REVIEWS. 417 



to the sufficiencj' of these and all similar arguments a priori, it is 

 difficult to express an opijiion, so much dependijig on the use of 

 words, to which no distinct idea appears to be attached, and on 

 grasping the forms of ideas of which the outlines seem to be in con- 

 stant fluctuation. Hallam confesses that he was never able perman- 

 ently to satisfy himself whether the celebrated argument of Descartes 

 on necessary existence was sound, or merely a play on words. And 

 a distrust of sucb arguments is still more forced upon us when we 

 see how they issue when applied to physical subjects : no philosopher 

 of the present day but would smile at Clarke's discussion of the na- 

 ture of motion and his proof of the necessary existence of a vacuum, 

 and yet it would be hard to draw a line between his reasoning in ' 

 these cases, and that used in other parts of his demonstration. Prof. 

 Boole writes (Laws of Thought, p. 216) " It is not possible, I think, 

 to rise from the perusal of the arguments of Clarke and Spinoza 

 without a deep conviction of the futility of all endeavours to estab- 

 lish, entirely a prieri, the existence of an Infinite Being, His attri- 

 butes, and His relation to tbe universe. The fundamental principle 

 of all such speculations, viz., that whatever we can clearly conceive 

 must exist, fails to accomplish its end." And though it may be 

 doubted whether Boole has here laid his finger on the precise cause 

 of the futility, yet it would seem that even metaphysicians in the 

 present day virtually accept the result, and rely on the a posteriori 

 arguments which "depend on the sober procedure of analogy and 

 probable induction. All these may be summed in the dictum of 

 Newton at the close of his immortal Principia — " Deum summum 

 necessario existere in confesso est ; et eadem necessitate semper est 

 et ubique " — remembering that this confessio is derived from a con- 

 templation of the harmony which pervades the celestial system and 

 which " could not spring from any thing than the design and govern- 

 ment of an intelligent- and powerful being." 



We cannot help remarking the singularity of the fact that an argu- 

 ment so profound as this of Seiior Lievano, and apparently so little 

 calculated for popular appreciation should appear in a mere every- 

 day hand-book sucb as this calendar is, and adapted for circulation 

 among a people to whom we are not generally inclined to ascribe a 

 high degree of civilization. Neither can we omit to remark the 

 combination in our author of metaphysical and mathematical attain- 

 ments, a combination in old times so common, now-a-days so rare, 



Vol. IX. 2c 



