10 COSMIC PHILOSOPHY. [ft. i. 



Absolute and Infinite : have we then explained the origin of 

 the universe ? Have we advanced one step toward explaining 

 how the Absolute can be the source of the Relative, or how 

 the Infinite can give rise to the Finite? To continue with 

 Mr. Mansel, " if the condition of causal activity is a higher 



state than that of quiescence, the Absolute has 



passed from a condition of comparative imperfection to one 

 of comparative perfection ; and therefore was not originally 

 perfect. If the state of activity is an inferior state to that 

 of quiescence, the Absolute, in becoming a cause, has lost its 

 original perfection. There remains only the supposition that 

 the two states are equal, and the act of creation one of com- 

 plete indifference. But this supposition annihilates the 

 unity of the Absolute." 



These examples must suffice for my present purpose, which 

 is to illustrate and enforce, at the beginning of our investiga- 

 tion, the doctrine of the Relativity of Knowledge. They 

 constitute but a small, though an important, portion of the 

 mass of evidence which might be alleged. The history of 

 metaphysical speculation — if we leave out of the account all 

 psychological inquiry, which is a very different matter — is 

 little else than the history of a series of persistent attempts 

 to frame tenable hypotheses concerning the origin of the 

 universe, the nature of its First Cause, and the ultimate con- 

 stitution of the matter which it contains. History teaches 

 us that all such attempts have failed ; and furnishes us with 

 ample inductive or empirical evidence that the human mind 

 is incapable of attaining satisfactory conclusions concerning 

 the First Cause, the Infinite, the Absolute, or the intimate 

 nature of things. We accordingly say for brevity's sake that 

 we cannot know the Absolute, but only the Relative ; and in 

 saying so, we implicitly assert two practical conclusions : — 



First, we cannot know things as they exist independently 

 of our intelligence, but only as they exist in relation to out 

 intelligence. 



