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    \.. kZ ¦ i ¦ ¦ ' ' w * * . ?I T. *-^T

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Jm ^Hterin^ Against Tne Twb Wh8 Bate Gdi...

    is 9 aotrJWQy >) fP w ^ Jfflttt & $ dfc jiealfe $ u in ; an glem ^ teury shape . / JiSRb ^ a we speak pf abstract Triifhr I thuik we mean -the j & ihii of all these conditions , jthat is the existence ,

    fitness , and perfection of all things . This is to make Truth synonymous with universal being ; of which , in fact , it is the condition .

    It may be observed also , in passing , that we use the term Truth indifferently , either to express the conditions themselves , or our sense or cognition of them .

    But what is it that is said Is Truth dependent upon us ? the Infinite upon the Finite This is realising the cosmogony

    of that very conclusive nation who believe the whole system of existence is based upon a tortoise , and man is in the place of the tortoise * Egerton Webbe tells us . we wait for some

    universalist to wring Truth out of th & imiverse , —like water from a fUnJt . ; As if we had not sucked it in with our mothers ' milk ! I * ewes assures us that Txuth is not known or knowable to us , or that it is no more

    than Opinion . I suspect , O Lewps , , that when thou dost masticate thy most excellent roast beef ,, were is precisely $ i $ n a ^ 4 ept ; h of conviction upon thy mind , sucn as logic never y $ t produced . What ! till thou

    ai ; t , wisejc , shall there be no [ calces ; an 4 al ^ at all , present or past ! d IJfit ^ ^ Ji { rf ^ th fiftili is great ^ aniljinigtjty * l ^ ug h her sejryant Mg $ Am wj | l pity , lier ^ » uj 3 fer-

    Jm ^Hterin^ Against Tne Twb Wh8 Bate Gdi...

    uiffS ; still Mows in every bud . m every , dyop of water , of fclpoa ; ' stp " ^ dwefife : m "Mtifes- ^ oless her smoky face T—a ^ well as mountain holds . Still d ^ bes she * clothe the valleys with green ; is till keep the Alpine pinnacles immelted in the sun's

    glare ; still beat Time's rollcall upon the sandy shores ; still swing in the roarinff wind ; still sleep in the glassy lake , — whatever we may opine . Although I agree with Egerton Webbe that a history of what he calls the Sufferings of Truth , should begin with a

    philological inquiry , and that such an inquiry , pushed to the extreme of all its branches , Would involve a history of the knowledge of Truth ; yet Truth itself must not be confused with that which we call it . Otherwise we must indeed wait until he could perambulate the

    infinity of existence with a notebook in his hand , and jot down the essential vocabulary in his Phaetontic course . Perhaps no man would be fitter for the duty ; unless it might be " Felix , who could know the causes of all things . " Nevertheless we cannot wait , we have not waited for the linguist . Nor did we wait iot Mr

    Lewes's Opinion . Op iriioti I take to be the formalised Itesult oi thought , and I suspect that 'iVuth wa $ ^ elt and kn own long before man grew systematic in his philosophy .

    All that is meant b y hot Icnowine Truth must he * that we cannot know all the phases of ^& . W

    \.. Kz ¦ I ¦ ¦ ' ' W * * . ?I T. *-^T

    \ .. kZ ¦ i ¦ ¦ ' ' w * * . ? I T . * - ^ T

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 1, 1837, page 405, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01121837/page/37/