x801.] 
For the Monthly Magazine: 
ENQUIRER, No. XXIII. 
On REASONING from ANALOGY. 
( F all the fpecies of reafoning, that 
from analogy is likely to be the moft 
frequent; for its eflence confifting in 
drawing inferences concerning things un- 
known from their refemblance to things 
known it is fuited to the imperfect ftate 
of our knowledge, and indeed is the only 
mode of arguing we can apply to various 
topics. But although on this account it 
is neceflary for us on many occafions to 
employ it, we ought at the tame time to be 
fully aware of its deteéts ard. fources of 
delufion, which are fo numerous, that ithas 
probably been much more frequently the 
parent of error, -than the guide to truth. 
There is in mankind fuch a propenfity to 
purfue refemblances to a fanciful length, 
and from flight premifes to draw large 
conclufions, that a fpeculatift can very fel- 
dom confine himfelt within the limits of 
fair inference ; and the greater his inven- 
tive powers, the more liable is he to lead 
himfclf and others into a train of illufory 
notions. 
The very flender foundations upon 
which extenfive analogies have been raifed 
are truly furprifing. Some inftances of 
this kind may be ulefully adduced, both as 
curious in their own nature, and as calcu- 
lated to give a trong impreffion of the fal- 
libility of the judgment in this particu- 
Jar. 
Few deceptions have prevailed fo uni- 
verfally, or lafted fo long, as that of judi- 
cial afirology, yet nothing can be more re- 
mote or trifling than the analogies on 
which it is founded. It was not, indeed, 
a very improbable notion, after the influ- 
ence of the fun and moon upon this globe 
had been afcertained, that the other hea- 
venly bodies might exert influences alfo. 
But as their inferior fize, or greater dif- 
tances, would obvioudy reduce any action 
of a fimilar kind with that of the large lu- 
minaries to a mere trifle, men were not {a- 
tisfied with the direc? analogy, but fancied 
a variety of influences totally different from 
theirs, which they deduced from the moft 
fhadowy conformities imaginable. The 
fir) ep towards this fyftem of error was 
the giving names to the planets. Thole 
of the heathen theology were borrowed for 
this purpole, the immediate confequence of 
which was, that the attributes of the det- 
ties were transferred to the planets which 
bore theirnames. The whole face of the 
Enguirer, No. XXIII. 
ss | 
heavens was then divided into ficures, com 
prehending groups of the fixed ftars ut 
conftellations, fome of which, in their cute 
lines, exhibited a remote refemblance to 
the objeé&t chofen to difcriminate thems 
while in the greater part, the including G. 
gure: was formed merely by the arbitrary 
taucy of the defigner. Even to thefe con- 
ftellations, however, were aflociated ideas 
of qualities fimilar to thofe of the men 
3 
animals, utenfils, &c. of which the ficures 
aS = 
were confiituted. The mof noted of them 
lay in the zodiac, or fun’s path-way in his 
apparent orbit round the earth, and to thefe 
was attributed a fuperior influence, com 
pounded of that of the figures and of vn 
fun. There remained, however, to conneg& 
thefe influences or fignifications with man 
and his concerns, and this was the final 
and mof curious progrefs of analogy. A 
planet was fuppofed to thed its influence 
peculiarly when in a certain part GF the 
heavens ; and the child who happened to 
come into the world at theinftant of fuch 
an aftral predominancy was to be indeljb] | 
imbued with all the qualities belonging of 
his flar. ‘Thus tempers were renideved 
jovial, faturnine, martial, mercurial, and 
the like. At length the folly proceeded fo 
far, that every event which was to happen 
to a man during his life was conceived to 
be determined by the afpect of the hea 
vens under which he was born ; fo that, 
as Butler humouroufly expreffes it, 4 
No fooner does he peep into 
The world, but he has done his due: 
Catch’d all difeafes, tool all phyficl: 
That cures or kills a man’ that js ae 
Married his punctual dofe of wives 
Is cuckolded, and breaks or eee 
3 
Hence, cafiing @ nativily was confdered 
as the mot important operation of human 
{cience: and tor many ages aftrologers 
were retained by kings and great men for 
the purpole of making predi@ions, and 
ites from os polition of the heavens 
the proper time for engaging in all affair 
of conlequence. Thon thefe sdiatay 
are now exploded among all perfons of 
fenfe, we are fo familiariled to them in our 
reading, that few probably are {truck with 
the amazing abule of analogy that could 
ever have given them credit. What wide 
fteps in reafoning (if the procefs deferves 
the name) from the material influence of 
the fun and moon, to the moral influence 
of a ftar ? from the qualities of a Heathen 
deity, to fimilar ones refiding in a planet 
to which chance has given the fame name? 
and from the place occupied in the hemi- 
Ea - {phere 
