INTRODUCTION. 27 



the result, the parts and the ideal whole, of what is felt 

 and meant : it commits us to no preconceived theory, 

 can be used equally by thinkers of the most opposite 

 views, and lends itself to any specialisation which may 

 become necessary. 



II. 



Two processes have helped to determine the intel- i. 



The two 



lectual progress of mankind. These two processes have 

 often been apparently opposed to each other in their 

 operations ; but in reality neither of them can proceed 

 very far without calling the other into existence. They 

 are the extension and the condensation of knowledge. 

 Curiosity, the demands of practical life, the experiences 

 of every day, all tend to an enlargement, to an accumula- 

 tion of knowledge. Such growing knowledge is, however, 

 of little avail if it be not readily grasped : the command 

 of knowledge is as important as its accumulation. The 

 more extensive the country which we wish to explore, the 

 more we look out for elevated and commanding points 

 of view, which permit us at a glance to overlook a wide 

 landscape measuring the distance behind or the prospect 

 before us. But, however enticing, these elevated views 

 are frequently seductive and misleading. They permit us 

 not only to look backward on the land which we have 

 explored, giving us a clearer picture of its many features, 

 of its winding paths, of the position of its separate objects 

 these elevated views present to us likewise the regions 

 which we have not yet explored, and suggest the attempt 

 to supersede the laborious process of further exploration 



