 Section 32 of Passages from the Life of a Philosopher This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Passages from the Life of a Philosopher by Charles Babbage. Section 32, Religion Before thy holy altar, sacred truth, I bow in manhood as I knelt in youth. There let me bend till this frail form decay, and my last accents hail thine opening day. There are three sources from which it is stated that man can arrive at the knowledge of the existence of a deity. One, the a priori or metaphysical proof. Such is that of Dr. Samuel Clark. Two, from Revelation. Three, from the examination of the works of the Creator. One, the first of these, the a priori proof, is of such a nature that it can only be apprehended in a high state of civilization, and then only by the most intellectual. Even amongst that very limited class, it does not, as an argument, command universal ascent. Two, the argument deduced from Revelation is advanced in many countries and for several different forms of faith. When it is sincerely adopted, it deserves the most respectful examination. It must, however, on the other hand, be submitted to the most scrutinizing inquiry. As long as the believer in any form of Revelation maintains it by evidence or by argument, it is only by such means that it ought to be questioned. Willful abuse of language. When, however, professed believers dare to throw doubt upon the motives of those whose arguments they are unable to refute, and still more when availing themselves of the imperfections of language, they apply to their opponents epithets which they can defend in one sense, but no will be interpreted in another. When they speak of an adversary as a disbeliever, because, though he believes in the same general Revelation, he doubts the accuracy of certain texts or believes in a different interpretation of others. When they apply the term infidel, meaning thereby a disbelief in their own view of Revelation, but knowing that it will be understood as disbelief and a deity, then it is at least allowable to remind them that they are richly paid for their support of their own doctrines, whilst those they revile have no such motives to influence or to mislead their judgment. Before, however, we enter upon that great question, it is necessary to observe that belief is not a voluntary operation. Belief is the result of the influence of a greater or less preponderance of evidence acting upon the human mind. It ought also to be remarked that the word Revelation assumes as a fact that a being exists from whom it proceeds, whilst on the other hand the existence of a deity is possible without any revelation. Inspiration. The first question that arises is the meaning of the word Revelation In its ordinary acceptation it is said to be a direct communication from the deity to an individual human being. Dr. Johnson remarks, Inspiration is when an overpowering impression of any propositions is made upon the mind by God Himself. That gives a convincing and indubitable evidence of the truth and divinity of it. Be it so, but then, as such, it is not Revelation to any other human being. All others receive it from the statement of the person to whom the Revelation was about saved. To all others its truth depends entirely on human testimony. Now in a certain sense all our faculties being directly given to us by the Supreme Being might be said to be revelations, but this is clearly not the religious meaning of the word. In the latter sense it is a direct special communication of knowledge to one or more persons which is not given to the rest of the race. Before any person can admit the truth of a revelation asserted by another, he must have clearly established in his own mind what evidence he would require to believe in a special revelation to himself. But when he communicates this revelation to his fellow creatures that which may truly be a revelation to him is not revelation to them. It is to them merely human testimony which they are bound to examine more strictly from its abnormal nature. Let us now suppose that this believer in his own special revelation offers to work a miracle in proof of the truth of his doctrine and even further that he does perform a miracle. Those who witness it have now before them far higher evidence of inspiration than that of the Prophet's testimony. They have the evidence of their own senses that an act contrary to the ordinary laws of nature has been performed. But even here the amount of conviction will be influenced by the state of knowledge the spectator of the miracle himself possesses of the laws of nature which he believes he has thus seen violated. Footnote, I have adopted in the text that view of the nature of miracles which prevailed many years ago. In 1838 I published in the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise my own views on those important subjects the nature of miracles and of prophecy. Those opinions have been received and adopted by many of the most profound thinkers of very different religious opinions. And footnote, Revelation, granting him however the most profound knowledge the evidence influencing his own mind will be inferior to that which acts upon the mind of the inspired worker of the miracle. If there are more witnesses than one thus qualified this will to a certain extent augment the evidence. Although a large number might not give it a proportional addition of weight it would be profane to compare evidence derived directly from the Almighty which must necessarily be irresistible with the testimony of man which must always be carefully weighed by taking into account the state of his knowledge, his prejudices, his interests, and his truthfulness. On the other hand it would lead to endless confusion and be destructive to all reasoning on the subject to apply the same word Revelation to things so different in their nature as the immediate act of the deity. The impression produced by that act on the mind of the person inspired the description of it given by him in the language of the people he addressed the record made of his description by those who heard it. The transmission of this through various languages and people to the present day we have now arrived at the highest external evidence man can have. The declaration of inspiration by the prophet supported by an admitted miracle performed before the competent witnesses to prove the truth of his inspiration. Transmitted testimony. But to all who are not present the evidence of this is entirely dependent on the truth and even upon the accuracy of human testimony at every step of its transmission it undergoes some variation in the words in which it is related and without the least want of good faith at any stage. The mere imperfection of language will necessarily vary the terms by which it is described. Even when written language has conveyed it to paper as a MSS there may be several different manuscripts by different persons even in the extraordinary case of two MSS agreeing perfectly there remains a perpetual source of doubt as to the exact interpretation arising from the continually fluctuating meaning of the words themselves. Few persons who have not reflected deeply or had a very wide experience are at all aware of the errors arising from this source. Russian scandal. There is a game occasionally played in society which imminently illustrates the value of testimony transmitted with the most perfect good faith through a succession of truthful persons. It is called Russian scandal and is thus played. One of the party writes a short simple tale perhaps a single anecdote the original composer of the tale whom we will call A retires to another room with B to whom he communicates that A then returns to the party and sends in C who is told by B the tale he had just learnt. B then returns to the party and sends in D who is informed of the anecdote by C and so on until the story has been transmitted through 12 educated and truthful witnesses. The 12th then relates to the whole party the story he has just heard. After that the original written document is read. The wit or fun of the transmitted story is invariably gone and nothing but an unmeaning platitude generally remains. One very interesting case occurred a few years ago in which the wit of the original story had evidently been lost but had afterwards been revived in a different form in the latter part of its transmission. The story at starting consisted of the following anecdote. The Duke of Rutland and Theodore Hook having dined with the Lord Mayor were looking for their hats previously to their departure. The Duke unable to find his own said to his friend, Hook I have lost my caster. The Lord Chief Baron Sir Frederick Pollock was at that moment passing down the stairs, Hook perceiving him replied instantly, never mind, take Pollock's, Pollock's. The story told at the conclusion, after a dozen transmissions, was thus. Theodore Hook and the Duke of Rutland were dining with the Bishop of Oxford, both being equally incapable of finding their respective hats. The Duke said to the wit, Hook, you have stolen my caster. No, replied the Prince of Jokers, I haven't stolen your caster, but I should have no objection to take your beaver. Alluding to Belvoir Castle, the splendid seat of the Duke of