158 LITE IN NATURE. 



this dark-seeming corner of Nature, destined to lead 

 us to mere blank and void? Surely there must 

 have been some misapprehension here some latent 

 false thought, the effects of which were thus made 

 manifest. 



Nor, indeed, were these feelings long in finding 

 satisfaction. Through the fresh light which I had 

 gained respecting Life, my eyes were opened to per- 

 ceive the meaning of some other facts, which until 

 then had possessed for me but little significance. 

 In common with the rest of thinking people, I had 

 often heard the doctrine stated that we know only 

 phenomena.* I had considered more or less the 

 grounds on which this was affirmed, and I suppose 

 that the passive condition of my mind in respect to 

 it represented pretty well that of the majority of 

 men. But when I obtained these views of Life, this 

 doctrine rose from a mere speculation into a prac- 

 tical truth. It became a new possession to me ; for 

 I could not but recognize in it the key to the 



* For the proofs on which this doctrine is based, reference may be 

 made to the writings of Sir W. Hamilton ; or especially to the able 

 summary recently given in Mr. H. Spencer's First Principles. 



