some experiments perfornie<l on Umvd of
the U. S. steamer Princeton, in the latter part of the yc-ir 18^17 ; she U'ing
then on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Nathaniel Bishop, the subject of
the experiments, was a mulatto, about twenty-six years of ape, in Ko«i
health, but of an excitable disposition. The 4irst experiment was of tho
magnetic or mesmeric sleep, which overpowered him in thirty minutcH
from the commencement of passes made in the ordinary way, accompanied
with a steadfast gaze and effort of will that he shouM sleep.
In this state he was insensible to all voices but mine, unless I directed
or willed him to hear others ; he was also insensible to such amount of
pain as one might inflict without injury, that is, what would have been
pain to another. He would obey my directions to whistle, dance, or nvng.
When aroused from this sleep he had no recollection of what occurr^
while in it. That such an influence could be exert e<l I was alrt'ady aware,
having previously witnessed satisfactory experiments.^ Of clairvoyance I
had never been convinced ; indeed, considered it nothing more than a •orl
of dreaming produced by the will of the operator. I became aware of ita
truth rather through accident than design.
It happened one day that some one of ray brother officers Mkedia qu«».
tion which the others could not answer. Bishop, who had been a few
moments before in a mesmeric sleep, g?ive the desircl information, ipm*-
ing with confidence and apparent accuracy. As the information rrUt^ to
something- which it seeme<;l almost impossible to know with' r . w«
were very much surprised. It struck me that he might In .i ;
and I at once asked him to tell me the time by a watch kept m i:.' ..:.*-
Cle, on the spar or upper deck, we being on the berth w lower dtxrk. lit
answered correctly, as I found upon looking at the watch, allowing cgh*
86
422 APPENDIX.
♦
or nine seconds for time o-xupied in getting on deck. I then asked his
many questions with regard to objects at a distance, which he answered
and, as f;ir as I could ascertain, correctly.
For example, one evening, while at anchor in the port of Genoa, the
captain was on shore. I asked Bishop, in the presence of several officers,
where the captain then was. He replied^ *' At the opera with Mr. Lester,
the consul." **What does he say ? " I inquired. Bishop appeared to
listen, and in a moment replied, *' The captain tells Mr. Lester that he wag
much pleased with the port of Xavia ; that the authorities treated him
with much consideration."
Upon this, one of the officers laughed, and said that when the captain
returned he would ask him. He did so ; saying, " Captain, we have been
listening to your conversation on shore." "Very well," remarked the
captain. "What did I say ?" expecting some jest. The officer then re-
peated what the captain had said of Xavia and its authorities. ** Ah,"
said the captain, "who was at the opera? I did not see any of the
officers there." The lieutenant then explained the matter. The captain
confirmed its truth, and seemed very much surprised, as there had been
no other communication with the shore during the evening. I may
remark that we had touched at several ports between Xavia and Genoa.
On another occasion, an officer being on shore, I directed Bishop to
examine his pockets ; he made several motions with his hands, as if
actually drawing something from the officer's pockets, saying, " Here is a
handkerchief, and here a box — what a curious thing ! — full of little white
sticks with blue ends. What are they, Mr. Brooke? " I replied, " Per-
haps they are matches." "So they are!" he exclaimed. My com-
panions, expecting the officer mentioned, went on deck, and meeting him
at the gangway, asked, "What have you in your pockets?" "Noth-
ing," he replied. " But have you not a box of matches ? " "0, yes ! "
said he. " How did you know it ? I bought them just before I came on
board." The matches were peculiar, made of white wax with blue ends.
The surgeons of the Princeton ridiculed these experiments, upon which
I requested one of them ( Far quh arson), to test for himself, which he con-
sented to do. With some care he placed Bishop and myself in one corner
of the apartment, and then took a position some ten feet distant, conceal-
ing between his hands a watch, the long second-hand of which traversed
the dial. He first asked for a description of the watch. To which Bishop
replied, " 'Tis a funny watch, the second-hand jumps. "
The doctor then asked him to tell the minute and second, which he did ;
directly afterwards exclaiming, " The second-hand has stopped ! " which
was the case, Dr. F. having stopped it. " Well," said the doctor, " to
what second does it point, and to what hour ; and what minute is it now ? "
Bishop answered correctly, adding, "'Tis going again." He then told
twice in succession the minute and second.