Rutland, which in the language of the clay is pronounced precisely in the same way as the name of that animal whom man robs of his great coat in order to make a covering for his own skull, it requires considerable training to become an accurate witness of facts. No two persons, however well trained, ever express, in the same form of words, the series of facts they have both observed, the belief in the Creator from His works. Three, there remains a third source from which we arrive at the knowledge of the existence of a Supreme Creator, namely, from an examination of His works. Unlike transmitted testimony, which is weakened at every stage, this evidence derives confirmation from the progress of the individual as well as from the advancement of the knowledge of the race. Almost all thinking men who have studied the laws which govern the animate and the inanimate world around us agree that the belief in the existence of one Supreme Creator possessed of infinite wisdom and power is open to far less difficulties than the supposition of the absence of any cause or of the existence of a plurality of causes. In the works of the Creator ever open to our examination, we possess a firm basis on which to raise the superstructure of an enlightened creed. The more man inquires into the laws which regulate the material universe, the more he has convinced that all its varied forms arise from the action of a few simple principles. These principles themselves converge with accelerating force towards some still more comprehensive law to which all matter seems to be submitted. Simple as that law may possibly be, it must be remembered that it is only one amongst an infinite number of simple laws that each of these laws has consequences at least as extensive as the existing one, and therefore that the Creator who selected the present law must have foreseen the consequences of all other laws. The works of the Creator ever present to our senses give a living and perpetual testimony of His power and goodness far surpassing any evidence transmitted through human testimony. The testimony of man becomes fainter at every stage of transmission, whilst each new inquiry into the works of the Almighty gives to us more exalted views of His wisdom, His goodness, and His power. The Athanasian Creed When I was between 16 and 17 years of age, I heard, or rather I attended, for the first time, to the words of the Athanasian Creed. I felt the utmost disgust at the direct contradiction in terms which its words implied, and during several weeks I recurred, at intervals, to the prayer book to assure myself that I rightly remembered its singular and self-contradictory assertions on inquiry amongst my seniors. I was assured that it was all true, and that it was part of the Christian religion, and that it was most wicked to doubt a single sentence of it, whereupon I was much alarmed, seeing that I found it absolutely impossible to believe it, and consequently, if it were an essential dogma, I clearly did not belong to that faith. In the course of my inquiries, I met with the work upon the trinity by Dr. Samuel Clark. This I carefully examined, and although very far from being satisfied, I ceased from further inquiry. This change arose probably from my having acquired the much more valuable work of the same author. On the being and attributes of God, this I studied, and felt that its doctrine was much more intelligible and satisfactory than that of the former work. I may now state, as the result of a long life spent in studying the works of the Creator, that I am satisfied they afford far more satisfactory and more convincing proofs of the existence of a supreme being than any evidence transmitted through human testimony can possibly supply. If I were to express my opinion of the Athanasian creed merely from my experience of the motives and actions of mankind, I should say that it was written by a clever but most unscrupulous person who did not believe the syllable of the doctrine that he purposely asserted and reiterated propositions which contradict each other in terms, in order that in after and more enlightened times he should not be supposed to have believed in the religion which he had from worldly motives adopted. The Athanasian creed is a direct contradiction in terms. If three things can be one thing, then the whole science of arithmetic is at once annihilated and those wonderful laws which, as astronomers have shown, govern the solar system are mere dreams. If, on the other hand, it is attempted to be shown that there may be some mystic sense in which three and one are the same thing, then all language through which a lone man can exert his reasoning faculty becomes useless because it contradicts itself and is untrue. Footnote. C appendix. Node B. End footnote. The basis of virtue is truth. The great basis of virtue in man is truth. That is, the constant application of the same word to the same thing. The first element of accurate knowledge is number, the foundation and the measure of all he knows of the material world. I believe these views of the Athanasian creed are by no means singular, that they are indeed very generally held, although very rarely asserted. If such is the case, it were wise to take the opportunity which the new commission for the revision of the liturgy presents to remove from the rubric doctrines so thoroughly destructive of all true religion and about which the author, doubtless and mockery, so complacently tells us that whosoever does not believe them without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. The true value of the Christian religion rests not upon speculative views of the creator which must necessarily be different in each individual according to the extent of the knowledge of the finite being who employs his own feeble powers in contemplating the infinite but it rests upon those doctrines of kindness and benevolence which that religion claims and enforces not merely in favor of man himself but of every creature susceptible of pain or of happiness. Identity depends on memory. A curious reflection presents itself when we meditate upon a state of rewards and punishments in a future life. We must possess the memory of what we did during our existence upon this earth in order to give them those characteristics. In fact, memory seems to be the only faculty which must of necessity be preserved in order to render a future state possible. If memory be absolutely destroyed, our personal identity is lost. Further reflection suggests that in a future state we may, as it were, awake to the recollection that previously to this, our present life, we existed in some former state, possibly in many former ones, and that the then state of existence may have been the consequences of our conduct in those former stages. It would be a very interesting research if naturalists could devise any means of showing that the dragon fly in its three stages of a grub beneath the soil, an animal living in the water, and that of a flying insect, had in the last stage in a memory of its existence in its first. Another question connected with this subject offers still greater difficulty. Man possesses five sources of knowledge through his senses. He proudly thinks himself the highest work of the almighty architect, but it is quite possible that he may be the very lowest if other animals possess senses of a different nature from ours. It can scarcely be possible that we could ever be aware of the fact. Yet those animals, having other sources of information and of pleasure, might, though despised by us, yet enjoy it corporal as well as an intellectual existence far higher than our own. End of section 32 section 33 of passages from the life of a philosopher. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org passages from the life of a philosopher by Charles Babbage. Section 33 of vision, how, when and where this vision occurred it is unnecessary for me at present to state it did not arise under the action of the laughing gas or of chloroform, but by some much more real and immediate spiritual action I had no perception of body or of matter yet I felt that I was in the presence of a reasoning being of a different order from man. Language was not the means of communication, yet it became necessary in order to be intelligible when I wrote down the facts immediately after that singular event, but language itself is quite insufficient to give an adequate idea of its immense apparent duration. The first difficulty I felt in this communion with an unearthly spirit was the notion of space. Our views of it differed widely on many points as for instance measure we apprehended each other perfectly, for each referred to the height of an individual of his own race, of course about six feet. At last I discovered that my idea of space, which was founded upon vacuity, was exactly the reverse of that of the spirit, which was based upon solidity. I will now, as far as I can, place before my reader the information I received, the consequences of doubt. The first desire I expressed to the spirit was to learn, if possible, his view of the origin of all things. He stated that the records of his race, which he declared was the highest in creation, went back with great certainty for myriads of years before