all authority. It is not wonderful, therefore, if the bonds of antiquity, authority, and unanimity have so enchained the power of Man, that he is unable (as if bewitched) to become familiar with things themselves.". Bacon: Nov. Org., Aph. 84. - "Moreover, in these mixtures of divinity and philosophy, the received doctrines only of the latter are included; and any novelty, even though it be an improvement, scarcely escapes banishment and extermination.". Bacon: Nov. Org., Aph. 89. "For if they mean that the ignorance of a second cause doth make men more devoutly to depend upon the Providence of God, as supposing the effect to come immediately from his hand, I demand of them, as Job demanded of his friends, Will you lie for God, as man will for man, to gratify him?' Bacon: Interpretation of Nature. "It is to Philo Judæus that we owe the doctrine that nothing can subsist without certain properties. It is only the metaphysical theologians that have embraced the error that all activity and all action is owing to a spiritual being, and that inertia is the essence of matter.". - Gall. In regard to Astronomy, "Almost all its conclusions stand in open and striking contradiction with those of superficial and vulgar observation, and with what appears to every one, till he has understood and weighed the proofs to the contrary, the most positive evidence of his senses.". Sir John Herschel. 46 The opinions of men are received according to the ancient belief, and upon trust, as if it were religion and law." ..... "Another religion, other witnesses, and like promises and threats, might by the same way imprint a quite contrary belief." - Montaigne. "Is our faith on the sand or on a rock? Is it too brittle to bear touching?". Archbishop of Dublin. 1850. "Hobbes mentions the true revelation; but clearly shows he does not believe it. Hallam considers him an Atheist. I have equal right to consider Bacon so. Descartes, Hallam says, professed a belief in the motion of the sun, to save himself with the priests. And Hobbes thinks Aristotle did not speak as he really thought. It is surely time all this lying and counter-lying should be put a stop to, or a help be rendered to so worthy an end, that men's minds may expand as freely as any other growth of nature. But in our time, - no. The honey is not for us, but to work the cell; to work in faith and hope, in the love of truth, and for justice' sake. This is enough; — enough for the strong. And for the weak, they should not leave their mother's side.”. Private Letter. "Add to the power of discovering truth, the desire of using it for the promotion of human happiness, and you have the great end and object of our existence. This is the immaculate model of excellence that every human being should fix in the chambers of his heart; which he should place before his mind's eye from the rising to the setting of the sun, to strengthen his understanding that he may direct his benevolence, and to exhibit to the world the most beautiful spectacle the world can behold, of consummate virtue guided by consummate talents.” — Sydney Smith: Moral Philosophy, p. 94. I rather think the reason why we have so much pleasure in talking over, and writing about, the powers and action of men, and the characters of individuals, is, that your observations proceed upon some basis of real science, and that I know that they do; and that thus we are talking to some purpose on the most interesting subjects, instead of theorizing without taking stock of our facts on the one hand, or merely amusing ourselves with desultory observations on the other. I want, however, to look closer into the matter. I want to know precisely what your scientific basis is, instead of merely profiting by your having one, and having a general notion how you came by it. I want you to tell me, with great particularity, (if you will,) how you would have one set about the study of the powers of Man, in order to understand his nature, |