iQO Mr. Buckle's Fallacies. [ix. 



We have not criticised at length Mr. Buckle's first 

 law, because we have no restrictions to place upon 

 it, and because it may be found demonstrated, as 

 completely as possible, in Mr. Buckle's own work. 

 As the result of our examination into his other laws, 

 we have found that the second contains no truth 

 whatever, being supported by a tangled chain of 

 sophisms, every link in which is unsound ; but that 

 the third and fourth are strictly true, if limited to 

 the period of which Mr. Buckle treats. The first law 

 did not originate with him, and the second he has 

 failed to establish ; but the third and fourth may take 

 their places as important additions to our knowledge 

 of human history. This is the lasting service which 

 Mr. Buckle has already rendered to science. 



With respect to the tendency of Mr. Buckle's work, 

 an unprejudiced mind can have but one opinion. It 

 is calculated to awaken independent thought, and to 

 diffuse a spirit of scientific inquiry. Written in an 

 easy and elegant style, it will be read with pleasure 

 by many who would not otherwise have the patience 

 to go through with the subjects of which it treats. 

 Thus, grand and startling in its views, impressive and 

 charming in its eloquence, it cannot fail to arouse 

 many a slumbering mind to intellectual effort. Such 

 has its tendency already been, and such it will con- 



