Mr. Buckle's Fallacies. 205 



and the second he has failed to establish ; but the 

 third and fourth may take their places as impor- 

 tant additions to our knowledge of human history. 

 This is the lasting service which Mr. Buckle has 

 already rendered to science. 



With respect to the tendency of Mr. Buckle's 

 work, an unprejudiced mind can have but one 

 opinion. It is calculated to awaken independent 

 thought, and to diffuse a spirit of scientific in- 

 quiry. Written in an easy and elegant style, it 

 will be read with pleasure by many who would 

 not otherwise have the patience to go through 

 with the subjects of which it treats. Thus, grand 

 and startling in its views, impressive and charm- 

 ing in its eloquence, it cannot fail to arouse many 

 a slumbering mind to intellectual effort. Such 

 has its tendency already been, and such it will 

 continue to be. Indeed, with Mr. Buckle's dili- 

 gence, his honesty, his freedom of thought, his 

 bold outspokenness, his hearty admiration for 

 whatever is good and great in man, the tendency 

 of his work could not well be otherwise. All 

 these are qualities which will be remembered 

 when his inaccuracies and errors, however great, 

 shall be forgotten. And whatever may be thought 

 about the correctness or incorrectness of Mr. 