all other created beings. That previously to this their history was somewhat obscure, but had recently been placed upon a much sure footing by some of their most prominent spirits. A. In the beginning all space was fluid. Apparently one universal whitish liquid extended in all directions through what we should call space. So I thought at first that this might have some relation to the Milky Way. Its temperature was considerable and in about every thousand years a torrent of this fluid of a still higher temperature passed through space with a kind of gushing rush. It was peopled by myriads of happy spirits floating about in it. After long ages of happiness a dispute arose between two spirits as to the possibility of the existence of matter under any other form than that of a fluid. The power which controlled their destiny, justly angry at their presumption, threw into the fluid a very small piece of what, as far as I could understand, was like organic matter. B. The effect was astounding. All the fluid in contact with this intrusive piece of matter gradually lost its fluidity and a new state of matter or of space arose which had been unknown in all past time. The change advanced slowly but certainly on every side of the intruded matter in its new form. As far as I could make out, space became elastic, gelatinous matter. The two quarrelsome spirits were the first to be surrounded in it. None in the immediate presence of this new kind of space could move away and absorption went on rapidly imprisoning millions of beings. A great controversy arose as to the state of those embedded in the jelly. Some supposed that they were miserably squeezed and maintained that they deserved to be thoroughly wretched whilst others asserted that being entirely relieved from movement theirs must be a state of perfect blessedness, their whole faculties being absorbed in contemplation. In the midst of these discussions, the process of gelification was advancing more and more rapidly and in ten thousand years the whole of infinite fluidity throughout all space with all its myriads of beings embedded in it was transformed into this new form of space. From the description conveyed to me by the spirit, I should infer that the whole of what we call infinite space had now become more nearly like Blanc Monage than any other sub aerial substance. Space too large for itself. See, after a state of repose of many hundred thousand years a new catastrophe occurred. Space became too large even for itself. It then suffered for many hundred thousand years enormous compression during this long period all its embedded spirits perished and space itself during six hundred thousand years became one vast and solid desert containing no living beings. But the vast periods of the past were as nothing compared with the long series of cycles which now succeeded each in itself comprising millions of years. About this time recorded history began and is believed by the spirit with whom I was in conference to be as authentic as the nature of the circumstances admit. One solitary survivor seems to have escaped the crash of systems and the condensation of space. He proceeded to cut himself into two parts and to advise each part to follow out the same course directing them to transmit the command of their first parent throughout all time. Alone in the midst of infinite solidity the duly severed beings setting themselves back to back exerted force thus urged matter itself gave way and they occupied an elongated hollow space. Then again bisecting themselves they further lengthened the path. After ten thousand years they began to exert their energies in the transverse directions of that path and thus widened it. The race then began to form chambers each for himself into which he might retire for abtruse calculations the nature of which seemed almost beyond the remotest reach of utility. Although not beyond the power of the analytical engine thus facities as it were became formed penetrating in every direction through solid space D. After millions of years of industry quietness and calculations a most extraordinary catastrophe occurred. It was with the greatest difficulty that I could discover its nature or how to explain it in ordinary language. The nearest approach I can make towards its explanation is this that seemed from what my spiritual informant communicated that the whole universe was lifted up bodily and then born rapidly back with a great shock thus disarranging everything and destroying millions of their race conversion of addicts into sellers but the most incomprehensible part of this historic narration was that on the survivors recovering their senses they found that everything which had formally been on their right hand was now on their left they also observed to their still greater dismay that every abode in the universe was turned topsy turvy so that the surviving philosophers who had retired to their addicts to study suddenly found themselves in their sellers. I have conveyed as carefully as the nature of the subject admits the impressions this relation made upon me sometimes assisted in my slow apprehensions by another unembodied spirit whom to distinguish from the relator I shall call Mothesis. The true use of figures whenever a man can get hold of numbers they are invaluable if correct they assist in informing his own mind but they are still more useful in deluding the minds of others numbers are the masters of the weak but the slaves of the strong I therefore earnestly pressed for more exact information as to the possible number of years but it appeared beyond the spirit's power to estimate it even within a few millions he mentioned incidentally that the last vast period he had just described was merely one of many others of similar extent also that though these periods were not actually equal the difference which even in extreme cases only reached a hundred thousand years was not worth considering to gratify my longing desire for information on this most important subject the spirit proceeded to inform me that their histories recorded a large number of these successive catastrophes and that they were succeeded by a new and more terrible one which he was needing to explain when I interrupted him by asking for an approximate estimate of their number aware of my anxious desire for numerical accuracy he said he could in this one instance gratify it fully if there is said my informant any one point better established than all others it is that there had occurred exactly one hundred and twenty one of these avatars of destruction I now felt as if I had discovered one solitary fixed point in the vast chaos of time my guide described to me that after the termination of this system one hundred and twenty one cycles a new and more terrific system of events followed each other first however he said he must mention an enteric num a regular in its process but still a vast separation in fact some of his race had been able to prove that it occupied at least three times as long as any one of those just described various shakes and smashes e it commenced by emotion very like that to which space itself had been submitted at the end of each avatar finishing with a smash and followed by a period of repose of about 1000 years it however differed from those avatars in as much as there was no inversion of the position of seller and attic f a new form of shaking of universal solid space now arose much more frequent but less destructive than the former it occurred about once in two years and was repeated many hundred thousand times g again a period exactly similar to that recorded in e occurred h this was followed by a long series of movements of all solidity approaching as far as I could understand it to an oscillating or wave motion this continued without intermission during exactly three of those cycles whose precise numbers had been preserved I during the whole of this period there was a great destruction of the race a universal sickness arose and continued more or less so that multitudes actually perished and those who escaped could scarcely carry on the ordinary calculations necessary for their existence j another period followed ending with a smash excessively like e k then followed a period of shaking like that in f l then another smash like e m period of long repose after this came a long state of absolute rest such was the dawn of the most terrible as well as the most recent of these vast changes in the universe which had been so well related by my every throw guide a commission sent to explore in the temperature of the universe had been uniformed throughout many millions of years it now began to change in different isolated places increased cold in some parts drove the inhabitants from their dwellings this was followed by torrents of invisible air bringing infection and death to millions of their race public opinion was roused and their academies of science and of arts were urged to devise a remedy an expedition was sent by their school of science and of geology to endeavor to trace the origin of this plague the commission after long investigation reported that they had penetrated solid space in their usual way putting each other back to back and pressing the foremost forward it also stated that one of