Mr. Buckle s Fallacies. 171 



" in der Moralphilosophie sind wir nicht weiter 

 gekommen als die Alten." For what is Moral 

 Philosophy but the science which is to determine 

 the laws to which our conduct should conform ? 

 And if this is the case, we need only to look into 

 Mr. Buckle's work itself, to find a system of 

 morality containing truths which only two cen- 

 turies ago were not even dreamed of. Take, for 

 example, the moral law that governments shall 

 not interfere with trade. This is as much a moral 

 law as that which forbids stealing : but we find 

 Mr. Buckle reckoning it among the merits of 

 Voltaire, that he was one of the first to perceive 

 the justice of a free system of trade. 1 Its justice 

 is even now denied by opponents of reform. 

 This, then, is a case of a " moral truth " which 

 has not been known for thousands of years. 



Mr. Buckle may say, however, that he does not 

 use the term " morality " in so wide a sense, 

 that he means by it merely a collection of general 

 rules and precepts, serving as rough guides for 

 daily conduct. Of course, if Mr. Buckle chooses 

 to define his terms to suit himself, he can prove 

 anything. If he defines morality so as to make 

 it include nothing but the precepts known three 

 thousand years ago, and then says that all moral 

 i Vol. i. p. 741. 



