THE PHILOSOPHY OF BISHOP BUTLKK. i)i> 



of Plato, nor for the admirable clearness of J. S. Mill. Yet in 

 philosophical inquiry I believe that Butler exhibited the true 

 temper of the philosopher, shunning both the French rage for 

 lucidity and the German rage for the obscure. 



Butler does not try to make a matter clearer than its proper 

 nature admits of its becoming, nor does he care for the elegance 

 of diction in which to clothe what he has to say. Some of his 

 sentences are uncouth ; others are difficult to understand. 

 But he tries always to state the case as it really is, and nothing 

 more nor less can pass the severity of his judgment. There 

 are passages of real power in his writings, borne along by an 

 inward inspiration. But he keeps his hand stedfastly on the 

 helm, lest the vessel should ever deviate from the course of verity 

 and rectitude. 



This intellectual temper, of which Butler is a grand example, 

 may be called the characteristically English temper. We 

 discern it also in Bacon, Newton, Locke, Darwin, Kehnn. It is 

 accompanied sometimes by a speculative audacity ; sometimes 

 by gifts of style ; sometimes by remarkable faculty for luminous 

 exposition. But in itself it remains distinct from all these, and 

 its constituents are circumspection, loyalty, and sobriety. We 

 rnay wish that the great Bishop had had more command 

 of language ; that he had allowed some place to poetry, 

 imagination, and ardent emotion ; that his fires had sometimes 

 been allowed to burn fiercely, instead of smouldering \vith 

 regulated and equal heat. 



Had these things been in him his books would have been more 

 easily read and more widely read ; but they would not have 

 been read with more profit. The absence of these quahties 

 leaves us open all the more to the uninterrupted play of the 

 spirit of the man. We are impressed as we follow his teaching 

 with the same reverence for truth, the same resolve to explore 

 the whole matter, the same patience in suspending judgment 

 till all available evidence has been obtained, and finally, we reach 

 the same strong degree of certitude without which Butler seldom, 

 if ever, left off his investigations. 



Butler's philosophy is inseparably connected with three 

 great doctrines. The doctrine of analogy, the doctrine of proba- 

 bihty, and the doctrine of human nature. 



The Analogy is a work of great difficulty, and was said by the 

 younger Pitt to raise more doubts than it solves. In order to 

 estimate it fairly we must take care to see the point of view from 