them had invented a method of arrangement of these members in a kind of wedge form which they found much more effective for their object the result of this however was that the leader of the column got so many squeezes that all their best spirits declined a position for which coarser animals were better fitted consequently most of their presidents of scientific bodies were selected from what we should call the dememonde of science the first report of this commission stated that after penetrating space by pushing through many thousand miles they had reached the cause of all the evil they had ascertained that it arose from the fact they had discovered that space itself was discontinuous that they had reached a spot where there was a kind of chasm in it into which some of them tumbled and were with difficulty extricated in fact they reported that it was only necessary to send proper persons to fill up this chasm in order to restore the universe to health well fed and well paid on return great rejoicings were made on the return of this commission public meetings were held speeches were made papers were read and metals were lavished those who had interest use their services on this committee to justify their promotion each in his own different line those who had no interest as well as those who had were anointed daily during 12 months with what I can but imperfectly described by calling it lip sav all this while they were fed at the public expense with royal food which was highly coveted but as far as I could make out its taste must have been somewhat intermediate between rancid butter and flumery whatever this may have been they relished it highly and in truth it seemed to have been well suited to their organs of digestion time however went on the pestilence increased strange reports arose first that space itself was decaying then that there existed somewhere in decayed space and immense dragon whose breath produced the pestilence and who swallowed up thousands of spirits at each mouthful another commission was sent with instructions to fill up the hole in space this was supposed to be a great step in advance having penetrated a very short distance beyond the celebrated chasm they found another just like it and on the same level they found the first chasm slightly curved which had indeed been remarked by an unpretending member of the former commission but so simple remark was not thought worth reporting the second chasm also was found slightly curved but its curvature was in an opposite direction presenting rudely the appearance of two parentheses thus upon this discovery the commission were inclined to return and report that a series of chasms occurred in advance of the first and that it would be useless indeed that it would be highly dangerous to open more chasms one of the most modest of the commissioners who had been snubbed on the former occasion suggested however that these slightly curved chasms might possibly be portions of some last circular crack an idea which was ridiculed as a wild hypothesis by the chairman quizzed by the secretary and laughed at by all the rest fortunately they were persuaded to excavate a few yards more on the second vertical chasm or crack when it became probable that the single dissentient was right it soon became certain and before half the circle had been covered each member of the commission thought he had himself been the first to discover its circular shape the model chairman but the chairman was a person of large experience he quietly left the commissioners to fight amongst themselves about the discovery of the circle and if they chose even about its quadrature on his return however he reported that from some very extensive calculations of his own he had anticipated an elliptic cavity that he had directed the attention of the commissioners to the subject and that they had succeeded in verifying his prediction he also stated that the same theory led him to the knowledge of the fact that in certain cases the ellipse might approach very nearly to a circle although it could never actually reach it whilst on the other hand it might also flat as to approach a straight line an approximation to which nobody ever suggested that the chairman himself could have attained the chairman then with singular modesty alluding in his report to one of his colleagues possessing high rank great influence and a very moderate knowledge of science remarked that it was fortunate for him the chairman that that distinguished member had been so fully occupied with much more valuable investigations otherwise he would certainly have anticipated the important discovery he had fallen to his own lot to make the commissioners outmaneuvered in the meantime the commissioners who had each wished to appropriate to himself the discovery of the circle now thought that this usurpation of it by their chairman was most unjust towards the unpretending member who had really made it they therefore advised him to claim his own discovery and promised to back him in asserting it but the chairman really was a clever fellow footnote a clever fellow may occasionally snatch our applause but a clever man can alone command our respect and footnote and deep as salarian rocks aware of the importance of the discovery thus appropriated he had already visited the modest commissioner had overwhelmed him with compliments and had also prevailed upon that other influential commissioner whom he had so well buttered in his report to give him a small piece of preferment which had been accepted by his victim thus putting a padlock upon his lips which his brother commissioners were unable either to unlock or to pick after the report was presented more speeches were made more metals given but the plague continued and their universe was depopulated a third commission was afterwards sent who reported that they found at the spot previously reached on either side to vast circles the diameter of each of which was 100 times the height of an ordinary individual that the material occupying space within the circle differed slightly from that without it and that it appeared as if a vast cylinder of space had been pushed through without disturbing the matter external to it they also reported that the former commissioners had never approached the origin of the mischief but had simply worked their way at right angles to a line which might terminate in it at the distance of a thousand miles more yes either on the right or on the left hand of the point they had reached disturbed vision at this moment to sound like the role of distant thunder recalled me to this lower world and interrupted my interesting communion with the world of spirits that noise arose from the chimes of the cathedral clock spending a few days at Salisbury I had wondered into the cathedral and being much fatigued had selected the luxurious pew of the dean as a place of temporary rest reposing on elastic questions with my head resting on a iderdown pillow the vision I have related had taken place on removing the pillow I observed a small piece of matter beneath it this upon examination turned out to be a morsel of decayed glauchester cheese the whole vision was now very clearly explained the verger had evidently retired to the most commodious pew to eat his dinner and had inadvertently left the small bit of cheese upon the very spot I had selected for my temporary repose it was clear that my spirit had been put in rapport with the soul of a might one of the most cultivated of his race if the reader will glance over the following brief explanation he will be fully convinced that my solution of this vision is the true one parallel passages in the creation of the universe and in the birth and education of a glauchester cheese references a milk gushing into the milk pale at the rate of 20 gushes per minute alternations of greater and less heat b. rennet being thrown in the milk curdles c. curds compressed into cheese d. cheese turned over daily 121 days a few minutes difference in the time of the dairyman's attendance to perform this operation made the days slightly unequal e. cheese lifted up and pitched into a cart f. cheese jolted in cart during half a day on its way to be shipped at glauchester g. cheese pitched from cart into ship h. ship sails with the cheese for south hampton i. the motion of the waves makes the mites seasick for three days. multitudes die j. cheese taken from ship and pitched into a cart as in the period e. k. cheese conveyed in cart to cheese monger at salisbury the mites dreadfully jolted l. cheese pitched into cheese monger shop as in e. m. long period of repose of the cheese on the cheese monger's shelf in a cylindrical cavity made and piece taken out for a customer to taste portion of the cylinder replaced air being led in. a part of the cheese becomes rotten in which large worms are produced giving rise to the story of the dragon explanation in order to discover the month in which the cheese was made i remarked that since it was turned over on its shelf in the cheese room exactly 121 times it must have been first placed there in some month which together with the three succeeding months had a number of days exactly equal to 121 calculation i then computed the following table table of the number of days