85 
they were not inconsistent. I think they are directly contradictory the one 
to the other, Again, in the 46th section : — 
te A man possessing a moderate acquaintance with the subject, would be 
justified in feeling positively certain, if the Rambler had been discovered 
during the present year, and published as a work of Lord Macaulay’s, that it 
was not his.” 
Now, I do not think any literary man could speak of his conclusions as 
being positive certainties in such a case. It would be just possible, that 
Lord Macaulay might have written the Rambler , and if it were a fact, people 
would only say that it was another instance of his great versatility of style. 
We know that his Lays of Ancient Rome are very different from his staid 
history, or from his “Critical Essays,” and I am sure that if any one will bear 
in mind the differences of opinion as to the authorship of the “ Letters of 
J uu ius,” he will admit that it is dangerous to speak positively as to an author’s 
style. Of course, there may be very high probability ; but, even in our 
own day, we have had the theory started that Lord Bacon was the author 
of Shakspere’s plays. Mr. Row also tells us, that a man 11 persuaded against 
his will is of the same opinion still.” Now, here is a confusion of thought 
from using words in a wrong sense. 
“ A man convinced against his will 
Is of the same opinion still.” * 
Persuasion is one thing, conviction another. I would put it in this way, 
that a man who is convinced, but not persuaded, is of the same opinion still. 
If you persuade a man you take his will with you. The old-fashioned word 
is “ convinced,” and I am quite sure, that it is more accurate than persuaded. 
Persuasion means bringing over the will to a certain extent only. I have 
only one other point, in confirmation of what fell from Dr. Rigg, that what 
is an intuitive conclusion of the mind is a certain mental process, although 
it may be so rapid that we are unable to trace its operation. In the 50th 
section, Mr. Row says : — 
“ Any person who has ever attended to the operation of his own mind, is 
aware, that it often happens that after one has exhausted one’s self in fruit- 
less effort to solve a point, a thought rushes unbidden into the mind which 
unravels the whole difficulty.” 
Now, here I have had considerable experience, and do not believe that 
thoughts ever rush unbidden into the mind. My impression is, that they 
come by a purely rational process — that when the mind is quietly balanced, 
not eager after the point it was driving at and which it hoped to reach, — 
* “ He that complies against his will 
Is of the same opinion still.” 
Butler’s Hudibras. 
