PHILOSOPHERS OF THE FUTURE. 347 



to so many of the wisest and most clever, as well as the 

 simplest and least informed of mankind, that, considering 

 the matter purely from the philosophical side, it would ap- 

 appear unreasonable to conclude that so many different 

 intellects in so many different ages, and under such very 

 different circumstances, had one and all agreed in one thing 

 only, to deceive themselves and impose upon their own un- 

 derstandings. We must remember, that multitudes of men 

 and women now living, and multitudes about to live, can 

 never hope to be in a position to fairly decide for themselves 

 on the merits of the question, whether a perfect know- 

 ledge of science, if it were possible to attain it, would cer- 

 tainly enable them to bear with patience and in hope the 

 many troubles, disappointments, and ills they must suffer 

 before they die. For, in all reasonable probability, they 

 must pass away ere the philosophers of the present day, and 

 their immediate successors, shall have finally arrived at a 

 decision as to the precise manner in which the philosophers 

 of the future ought to be trained, so as to thoroughly pre- 

 pare the minds of the people generally for the reception and 

 comprehension of the great physical revelations of a suc- 

 ceeding and more fortunate age. It seems to me doubtful 

 whether it is honest, and certainly it cannot be noble, to 

 attempt to persuade people that the old faith ought to be 

 discarded, unless the new faith proposed to be substituted for 

 it can be proved true in many particulars, and such evidence 

 adduced in proof of its fundamental propositions as would 

 suffice to convince persons possessing ntelligence and 

 patience. 



I propose now to consider what conclusion is to be 