The doctor was convinced, saying that it was contrary to reason, but
ke must believe. I then proposed that the doctor should mark time ; and
directed Bishop to look in his mother's house in Lancaster, Pa. (where he
had never been), for a clock ; he said there was one there, and told the
time by it ; one of the officers calculated the difference in time for the
longitudes of Lancaster and Genoa, and the clock was found to agree
within five minutes of ths watch time.
Several persons being still unconvinced, I proposed that the captai*
should select a letter from the files in his cabin and put it on the cabin
table: and that Bishop should read it withcut leaving an apartment on
APPKXDIZ. 42^
the cieck below the cabin, and some distance forwanl of it. Upon thi* tM
captain sent for me, and telling me that all the discipline in liu- -• r '.,-•
would be destroyed, ordered me to discontinue the pru-ticc.
retained his power of clairvoyance, I often amuse*! iiiyjM'lf in <<
10 the United States, and, although I cannot assert that he tU«
truth, I believe that in many insUinces he did so, as I ha\r ar-
sons when relating to them for confirmation sucli cxperiinMit-* m cKiir-
Yoyance as concerned actions unknown, as they supposed, to any one bat
themselves.
As it was in my power to control Bishop in his wanderinp*, I U!«uallj
limited his powers of observation, and meddled only so far in the aflairt
of my neighbors as might be honorable.
The power which I acquireil by putting him to sleep remained af\cr kt
woke, and was increased by its exercise. If not exerte<i for scveml dayi
it decreased, sometimes rendering it necessary to repeat the passej* aivl
again put him to sleep. While awake and under my influence, I m'.u\9
many experiments, such as arresting his arm when raisinj; f«K»d to hi*
mouth, or fixing him motionless in the attitude of drinkinj^. On »tne
occasion I willed that he should continue pouring tea into a cuj> ftlre:wHy
fall, which he did, notwithstanding the exclamations of those who were
scalded in the operation. Tliese influences were exerte<I witliout ri word
or change of position on my part. He remembered or forgot what he f^rM
when clairvoyant, as I willed, of which I satisfied myself by experiment.
All his senses were under control, so completely, indeed, that had )
willed him to stop breathing I believe that he would. You may wish er
know something more with regard to my experience ; if so, I shall bi
happy to inform you. I am, sir, respectfully.
Your obedient servant,
J. M. Brookk.
Db. Watland,
Providence, R. I.
Note to page 115.
When treating on the subject of consciousness, 1 have referred tc thi
feet of double consciousness, and alluded to two or three cases which hatf
been published. Within a few days, a case has been brought to my notiof
by my former pupil, S. P. Bates, Esq., of Mejidville. Penn.. which ha*
eeemed to me more remarkable than any that I have met with chwwhero
Mr. Bates, at my request, procured me a narrative, written by the ^aticnl
herself. I give it in her own words, omitting only such paasages %» mid
nothin- to the intrinsic value of the rektion. The extracU w from •
letter addressed to her nephew. Rev. John V. Reynolds :
My de.4^ Nephew : I will now endeavor to pive you a >-;.f .. .n«nt .f
myself. When at the age of eighteen or twenty. I w:us .^.
with fits. In the spring of 1^11,1 had a very .evon> om-.
greatly convulsed, and I was extremely ill 'or .si'veral i^y». -M
hearing were totally lost, and, durmg twelve woc.k.^^^^^
fit mentioned, I continued in a very feeble PUte. But. at ■ U . .
t24 APPENDIX.
Kreeks, the senses cf sight aad hearing were again restored. But a mere
remarkable visitation of Providence awaited i^e. A little before the ex-
piration of the twelve weeks, one morning, when I awoke, I had lost all
recollection of everything. My understanding with an imperfect knowl
edge of speech remained ; but my father, mother, brothers and sisters,
and the neighbors, were altogether strangers to me. I had no disposition
to converse either with my friends or with strangers. I had forgotten the
use of written language, and did not know a single letter of the alphabet ,
aor how to discharge the duties of my domestic employment, more than a
new-born babe. I presently, however, began to learn various kinds of
knowledge.
