324 fag Simons, $ssags, aitir llehictos. [xiv. 



practical life until such time as he should be better 

 instructed. The laws of this " provisional self-govern- 

 ment " are embodied in four maxims, of which one binds 

 our philosopher to submit himself to the laws and religion 

 in which he was brought up ; another, to act, on all those 

 occasions which call for action, promptly and according 

 to the best of his judgment, and to abide, without 

 repining, by the result : a third rule is to seek happiness 

 in limiting his desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy 

 them ; while the last is to make the search after truth 

 the business of his life. 



Thus prepared to go on living while he doubted, 

 Descartes proceeded to face his doubts like a man. One 

 thing was clear to him, he would not lie to himself 

 would, under no penalties, say, " I am sure " of that of 

 which he was not sure ; but would go on digging and 

 delving until he came to the solid adamant ; or, at worst, 

 made sure there was no adamant. As the record of his 

 progress tells us, he was obliged to confess that life is full 

 of delusions ; that authority may err ; that testimony 

 may be false or mistaken ; that reason lands us in end- 

 less fallacies ; that memory is often as little trustworthy 

 as hope ; that the evidence of the very senses may be 

 misunderstood ; that dreams are real as long as they last, 

 and that what we call reality may be a long and restless 

 dream. Nay, it is conceivable that some powerful and 

 malicious being may find his pleasure in deluding us, and 

 in making us believe the thing which is not, every moment 

 of our lives. What, then, is certain? What even, if 

 such a being exists, is beyond the reach of his powers of 

 delusion ? Why, the fact that the thought, the present 

 consciousness, exists. Our thoughts may be delusive, 

 but they cannot be fictitious. As thoughts, they are 

 real and existent, and the cleverest deceiver cannot 

 make them otherwise* 



