(and our beardless philosopher sighs as he says it) bear the penalty of
a too restless intellect, and a too speculative genius; he knows all
the usual arguments which satisfied Pascal, Butler, Bacon, Leibnitz; but
they will do no longer: more radical, more tremendous difficulties
have suggested themselves, 'from the 'depths of philosophy,' and far
different answers are required now!+

____

* Foxton's last chapter, passim, from some expressions one would almost
imagine that our author himself aspired to be, if not the Messiah, at
least the Elias, of this new dispensation. We fear, however, that this
'vox clamantis' would reverse the Baptist's proclamation, and would cry,
'The straight shall be made crooked. and the plain places rough.' +
We fear that many young minds in our day are exposed to the danger
of falling into one or other of the prevailing forms of unbelief, and
especially into that of pantheistic mysticism--from rashly meditating
in the cloudy regions of German philosophy--on difficulties which would
seem beyond the limits of human reason, but which that philosophy too
often promises to solve--with what success we may see from the rapid
succession and impenetrable obscurities of its various systems. Alas!
when will men learn that one of the highest achievements of philosophy
is to know when it is vain to philosophise. When the obscure principles
of these most uncouth philosophies, expressed, we verily believe, in the
darkest language ever used by civilised man, are applied to the solution
of the problems of theology and ethics, no wonder that the natural
consequence, as well as just retribution, of such temerity is a
plunge into tenfold night. Systems of German philosophy may perhaps be
advantageously studied by those who are mature enough to study them; but
that they have an incomparable power of intoxicating the intellect of