182 LIFE IN NATURE. 



Now, strange as this may seem when thus gene- 

 rally stated, there is nothing we can better under- 

 stand, when it is expressed in matter-of-fact terms, 

 and applied to particular cases. "We are feeling 

 things to be which are not ; our practically true is 

 not the very truth." There is not the least dim,- 

 culty in this : our practically true in any large 

 matter is continually not the true. Is not the earth 

 practically flat? Or again: it is the established 

 doctrine of science, proved by overwhelming evi- 

 dence, that motion, once begun, never comes to an 

 end : the world is what it is because all the motion 

 within it never ceases. Yet, practically, motion 

 continually ceases: we have consciously to do with 

 motions that, for the most part, come to a speedy 

 end. Thus an unceasing motion gives us the feeling 

 and the perception of ceasing motions ; and the 

 round earth gives us the feeling and perception of a 

 flat one. 



Our " practical," therefore, may not be the true in 

 any case. In fact, it is evident that in any case in 

 which we are relatively very small, and our powers 

 are capable of apprehending very partially, it cer- 



