of a man, we ought in each case to reckon downwards; according to which mode of calculation, the nineteenth century is older than the sixteenth, and the sixteenth than the eleventh.* Each successive generation enjoys the benefit of the experience and knowledge of its predecessors, together with its own; and if science be in a progressive state, the judgment of the most recent generation ought to be the maturest and best. It is by efforts which, being successive, require time; by the gradual rejection of errors, and discovery of new truths; by the combined attempts at forming and perfecting a technical vocabulary and a philosophical arrangement, that sciences are advanced. Hence Truth may, with Bacon, be called the daughter of Time rather than of Authority. In an enlightened and progressive state of society, sound opinions gradually, in the long run, and in the majority of cases, prevail over error; for, if they were not thus predominant, society would cease to be progressive. Through the knowledge and skill of the steersman, they generally make at last a successful voyage down the great stream of time; while false theories, though they may at first be driven on by a * The nature of this mistake may be illustrated by comparing two chronological eras-in one of which the years are reckoned backwards, in the other, forwards: for example, the years before and after the birth of Christ. We must not suppose that, because the year 150 A.D. is later than the year 100 A.D., therefore the year 150 B.c. is later than the year 100 B.C. In like manner, we must not suppose that, because a man of sixty was born before a man of twenty, therefore the sixteenth century is older than the eighteenth. + Auctores vero quod attinet, summæ pusillanimitatis est, auctoribus infinita tribuere, auctori autem auctorum, atque adeo omnis auctoritatis, Tempori, jus suum denegare. Recte enim Veritas, Temporis filia dicitur, non Auctoritatis.-Nov. Org. lib. I. aph. 84. favourable gale, are allowed soon to drift upon the quicksands and breakers, and to be lost in oblivion.* 5. Whatever errors may arise from a blind and fanatical submission of the judgment to the opinions of leaders of sects and parties-a subject to which we shall advert more at length presently there is no danger, in the present age, of philosophic truth being obstructed, and error perpetuated, by a generally prevailing superstitious veneration for traditionary theories and the authority of great names. An habitual freedom of thought exists throughout the scientific world; a system of discussion concerning matters of science-not conducted in a controversial and acrimonious spirit, but directed mainly to the legitimate ends of science—has been established.† Every philosophic question is now, after a time, fairly tried upon its merits. It is principally in the domain of civil government and positive * Lord Bacon expresses a different view on this point, which is scarcely consistent with his own dictum, as to Truth being the daughter of Time. "Another error . . . . is a conceit that of former opinions or sects, after variety and examination, the best hath still prevailed, and suppressed the rest; . . . as if the multitude, or the wisest for the multitude's sake, were not ready to give passage rather to that which is popular and superficial, than to that which is substantial and profound; for the truth is, that time seemeth t be of the nature of a river or stream, which carrieth down to us that which is light and blown up, and sinketh and drowneth that which is weighty and solid."—Adv. of Learning, vol. II. p. 47. Compare Nov. Org. 1. I. aph. 77: "Sed temporibus insequentibus [after Cicero], ex inundatione barbarorum in imperium Romanum, postquam doctrina humana velut naufragium perpessa esset, tum demum philosophiæ Aristotelis et Platonis, tanquam tabulæ ex materi leviore et minus solidâ, per fluctus temporum servatæ sunt." It seems to me that, if this view were correct, all improvement of mankind, in successive ages, would be impossible. + See Whewell's Philosophy of Ind. Sciences, b. XII. c. 4. law that men's minds are now practically divided and embarrassed, as to the amount of respect due to antiquity and prescriptive authority. Now, with respect to political institutions and lawsif we look merely to their origin, the same remark holds good as with respect to philosophy. The generation which enacted a new law, or established a new institution, had no better means of judgment on the subject than ourselves; on the other hand, we have not only their knowledge, but the experience of subsequent years and of our own time, to guide us. To speak of the wisdom of our ancestors, as if they had some peculiar means of knowledge beyond ourselves, or were more likely to be right than the present generation, is a manifest fallacy. The generation who lived in the time of George I. were not wiser than those who lived in the time of George III.; nor were those who lived in the time of George III. wiser than the present generation.