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65. On the other hand SCEPTICISM (which comprehends the dogmatism of all other sects, and is therefore itself extremely dogmatical) opposes one species of Cause to another, and thereby destroys the absolute ground which it borrows from the other Sects and produces negation and suspension. Accordingly Scepticism sprung out of the ruins, and flourished upon the fallacies, of the dogmatic sects; it flatters not the powers of man, and though it satisfies none of the demands of reason and philosophy, it has operated as a salutary check to the too hasty determinations of the dogmatic sects, and urged to others more correct. Its greatest inconsistency is, that, while it wars with all other sects, and totally destroys every source of dependance and satisfaction, it talks of tranquillity: but he who is most unsettled is most disturbed in opinion, and it is a fact that doubt and ignorance in the enquiring mind produce dejection and perturbation of spirit, and such truly is the effect of scepticism of all men, therefore, the sceptic most naturally and anxiously seeks indisturbance, and such, according to Sextus Empiricus, is the inconsistent end and aim of scepticism. Thus Dogmatism and Scepticism tend alike to destroy religious and philosophic consolation and dependance; they are extremes without a mean perpetually at

variance.

66. Finally ANALOGISM is the Mean that harmonises this discordance of the sects;-it demonstrates that, all knowledge being Relative, the Absolute lies beyond its sphere; and thereby annihilates the ground of both Dogmatism and Scepticism, and escapes the extremes of confidence and distrust. It teaches that all cause Consists in Concurrence, and that Universal Coincidence gives to the Philosophic Universe that consistency which Universal Gravitation gives to the Physical, assimilating all things in unity of Essence, Relation, and Purpose. It determines the scope of human faculties, and

bounds them by those universal conditions, which are the ground of knowledge, and therefore unconditional and unknowable; beyond which enquiry involves absurdity, and reason in its last resort bends to that INCOMPREHENSIBLE ORIGINAL to whom it ascribes "all Wisdom, Power, and Goodness:"-" In whom we live, move, and have our being:"-" Who is in us and we in Him"-" Who is All in All"-" The Being of Beings" and "Every where always!" &c. &c.

67. That a Philosophy similar in form and character to the foregoing prevailed in the east in times of the remotest antiquity, might not be difficult to prove; a Philosophy which, after degenerating from its high moral and intellectual destination, wrought from the fine senses of the ancient Greeks the sublimest productions of human genius; and since it conduces to Art and Science, and promotes the best interests of mankind, it behoves us to cherish the remains of this philosophy, and endeavour to restore it from the

root.

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ON THE

STATE OF THE NATION.

THE difficulties in which the nation is involved are now acknowledged to be great and urgent.

They are assumed to arise from

1st. The Inability to bear Taxation to the amount required by Government.

2dly. The pressure of the Poor Rates, and the increase of Pauperism; without adding the tythes, since they are more immediately under parliamentary cognizance.

3dly, The want of work by those who are able to labor, and who are now without employment; and for those who, as the winter advances, will be discharged from their present employments, without any prospect of new engagements.

The primary objects are to provide funds for giving employment; and, to find subjects for the useful employment of labor. It is incontrovertibly true that a depressed Tenantry, and depreciated and depreciating rental must cause,

1st. A diminution in Taxation.

2dly. A decrease of employment both in Agriculture and Manufacture, and

3dly. An increase of Pauperism.

The obvious remedies for these alarming evils; evils which endanger the Government, at the same time that they destroy the welfare of the people, are

1st. That Retrenchment by Government, which shall curtail, as much as may be, every expense not of absolute necessity; and shall put an end to all those offices or places which are not essential to the due administration of the affairs of the empire.

2dly. To enable property to bear the burden of necessary taxation.

3dly. To impose the taxation, including the maintenance of the

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