contained each four months commencing on the first day of each month and ending on the last day of the fourth following month 1 January 2 30 April number of days 120 1 February to 31 May number of days 120 1 March to 30 June number of days 122 1 April to 31 July number of days 122 1 May to 31 August number of days 123 1 June to 30 September number of days 122 1 July to 31 October number of days 123 1 August to 30 November number of days 122 1 September to 31 December number of days 122 1 October to 31 January number of days 123 1 November to 28 February number of days 120 1 December to 31 March number of days 121 now from the preceding table it appears that there is only one month in the year fulfilling this condition namely the month of March it follows therefore that the cheese must have been made four months before that is in the month of December shortly after this vision I received a visit from that great geologist the iridite professor ponder dunder footnote author of the celebrated treatise on the entity of space the basis of all sound metaphysical reasoning and footnote a member of all existing academies and secretary of the most celebrated how and why academy for the reconstruction of primeval time I was anxious to have the opinion of this learned person upon my recent experience but he was evidently envious of my vision which he treated disrespectfully possessed of an intellect which was anything but precocious I had with much labor at last made him apprehend the arithmetic by which I had discovered the exact month of December to be the date of the great series of 121 cataclysms and I felt much mortified that he did not appreciate my ingenuity all of a sudden he seemed intuitively to perceive the use that might be made of this vision he then asked me with great earnestness whether I had communicated this new method of reasoning to any other person on my answering in the negative he entreated me not to say a word about it he was especially anxious that Gardner Wilkinson Layard and Rawlinson should not get hold of it lest they might anticipate the discovery which it would enable him to complete he assured me that he could by visiting Nineveh and taking the pyramids and Jericho on his road with the aid of my formula restore the new chronology of the creation the learned ponder dunder starts for Jericho having given him this promise he left me and immediately telegraphed to a very influential friend the vice president who managed the how and why academy suggesting that not a moment should be lost in authorizing him to set out on this expedition which although painfully laborious to himself personally and not without peril he was willing to undertake for the glory of the academy and from the religious conviction that it would enable him to refute the frightful heresy of Bishop Colenso within 24 hours the faithful telegraph brought him back the order to start and the credit necessary for his equipment he soon completed the ladder and was in route within the time I have mentioned it is with deep regret I have now to state that just 10 days after the active secretariat started on his pious mission I discovered that my reasoning about the month of December with all its consequences was completely officiated by not having taken into consideration the existence of leap years in which case the magic number 121 occurs in no less than 4 cases so that nothing at all is decided by it I can only add my hope that if any of my readers should become acquainted with the whereabouts of the learned ponderdunder he would kindly communicate by electric telegraph this painful intelligence to that energetic traveler I have subsequently been informed that professor ponderdunder's honorarium is only 800 pounds a year and a payment of all traveling expenses the former is doubled upon dangerous travel I was told that he also enjoys a snug thin a cure of considerable value recently instituted in his own country being at the head of the department for the promotion of small science and low art the family of the ponderdunder's possess the peculiar gift of manipulating learned bodies the flowery rhetorical and the zoo ethnological societies barely escaped perdition under their costly autocracy I regret also to add but truth forbids me to conceal the interesting fact that ponderdunder is not a member of all existing academies as his visiting card indicated on searching the list of the members of the roman academy day link si I find that he is not a links this the oldest of European academies originally existed in the time of Galileo about a quarter of a century ago I had the honor of receiving its diploma end of section 33 section 34 of passages from the life of a philosopher this is a Libra Fox recording all Libra Fox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Libra Fox dot org passages from the life of a philosopher by Charles Babbage section 34 various reminiscences in 1836 imitations of bank notes were so easily made and the forgeries so numerous that the directors of the bank of England resolved on appointing a small committee to examine the subject and advise them upon a remedy the governor of the bank wrote to ask me whether I would consent to act upon that committee not being myself a professional engineer I entertain some doubts whether my presence would be agreeable to the profession having consulted Sir Zambard Bruno and the late Mr. Brian Duncan who had been also applied to they both pressed me to join them in the inquiry we examined the existing means of preventing forgery which were certainly very defective the system of the bank of Ireland which had recently been greatly improved was then discussed not many months before I had carefully examined the whole plan at Dublin after a full deliberation on the subject I drew up our report which unanimously recommended its adoption the identity of the steel plates from which the bank notes were to be printed was secured by Perkins plan of multiplying the number of such plates by impressing them all from one roll of hardened steel this plan answered its purpose fully at that time it has however been superseded within the last few years I had through the kindness of the late governor of the bank of England an opportunity of examining their most recent improvement the discovery of the process of making facsimiles of a wood engraving by means of the electrochemical deposit of copper has now enabled the bank to return to the more rapid process of surface printing it is probable from the great progress of the mechanical arts that these periods for revising methods of preventing forgery will occur at more frequent intervals I arrived great pleasure from being permitted as an amateur to join in this interesting inquiry with my professional friends whose knowledge and character I highly valued subsequently I received the unexpected gratification of a vote of thanks from the governor and company of the bank of England an honor usually reserved for warriors and statesmen and a mute on one of my visits to Paris at the pleasure of dining at the bank of France during dinner in the midst of an interesting conversation the chairmen received a note having glanced over it he put it down by his side on the table on the occurrence of a pause in the conversation thinking the note might possibly require an immediate reply I inquired whether such was the case no said my host it is of no consequence it is only an amute which he then informed me was occurring in a distant part of Paris letters of credit letters of credit are specially addressed to certain bankers at various places with whom your own banker is in correspondence the author in Want of Cash it has on several occasions happened to me to want cash either for myself or to accommodate some friends at places where my own bankers were not addressed to any firm at Frankfurt I made a purchase of books I had a certain amount of the usual circular letters but as these were payable in a great many cities and as I proposed visiting Egypt I did not wish to part with them I therefore went to the House of Rothschild hoping to get an advance on my letter of credit although it was not addressed to that firm but it being Saturday no business was done I therefore inquired for another banker of reputation and was directed to M. Koch I accordingly called at his counting house stated my reason for wanting the money showed him my circular notes and letters of credit and asked whether under these circumstances he would cash my check for twenty pounds he immediately remarked that he had frequently visited England and that most probably we had several common friends as it soon appeared for the first person he mentioned was Professor Sejvik M. Koch not only advanced me the money but he was so kind as to invite me to dinner on the following day and to give me a seat in his box at the opera on the first appearance of Mademoiselle Sontag on the Frankfurt stage I remember at least three other occasions in which I got money for some of my English friends at towns where my letter of credit was not addressed to any banker in those cases I only asked them to take my check send it to London and when they had received the amount to pay it over to me I also mentioned that I was known to several persons resident in