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object subject ; that force was the same thing as impotence ; 
that darkness was light, and light darkness. It is hardly possi- 
ble to believe that such speculations could have been applauded 
by crowds of admiring disciples. “ It appears/* says he, “ that 
the world-spirit has at last succeeded in freeing himself from 
all incumbrances, and is able to conceive himself as absolute 
intelligence. For he is this only as far as he knows himself 
to be absolute intelligence ; and this he knows only in science, 
and this knowledge constitutes his true existence.** The posi- 
tive philosophy is really refreshing, compared with such 
speculations. In philosophy they all ultimately end in Pan- 
theism, and in theology in mysticism. 
The first condition of a peace between theologians and 
philosophers must be a distinct recognition by both that the 
regions of the transcendental transcend the bounds of the 
human understanding. Theologians must renounce a large 
portion of metaphysical theology as lying beyond those limits ; 
and philosophers the whole of their transcendental concep- 
tions, and the greater portion of those which border on them. 
Each side must be content with the humbler method of induc- 
tion, deduction prosecuted through the medium of ideas 
capable of being distinctly imaged to the understanding, and 
careful investigation. It is incredible what a large portion of so- 
called philosophy and theology has originated out of stringing 
together indefinite ideas which exist not in the regions of 
solid matter but in cloud-land, respecting which the saying 
of St. Paul is unquestionably true, “ Ever learning, but never 
able to attain to the knowledge of the truth.** Such materials 
were much employed by the controversialists of his day, and 
ultimately culminated in the Alexandrian philosophy. We may 
almost pronounce these tendencies to be one of the original sins 
of the human intellect, as we see it more or less exhibited in the 
theology and philosophy of almost every nation under heaven. 
It seems at first sight marvellous, that, before engaging 
in such inquiries, it has not occurred to those making them, 
that it is necessary to ascertain, by a rigid analysis, whether 
they do or do not lie within the rational powers of man. It is 
very desirable to measure the profoundest depths of the ocean; 
but only one demented would attempt to measure them 
if he were satisfied that his only instrument for doing it was 
a line one hundred fathoms long. A vast expenditure of use- 
less power might have been saved in the world of mind by 
adopting such a precaution. My objection to the whole of 
these processes is one taken in limine, that all conceptions 
which are incapable of being distinctly imaged in our minds 
lie beyond the boundaries of rational inquiry. 
