Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-01

principled, than repeat to others the In
sulting words, the iudignities with which l
(wretched victim of local temperament
had dared to overwhelm her.
All my philosophy, I confess, availed
little to reconcile me to this less, which
cost me more than all my previous sacri-
fees united. But Viva would admit no
possibility of self justification on my part;
and absolute recantation, OF course, it was
out of my power to offer. We parted.
Henceforward, at least, | held [ had the
right to consider myself q martyr to my
opinions.
My patrimony, my place, my betrothed,
all forfeit, had now nothing left but my
opinions I determined to withdraw to my
Devonshire retreat, and there, far from the
worlds classifying influence, to devote my
remaining years to the developing of my
principles. Nor would I yet despair of
their spread. I sought for some friends to
JON my exile, and found three, who pro
fessed themselves willing to become my
disciples. All were disappointed men,
who, their confidence having been thor
oughly shaken in some of their most earnest
convictions, were the more readily at
tracted by my scheme of exposing the in
security of the foundations of human
knowledge. One was younger son, re-
turned traveller and colonist, who had lost
hardly won fortune in bubble company;
the second scientific student of engineer
ing, who had ruined himself in expert
ments, and failed to get the world to recog.
nizs his model invention as of any worth.
The third was my own cousin Frank,
whose unsuccessful wooing of Sophia,
Vivia's sister, had materially sobered his
views of life. We formed, as it were,
little monastic order, of which
was the acknowledged head.
Our rule of life, ideally philosophic
and entirely novel, was OF the strictest.
Conversation and studies were rigidly con-
fined to subjects bearing on our grand
postulate of universal doubt. For exam.
pie, in the morning one of us would deliver
a lecture on the weakness of induction a
second produce an essay showing the in
validity of historical influence third
undergo an examination in the fallacies of
empirical logic; while the fourth prepared
an attack, disposing for evermore of the
authority of consciousness. The lighter
topics, such as specific fallacies and illu-
sions-fallacies of memory, sensation, or
intelligence-werer reserved for the even
ing. By such course of diligent and in
cessant interpretive scrutiny l proposed
| in due time to reduce my companions
minds, on any subject whatever, from a
state of comfortable security to one of
utter skepticism and confusion. No Incl
dent 80 homely, so minute, but it might
serve as an illustration Of our theories.
| Often the egg on the breakfast-table was
allowed to grow cold, while we discussed
| the rival idealistic and realistic conception
| Of the objects before US, and showed the
proof of both doctrines to be essentially
unsound. So passed some six months and
the utter weakness and inadequacy of the
ordinary scientific logic having become a
commonplace among US, l began to hatter
myself that my experiment had succeeded,
and that my proselytes were approaching
my own ideal condition of believing moth.
ing, with no bias in any direction, on the
lookout for legitimate creed.
One morning the ex. colonist came to me
with look of such extraordinary bright
ness and elation on his countenance, as
raised hopes in NE that he had struck
new vein of thought. of the sort desired.
What was my disappointment when he i'm
parted his news-merely letter just re-
ceived from friend in Jamaica, offering
| him partnership in a plantation there on
most advantageous terms, provided that he
would come out at once and join him.
Furthermore, my backsliding disciple an
nounced his intention of acting on the
proposal forthwith. He was going to take
immediate measures to procure his outfit,
his passage. l exerted my utmost elo-
quence to dissuade him. Shame, urged,
if nothing else, should deter him from
what was virtual apostasy from our
principles. To run such a risk coolly was
to ignore it. Hs confessed he saw no risk
| in trusting an old friend, whom he knew
| for both shrewd and an honorable man.
Know he could not, l submitted. A man
| he owned not to have seen for years-pos.
sibly cheat and swindler-for memory's
| images are apt to get distorted when they
recede into the dim distance and his i'm
preston of his friend, as a man of sense
and honor, might be an unauthorized,
spurious mental image. He replied by
searching his recollection for instances he
! triumphantly recorded of his friends gen.
erosty and good judgment. But the
answer to that, as | told him, is that it is
not possible, by means of mere introspect-
i've glances, to detect the falsity of the
message from the past. charged him, for
consistency's sake, to submit the whole
matter to process of verifcation by means
of external fact, before proceeding any
further He laughed in my face. He was
going off at once to telegraph for a berth
In the next packet for Jamaica. Amazing
inconsequence lost all patience. Had
he even, begged to know, any cogent
reasons for assuming that there existed
such an island as Jamaica! He called me
a maniac l returned the compliment, and
we parted brusquely-he for the telegraph
office, and | to communicate to our other
brothers the news of his detection.
surprised the engineer in his room,
where he sat brried in thought, brooding
no doubt over the latest speculative prob
lem put forward for discussion. related
our loss, but he scarcely seemed to listen.
When concluded he was brooding still I;
then suddenly he started up and seized my
hand, exclaiming with exultation, 81 have
it, 1 have it now. At last! They were
quite right. The invention ,oas worthless.
There was flaw. l have detected the
cause, removed it; and now know it
must be success.
1t was of his paltry mechanical invention
he was speaking My disgust, for the mo-
ment, was too deep for words.
"To-morro he continued, ~ shall
go up to London to secure the new patent.
If beggar myself in expenses it does not
matter-my work will repay me. OF that
may now be convinced.
"And have YOU" 1 inquired, ironically,
a. studied the modes whereby you arrived
at the conviction Are these modes legit-
imate?''
have been working at the new model
in secret for some time" he confessed,
land making repeated experiments their
success is conclusive"
Inference from particulars, objected,
sis unsound, unless their number be SO
great as to eliminate chance. That cannot
be here And how can you be sure that
among the essential factors in the working
of your machine there are not some local
circumstances and accidents you cannot
carry about with your
81 have tried it hundred times" he
said, cit has not once failed.
"But have you considered the anteced-
ents that have been present on the occa-
sion of each trial-the climate of Devon.
shire, for instance, the vicinity of the sea
By what method, l should like to know,
can You have arrived at the certain knowl.
edge that these the invariable antecedents