I continued five weeks in this way, when I suddenly passed from this
second state (as, for distinction, it may be called) , into my first state.
All consciousness of the five weeks just elapsed was totally gone, and my
original consciousness was fully restored. My kindred and friends were
at once recognized. Every kind of knowledge which I had ever acquired
was as much at my command as at any former period of my life ; but of
the time, and of all events, which had transpired during my second state,
I had not the most distant idea. For three weeks I continued in my first
state. But in my sleep the transition was renewed, and I awoke in my
second state. As before, so now, all knowledge acquired in my first
state was forgotten, and of the circumstances of the three weeks' lucid
interval, I had no conception. Of the small fund of knowledge I had
gained in my former second state I was able to avail myself, and I con-
tinued from day to day to add to this little treasure.
From the spring of 1811, till within eight or ten years ago, I continued
frequently changing from my first to second, and from my second to first
state. More than three quarters of the time I was in the second state.
There never was any periodical regularity as to the transitions. Some-
times I continued several months, and sometimes a few weeks, a few days, *
or only a few hours, in my second state ; but in the lapse of five years I,
in no one instance, continued more than twenty days in my first state.
Whatever knowledge I acquired at any time in my second state became
familiar to me when in that state, and I made such proficiency, that I soon
became as well acquainted with things, and was in general as intelligent
in my second as in my first state. I went through the usual process of
learning to write, and took as much satisfaction in the use of books as in
my first state. Your father undertook to reteach me chirography. He
gave me my name, which he had written, to copy. I took my pen, though
in a very awkward manner, and actually began from the right to the left
in the Hebrew mode. It was not long before I obtained tolerable skill in
penmanship, and often amused myself in writing poetry. I acquired all
kinds of knowledge in my second state, with much greater facility than a
person who had never been instructed.
In my second state I was introduced to many persons whom I always
recognized in that state (and no one enjoyed the society of friends better
than I did) , but if ever so well known to me, in my first state, I had no
knowledge of them in the second, until an acquaintance had been again
formed. In like manner all acquaintances formed in -the second state,
must be formed in the first in order to be known in that.
These transitions always took place in my sleep. In passing from my
second to my first state, nothing was particularly noticeable in my sleep.
But in passing from my first to second state, my sleep was so profound
that no one could awaken me, and it not unfrequently continued eighteoi
APPENDIX. 425
or twenty hours. had generally some presentiment Df the clinn-r f„t
several days before the event.
My sufferings, in the near prospect of the transition fn.m ritli.-r thr . t.oof
th« other state, were extreme, particularly from thcfirj^t to thr ^. , ,, | -t.iti:
When about to undergo the change I was harassed witli fc.-ir U-^t I j,h.»uKl
never revert so as to know again in this world those wlio woro dciir to nu
My feelings in this respect were not unlike those of one wlio wa.H nUul to
be separated by death, though, in the second sbite, I did not anticij»ato the
change with such distressing apprehensions as in the first. I wiw njitu-
rally cheerful, but more so in this than in my natural state. I believe I
felt perfectly free from trouble when in my second state, and, for iwuie
time after I had been in that state, my feelings were such that, had all mj
friends been lying dead around me, I do not think it would have given me
one moment's pain of mind. At that time my feelings were never moved
with the manifestation of joy or sorrow. I had no idea of tlie p^ust or the
future. Nothing but the present occupied my mind. In the first HtuRo
of the disease, I had no idea of employing my time in anytlun;; that waa
useful. L did nothing but ramble about, and never tire<I walking aboul
the fields. My mother, one day, thought she would try to rouse me a
little. She told me that Paul says those who would not work, must not
eat. I told her it made no matter of difference to me what Paul said, I
was not going to work for Paul or any other person. I did not know whc
Paul was then. I had no knowledge of the Bible at that time.
