The Persistence of Force. 81 



that there is something beyond consciousness that 

 persists ; for persistence is nothing more than con- 

 tinued existence, and .existence cannot be thought of 

 as other than continued."* That is, if the reasoning 

 be sound, all existence is eternal. To assert " an ex- 

 istence beyond consciousness" is to assert its persist- 

 ence, that is, its " continued existence ; " in other words, 

 its existence without beginning or end ; for " existence 

 cannot be thought of" otherwise. This doctrine is so 

 astounding, whether viewed in relation to the nature 

 of things or to the knowledge of things, that one is 

 curious to obtain some fuller explanation of the terms. 

 Turning to Mr. Spencer's Psychology, we find a fuller 

 statement. In examining Hume's theory of impres- 

 sions and ideas, he says : " To be is ' to remain,' ' to 

 be fixed.' Existence is defined as ' continued being,' 

 ' duration,' ' continuation.' Persistence is the root- 

 notion running through all the meanings. So long as 

 a pain persists we say it is still there. . . The flash of 

 lightning, not having persisted, is regarded as having 



ceased to be Above all, it is this continuity, or 



endurance, or fixity, or persistence, which we specially 

 mean when we asserfc the existence of what may be 

 called objects ; among which, too, we draw the distinc- 

 tion between existing or ceasing to exist according as 

 we do or do not find persistence."* 



Mr. Spencer does not gain anything by this iden- 



First Principles, 65. t Psych. Vol. II. 394. 



F 



