[3] "A report is spread, (says Voltaire in one of his works,) that
there is, in some country or other, a giant as big as a mountain; and
men presently fall to hot disputing concerning the precise length of
his nose, the breadth of his thumb, and other particulars, and
anathematize each other for heterodoxy of belief concerning them. In
the midst of all, if some bold sceptic ventures to hint a doubt as to
the existence of this giant, all are ready to join against him, and
tear him to pieces." This looks almost like a prophetic allegory
relating to the gigantic Napoleon.
[4] {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH
DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA
WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH
PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL
LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK
SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH
VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. Thucyd. b.i.c. 20.
[5] "With what greediness are the miraculous accounts of travellers
received, their descriptions of sea and land monsters, their relations
of wonderful adventures, strange men, and uncouth manners!"--_Hume's
Essay on Miracles_, p. 179, 12mo; p. 185, 8vo, 1767; p. 117, 8vo,
1817.
N.B.--In order to give every possible facility of reference, three
editions of Hume's Essays have been generally employed: a 12mo,
London, 1756, and two 8vo editions.
[6] "Suppose a fact to be transmitted through twenty persons; the
first communicating it to the second, the second to the third, &c.,
and let the probability of each testimony be expressed by nine-tenths,
(that is, suppose that of ten reports made by each witness, nine only
are true,) then, at every time the story passes from one witness to
another, the evidence is reduced to nine-tenths of what it was before.
Thus, after it has passed through the whole twenty, the evidence will
be found to be less than one-eighth."--LA PLACE, _Essai Philosophique
sur les Probabilites_.
That is, the chances for the fact thus attested being true, will be,
according to this distinguished calculator, less than one in eight.
Very few of the common newspaper-stories, however, relating to foreign
countries, could be traced, if the matter were carefully investigated,
up to an actual eye-witness, even through twenty intermediate
witnesses; and many of the steps of our ladder, would, I fear, prove
but rotten; few of the reporters would deserve to have _one in ten_
fixed as the proportion of their false accounts.
[7] "I did not mention the difficulty of detecting a falsehood in any
private or even public history, at the time and place where it is said
to happen; much more where the scene is removed to ever so small a
distance.... But the matter never comes to any issue, if trusted to the
common method of altercation and debate and flying rumours."--_Hume's
Essay on Miracles_, p. 195, 12mo; pp. 200, 201, 8vo, 1767; p. 127, 8vo,
1817.
[8] See the third Postscript appended to this edition.
[9] "We entertain a suspicion concerning any matter of fact, when the
witnesses _contradict_ each other; when they are of a _suspicious_
character; when they have an _interest_ in what they affirm."--_Hume's
Essay on Miracles_, p. 172, 12mo; p. 176, 8vo, 1767; p. 113, 8vo.
1817.
[10] "That testimony itself derives all its force from experience,
seems very certain.... The first author, we believe, who stated fairly
the connexion between the evidence of testimony and the evidence of
experience, was HUME, in his Essay on Miracles, a work ... abounding
in maxims of great use in the conduct of life."--_Edin. Review_, Sept.
1814, p. 328.
[11] "Suppose, for instance, that the fact which the testimony
endeavours to establish partakes of the extraordinary and the
marvellous; in that case, the evidence resulting from the testimony
receives a diminution, greater or less in proportion as the fact is
more or less unusual."--_Hume's Essay on Miracles_, p. 173, 12mo; p.
176, 8vo, 1767; p. 113, 8vo, 1817.
[12] "The ultimate standard by which we determine all disputes that
may arise is always derived from experience and observation."--_Hume's
Essay on Miracles_, p. 172, 12mo; p. 175, 8vo, 1767; p. 112, 8vo,
1817.
[13] {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH
OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}. {~GREEK
CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER
TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL
LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH
PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL
SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL
LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}
{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK
CAPITAL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER
LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK
CAPITAL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL
LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER
DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL
LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH
OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL
LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH
PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. PIND. Olymp. 1
[14] This doctrine, though hardly needing confirmation from authority,
is supported by that of Hume; his eighth essay is, throughout, an
argument for the doctrine of "Philosophical necessity," drawn entirely
from the general uniformity, observable in the course of nature with
respect to the principles of _human conduct_, as well as those of the
material universe; from which uniformity, he observes, it is that we
are enabled _in both cases_, to form our judgment by means of
_Experience:_ "and if," says he, "we would explode any forgery in
history, we cannot make use of a more convincing argument, than to
prove that the actions ascribed to any person, are directly contrary
to the course of nature....
"... The Veracity of Quintus Curtius is as suspicious when he
describes the supernatural courage of Alexander, by which he was
hurried on singly to attack multitudes, as when he describes his
supernatural force and activity, by which he was able to resist them.
So readily and universally do we acknowledge a _uniformity in human
motives and actions, as well as in the operations of body_."--_Eighth
Essay_, p. 131, 12mo; p. 85, 8vo, 1817.