As an evidence of my ignorance of any kind of danger in that early
period, before I had attained any information of right or wrong, danger
or safety, as I was, one afternoon, walking a short distance from the houi«,
I discovered, as I thought, a beautiful creature. Insensible of danger, I
ran to it, and, in attempting to take hold of it, it eluded my gnisp by
running under a pile of logs. It was a rattlesnake. I had my hand upon
the rattle ; but fortunately my foot slipped and I fell back. I heard it '
rattle, and was still very unwilling to go home without it. I put my arm
a considerable distance under the log where the snake had crept.
It may be remarked that whenever I changed into my natural state, I
always feit very much debilitated. When in my second state I had no
inclination for either food or sleep. My strength at such times was en-
tirely artificial. I generally bad a flush in one cheek, and continual
thirst, which denoted inward fever.
When I was last down at home I was reading some letters which I had
received from dear friends with whom I had corresponded! previous to
these changes, and who had been the companions of my younger *]aj^
but their images are now entirely erased from my memory. It would be
a source of gratification to me if I were in possession of my former recol-
lection.
**♦♦*•
In the early period of my disease I used to talk in my m.vj.. /ind t^'U
my plans. Sometimes my friends would overhear me, which wo.iM .• lu-o
them to watch my movements, and by that means I huvc Nru w%m
many unpleasant trips in my sleep. ^1^^^' l"-Tf>^LDa.
Note 1. Miss Reynolds could pronounce a word after any o?4'. bat
could at first make no use of it herself. i . 4^ w^ —
Note 2. The hand-writing of Miss Reynolds m her secon.l nUle w»j ii
aifterent from her hand-writing in the firet as that of two mdivi-iuiiUi
426 APPENDIX.
Note 3. At about forty years of age these changes ceased, and she lived
on to the end of life in her second state. She would, of course, have nc
remembrance of her life previous to these changes. During the last part
of her life Miss Reynolds taught school, and proved a very successfa
teacher.
In addition to the above Mr. Bates has obligingly procured for me the
following memoranda from Rev. Mr. Reynolds :
Miss Reynolds was about forty years of age when these transitions
ceased. Until the time of her death, at the age of sixty-nine, she con-
tinued in what she terms her second state. Hence, all the early part of
her life was a complete blank. Her entire disregard of danger gradually
disappeared, until there was, in this respect, nothing remarkable. Her
two states were never in any measure blended.
One circumstance alluded to by Miss R. is thus stated more particularly
by her nephew. " It was her habit, immediately after going to sleep, — and
she usually dropped asleep very soon after retiring, — to begin to recount
aloud the duties and incidents of the preceding day. She would go through
all that she had done during the day, in the exact order in which it had
occurred. She would frequently stop and comment upon things that had
occurred, and would laugh heartily when she came to anything thai
pleased her.
" After going through with the duties and incidents of the preceding
day, she would then lay her plans for the day to come. When the day
came, she would begin and perform everything as she had planned. It
seems that she was not aware of having formed any previous plan of
action, as she frequently used to wonder how her friends could divine
what she was going to do during the day, as she found that they evidently
*could do. This habit was of much service to her friends, as it enabled
them to foresee and prevent her from doing many acts of mischief. This
\iabit continued for more than a year."
Miss Reynolds, as I have mentioned, continued for nearly thirty yea'rs
of her life in the second state. " She, however, ceased to manifest any of
those symptoms bordering on insanity which she exhibited during its first
periods. She taught school for several years, united with the church, was
a consistent Christian, and performed all the duties of life in a way which
exhibited nothing else than a perfectly rational state. No person would
have discovered anything unusual in h«r manners and conversation.
There ivas, perhaps, always ratl^er an excessive measure of nervous excita
bility, that is, an excess above the average."
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old way of thinking was somewhat in that style— bat because we see now how ihr -;>lril
of unselfi.-^h consecration to the happiness of others runs through both, and m:ik.- .-Mn
*parts of one harmonious whole.' Her 'Life and Letters' are worthy of nn l:ii.;i -n'^
sale, and will have it. How 'a digger among Greek roots' could write such » ir««k
sppreciative, glowing memoir of 'a sensitive child of genius and soni;.' pMftfs our com-
Crehension; and we can not forbear the remark, that Mr.-*. .ruds<»n does not ris*- mofy»
1 our esteem as a Christian woman, than Dr. Kendrick as an author."— y^*/*!/**"** ''•^
Qld^ Richmond.