* All laws were new when they were first made; and when they were made, they were made by persons who were not wiser than succeeding generations, and had, as to that untried law, no special experience to guide them. When we speak of an ancient institution, we may mean either one of two wholly distinct ideas. We may mean an institution no longer existing, which existed at a former period of history. In this sense, the Athenian ostracism, the Roman tribunate or dictatorship, the mayor of the palace under the Merovingian kings, the * "Nec quia nos illi temporibus antecesserunt, sapientiâ quoque antecesserunt; quæ si omnibus æqualiter datur, occupari ab antecedentibus non potest," says Lactantius, referring to the preceding generations, Div. Inst. II. p. 146. podestà of the Italian republics, the Vehmic tribunals of Germany, Alfred's law of mutual pledge, or the liberum veto of the Polish Diet, is an ancient institution. According to this acceptation of the term, any institution which existed at an early date, however short its duration may have been, is an ancient institution. Or, we may mean an existing institution which dates back from a remote period, and has had a long continuous existence. In this sense, trial by jury in England is an ancient institution. Now, with respect to an ancient institution of the first of these two classes, its antiquity, as such, raises no presumption in its favour. The mere fact of an institution having existed at an early period, does not prove that it is suited to our present wants and circumstances. On the On the contrary, the desuetude of an ancient law may have arisen from the very fact of its unsuitability to the actual state of things. But the other class of ancient institutions stand on a different footing. Having being long in existence, either with few or no intervals or suspensions, they have been tried by a long experience, and have, by a gradual and intelligent, though almost insensible pro * "D'où vient que la loi ne plaît pas également dans tous les temps, et qu'ainsi que la beauté, elle est sujette à vieillir? Quand le souverain l'établit, son intention est certainement qu'elle subsiste jusqu'à ce qu'il lui plaise de la révoquer; cependant, combien de lois n'avons-nous pas qui n'ont jamais été revoquées, et qui maintenant n'ont ni force ni vigueur. L'âge, au lieu de les faire respecter, semble au contraire les avoir rendues ridicules, au point qu'on n'ose pas même les citer, et encore moins les produire. Ainsi dès qu'une loi contrarie les mœurs actuelles, elle éprouve un choc auquel elle ne peut résister. Il semble que tous les esprits tombent d'accord pour ne la plus observer; le souverain lui-même se voit forcé de l'abandonner."-MERLIN, Repertoire de Jurisprudence; art. Autorité, § 1. .... cess, been adapted to the interests, habits, and feelings of the community. Their good parts have been developed; their bad parts eliminated or counteracted; usage and custom have reconciled people to their defects, and rendered theoretical absurdities, which shock the philosophical bystander and speculative reasoner, comparatively innocuous. By the mutual action of the people on the government, and the government on the people, they have been worked into a form which is more or less suited to the state of society, and with which the community have become familiar. They have thus acquired a sort of prescriptive title to their possession, and they are often cherished by the people with a feeling of veneration and affection, of which the mere utility of the institution is the condition rather than the cause. In the domain of science, an opinion on a subject lying beyond the range of our experience, may be handed down, through a series of generations, with implicit faith, but without undergoing any process of examination or verification, and consequently without acquiring any confirmation of its truth. For example, the Greeks, in their Æsopian fables, represented the lion as the king of beasts, and gave him the royal attributes of clemency, mercy, and magnanimity. This belief having been propagated through antiquity, was received and repeated in the middle ages, among nations which knew the lion only from books; and it was not till late years that the observations of travellers and more accurate naturalists corrected the error, by showing that the lion is characterized by the ferocity, cowardice, and treachery, which are qualities common to all the feline tribe. An opinion such as this derives no authority from its antiquity, and its passive reception by successive generations. But no law or political institution can remain in force for a long |