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mind, which is what we mean by unconscious cerebration 

 or unconscious cognition, is very suggestive. For since 

 the nervous system corresponds so exactly to the mind ; 

 since all that we know of the action of the brain, we know 

 in terms of mass and motion- — that is to say, that its chain 

 of cause and effect would appear to be strictly what is 

 ordinarily known as a material succession ; since, as I have 

 shown, all that we know we know in symbols merely ; 

 since mental evolution proceeds, pari passu, with organic 

 evolution ; and, lastly, since mind can be shown to exist 

 apart from personal consciousness, I woidd ask what 

 greater reason any one has for assuming that the symbols 

 of the external world represent a real thing outside of 

 mind, independent of it, and in no sense mental, than he 

 has to assume that mind is an entity outside of nature, 

 independent of it, and in no sense natural. I woidd 

 venture to suggest that if you could see my brain working 

 you would really see the operations of my mind translated 

 into the terms of sight ; symbolised, that is to say, as a 

 material presence, in order to your apprehension. Dualism 

 is gratuitous. 



If this be true, and it is an inference from which I can 

 see no escape, the operations of mind and brain are iden- 

 tical, the one being perceived in terms of and relegated to 

 the order of our personality, the other perceived by the 

 senses, and belonging to the order of our sensation. If this 

 be true, matter is an abstract term denoting sensorial im- 

 pressions. The nervous organisation is the fact of the 

 mental organisation expressed in the terms of the senses. 

 I perceive the fact of an existence outside myself in the 

 form of nature. This external existence and the mind are 

 akin to and re-act on one another. Nay, more, the mind 

 proceeds from this external existence. Matter, like space 

 and time, is a condition of conscious representation. The 

 imiverse, as we perceive it, is so far a representation of the 

 Eternal Mind. 



To sum up. What we speak of as material changes 

 invariably accompany mental changes. AVe have no evi- 

 dence that the universe is truly material, nor have we any 

 evidence that it is conscious ; but, as I venture to think, 

 we have some grounds for inferring that it is mental. 

 Whether it is anything else, and if so, what, we do not, we 

 cannot know. Man is limited to his own consciousness : 

 his perceptions are symbols ; his reason gives him but a 



