ingratum hominem dixeris-speaks a language which accords with every feeling of an unperverted mind; it speaks the language of Nature, which it is the province of the moralist not to criticise, but to listen to with reverence. By employing our reason to interpret and to obey this, and the other moral suggestions of the heart, we may trust with confidence, that we take the most effectual means in our power to augment the sum of human happiness; but the discovery of this connexion between virtue and utility is the slow result of extensive and philosophical combinations; and it would soon cease to have a foundation in truth, if men were to substitute their own conceptions of expediency, instead of those rules of action which are inspired by the wisdom of God.1

It must not be concluded, from the foregoing observations, that, even in ethical inquiries, the consideration of final causes is to be rejected. On the contrary, Mr. Smith himself, whose logical precepts on this subject I have now been endeavouring to illustrate and enforce, has frequently indulged his curiosity in speculations about uses or advantages; and seems plainly to have considered them as important objects of philosophical study, not less than efficient causes. The only caution to be observed is, that the one may not be confounded with the other.

Between these two different researches, however, there is, both in physics and ethics, a very intimate connexion. In various cases, the consideration of final causes has led to the discovery of some general law of nature; and in almost every case, the discovery of a general law clearly points out some wise and beneficent purposes to which it is subservient. Indeed, it is chiefly the prospect of such applications which renders the investigation of general laws interesting to the mind.2

The line (which was probably quoted from memory) in the best editions stands-Dixeris, maledicta cuncta,

ingratum cum hominem dixeris. It is one of the Trochaics.-Ed.

See Note DD.

2 See Note EE.

CONCLUSION OF PART SECOND.*

IN the foregoing chapters of this Second Part, I have endeavoured to turn the attention of my readers to various important questions relating to the Human Understanding; aiming, in the first place, to correct some fundamental errors in the theories commonly received with respect to the powers of intuition and of reasoning; and, secondly, to illustrate some doctrines connected with the ground-work of the inductive logic, which have been either overlooked or misapprehended by the generality of preceding writers. The bulk to which the volume has already extended, renders it impossible for me now to attempt a detailed recapitulation of its contents: nor do I much regret the necessity of this omission, having endeavoured, in every instance, as far as I could, to enable the intelligent reader to trace the thread of my discussions.

In a work professedly elementary, the frequent references made to the opinions of others may, at first sight, appear out of place; and it may not unnaturally be thought that I have too often indulged in critical strictures, where I ought to have confined myself to a didactic exposition of first principles. To this objection I have only to reply, that my aim is not to supplant any of the established branches of academical study; but, by inviting and encouraging the young philosopher, when his academical career is closed, to review, with attention and candour, his past acquisitions, to put him in the way of supplying what is defective in the present systems of education. I have accordingly entitled my book, Elements-not of Logic or of Pneumatology, but-of the Philosophy of the Human Mind; a study * Part Second is not, however, terminated in this volume.-Ed.

which, according to my idea of it, presupposes a general acquaintance with the particular departments of literature and of science, but to which I do not know that any elementary introduction has yet been attempted. It is a study, indeed, whereof little more perhaps than the elements can be communicated by the mind of one individual to that of another.

In proof of this, it is sufficient here to hint, (for I must not at present enlarge on so extensive a topic,) that a knowledge of the general laws which regulate the intellectual phenomena is, to the logical student, of little practical value, but as a preparation for the study of Himself. In this respect, the anatomy of the mind differs essentially from that of the body, the structure of the former (whatever collateral aids may be derived from observing the varieties of genius in our fellow-creatures) being accessible to those alone who can retire into the deepest recesses of their own internal frame; and even to these presenting, along with the generic attributes of the race, many of the specific peculiarities of the individual. On this subject every writer, whose speculations are at all worthy of notice, must draw his chief materials from within; and it is only by comparing the conclusions of different writers, and subjecting all of them to the test of our personal experience, that we can hope to separate the essential principles of the human constitution. from the unsuspected effects of education and of temperament," or to apply with advantage, to our particular circumstances, the combined results of our reading and of our reflections. The constant appeal which, in such inquiries, the reader is thus forced to make to his own consciousness and to his own judgment, has a powerful tendency to form a habit, not more essential to the success of his metaphysical researches, than of all his other speculative pursuits.