Geneva and in Berlin where these occurrences happened in each case the banker immediately let me have the money my friends wanted difficulty of getting cash handsomely removed the only instance in which I was refused amused me very much I spent a few weeks at Modena where I had purchased a microscope and several other philosophical instruments one morning I went to the wealthy firm of Sanguinetti and mentioning my object to one of the partners at the same time showing him my letter of credit asked if under these circumstances he would give me cash for a draft of 20 pounds on my banker in London he replied very courteously that it was the rule of their house to give credit only upon letters addressed to them by their own correspondent in London I remarked that it was quite necessary in matters of business to adhere to fixed rules and that when made aware I should be the last person to ask them to deviate from it early the next morning a carriage drove up to the door of my lodgings and an elderly gentleman was announced this was Im Sanguinetti the senior partner of the firm he told me he came to apologize for the refusal of his junior partner on the preceding day and to offer to give me cash for my check to whatever amount I might require I replied that a near relative of my own having formerly been a banker in London I was aware of the necessity of a rigid observance of rules of business and that his young partner had not only done his duty but I added that he had done it in the most courteous manner Im Sanguinetti was so obliging and so pressing that I found it difficult to accept the advance of so small a sum however it was all arranged and left me I then sent for my landlord and inquired whether he had had any communication with Im Sanguinetti he replied that the old gentleman the head of the firm had called the preceding evening and asked him who I was and what said I to my landlord was your answer I told him you were a Millord anglaise replied my host I observed but why did you tell him so because said my landlord when the minister paid you a visit you sat down in his presence the explanation of the affair was this soon after my arrival at Modena I called on the Marquis Rangoni a distinguished mathematician who had written a profound comment on the places very the functions generatrices not brought any letter of introduction but had merely sent up my card the Marquis Rangoni received me very cordially and we were soon in deep discussion respecting some of the most abstract questions of analysis he returned my visit on the following day when he resumed the discussion and I showed him some papers connected with the subject I was aware of the title of the Marquis Rangoni to respect as arising from his own profound acquaintance with analysis but I was now, for the first time informed that he was a man of great importance in the little dukedom of Modena for he was the Prime Minister of the Grand Duke in fact the Palmerston of Modena this at once explained the attention I received from the wealthy banker, the speaker one Saturday morning an American gentleman who had just arrived from Liverpool where he had landed from the United States on the previous day called in Dorset Street he was very anxious to see the difference engine and quite fitted by his previous studies for understanding it well I took him into the drawing room in which the machine then resided and gave him a short explanation of its structure as I expected a large party of my friends in the evening amongst whom were a few men of science I asked him to join the party dressed, England, America it so happened on that day that the speaker had a small dinner party the silver lady was accidentally mentioned and greatly excited the curiosity of the lady of the house as the whole of this small party comprising three or four of my most intimate friends were coming to my house in the evening they proposed that the speaker and his wife should accompany them to my party assuring them truly that I should be much gratified by the visit the silver lady happened to be in brilliant attire and after mentioning the romance of my boyish passion the unexpected success of her acquisition and the devoted cultivation I bestowed upon her education I proceeded to set in action her fascinating and most graceful movements a gay but by no means unintellectual crowd surrounded the automaton in the adjacent room the difference engine stood nearly deserted two foreigners alone worshipped at that altar one of them but just landed from the United States was engaged in explaining to a learned professor from Holland what he had himself in the morning gathered from its constructor leaning against the doorway I was myself contemplating the strongly contrasted scene pleased that my friends were relaxing from their graver pursuits and admiring the really graceful movements produced by mechanism but still more highly gratified at observing the deep and almost painful attention of my Dutch guest who was questioning his American instructor about the mechanical means I had devised for accomplishing some arithmetical object the deep thought with which this explanation was attended to suddenly flashed into intense delight when the simple means of its accomplishment were made apparent my acute and valued friend the late lord Langdale who had been observing the varying changes of my own countenance as it glanced from one room to the other now asked me what new mischief are you meditating look said I in that further room look again at this two foreigners ancient music many years ago some friends of mine invited me to accompany them to the concert of ancient music and join their supper party after it was over my love of music is not great but for the pleasure of the society I accepted the invitation on our meeting at the supper table I was overwhelmed with congratulations upon my exquisite appreciation for the treat we had just had I was assured that though my expression of feeling was of the quietest order yet that I was the earliest to approve all the most beautiful passages I accepted modestly my easily won laurels and perhaps my taste for music might have survived in the memory of my friends when my taste for mechanism had been forgotten I will however confide to the public the secret soon after I had taken my seat at the concert I perceived lady Essex at a short distance from me knowing well her exquisitely sensitive taste I readily perceived by the expression of her countenance as well as by the slight and almost involuntary movement of the hand or even of a finger those passages which gave her most delight these quiet indications unobserved by my friends formed the electric wire by which I directed the expressions of my own countenance and the very modest applause I thought it prudent to develop after receiving the congratulations of my friends upon my great musical taste I informed them how easily that reputation had been acquired such are the feeble bases on which many a public character rests during my residence with my Oxford tutor whilst I was working by myself on mathematics I occasionally arrived at conclusions which appeared to me to be new but which from time to time I afterwards found were already well-known at first I was much discouraged by these disappointments and drew from such occurrences the inference that it was hopeless for me to attempt to invent anything new after a time I saw the fallacy of my reasoning I even inferred that when my knowledge became much more extended I might reasonably hope to make some small additions to my favorite science philosophy of invention this idea considerably influenced my course during my residence at Cambridge by directing my reading to the original papers of the great discoverers in mathematical science I then endeavored to trace the course of their minds in passing from well-known to the unknown and to observe whether various artifices could not be connected together by some general law the writings of Euler were imminently instructive for this purpose at the period of my leaving Cambridge I began to see more distinctly the object of my future pursuit it appeared to me that the highest exercise of human faculties consisted in the endeavor to discover those laws of thought by which man passes from the known to that which was unknown it might with propriety be called the philosophy of invention during the early part of my residence in London I commenced several essays on induction generalization analogy with various illustrations from different sources the philosophy of science always occupied my attention and to whatever subject I applied myself I was ever on the watch to perceive and record the links by which the new was connected with the known early essays most of the early essays I refer to were not sufficiently matured for publication and several have appeared without any direct reference to the great object of my life I may however point out one of my earlier papers in the philosophical transactions 1817 which whilst it made considerable additions to a new branch of science is itself a very striking instance of the use of analogy for the purpose of invention I refer to the essay on the analogy between the calculus of functions and other branches of analysis philosophical