Book^ii A DISCOUBSE THE PUBSUIT OF TEUTH, LONDON : PRINTED BY 6P0TTISW00DE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET ON THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE PRINCIPLES OF EVIDENCE, THEOLOGICAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND JUDICIAL. A DISCOUESE UDeUtjcrcti before tjjc £unbap Sccturc ^ocictp March 2, 1873, BY A. ELLEY FINCH. WITH NOTES AND AUTHORITIES. LONDON : LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 1873. All riaht." rtstrrecl. - CM SYLLABUS. Man distinguished from the lower animals by his intellectual faculty for acquiring Knowledge through the medium of Testimony — Improvement of his social condition mainly dependent upon the right use of such faculty. Modern meaning of the Apophthegm of Archimedes — ' If the Edu- cational Fulcrum were possessed by Science, it would move the World.' Extremes of Credulity and Scepticism alike irrational — Basis of sound Belief — Faith in the constancy and uniformity of the Order of Nature, and in the teaching and analogy of Human Experience. Harmony of Beligion and Science — Antagonism of Science and Theology. Principle of Theological Proof (anticipatio mentis) — Appeal to the intuitive consciousness, through Deductive inference from (assumed; inspired human assertion. Principle of Scientific Proof (interpretatio natures) — Appeal to the facts of external Nature, through Inductive experience, from Observation and Experiment. Illustrations — Evidence of the dogma of the Trinity (theological) — Evidence of the composition of Water (scientific). Principle of Judicial Proof {lex terrce" 1 ) — Correspondence of the rules of legal evidence with the intelligence of the community, and standard of belief of the age. Improvement of legal evidence parallel to the progress of Scientific Discovery and the decline of Theological Dogma. Illustrations — Belief in Witchcraft — Culminates under the theology 1 This barbarous latin phrase, coined by our unscholarly ancestors in their struggles to preserve the law of the land against the usurpations of ecclesiastics (striving to impose upon the national tribunals the slavish maxims of the civil and canon laws), is classical with the lover of English liberty ; and the- talisman ' lex terra,' enshrined in Magna Charta, remains a permanent memorial of their signal sitccess. VI SYLLABUS. of the Puritans — Extinguished by the scientific scepticism of the 18th century— Trial of Sir Walter Ealeigh, a.d. 1603— (Theology supreme, Science in its dawn) — Laxity of the Law of Evidence sacri- fices the life of Sir Walter Ealeigh — Trial of William Hone, a.d. 1817 — (Science ascendant Theology on the wane) — Strictness of the Law of Evidence restores William Hone to liberty, and vindi- cates the freedom of the British Political Press. Primary purpose of Judicial Inquiry, the Discovery of Truth — English Criminal Law of Evidence, in silencing the accused, violates the fundamental axiom of Science — ' Interrogation of Nature.' Supreme importance of the Canons of Judicial Proof, as disposing of Property, Life, and Liberty — The Law of the land as the Moral Code of the Community. Connexion of the Physical and Moral Laws — Moral Beliefs sifted of superstitions, purified from prejudices, and placed paramount to theological dogmas, through diffused knowledge of the Truths and Methods of the Physical Sciences. NOTES. PAGE A. What is Truth ? 65 B. The Basis of Belief 69 C. Real Religion . . . . . . . .75 D. Mind and Matter 76 E. The Nature of Knowledge 79 F. The Bible 81 G. Astronomy and Geology and Genesis . . . .84 H. The Theologians and Human Happiness . . . .90 I. The Studies at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge . 94 J. Sir Isaac Neivton and ' The Prophecies ' . . . .98 K. The Inductive and Deductive Philosophical Methods . 100 INDEX OF AUTHORITIES AND REFERENCES. Abercrombie, J., M.D., Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers and the Investigation of Truth, 10th ed. J. Murray, 1840 2 Amos, Sheldon, M.A. (Professor of Jurisprudence in Univer- sity College, London), A Systematic Vieiv of the Science of Jurisprudence. Longmans, 1872 . . . . .26 Arnold, Matthew, D.C.L., Literature and Dogma: An Essay towards a letter Apprehension of the Bible. Smith, Elder & Co., 1873 52, 100 Arnott, Neil, M.D., F.R.S., Elements of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, 6th ed. Longmans, 1864 . . . 7,10,24.79 „ „ A Survey of Human Progress, 2nd ed. Longmans, 1862 . . 40 Austin, J., The Province of Jurisprudence determined. J. Murray, 1832 4 Bacon, Lord, Works, 2 vols. W. Ball, 1837 „ „ Essays (with annotations by Archbishop Whately). Parker & Son, 1838 65 ,, „ De Dignitate et Augmentis Scientiarum . . 39 „ ,, Novum Organum . . . . . .37 ,, ,, Parasceve ad Historiam Naturalem, fyc. . . 9 ,, ,, Epistolce 42 Bain, A., LL.D. (Professor of Logic at the University of Aber- deen), Mental and Moral Science. Longmans, 1872 . 64, 71 Barrington, Honble. Daines, Observations on the more Ancient Statutes, &c, 4th ed. Bowyer & Nichols, 1775 . . .59 Bentham, Jeremy, Works of, by J. Hill Burton. Edinburgh, 1843^ 26 „ „ Rationale of Judicial Evidence. Vol. 6 of above ,, X INDEX OF AUTHORITIES AND REFERENCES. PAGE Biographie Universelle, Ancienne et Moderne, nouvelle edn. Bruxelles, 1843-1847 2, 19 Blackstone, Sir W., Commentaries on the Laws of England 47, 61 „ „ The Great Charter, with Historical Intro- duction, Law Tracts, 2 vols. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1762 ... 60 Boswell, J., Life of Dr. Johnson (edited by J. W. Croker). Murray, 1848 98 Browne, Harold (Bishop of Ely), An Exposition of the Thirty- nine Articles, 3rd ed. Parker & Son, 1856 . . .18 Brown, Joseph, Q.C., On the Bill to amend the Law of Evi- dence, fyc. Sess. Proceedings of the Society for Pro- moting the Amendment of the Law, vol. v., No. 14. April, 1872 . . . . . 58, 59 „ Sir Thomas, M.D., Religio Medici. London, Nath. Ekins, 1672 10, 31 Buckle, H. T., History of Civilization in England, 2nd ed. Parker & Son, 1858 7, 8, 16, 21, 25, 41, 42, 43, 55, 64, 72, 81, 94, 102-106 Burnet, G. (Bishop of Salisbury), History of his own Time. {Literature of the Church of England, vol. ii.) . . .76 Butler, J., D.C.L. (Bishop of Durham), Works by J. Hallifax, (Bishop of Gloucester), 2 vols. Oxford, University Press, 1850 „ „ Three Sermonson Human Nature,