248 



INDUCTION. 



other as causes and effects, is in some 

 sort a process of analysis. That every 

 fact which begins to exist has a cause, 

 and that this cause must be found in 

 some fact or concourse of facts which 

 immediately preceded the occurrence, 

 may be taken for certain. The whole 

 of the present facts are the infallible 

 result of all past facts, and more im- 

 mediately of all the facts which ex- 

 isted at the moment previous. Here, 

 then, is a great sequence, which we 

 know to be uniform. If the whole 

 prior state of the entire universe could 

 again recur, it would again be fol- 

 lowed by the present state. The 

 question is, how to resolve this com- 

 plex uniformity into the simpler uni- 

 formities which compose it, and assign 

 to each portion of the vast antecedent 

 the portion of the consequent which 

 is attendant on it. 



This operation, which we have called 

 analytical, inasmuch as it is the resolu- 

 tion of a complex whole into the com- 

 ponent elements, is more than a merely 

 mental analysis. No mere contempla- 

 tion of the phenomena, and partition 

 of them by the intellect alone, will of 

 itself accomplish the end we have now 

 in view. Nevertheless, such a mental 

 partition is an indispensable first step. 

 The order of nature, as perceived at a 

 first glance, presents at every instant a 

 chaos followed by another chaos. We 

 must decompose each chaos into single 

 facts. We must learn to see in the 

 chaotic antecedent a multitude of dis- 

 tinct antecedents, in the chaotic con- 

 sequent a multitude of distinct conse- 

 quents. This, supposing it done, will 

 not of itself tell us on which of the ante- 

 cedents each consequent is invariably 

 attendant. To determine that point, we 

 must endeavour to effect a separation 

 of the facts from one another, not in 

 our minds only, but in nature. The 

 mental analysis, however, must take 

 place first. And every one knows 

 that in the mode of performing it, 

 one intellect differs immensely from 

 another. It is the essence of the act 

 of observing, for the observer is not 

 he who merely sees the thing which 



is before his 6yes, but he who sees 

 what parts that thing is composed of. 

 To do this well is a rare talent. One 

 person, from inattention, or attending 

 only in the wrong place, overlooks 

 half of what he sees ; another sets 

 down much more than he sees, con- 

 founding it with what he imagines, 

 or with what he infers ; another takes 

 note of the kind of all the circum- 

 stances, but being inexpert in estimat- 

 ing their degree, leaves the quantity 

 of each vague and uncertaiii ; another 

 sees indeed the whole, but makes such 

 an awkward division of it into parts, 

 throwing things into one mass which 

 require to be separated, and separat- 

 ing others which might more con- 

 veniently be considered as one, that 

 the result is much the same, some- 

 times even worse, than if no analysis 

 had been attempted at all. It would 

 be possible to point out what qualities 

 of mind, and modes of mental culture 

 fit a person for being a good observer : 

 that, however, is a question not of 

 Logic, but of the Theory of Educa- 

 tion, in the most enlarged sense of 

 the term. There is not properly an 

 Art of Observing. There may be 

 rules for observing. But these, like 

 rules for inventing, are properly in- 

 structions for the preparation of one's 

 own mind ; for putting it into the 

 state in which it will be most fitted 

 to observe, or most likely to invent. 

 They are, therefore, essentially rules 

 of self -education, which is a different 

 thing from Logic. They do not teach 

 how to do the thing, but how to make 

 ourselves capable of doing it. They 

 are an art of strengthening the limbs, 

 not an art of using them. 



The extent and minuteness of ob- 

 servation which may be requisite, and 

 the degree of decomposition to which 

 it may be necessary to carry the 

 mental analysis, depend on the par- 

 ticular purpose in view. To ascer^ 

 tain the state of the whole universe 

 at any particular moment is impos- 

 sible, but would also be useless. In 

 making chemical experiments, we do 

 not think it necessary to note the 