translations 1817 end of section 34 section 35 of passages from the life of a philosopher this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by William Jones passages from the life of a philosopher by Charles Babbage chapter 33 the authors contributions to human knowledge the origin of the analytic society has been already explained in the fourth chapter in the year 1820 the author of this volume joining with several imminent men attached to astronomical pursuits instituted the royal astronomical society at the present time only three of the original founders survive the meetings and still more of the publications of that society have contributed largely to extend the taste for astronomy in 1827 I visited Italy and during my residence at Florence had many opportunities of observing the strong feelings of the reigning Grand Duke Leopold II not only for the fine arts but for the progress of science and for its application to the advancement of the arts of life the Grand Duke of Tuscany after a long tour in Italy I found myself in the following year again in Florence and again I was received with a kindness and consideration which I can never forget the Grand Duke was anxious to know my opinion respecting the state of science in Italy at one of the many interviews with which I was honored he asked me whether I could point out any way in which he could assist its progress the question was unexpected but it immediately recalled to me a recent circumstance which I then mentioned namely that in three of the great cities of Italy I had been consulted confidentially by three distinguished men of science upon the same subject on which each was separately engaged without being aware of the fact that the other two were employed on the same inquiry the result I remarked would probably be that Italy would thus make one step in science and that the discovery might probably be accompanied by painful discussions respecting priority whilst with better means of intercommunication amongst its men of science Italy might have made three steps in advance the idea of a periodical meeting of men engaged in scientific pursuits naturally arose out of these remarks at parting the Grand Duke requested me to draw up a minute of the conversation I therefore drew up a note on the in which I shadowed out an annual meeting of learned men in the various cities of Italy on finally taking leave previous to my visit to Germany the Grand Duke assured me that he had read the minute of our conversation with much tension that he saw the evils pointed out and agreed with me as to the remedy he then observed that the time for such a meeting had not yet arrived but out of the Grand Duke when it does arrive you may depend on me eleven years after in 1839 I was honored by an invitation from the Grand Duke of Tuscany to meet the men of science in Italy then about to assemble at Florence in this communication it was observed that the time had now arrived in the autumn of 1828 I reached Berlin and unexpectedly found from him humbled that in the course of a few weeks the philosophers of Germany were to hold a meeting in that capital I then learned for the first time that some years before Dr. Olken had proposed and organized an annual congress of German naturalists meeting in each succeeding year in some great town I remained to witness the enlarged meeting at Berlin which was very successful and wrote an account of it in the description of it in the Ettenberg Journal of Science this was I believe the first communication to the English public of the existence of the German society British Association its origin a few years after Sir David Brewster, Sir John Robison Secretary of the Royal Society in Ettenberg and the Reverend William Vernon Harcourt undertook the foundation of a similar and itinerant society in our own country it appeared to me that the original organization of the British Association as developed at York and at Oxford was defective that its basis was not sufficiently extended in fact that other sciences besides the physical were wanting for the harmony and success of the whole there was no section to interest the landed proprietors or those members of their families who set in either house of parliament nor was there much to attract the manufacturer or the retail dealer a purely accidental circumstance enabled me to remedy one of these defects footnote I afterwards succeeded in getting the British Association to adopt the plan of having an exhibition of specimens of the various manufacturers and commercial products of the districts it successively visited this commenced at Newcastle in 1838 and was carried to a much greater extent in the following year at Birmingham I am not aware that this fact was ever referred to by those who got up the exhibition of 1851 in footnote the statistical society its origin at the third meeting of the British Association at Cambridge in 1833 I happened one afternoon to call on my old and valued friend the Reverend Richard Jones Professor of Political Economy at Haleybury who was then residing in apartments at Trinity College he informed me that he had just had a long conversation with our mutual friend M. Quettelette who had been sent officially by the Belgian government to attend the meeting of the British Association that M. Quettelette had brought with him a budget of statistical facts and that as there was no place for it in any section he, Professor Jones had asked M. Quettelette to come to him that evening and had invited Sir Charles Lemon Professor Malthus Mr. Drinkwater afterwards Mr. Bethune and one or two others interested in the subject to meet him at the same time requesting me to join the party I gladly accepted this invitation and departed I had not however reached the gate of Trinity College before it occurred to me that there was now an opportunity of doing some good service to the British Association I returned to the apartments of my friend explained to him my views in which he fully coincided and I suggested that the formation of a statistical section we both agreed that unless some unusual course were taken it would be impossible to get such a section organized until the meeting in the following year I therefore proposed that when we met in the evening we should consider the question of constituting ourselves provisionally a statistical section and afterwards at the general meeting in the Senate House that I should explain the circumstance which had arisen and the great advantage to the British Association of rendering such a section a permanent branch of its institution after further explanations its utility was fully admitted certain rather strict rules were laid down in order to confine its inquiries to collections of facts the sanction of the general meeting was then given to the establishment of the statistical section and before the termination of the Congress a larger audience was collected in its meeting room than in those of any of its sister sciences footnote 60 I have reason to believe from the notebook of Mr. Drinkwater Bethune that this meeting was held on Wednesday 26 June 1833 end of footnote the interest of our discussions and the massive materials which now began to open upon our view naturally indicated the necessity of forming a more permanent society for their collection the British Association approved the appointment of a permanent committee of this section I was requested to act as chairman and Mr. Drinkwater as secretary on the 15th March 1834 at a public meeting held in London the marquee of Lansdowne in the chair it was resolved to establish the statistical society of London the committee of the British Association in reporting this fact to the Council observed that though the want of such society has been long felt and acknowledged the successful establishment of it after every previous attempt at field has been do all together to the impulse given by the last meeting of the association the distinguished foreigner in Cadillette who contributed so materially to the formation of the statistical section was attracted to England principally with a view of attending that meeting and the committee hailed this as a signal instance of the beneficial results to be expected from that personal intercourse among the enlightened men of all countries which it is a principal object of the British Association to encourage and facilitate in Cadillette on his return to his own country continued to direct by his Council and to advance by his own indefatigable industry those statistical inquiries of which the Belgium Government so well appreciated the advantage at length the conviction of the importance of the value of statistical science becoming widely extended in other countries in Cadillette saw that a fit time had arrived for summoning a European Congress the results of such meetings are invaluable to all sciences but more peculiarly to statistics in which names have to be defined signs to be invented methods of observation to be compared in rendered uniform thus enhancing the value of all future observations by making them more comparable as well as more expeditiously collected the proposal was adopted by the Belgian Government and the first international statistical congress was held at Brussels in September 1853 the