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said this horse is lame forbid to the ^ ...
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the fourth volume of Mr. Fox's correspon...
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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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Sir William Hamilton's Lectures. (First ...
is the conversion of the observation of many parr ticulars into a law received as universal—a procedure manifestly synthetic . Thus far we have followed " the lectures generallv introductory to the proper business of the course" From this general view of philosophy crenerally , we proceed to the special treatment of the psychology of the cognitive faculties . Considerable space is occupied with the explication of terms mostly of terms of common and recognised use among metaphysicians , but in some cases specially devised , where additional clearness and precision were wanted , by Sir W , Hamilton himself . Such is the term " conative Jpowers , "—the desires , appetencies , orectic faculties , as others have denominated them , about the phenomena of which ethics and politics are concerned .
^ The relativity of our ktiowlege is expounded . " Rerumque ignarus , imagine gaudet . " AVe knownot substances , whether mind or matter , only thenconditions or phenomena . The limitation of our knowledge is further defined . Knowledge is possible to ais only as far as the inlets of our senses and perceptions allow . As Kant says , " In perception everything is known according to the constitution of our faculty of sense . " Our knowledge is still further limited . Even the properties of existence we know not in their native purity . Our senses not . only contribute to , but also modify , bur knowledge of objects . The value of the distinction between the terms
" subject" and " object , " - —between the ego and the non-ego—is ; impressed and illustrated . Consciousness involves the conscious self ; ergo , the conscious self must be axiomatically taken for granted . A hypothesis is a provisionally held theory , or general law . Hypotheses are allowable in the interim between the adduction , of particulars and the synthetic induction towards laws , if two necessary conditions be observed . The phenomenon to be explained must be known to exist . It Were absurd to account for apparitions until we knew that there were apparitions . The phenomenon . must be
otherwise unaccountable , else the hypothesis is unallowable . The comparative excellence of a hypothesis is thus determined . It must not involve anything contradictory , either between any of its own parts or between any part of it and some other established truth . The Ptolemaic hypothesis of the heavenly revolutions became untenable , when it , was contradicted by the ascertained phenomena of Venus and Mercury . The ¦ ¦" Werneriim hypothesis in geology cannot be maintained , because water could never hold in solution substances we know it to be incapable of dissolving . Again , a hypothesis is prftbable in
proportion to the number of the phenomena it explains . All the primary classes of the mental phenomena are included under the one universal phenomenon of consciousness . Consciousness is therefore the faculty first to be considered . It cannot be defined f for it lies at the root of all our knowledge ; still it may be philosophi cally analysed . ' It is the recognition of the mind , or ego , of its acts and affections . It is a knowledge actual , not potential 5 immediate , not mediate ; it supposes a discrimination ; it involves judgment ; it is possible
only through memory . After , at groat length , and with the most ample citation of . authorities , illustrative , corroborative and adverse ( . and these refuted ) , showing that consciousness is the only source from which all knowledge of the mental phenomena must be obtained , considering tho character of its evidence , and the different degrees of its authority under different relations , and expounding tho more general phenomena it rovuals , Sir W . Hamilton goes on to tho consideration of tho special faculties of knowled ge , or the particular modifications of which consciousness is HUBoeptiblo .
In our next number we shall conclude our summary of the lecturer , Inward an ostlmal . u of their literary characteristics , and of the way in which the editors have pcrfurmod their task .
Said This Horse Is Lame Forbid To The ^ ...
said this horse is lame forbid to the ^ * M . March 12 , 1859-1 TTHE LEADER . 331
The Fourth Volume Of Mr. Fox's Correspon...
