ch. vi.] CAUSATION. 161 



only one of which in the nature of the case we can he con- 

 scious, since it is the only one which exists within our- 

 selves," — we are asked to assume, without further evidence, 

 that throughout the infinitely multitudinous and hetero- 

 geneous phenomena of nature, no other kind of cause exists ! 

 A more amazing example of the audacity of the subjective 

 method could hardly be found. In Mr. Mill's forcible lan- 

 guage, " the supporters of the Volition Theory ask us to infer 

 that volition causes everything, for no reason except that it 

 causes one particular thing ; although that one phenomenon; 

 far from being a type of all natural phenomena, is eminently 

 peculiar ; its laws bearing scarcely any resemblance to those 

 of any other phenomenon, whether of inorganic or of organic 

 nature." 



Thus ends in signal failure the last of the many attempts 

 which have been made to invalidate the principle of the 

 Kelativity of Knowledge. Start from what point we may, 

 we must sooner or later reach the periphery of the circle 

 which includes all that is knowable. Every attempt to 

 overstep this periphery, and gain a sure foothold in the dark 

 region beyond, must result in utter discomfiture. The in- 

 quiry into the origin and contents of our belief in Causation 

 reveals, more clearly than ever, our impotence to deal with 

 objective powers and existences. The attempt to detect the 

 occulta vis or hidden energy in the act of causation, is but the 

 fruitless attempt to bind in the chains of some thinkable 

 formula that universal Protean Power, of whose multitudinous 

 effects we are cognizant in the sequence of phenomena, but 

 which in its secret nature must ever mockingly elude our 

 grasp. 



VOL.! M 



