10 PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE. 



The system of induction introduced by Lord 

 Bacon, had not for its end, as many of his un- 

 worthy followers have supposed, the mere ab- 

 stract accumulation of facts. Facts, isolated 

 and unconnected, resemble the rough materials 

 intended for the foundation of a magnificent 

 edifice. The carpenter who chips the timber, 

 and the mason who polishes the marble, are not 

 to be considered as the men of science ; but he 

 alone, who, from a precise knowledge of prin- 

 ciples and of causes, is able to direct those 

 materials to be arranged with order, form, and 

 symmetry. It was with that end in view, that 

 his lordship analysed before he generalised; 

 that he has separated the individual from the 

 species; the species from the genus ; and, from 

 a multitude of effects, endeavoured to arrive at 

 cause. 



Had his lordship limited his views to induc- 

 tion only, or had he cherished a hope, that 

 through a multitude of forced and unnatural 

 effects, he would ever have been able to estab- 

 lish true principles of science; instead of being 

 the father of philosophy, as he has been called, 

 he would have been its greatest enemy. 



In the analysis of facts which are intended 

 to constitute the principles of any science, it is 

 of the first importance, that none should be ad- 

 mitted but such as are scientifically efficient of 

 the conclusion, so that the effect produced, 