result was most successful all the cultivators of statistical science are deeply indebted to him Cadillette for the unwirried pains he took to ensure its success he was assisted in this arduous task by the ministers of the crown and supported by the high approbation of an enlightened sovereign calculus of functions this was my earliest step and is still one to which I would wittily recur if other demands on my time permitted many years ago I recorded in a small manuscript volume the facts and also extracts of letters from Herschel Bromhead and Mao in which I believe I have done justice to my friends if not to myself it is very remarkable that the analytical engine adapts itself with singular facility to the development and numerical working out of this vast department of analysis in the list of my printed papers at the end of this volume will be found my various contributions to that subject political economy my contributions to political economy are chiefly to be found in the economy of machinery and manufacturers which consist of illustrations and developments of the principles regulating a very large section of that important subject division of labor it is singular that in the analysis of the division of labor given by Adam Smith in the wealth of nations the most efficient cause of its advantage is entirely omitted the three causes assigned in that work are first the increase of dexterity and every particular workman second the saving of time lost in passing from one species of work to another and third the invention of a great number of machines which facilitate and abridge labor and enable one man to do the work of many these are undoubtedly true causes but the most important cause is entirely omitted the most effective cause of the cheapness produced by the division of labor is this by dividing the work to be executed into different processes each requiring different degrees of skill or a force the master manufacturer can purchase exactly that precise quantity of both which is necessary for each process whereas if the whole work were executed by one workman that person must possess sufficient skill to perform the most difficult and sufficient strength to execute the most laborious of those operations into which the art is divided need making is perhaps the best illustration of the overpowering effect of this cause the operatives in this manufacturer consist of children women and men earning wages varying from three to four shillings up to five pounds per week those who point the needles gain about two pounds the men who hardens and tempers the needles earns from five to six pounds per week yet also to be observed that one man is sufficient to temper the needles for a large factory time spent on each needle by the most expensive operative is excessively small but if a manufacturer insist on employing one man to make the whole needle he must pay at the rate of five pounds a week for every portion of the labor bestowed upon it footnote 61 see economy of manufacturers in footnote cost of any article besides the usual elements which contribute to constitute the price of anything there exists another which varies greatly in different articles it is this the cost and difficulty of verifying the fact that the article is exactly what it professes to be this is in some cases very small but in many instances it is scarcely possible for the purchaser to verify the genuineness of certain articles in these cases the public pay a larger price than the otherwise would do to those tradesmen whose character and integrity are well established principles of taxation in a pamphlet printed in 1848 I published my views of taxation especially with reference to an income tax the principle there supported was entertained and examined by the French minister of finance M. Passy the pamphlet itself was subsequently translated into Italian and published at Turin under the auspices of the Sardinian finance minister the principle of representation the principle there maintained admits I think of an extension to the election of representatives in that case each person would have one vote on the ground of his personality and other votes in proportion to his income whenever any further extension of a representative system becomes necessary the dangers arising from the extension of the personal suffrage may fairly be counterbalanced by giving a plurality of votes to property such a course would have a powerful tendency to good by supporting the national credit and by preventing the destructive waste of capital by war and it might even make us highly conservative people that the political economy will be considered rather dry by most readers I will endeavor to enliven it by an extract from that pamphlet which singularly illustrates the question of direct and indirect taxation I had mentioned the productive pump of my Italian friend to the late Lord Lansdown who supplied me with the counterpart in the unproductive pump erected by the late William Edgeworth town in Ireland that proprietor whose country residence was much frequented by beggars resolved to establish a test for discriminating between the idle and the industrious and also to obtain some small return for the alms he was in the habit of bestowing he accordingly added to the pump by which the upper part of his house was supplied with water a piece of mechanism so contrived at the end of a certain number of strokes of the pump handle a penny fell out of an aperture to repay the laborer for his work this was so arranged that the laborers who continued at the work obtained very nearly the usual daily wages of labor in that part of the country the idolist of the vagabalans of course refused this new labor test but the greater part of the beggars whose constant tale was that they could not earn fair days of wages for a fair day's work after earning a few pints usually went away cursing the hardness of their task master story of the two pumps an Italian gentleman with greater sagacity devised a more productive pump and kept it in action at far less expense the garden wall of his villa adjoined the great high road leading from one of the capitals of northern Italy who are in from which it was distant but a few miles possessing within his garden a fine spring of water he erected on the outside of the wall a pump for public use and chaining it to a small iron ladle he placed near it in some rude seats for the weary traveler and by a slight roof of climbing plants protected the whole from the midday sun in this delightful shade the tired and thirsty travelers on that well-beaten road composed and refreshed themselves and did not fail to put in requisition the service of the pump so opportunely presented to them from morning till night many a dusty and way-worn pilgrim plied the handle and went on his way blessing the liberal proprietor for his kind consideration of the passing stranger but the owner of the villa was deeply acquainted with human nature he knew that in that sultry climate that the liquid would be more valued from its scarcity and from the difficulty of acquiring it he therefore, to enhance the value of the gift, wisely arranged the pump so that its spout was of rather contracted dimensions and the handle required a moderate application of force to work it under these circumstances the pump raised far more water than could pass through its spout and to prevent its being wasted the surplus was conveyed an invisible channel to a large reservoir judiciously placed for watering the proprietor's own house, stables, and garden into which about five pints were poured for every spoonful passing out of the spout for the benefit of the weary traveler even this latter portion was not entirely neglected for the waste pipe conveyed the part which ran over from the ladle to some delicious strawberry beds at the lower level perhaps, by a small addition to this ingenious arrangement some kind-hearted travelers might be able to indulge their mules and asses with the taste of the same cool and refreshing fluid thus paying an additional tribute to the skill and sagacity of the benevolent proprietor my accomplished friend would doubtless make a most popular chancellor of the Exchequer should his Sardinian Majesty require his services in that department of administration monopoly in the course of my examination of this question I arrived to what I conceived to be a demonstration of the following principle that even under circumstances of the most absolute monopoly the monopolist will, if he knows his own interest and pursues it sell the article he produces at exactly the same price as the freest competition the presentation would produce I devoted a chapter to this subject in an edition which I prepared several years ago for a new Italian translation of the economy of manufacturers but I am not aware whether it has yet been published Miracles the explanation which I gave of the nature of miracles in the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise published in May 1837 has now stood the test for more than a quarter of a century during which it has been examined by some of the deepest thinkers in many countries it's adoption by those writers who have referred to it has as far as my information goes been unanimous End of section 35