I OBJECT AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY 69 



which we may form with regard to the origin of worlds and 

 the situation of nature from and to eternity f " (IV. pp. 

 18990.) 



But further, it is the business of criticism not 

 only to keep watch over the vagaries of philos- 

 ophy, but to do the duty of police in the whole 

 world of thought. Wherever it espies sophistry 

 or superstition they are to be bidden to stand; 

 nay, they are to be followed to their very dens 

 and there apprehended and exterminated, as 

 Othello smothered Desdemona, " else she'll betray 

 more men." 



Hume warms into eloquence as he sets forth 

 the labours meet for the strength and the courage 

 of the Hercules of " mitigated scepticism." 



"Here, indeed, lies the justest and most plausible objec- 

 tion against a considerable part of metaphysics, that they 

 are not properly a science, but arise either from the fruit- 

 less efforts of human vanity, which would penetrate into 

 subjects utterly inaccessible to the understanding, or from 

 the craft of popular superstitions, which, being unable to 

 defend themselves on fair ground, raise these entangling 

 brambles to cover and protect their weakness. Chased from 

 the open country, these robbers fly into the forest, and lie 

 in wait to break in upon every unguarded avenue of the 

 mind and overwhelm it with religious fears and prejudices. 

 The stoutest antagonist, if he remits his watch a moment, 

 is oppressed ; and many, through cowardice and folly, open 

 the gates to the enemies, and willingly receive them with 

 reverence and submission as their legal sovereigns. 



" But is this a sufficient reason why philosophers should 

 desist from such researches and leave superstition still in 

 possession of her retreat f Is it not proper to draw an oppo- 



