would be for the intellect to demand of reason a clear intuition of the propositions it demon

strates.

315.

The plain evidence of facts is superior to all declarations.-Letters of Junius.

316.

We can only judge of things comparatively: to do this justly, we should compare them, not with what might be, but with what is.W. Danby.

317.

The scales of some minds are too fine, too nicely adjusted for common purposes;-diamond scales will not do for weighing wool. Very refined, very ingenious, very philosophical minds are all too scrupulous weighers: their scales turn with the millionth of a grain, and are all, from some .cause, subject to the defect of indecision. They see too well how much can be said on both sides of a question. There is a sort of philosophical doubt arising from enlargement of the understanding, quite different from the irresolution of character, which is caused by infirmity of will; and when once some of these over scrupulous weighers come to a balance, that instant they become most wilful. After excessive indecision they perhaps start suddenly to a rash action.-Edgeworth.

318.

Those accustomed to judge by feeling, understand little of reasoning; they decide by a glance, and are not able to search into principles. Others, on the contrary, who are in the habit of reasoning from principles, cannot enter into matters of feeling; principles are all they look for, and they can do nothing by mere sight.-Pascal.

319.

Independence of judgment is one of the rarest things in the world; and the prevailing defect in education is the neglect of the reasoning or discursive faculties. The consequence is, that among those who are regarded as well-educated, few are capable of comprehending or discussing an extensive or complicated question. It is observed by the elegant author of Fitzosborne's Letters, that thinking is one of the last exerted privileges of cultivated humanity.-W. B. Clulow.

320.

The best way to acquire a well-balanced and healthy tone of the faculties, is to exercise them all more or less, and accustom them to alternate tension and relaxation.-W. B. Clulow.

321.

It seems at first sight extraordinary, that many who reason correctly on some topics, should fail to do so on others. The explanation, however, appears to coincide with that which applies to diversities of sentiment among different persons. In all cases of error, only part of the subject is perceived. Let the particulars which go to make up truth on any question, be brought equally before ten thousand separate minds, and they will all adopt the like accurate conclusion.-W. B. Clulow.

322.

A

Perhaps the leading distinction of superior intellect is a power of compression, a faculty which pre-supposes that of generalization. subordinate understanding never perceives more than certain fragments or mutilated portions of a subject, surveying the field of thought as a landscape through a tube.-W. B. Clulow.

323.

The discovery of new ideas is not essentia

to the character of mental originality. A certain juxtaposition or combination of well-known truths, will often supply unquestionable proof of decided originality and invention. It is with the operation of thought somewhat as with that of the kaleidoscope, which out of a few simple materials, freshly arranged, and submitted to the action of light, produces the most surprising forms of novelty and beauty. Perhaps, I may add, that what are called creations, and in a certain sense with accuracy, are rather but new forms or combinations elaborated out of the mind's pre-existing stores, by the chemistry of genius.-W. B. Clulow. 324.

Four species of idols [eidwλa] beset the human mind; to which (for distinction's sake) we have assigned names: calling the first, Idols of the tribe; the second, Idols of the den; the third, Idols of the market; the fourth, Idols of the theatre.

The formation of notions and axioms on the foundation of true induction, is the only fitting remedy, by which we can ward off and expel these idols. It is, however, of great service to point them out. For the doctrine of idols bears the same relation to the interpretation of nature, as that of the confutation of sophisms does to common logic.

The idols of the tribe are inherent in human nature, the very tribe or race of man. For man's sense is falsely asserted to be the standard of things. On the contrary, all the perceptions both of the senses and the mind, bear reference to man, and not to the universe, and the human mind resembles those uneven mirrors, which impart their own properties to different objects, from which rays are emitted which distort and disfigure them

The idols of the den are those of each individual. For every body (in addition to the errors common to the race of man) has his own individual den or cavern, which intercepts and corrupts the light of nature: either from his own peculiar and singular disposition, or from his education and intercourse with others, or from his reading, and the authority acquired by those whom he reverences and admires, or from the different impressions produced on the mind, as it happens to be pre-occupied and pre-disposed, or equable and tranquil, and the like: so that the spirit of man (according to its several dispositions) is variable, confused, and, as it were, actuated by chance; and Heraclitus said well, that men search for knowledge in lesser worlds and not in the greater or common world.

There are also idols formed by the reciprocal intercourse and society of man with man, which we call idols of the market, from the commerce and association of men with each other. For men converse by means of language; but words are formed at the will of the generality; and there arises from a bad and unapt formation of words a wonderful obstruction to the mind. Nor can the definitions and explanations with which learned men are wont to guard and protect themselves in some instances, afford a complete remedy words still manifestly force the understanding, throw everything into confusion, and lead mankind into vain and innumerable controversies and fallacies.

Lastly, there are idols which have crept into men's minds from the various dogmas of peculiar systems of philosophy, and also from the perverted rules of demonstration, and these we denominate idols of the theatre. For we regard all the systems of philosophy hitherto received or imagined, as so

many plays brought out and performed, creating fictitious and theatrical worlds. Nor do we speak only of the present systems, or of the philosophy and sects of the ancients, since numerous other plays of a similar nature can still be composed and made to agree with each other, the causes of the most opposite errors being generally the same. Nor again, do we allude merely to general systems, but also to many elements and axioms of sciences which have become inveterate by tradition, implicit credence, and neglect.-Bacon.

325.

Of some minds the first decisions are commonly the best, subsequent meditation serving only to bewilder or weaken their conceptions. This is chiefly the case with imaginative minds, and for the most part perhaps with those of women, who seem to arrive at results more by a species of intuition, than by a process of reasoning. On the contrary, certain persons, and those often of the deepest intellect, appear incapable of forming accurate conclusions with promptitude. Their thoughts must hover for a while over the generalities of a subject; but the conclusions which they ultimately adopt, are almost sure to be of the genuine stamp.-W. B. Clulow.

326.

I consider there is a certain quantity of distempered brain in the world, which, though sure to manifest itself in some way, is often checked and diverted, or prevented from attaining its ultimate effects, by the variety of absurd opinions that, in one department or another, are always to be met with or invented. The mad humour which used to be absorbed by the dreams of alchemy, witchcraft, astrology, and other exploded chimeras of the dark ages, is as rife as