Accordingly, in the tenth essay, his use of the term "miracle," after
having called it "a transgression of a law of nature," plainly shows
that he meant to include _human_ nature: "no testimony," says he, "is
sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a
nature that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which
it endeavours to establish." The term "prodigy" also (which he all
along employs as synonymous with "miracle") is applied to testimony, in
the same manner, immediately after; "In the foregoing reasoning we have
supposed ... that the falsehood of that testimony would be a kind of
_prodigy_." Now had he meant to confine the meaning of "miracle," and
"prodigy," to a violation of the laws of _matter_, the epithet
"_miraculous_," applied even thus hypothetically, to _false testimony_,
would be as unmeaning as the epithets "green" or "square;" the only
possible sense in which we can apply to it, even in imagination, the
term "miraculous," is that of "highly improbable,"--"contrary to those
laws of nature which respect human conduct:" and in this sense he
accordingly uses the word in the very next sentence: "When any one
tells me that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately
consider with myself whether it be more _probable_ that this person
should either deceive or be deceived, or that the fact which he relates
should really have happened. I weigh the one _miracle_ against the
other."--_Hume's Essay on Miracles_, pp. 176, 177, 12mo; p. 182, 8vo,
1767; p. 115, 8vo, 1817.
See also a passage above quoted from the same essay, where he speaks
of "the _miraculous_ accounts of travellers;" evidently using the word
in this sense.
Perhaps it was superfluous to cite authority for applying the term
"miracle" to whatever is "highly improbable;" but it is important to
the students of Hume, to be fully aware that he uses those two
expressions as synonymous; since otherwise they would mistake the
meaning of that passage which he justly calls "a general maxim worthy
of your attention."
[15] "Events may be so extraordinary that they can hardly be
established by testimony. We would not give credit to a man who would
affirm that he saw a hundred dice thrown in the air, and that they all
fell on the same faces."--_Edin. Review_, Sept. 1814, p. 327.
Let it be observed, that the instance here given is _miraculous_ in no
other sense but that of being highly _improbable_.
[16] "If the spirit of religion join itself to the love of wonder,
there is an end of common sense; and human testimony in these
circumstances loses all pretensions to authority."--_Hume's Essay on
Miracles_, p. 179, 12mo; p. 185, 8vo, 1767; p. 117, 8vo, 1817.
[17] The supposed history from which the above extracts are given, is
published entire in the work called _Historic Certainties._
[18] "I desire any one to lay his hand upon his heart, and after
serious consideration declare whether he thinks that the falsehood of
such a book, supported by such testimony, would be more extraordinary
and miraculous than all the miracles it relates."--_Hume's Essay on
Miracles_, p. 200, 12mo; p. 206, 8vo, 1767; p. 131, 8vo, 1817.
Let it be borne in mind that Hume (as I have above remarked)
continually employs the term "miracle" and "prodigy" to signify
anything that is highly _improbable_ and _extraordinary._
[19] "The wise lend a very academic faith to every report which
favours the passion of the reporter, whether it magnifies his
_country_, his family, or himself."--_Hume's Essay on Miracles_, p.
144, 12mo; p. 200, 8vo, 1767; p. 126, 8vo, 1817.
[20] "Nothing can be more contrary than such a philosophy (the
academic or sceptical) to the supine indolence of the mind, its rash
arrogance, its lofty pretensions, and its superstitious
credulity."--_Fifth Essay_, p. 68, 12mo; p. 41, 8vo, 1817.
[21] See _Hume's Essay on Miracles_, pp. 189, 191, 195, 12mo; pp. 193,
197, 201, 202, 8vo, 1767; pp. 124, 125, 126, 8vo, 1817.
[22] See _Edinburgh Review_ for October, 1842, p. 162.
[23] It is well know with how much learning and ingenuity the
Rationalists of the German school have laboured to throw discredit on
the literal interpretation of the narratives, both of the Old and the
New Testaments; representing them as MYTHS, i.e., fables allegorically
describing some physical or moral phaenomena--philosophical
principles--systems, &c.--under the figure of actions performed by
certain ideal personages; these allegories having been, afterwards,
through the mistake of the vulgar, believed as history. Thus, the real
historical existence of such a person as the supposed founder of the
Christian religion, and the acts attributed to him, are denied in the
literal sense, and the whole of the evangelical history is explained
on the "mythical" theory.
Now it is a remarkable circumstance in reference to the point at
present before us, that an eminent authoress of this century has
distinctly declared that Napoleon Buonaparte was NOT A MAN, but a
SYSTEM.
[24] Germaniae vocabulum recens et nuper additum; quoniam qui primi
Rhenum transgressi Gallos expulerint, ac nunc Tungri, tunc Germani
vocati sint: ita nationis nomen in nomen gentis evaluisse paullatim,
ut omnes, primum a victore ob metum, mox a seipsis invento nomine,
Germani vocarentur.--_Tacitus, de Mor. Germ._
* * * * *