"The correspondence is particularly attractive, aweeines.% slmpllcUr ■ i-
Uess, and humor are its characteristics. The volume will raise oren the
which the public has formed of Mrs. Judsou. Tht- nearer it conduct'* u^ -
iecret feelings of her heart and most cherUhed convictions of her inind» th« iiwrc ^raiAJ
oveable, and noble she appears." — Boston Tran'icript.
"The letters of Dr. Judson throw new light up<»n his loving, genial n»lu[^. •od •ho^
w thorou;]
h«r faithfulu
iiow thori>U'"'''*^^"' ^^° '*»"*^ morrinorA wa>* rtHA (if AfTrtctioQ- und how DappT I'. pr«»ved. WW
to ner husban.L the maternal love which knew no diaeronce Deiwoen uia cm.u.ru %aA
her own, and the ever-growing beauty of her spiritual Mfo Mra. Lmliv L Jud*ca rt-t^-r^N
ft large place in the i)ublio heart."— A?i*i;y/* Joi^riMi.
Boohs Published hy Sheldon c& Co,
HISTOET OF DOCTEINES.
Bj K. R. Hagenbach, Professor of Theology in the University of Basle.
The Edinburgh translation of C. "W. Buch, revised, with large additions
from the fourth German edition, and other sources,
By Hexry B. Smith, D.D.,
Professor in the Union Theological Seminary of the City of New York.
In 2 vols., 8vo. Cloth. Price, $5 00.
" 2 " " '' " Sheep, $6 GO.
From the American Preshytenan.
"The character of the work, as the product of profound scholarship, pervaded in the
main with sound and elevated views, as candid in its statements, condensed in style, and
well fortified with pertinent citations from a wide range of authorities, is well known.
Professor Smith's services, in the revision of the work, are very great. It is based upon
the fourth German edition of the work, which appeared in 185T, and comprises all ^;he
author's improvements to that time, together with citations from other authors, and
references to the more recent German, as well as English and American literature."
From the Ilethodist.
"It is the great merit of Professor Smith, of Union Theological Seminary, New York,
to have presented the theological public with a new edition of Hagenbach, which em-
bodies all the important results of modern research. It contains all the matter of the
last (fourth) German edition of Hagenbach, copious additions from the other text-books,
and from other sources, and is especially valuable for the completeness of its biblio-
graphical references. In this department the German original is particularly deficient,
as it notices but rarely the theological literature of England and America. Neither En-
gland nor Germany has another work which, in this particular department, contains as
much information as this excellent new edition of Hagenbach."
From the Central Presbytarian.
" The history of Christian doctrine, although an important part of theological science,
has been almost necessarily neglected in this country, in consequence of the want of a
suitable text-book. The v,^ork of Hagenbach, a translation of which was published some
years since in Clark's Foreign Library, was in many respects what was needed, but the
translation was so imperfect and unreliable that it could not be safely recommended.
If Professor Smith, therefore, with his habitual thoroughness, had only revised the
translation, he would have rendered an important service to the interests of this branch
of theological learning among us. But he has done much more than this. He has not
only incorporated the improvements and additions of the fourth edition of the original,
(the Edinburgh translation was made from the first edition,) but has also made additions
from other authors on the history of doctrines, the whole of which, including the im-
portant references to the most recent German, English, and American literature, increases
the matter of the volume above one-third. Henceforth the Edinburgh translation of
Hagenbach must be regarded as altogether superseded by Professor Smith's edition."
From the Christian Observer.
"This is a valuable book for theological students. Its merits, it appears, are very
highly appreciated, both in Germany and Great Britain., having passed through four
editions in Germany, aiid three in Edinburgh. The present edition is enriched by addi-
tions from it-s predecessors, and also from other works on the subject. This neglected
branch of theological study derives importance from its intimate connection with the
history of the Church, the progress of philosophy, and the various phases of religious
faith, found in Christendom at the present time. It gives a view of the internal life of
the Church, and may render important aid in distinguishing the essential articles of the
Christian faith from various religious errors and opinions jvhich have been entertained
in every age." *
A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY,
Ey Hensleigh Wedgwood, M.A.