the fourth volume of Mr . Fox ' s correspondence to <* ive , "in a connected narrative , the . •¦ relation of Mr . & ox ' s political career , and an account of his times . " The volume before . us possesses the usual merits and defects of Lord John ' s compositions . There is an accumulation of materials without proper arrangement , and a deficiency of the requisite literary manipulation , from want of time . We must accept the work , so far as it lias gone , as contammg the collections of a politician on a particular subject —not , properly speaking , as the biography oft ox , such as it would have been with the same materials
if it had been carefully written by a professional author . The book , for what we know—paradoxical as the assertion may appear—may be all the better for these supposed defects , that is , may show more of the man , if not , the writer—may exhibit not only the image of Mr . Fox , in undress , but that of Lord John himself , in his easy chair , seated in his study , arranging papers intended for publication , sufficient for information , though riot to form an artistic unity . The papers are in themselves of value ; and . therefore we propose-to bestow on them more than an ordinary share of
consideration . At the' very outset of the work we are presented with three characters—Charles Jariies Fox , William Pitt , and George III . These three distinoTiished men present the results of as many schemes of education . That of Fox was ; conducted without any regard to morals , or the control of the passions . His mind learned what it rniotit , and his heart indulged itself as it would . ^ It was not the liberty , but the license of instruction that was permitted . By the age of nineteen he had attained all theknowledge of the world and the school that he was likely to want , arid found himself in Parliament by tlieforee of family influence . His child
rival , William Pitt , is also a precocious , but ¦ brought up in strict principles . The mother of Fox paid a visit to Lady Chatham in 1767 , and gave this account to her husband : — " I have been , this morning , witli Lady Hester Pitt , and there is little William Pitt , now eight years old , and really the cleverest ' child I ever saw , and brought up so strictly and so proper in his behaviour , that , mark my words , that little boy will be a thorn in Charles ' s side as long as he lives , " A very singular prediction , exclaims Lord John , showing not onl y the . early cleverness of the two boys , but the cherished ambition of their parents , the wise strictness of Lord and Lady Chatham , and the sagacity of Lady
Holland . George IIL , as a . boy , was neither restrained like Pitt nor indulged like Fox- He showed no talent of any kind , except for dissimulation and secrecy . His mother described him as very honest , ' but wished that he was a little more forward and less childish at his age . Except to his brother Edward , he took to nobody , of which she was glad , " for tho young people of quality were so ill-educated , and so very vicious , that they frightened her . " Thus secluded , his mind—what there was of it—grew up in its own way . His parts were " tolerable ; " his honesty wanted " that frank and open tiivii iiu tt itiMMi
uvj-UW'V . iuur wjjuvii * JW \; utcy ^^^ r ^^ - *» » r » v . Nor was his religion " amiable ; " he had " father too much attention to the sins of his neighbour . " He had " spirit" also , " but not of the active kind , " and did " not wniifc resolution , " but it was " mixed with too much obstinacy . " He was sullen and silent , too , when angry , retired to his closet to enjoy his ill-humour , and indicated sometimes that his memory was only too correct and retentive . He was , moreovor , on the testimony of Lord Waldegravo , " uncommonly lull of princely prejudices , contracted in tlie nursery , and improved by the society of bod-chfluibor women ami pages of the backstairs . " Lord John himself adds : —
; I you say contrary . " ' . ¦ ' ' . ' . ¦ ' Lord John however accredits the king -with ^ a conscientious principle and a ruling passion . " He honestly desired to perform his duty ; but cherished a strong determination to make the conclusions of his riaiTQW intellect and ill-fiirnished mind prevail over the opinions of the wisest , and the combinations of the most powerful of his subjects . " His political prejudices prolonged the contest with America ; his religious intolerance alienated the affections of Ireland ; his . national pride and his hatred of democracy promoted the wars against France , whether monarchical or Jacobin . " ¦ ¦ ..