Nearly connected with this habit, is a propensity to weigh

I use the word temperament, in this instance, as synonymous with the idiosyncrasy of medical authors, a term which I thought might have savoured of affectation if applied to the mind, although authorities for such an em

ployment of it are not wanting among old English writers. One example, directly in point, is quoted by Johnson from Glanvill. "The understanding also hath its idiosyncrasies, as well as other faculties."

and to ascertain the exact import of words, one of the nicest and most difficult of all analytical processes, and that upon which more stress has been justly laid by our best modern logicians, than upon any other organ for the investigation of truth. For the culture of this propensity, no science is so peculiarly calculated to prepare the mind, as the study of its own operations. Here the imperfections of words constitute the principal obstacle to our progress; nor is it possible to advance a single step without struggling against the associations imposed by the illusions of metaphorical terms, and of analogical theories. Abstracting, therefore, from its various practical applications, and considering it merely as a gymnastic exercise to the reasoning powers, this study seems pointed out by nature as the best of all schools for inuring the understanding to a cautious and skilful employment of language as the instrument of thought.

The two first chapters of this volume relate to logical questions, on which the established opinions appear to me to present stumbling-blocks at the very threshold of the science. In treating of these, I have canvassed with freedom, but I hope with due respect, the doctrines of some illustrious moderns, whom I am proud to acknowledge as my masters; of those, more particularly, whose works are in the highest repute in our British Universities, and whose errors I was, on that account, the most solicitous to rectify. For the space allotted to my criticisms on Condillac, no apology is necessary to those who have the slightest acquaintance with the present state of philosophy on the Continent, or who have remarked the growing popularity in this island, of some of his weakest and most exceptionable theories. On various controverted points connected with the theory of evidence, both demonstrative and experimental, I trust, with some confidence, that I shall be found to have thrown considerable light; in other instances, I have been forced to content myself with proposing my doubts, leaving the task of solving them to future inquirers. To awaken a dormant spirit of discussion, by pointing out the imperfections of generally received systems, is at least one step gained towards the farther advancement of knowledge.

It is justly and philosophically remarked by Burke, that nothing tends more to the corruption of science than to suffer it to stagnate. These waters must be troubled before they can exert their virtues. A man who works beyond the surface of things, though he may be wrong himself, yet he clears the way for others, and may chance to make even his errors subservient to the cause of truth." "1

The subsequent chapters, relative to the Baconian Logic, bear, all of them, more or less, in their general scope, on the theory of the intellectual powers, and on the first principles of human knowledge. In this part of my work, the reader will easily perceive, that I do not profess to deliver logical precepts; but to concentrate, and to reflect back on the Philosophy of the Mind, whatever scattered lights I have been able to collect from the experimental researches to which that Philosophy has given birth. I have aimed, at the same time, (and I hope not altogether without success,) to give somewhat more of precision. to the technical phraseology of the Baconian school, and of correctness to their metaphysical ideas.

Before concluding these speculations, it may not be improper to caution my readers against supposing, that when I speak of the Baconian school, or of the Baconian logic, I mean to ascribe entirely to the Novum Organon the advances made in physical science, since the period of its publication. The singular effects of this, and of the other inestimable writings of the same author, in forwarding the subsequent progress of scientific discovery, certainly entitle his name, far more than that of any other individual, to be applied as a distinguishing epithet to the modern rules of philosophizing; but (as I have elsewhere observed) "the genius and writings of Bacon himself were powerfully influenced by the circumstances and character of his age: Nor can there be a doubt, that he only accelerated a revolution which was already prepared by many concurrent causes."2-My reasons for thinking so, which rest chiefly on

Inquiry in'o the Sublime and Beautiful, part i. sect. xix.

2 Outlines of Moral Philosophy, first printed in 1793. [Elem. vol. i. p. 8.]