Annotated and enlarged by Ho:n-. George P. Maesh, linthor of " Lectures
on the English Language," etc., etc.
YoL I (A to D).now ready. Imperial 8vo, cloth, (uHCUt.) Price, $3.00.
I
I
Books Published by Sheldon dt Co.
UNIFORM WITH OLSHAUSEN'S GOMMENTauy
NEANDEFS COMMENTARIES.
THE SCRIPTURAL EXPOSITIONS OF REV. AUGUfcCUS
NEAXDER, D.D.
Translated from the GermsL by
MRS. H. C. CONANT.
COMPRISIN'O
rHE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHX, THE EPISTLE TO THE PHIL/P-
PIAXS. and THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 1 vcL 8vo., uniform wita
Olshausen's Commentary, Price $2 25.
" Neander was learned in phUosophy, and in the history of the Church, beyond any
msn of his age, perhaps of any age. Take up now his Commentary on Jol'in'g Y\rM
Epistle — the best of his works of this character with which I am acquainted. The fxcfl
''"-'?€ of this exposition is not at all owing to his marvelous learning, but to the child!ik«
i loving temper which places him in so delightful harmony of spirit with the beloved
..;:os:le." — Francis Waylan4.
*• Neandpr is best known to our readers as the Historian of the ^urch, and his Eccle-
siastical History, brought down to the period of the Reformation, has secured for him the
reputation of being one of the most profound scholars p^d thinkers of the age. Th»
eva'.cr Ileal Strauss. Lis friend and coUeagae, says of him in his funeral discourse : ' H«
did not despise human knowledge ; he sought for it with unwearied diligence ; he was a
master in it; but he laid- all the surprising treasures of his learning at the foot of the
cross.'
" While, however, Neander was an historian, he excelled also as an Expounder of the
Bible : and we have, as his dying legacy to the people of God, his exposition of the np^stle
of Paul :o the Philippians ; the General Epistle of James ; and the First Epistle General
of John. These expositiDns are not — as German Expositions usually are — W'irks of learned
criticism merely, but are popular practical Commentaries on Divine truth, rich in the
results of study, and glowing with the light and warmth of a de-^p pers«)nal experience of
the g'-^sijeL Neander, with all his accumulated stores of learning, s:it as a docile pn^ilat
. the leet of Christ, and his Christiiin humility was beautifully illustrated in the f.ict, that
when applied to for his antograph. to be placed under his engraved portrait, he pivt> it,
and appended therete the words ; * Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to
face.'" — Hartford Religions HeraM.
'• This work is exactly what it professes to be, not learned criticism, but a practical ex-
planation of the Epistle to the Philiypians, It comprises two popular lectures, which wiU
not fiil to interest any intelligent Christian who will read them with care. Cler:.rvmen
will find this work etainently suggestive of n^-w trains of thought which »aay b*; profitably
use 1 in the sacred task." — Llteran/ Advetiser.
'• The friends of religious truth will be glad t',^ see this Comrat-ntary on * r
James, foil wi :g so soon on the Philippians. Perhaps no bo^jk of the New 1 «
been mor-e misunderstood tlian this Epistle, on account of a supposed contr j
its teachings and- the 'doctrines ©f grace.' A more comprehensive ani J
exegesis, however, sees in the Epistles of James and Paul only the same sy ;i
set forth from different points of view. The work of Ntander is a most v
ance in the elucidation of this epistle. By looking at it from his owneTui::;. J
point of view, we are able to see, at a glance, how it falls beautifully into i J
•ysteni uf Christ, confirming rather than weakening the great doctrl ■••^ n
/f which the Holy Ghost seems to have intrusted to PauL The tra -1
idiomatic, and almost entirely free from the abstract and cumbrous ; -J
cftvn marks translations fr. m the German. No clergyman or Sunday-.^i'- •■ ';,"' ■ " "^
fail to feel his mind invigorated and his heart enlarged by the study of this work. ~A««t
York Beoyrder. ■ i«
" Mrs- Conant has devoted her accomplished skill as a translator, t - ' iB
read e ring into English thii charming prod'.iction of Neander. Th\
ceedi a similar one on the Episth- tu the Piulii)i'-ians ; . 1 is i*s If ' ■ *-
oVh*r on the Firs: Epistle to John— a work pnblis " - • •* ' ' ^12
no$ doubt Vnat these volumee will he desire i hv . anc» te sMAuxmam
tbea tr 4ll «aiouichtfil student? o*' thp 4iil»k-.''— Wu: . ■ lector
Books Published by Sheldon <b Co.