To all . tins the character of Fox was diametrically opposed . His abilities were brilliant , and his svmpathies with the cause of freedom and the interests of mankind . He resisted the mad perseverance of Lord North-in the project of subduing America . He opposed the war undertaken by Mr . Pitt against France , as unnecessary and unjust . He proved himself at all times the friend ot religious libertv , and endeavoured . to free both the Protestant and Roman Catholic dissenter from disabilities on account of their creed . He . denounced the slave trade . He supported a reform in the House of Commons . These views and
sentiments , concludes Lord John Russell , " made him through life obnoxious to the king . We shall see , " he adds , " the results of this antagonism , which was throughout , on both sides , not only polit ical ,-but also , in some degree , personal . Thus , for a great part of Ins life ,-lie . appears as a kind of rival to the sovereign upon the tin-one . We shall see that in 1784 this opposition of character produced a contest which is one of the most memorable in the history of our parliamentary struggles . Nevertheless , the early career of Fox in parliament seenied to indicate a desire on his part to gain the favour of the Court . In . 1772 he was named one of the Commissioners of the Treasury ; two
or three months afterwards he was dismissed , not very courteously , by Lord North . During this period of his life , Fox " entered deeply— almost juadly—into the pursuit of gaming . " He was duped , and borrowed to such an extent , that lie cost his father no less a sum than 140 , 0007 . J hisr was the result of his laX education , and the paternal bad example . Mr . Fox spoke for the first time hi behalf of freedom on occasion of the proposalfor the repeal of the tea-duty , when Mr . Burke made his famous speech on American
. ' The Public Fast of the 1 st of June , 1774 , m America , to which George Washington showed his adherence by visiting church , is the next incident dwelt on by Lord John Russell ; and he is at Paris to fill in an entire episode relative to the great American patriot . Next November , with a new parliament , England was enabled to boast ot a strong Government " . " But a strong Government which over-leaps wisdom and . violates justice , is one of the worst evils that can befal a country . George IIL , in his obstinacy , thought himself triumphant , but it was a triumph such as bclojigs to that " pride , " which " cometli before it tail . Lord North was the nominal minister ; but the Kino- was reallv his own . Much better is it for a
monarch of England that he should ruijm only , and not * govern . Nor did the ill ~ cont < c <| ueiiecs that ensued originate in the King ' s incapacity or narrow understanding ; the best men of the time were but obscurely conscious of its great ( xllc ' ti () UH » aut J particularly tho continental ones . The general state of things is graphically sketched in a few sentences by Lord John Kussell . " The Court of Groat . Britain was arrognnt au < confident' -, the Parliament m < liflerenl , ignom ' ijt > « ml submissive ; the Americans far from w / uininious , Mil it
but generally dctcrminoil to be free ijoutfl or fruo " ooinmoinvc-alth . The mure' jiiodora > - tlmuglit liberty might by preserve without separation ; to more ublu and ambitious looked lo seimmlion o opening of rt higher destiny , the triumph "'/ I ' , ^ oraey at homo , mid tho ussc-rtiou of anoquul place among tho greatest nalioiiH of the globe . in the opinion of Mr . UmtUm , the bent upotiches diuriii" the -American war ^ rc tliouu nnu lo by JVM " . Fox ° That struggle indued lirnt . buhuuohou forth hta ' u ' numliw .. It . was Mr . Fox who called the war ministry H Tiny a < lmini » tnitiori . Lord Aorta 1 . 1 ... l . r .,,,.-.,,... * ,, vindionin liiniMclf from the uhurjro .
Ho remarked ( hat tho Americans might witji ' woro luutioo bu ' eullud ToriisH , lor they appealed to the Kin «' fl prerogative ; wJiotohh the cabinet upheM
" JL ' riueo George , with a mind more ready luimblho prejudice than to assimilate learning ' , ' pconis not lo have , acquired frou ' v any of hirt preceptors a kimwr leilgo of classical or oven English literature , lie never understood ot appreciated Hhakvspoaro , and few Kiiglish gentlemen wrote in a stylo so inelegant and so ungrammatieal . But if he attained no proficiency cither in tho lotly lessons of history or tho delightful study of poetry , h « Booms to have learnt very early
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CHARLES JAMES FOX . The Life and Times ' of' Charles James Fox , By tho Bight Hon . Lord John liussoll , M . V . Vol . I . llichard Bontlcy . Tme biograph y was projected by Lord John Kuesoll , in pursuance or his having undertaken in
the habit of secrecy and dissimulation , so natural to a court . A characteristic instance of those qualities was observed by tlioso near him when he first heard of tho death of George II . He was out riding when tho intelligence reached him : ho said aloud , without betraying any emotion , that his horse had fallen lame , and turned towards homo . Whon ho dismounted , ho said quietly to tho groom , ' I have
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12031859/page/11/
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