Mr. Buckle s Fallacies. 165 



only, and not in " internal power," our author 

 goes on to show the " superiority of intellectual 

 acquisitions over moral feelings ; " and first he 

 asserts that all our acquisitions are either " moral 

 truths" or "intellectual truths," and that the 

 former are " stationary," while the latter are con- 

 tinually advancing. It is noticeable that he here 

 deplores the difficulties which arise " from the 

 loose and careless manner in which ordinary lan- 

 guage is employed on subjects that require the 

 greatest nicety and precision." l After giving us 

 this caution, one would naturally expect to find 

 our author very clear and accurate in the choice 

 of terms, and in the statement of propositions ; 

 but, on the contrary, the loose and careless man- 

 ner in which he himself employs ordinary lan- 

 guage throughout the discussion is quite amazing. 

 In the first place, he makes a verbally unintelligi- 

 ble distinction between "intellectual truths" and 

 "moral truths." Scientifically speaking, there 

 can be no such thing as a " moral truth ; " for 

 every truth is a proposition, consisting of subject, 

 predicate, and copula ; and is uttered and recog- 

 nized by the intellect, not by the " moral in- 

 stinct," which belongs to the emotional part of 

 our nature. It is the province of intellect to 



1 Vol. i. p. 159. 