HISTORY OF LATIN CHKISTIANITY.
Including that of 'the Popes, to the Pontificate of Nicholas V. Bj HBir.
Haet Milman, D.D., Dean of St. Paul's.
8 vols. Crown 8vo.
Price in Cloth, cut, . . $15 00 I Price m Sheep, . . . $18 00
I " HalfMor.,gUt,. 24 00 • "
'* One of the remarkable works of the present age, and one in irhich the author reviewjs
#rta curious erudition, and in a profoundly philosophical spirit, the various chan^ces that
oftve taken place in the Eoman hierarchy ; and, while he fully exposes the manifold er-
rors and corruptions of the system, he shows throughout that enlightened charity which
Is the most precious of Christian graces, as it is unhappily the rarest." — Wm. H. Prea-
eott, in a note in the second volume of Philip II., p. SCH).
In a private letter to S. Austin Allibone, Esq., written two years later, Prescott said :
" If it seems to you high praise, I believe no one who has carefully read the extraor-
dinary work to which it refers, will consider it higher than the book deserves."
% '" Boston, October 11, 1860.
** Qentlemen: — I have great pleasure in expressing a most favorable opinion of Deaa
Milman's * History of Latin Christianity.'
" Through the kindness of the author, I have been acquainted with the work since its
flrst appearance in England. It is a work of vast research, conducted with judgment
amd discrimination among authorities of very diverse weight, and not seldom conflicting
purposes, and alwayi with a spirit of truly liberal inquiry.
" No ( ne can deny to Dean Milman the credit of Learning, Candor, and a consden ;loai
tearch after Truth. '
" The Theological Literature of the modern English Church has, as far as I am aware,
produced no more valioable wo7^k.
" 1 remain, gentlemen, with great respect, truly yours, ED WARD EVEKETT."
" St. Geoboe'8 Ekotoby, October 17, 1860.
** Messrs. Sheldon <fe Co. :
•' Oentlemen : I am exceedingly gratified vrith the appearance of your new edition of •
Milman's * Latin Christianity.' It is a work equally remarkable for the extent of its re-
search, the fullness of its material, and the eloquence and beauty of its arrangement and
ityle. Its impartiality of statement and deductions is a very distinguishing feature of ita
excellence, and it will doubtless take its place among those histories which finally ocr
oupy their whole projected ground, and remain as permanent authorities among men.
« Yours respectfuUy, STEPHEN H. TYNG."
" Union Theological Seminary,
New York, Oct 19, I860.
* Messrs. Sheldon & Co.:
** Dean Milman's * Historxy of Latin Christianity' is not only the ablest work of its dis
ttnguished author, but it also takes the front rank in English historical and ecclesiasticat
literature. Written fn a liberal and impartial spirit, it presents in an attractive styl«
the result, rather than the processes, of thorough investigation in a field almost un visited
Dy English Church historians. General and ecclesiastical history are here so combined,
that the work is indispensable to every student. Your elegant and cheap edition de-
•erves the widest circulation, and will, I doubt not, find its way into everv good li
brary, private or public. HENKT B. SMITH."
** The enterprise and usefulness of the Publishing House of Sheldon h Co., are exhib-
ited in the continued issues of great standard religious works, such as the Christian stu«
dent must have, and are valuable in all time. Among these books, and in the front ranfc
of religious historical composition, we place the volumes which this house has now be
yun to publish, the flrst having just made its appearance. The rise, progress, a ad tri*
amph of Christianity in the early centuries, constitutes the great epoch 'n tie hiafcoif
•f the wwid." — Hew York Observer
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