TRUE IDEAS THE BASIS OF INTELLECT. 45 



existences, or of imaginary or impossible ones. Possible 

 existences are not necessarily real ones, nor are imaginary 

 existences necessarily impossible ones. There are very 

 many things which do not at present exist in nature, but 

 which, by reasoning processes, we can show may possibly 

 exist under certain conditions. A multitude of examples 

 of this kind have already been discovered or invented, 

 and thus numerous possible existences have been made 

 real. Amongst these may be mentioned the isolated 

 alkali metals ; thousands of new chemical compounds, the 

 electric telegraph, the steam engine, and a whole host of 

 modern discoveries and inventions. These examples show 

 that mind, by reacting upon nature, may prove that to be 

 possible which does not at present exist ; that existing 

 nature is not a complete system of all possible entities, 

 although it is the original source of them ; and that if 

 even the human mind were a perfect mirror of existing 

 nature, our knowledge of the universe of possible truth, 

 and our classification of ideas would not be complete, but 

 would have to be perfected by means of our intellectual 

 powers. 



Correctness of ideas is an essential condition of success 

 in research. True perceptions form the basis of intellect, 

 and the acquisition of true ideas becomes a source of 

 mental power. The kind of ideas which most strengthen 

 the mind are fundamental rational ones ; i.e. those great 

 ideas which agree with and are verified by the realities of 

 nature ; ' the truth shall make you free.' There is no 

 tyranny equal to that of false impressions; erroneous 

 notions weaken all our powers, especially that of the in- 

 tellect, and hinder the discovery and spread of truth. 



Ideas are the elementary units of all mental action. 

 Different ideas possess very different degrees of complexity, 

 which increases as we proceed from the idea of a single 



