, 1866-12-17
THOUGHTS on HIsTORY-W,


teuaeity Of ialsehood, It Is . triie proverb
that lie will travel round the world while
Truth Is putting on Its boots. But this IL
moi so astonishing as tho vitality-the ine1-
plicable vfgor Of coustitutlon-in popular
error. When the world has once got hold Of
lie, It Is marvellous how bard It is to drive
it out Of the world. You beat 1t about the
head till 1t scctns utterly defunct, and 10!
that 1t has given up the ghost, It reappehrs,
lar belief That Truth, II run over by A locot
motive and train, gets we'll; but Error dies
oflocljaw lit but scratches Its finger. Bry7
ant, too, asserts, that "Truth, crushed to
Garth, Will rise sga!n;"s and, NO doubt, II
often docs; bnt u "a equally true, In spite Of
ell the rhetorical flourishes On this SUBJ
Jcct, that lies, too, have most obstinate vi
tslity, and. like NIL noxious things. are de-,
st1oyed In one place only TO spring uo ini
another. Once let a falsehood, however
ridiculous, ect fairly on Its legs, and though. :
when touched by the 1thur,cl spear Of:
Truth, 1t ...........
-"Wriihe in palu,
And die amid Its worrbippera,"
yet II Is certain Of resurrection. To the
philosopher there !. something e1a,pcrating
In this: to the satIrist,. there is an object for
his shafts.
Once declare to the world that Berkeley
denied the existence Of matter, aud a1l over
the world men with Berkeley in their hands
will echo the .absurdity. Say that Locke
derives all knowledge through the medium
of the senses, and, though Locke be studied
in every college, the statement will pass un-
l. challenged. Let SONIC Fourth Of July orator
quote from Bacon the haekneyed sentiment.
'tKnowledge is power" and other oratora
WILL ring the changes upon 1t dd ndutfa,a,
though Bulwer shows that The author Of the
Inst1s1ratio never uttered or wrote any such
aphorlsm. Ofall truisms, or sayings sup
posed to be such, there Is no one more frc-
Queutly on mems lips than, the statement
that Bacon was the father Of the 1uductlye
PHILOSOPHY, the grind founder Of modern
science. But It may be doubted whether his
Novum Organon, or new Instrument Of phil
Iosopby, WAS really new when he announced
It Oh such, either rs process followed IN
scientific discovery, or as theory. of the
true method Of discovery. Bacon WIS neither
the first to proclaim the barrenness
;of the Ar1stoteilan- philosophy, nor
IFS his the glory Of hav-
ling ended the reign Of that philosophy In
Europe. He but hastcned the downfall Of
u system already in dissepute, and which
| would soon have been banished from the
| schools Ind his InstsuTation never been pub
lishcd. In short, as Dc Malstrf has shown,
i,e WINS barometer that announced the fnc
weather, after long period Of storm and
controversy and because he foretoad the Elo-
Iious daylight Of truc science, after the dark
| tncss Of fbr middle ape. t, vas unclaimed
| fbc anthor of II. Acotcmnornrv ca11rd him
trul, tle nronh-t of xeirnr<. ~ have aecn.n
| SAYS The critic Inst unotca .tha dcs,cn of n
mrdal struck lii his honor. the bodT of which,
Is rising sun. with the fpscsiption. E5ortus
III aU.<,ius sol {" He rose like the sun in the
| sky,,, Nothing Is more plainrr t,1se. Ret
Ter m amor, with thc ,neer,ntfon E,or;o
! so,u q Messenger al. .hc sur. y aud even this
womb n. mn t.Sarreratfop- FIR. when D,ron
ro.e. If xns Mt least ten o'clock in The morn
| ,ncn
IIor of,on IN ua hen, .t,r,,r,ea IN a,
Rohcrt U.ln,Lo IN ,.vccr,b,e ,ayfr,- q an
,n,,, hor, t1n,r nr;cc,, pone ,ofers - n 4,
H..
.,Wontd bc oh,tce me. lei me- ontv dod
lie docs nc1 .ninL me what he rhinls aanklud.''
But TIC "G1and Corrurter." as he was nick
named by lis libellers. uttered no such
sweeping siandez agains. hts fellow
men. lc simply dcclarcd Of his cor
rurt opponents. IAN ntst men have
their price," tr1,th as uuquestfonable as Ills
alleged maxim WIS false. Again, let Lord
Otrery relate, as an uuguestionable occur.
renee, tAat Dean Swift once commenced the
service when nobody, except the clerk, at.
tended his church, with "Dearly beloved
Roger, the scripture moyetll you md me In
|