64 INTRODUCTION. 



the dignity of a general rule of thought. A third may, 

 accidentally, be interested in two or more pursuits which 

 are seemingly unconnected, but which being brought 

 side by side in his mind he feels the wish to unite 

 and harmonise. A fourth may, at a certain time of life, 

 grow tired of the drudgery of petty pursuits which never 

 carry him beyond a very limited sphere of interests : he 

 is tempted to look beyond this narrow range, and gain 

 some wider view of other pursuits and interests. Allowing 

 that ignorance or indifference prevents even the majority 

 of those whose powers are not exhausted in the struggle 

 for mere existence from looking much beyond their nar- 

 row circle, allowing also that many of us live like chil- 

 dren in a blessed trust that the great and important 

 interests of mankind are under higher and better guidance 

 than we can understand or control, there still remain a 

 considerable number of persons who are always on the 

 look-out for something higher, wider, and better, who are 

 driven by an undying thirst after real wisdom, or by an 

 9. inherent restlessness of disposition to inquire into the 

 deepest foundations and the ultimate ends of the world 

 and life. Language has coined a word which denotes the 

 whole of these occupations and endeavours, how various 

 so ever they may be, and for whatsoever purpose they may 

 be undertaken. It calls them speculations. The word 

 also indicates the venturesome and risky nature of these 

 undertakings. They have existed in all ages and countries 

 and languages wherever literature has existed, and have 

 been carried on by the powers of reason or imagination, in 

 prose, verse, or symbol, sometimes in defined and clear 

 terms, more often in mystic allegory. Philosophy may be 



