The Persistence of Force. 83 



more. The comet that is visible for a few successive 

 nights may have come into existence with its first and 

 ceased with its last appearance, in so far as conscious- 

 ness can bear witness. The period of duration of 

 existence is a question of fact, and especially on 

 a purely experiential theory there can be no 

 immediate knowledge of fact beyond the present, or 

 that knowledge which results from a past cognition 

 and a present re-cognition of the same. Consciousness 

 testifies that force exists here and now; the testi- 

 mony goes no farther and can go no farther. 



The absurdity of assuming to have on the side of 

 the persistence of force, as Mr. Spencer uses the phrase, 

 a primary deliverance of consciousness is still more 

 evident when we discover what it is that conscious- 

 ness is supposed to attest. " What," he asks, " is the 

 force of which we predicate persistence ? It is not the 

 force we are immediately conscious of in our muscular 

 efforts ; for this does not persist. As soon as an out- 

 stretched limb is relaxed the sense of tension dis- 

 appears. True, we assert that in the stone thrown, or 

 the weight lifted, is exhibited the effect of this mus- 

 cular tension ; and that the force which has ceased to 

 be present in consciousness, exists elsewhere. But it 

 does not exist elsewhere under any form cognizable 

 by us." 



Where then, we may ask, is the testimony of con- 

 sciousness to its persistence ? It has ceased to be 

 " present in consciousness* and is no longer cognizable. 



