IX.] " Mr. Buckle's Fallacies. 165 



been shown that our powers, both moral and intellec- 

 tual, are continually developing, and that our acqui- 

 sitions, both moral and intellectual, are constantly 

 increasing. The moral element is, then, no more 

 stationary than the intellectual ; and thus Mr. Buckle's 

 third grand argument falls to the ground, and with it 

 falls his fundamental law, which is shown to be utterly 

 destitute of any truth whatever. 



It may be well to remark, before proceeding further, 

 that rejection of Mr. Buckle's second law is perfectly 

 compatible with acceptance of his first. There is no 

 inconsistency in saying, on the one hand, that moral 

 feeling is a civilising agency, and on the other hand, 

 that the progress of civilisation conforms to the suc- 

 cessive transformations of opinion. For the ethical, 

 as well as all the other emotions, enter largely into 

 every opinion-forming process. Though our emotions 

 do not combine into propositions the ideas which are 

 constituent parts of our beliefs, they do none the less, 

 as Mr. Bain has clearly proved,^ sway the intellect as 

 it performs this operation. The emotions accordingly 

 enter into every act of behef, and there can be no 

 complete theory of human opinion which leaves them 

 out of account. Thus our acceptance of Mr. Buckle's 



^ See the wliole of his admirable work on 7'Ae Ejnotions and the 

 Will. 



