4 RKPLY TO THE CHARGES 



timid, the alarms of the ignorant and the bigotted : and 

 this too, wlien nothing is easier than to destroy the ill- 

 constructed fabric } to crumble its very fragments to dust, 

 and scatter them before the wind. 



Jt is alleged that tliere is a j)arty of modern sceptics, 

 co-operating in the diffusion of tliese noxious opinions 

 witli a no less terrible band of French physiologists, for 

 the purpose of demoralizing mankind 1 Such is the general 

 tenour of the accusation, independently of the modifications, 

 by which it is worked up into separate counts, and of the 

 rhetorical ornaments, by wliich It was embellished. Had 

 the statement been general, I should not have appropriated 

 it by entering on a defence ; — but have left that service to 

 any volunteer of the sceptical party, which I know no more 

 of than I do of the man In the moon, and in whose exist- 

 ence I believe just as much. The quotation of my own 

 words, however, rendered it impossible for me to shield 

 myself under the pretext of uncertainty ; indeed, it particu- 

 larized and fixed the accusation, for which no other tangible 

 object could be discovered. 



The vague and Indefinite expressions of sceptical party, 

 modern sceptics, and other abusive terms, form too flimsy 

 a veil to conceal the real object of this fierce attack ; while 

 the pretended concern for important truths and principles, 

 and the loud imputation of bad designs and evil tendenvcies, 

 instead of decently covering, rather expose the nakedness 

 of the feelings in which It originated. 



Perhaps all the counts of this alarming indictment are 

 not Intended to apply to all the persons thus unexpectedly 

 dragged to the bar of public opinion ; — but, as the prose- 

 cutor made no distinction in the shades of guilt, I must 

 plead to the whole accusation ; — of propagating dangerous 

 opinions — and of doing so in concert with the French phy- 

 siologists : — the French, who seem to be considered our 

 natural enemies In science, as well as in politics. 



I plead, not guilty ; and enter on my defence with a con- 

 fident reliance on the candour and impartiality of the tri- 

 bunal before whom the cause is brought ; — a tribunal too 



