xii.] THE METAPHYSICS OF SENSATION. 317 



musician. But of neither of these conditions of the 

 existence of his consciousness would the phenomena of 

 that consciousness afford him the slightest hint. 



So that while it is the summit of human wisdom to 

 learn the limit of our faculties, it may be wise to recol- 

 lect that we have no more right to make denials, than to 

 put forth affirmatives, about what lies beyond that limit. 

 Whether either mind, or matter, has a " substance " or 

 not, is a problem which we are incompetent to discuss ; 

 and it is just as likely that the common notions upon 

 the subject should be correct as any others. Indeed, 

 Berkeley himself makes Philonous wind up his discus- 

 sions with Hylas, in a couple of sentences which aptly 

 express this conclusion : 



" You see, Hylas, the water of yonder fountain, how it is forced 

 upwards in a round column to a certain height, at which it breaks 

 and falls back into the basin from whence it rose ; its ascent as well 

 as its descent proceeding from the same uniform law or principle 

 of gravitation. Just so, the same principles which, at first view, lead 

 to scepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common 



THE END. 



