TemporamutanturexcusemeforquotingtheEtruscan。WhatwouldwedowithouttheAtalantictelegraph？PunditsaysAtlanticwastheancientadjective。Welaytoafewminutestoaskthecuttersomequestions，andlearned，amongothergloriousnews，thatcivilwarisraginginAfrica，whiletheplagueisdoingitsgoodworkbeautifullybothinYuropeandAyesher。Isitnottrulyremarkablethat，beforethemagnificentlightsheduponphilosophybyHumanity，theworldwasaccustomedtoregardWarandPestilenceascalamities？Doyouknowthatprayerswereactuallyofferedupintheancienttemplestotheendthattheseevils！mightnotbevisiteduponmankind？Isitnotreallydifficulttocomprehenduponwhatprincipleofinterestourforefathersacted？Weretheysoblindasnottoperceivethatthedestructionofamyriadofindividualsisonlysomuchpositiveadvantagetothemass！
　　April3。Itisreallyaveryfineamusementtoascendtherope-ladderleadingtothesummitoftheballoon-bag，andthencesurveythesurroundingworld。Fromthecarbelowyouknowtheprospectisnotsocomprehensiveyoucanseelittlevertically。
　　ButseatedherewhereIwritethisintheluxuriously-cushionedopenpiazzaofthesummit，onecanseeeverythingthatisgoingoninalldirections。Justnowthereisquiteacrowdofballoonsinsight，andtheypresentaveryanimatedappearance，whiletheairisresonantwiththehumofsomanymillionsofhumanvoices。IhavehearditassertedthatwhenYelloworPunditwillhaveitViolet，whoissupposedtohavebeenthefirstaeronaut，maintainedthepracticabilityoftraversingtheatmosphereinalldirections，bymerelyascendingordescendinguntilafavorablecurrentwasattained，hewasscarcelyhearkenedtoatallbyhiscontemporaries，wholookeduponhimasmerelyaningenioussortofmadman，becausethephilosophers？ofthedaydeclaredthethingimpossible。Reallynowitdoesseemtomequiteunaccountablehowanythingsoobviouslyfeasiblecouldhaveescapedthesagacityoftheancientsavans。ButinallagesthegreatobstaclestoadvancementinArthavebeenopposedbytheso-calledmenofscience。Tobesure，ourmenofsciencearenotquitesobigotedasthoseofold：oh，Ihavesomethingsoqueertotellyouonthistopic。DoyouknowthatitisnotmorethanathousandyearsagosincethemetaphysiciansconsentedtorelievethepeopleofthesingularfancythatthereexistedbuttwopossibleroadsfortheattainmentofTruth！Believeitifyoucan！Itappearsthatlong，longago，inthenightofTime，therelivedaTurkishphilosopherorHindoopossiblycalledAriesTottle。
　　Thispersonintroduced，oratalleventspropagatedwhatwastermedthedeductiveorapriorimodeofinvestigation。Hestartedwithwhathemaintainedtobeaxiomsor“self-evidenttruths。”andthenceproceeded“logically“toresults。HisgreatestdiscipleswereoneNeuclid，andoneCant。Well，AriesTottleflourishedsupremeuntiladventofoneHog，surnamedthe“EttrickShepherd。”whopreachedanentirelydifferentsystem，whichhecalledtheaposterioriorinductive。HisplanreferredaltogethertoSensation。Heproceededbyobserving，analyzing，andclassifyingfacts-instantiaenaturae，astheywereaffectedlycalledintogenerallaws。AriesTottle’smode，inaword，wasbasedonnoumena；Hog’sonphenomena。Well，sogreatwastheadmirationexcitedbythislattersystemthat，atitsfirstintroduction，AriesTottlefellintodisrepute；butfinallyherecoveredgroundandwaspermittedtodividetherealmofTruthwithhismoremodernrival。ThesavansnowmaintainedtheAristotelianandBaconianroadswerethesolepossibleavenuestoknowledge。
　　“Baconian。”youmustknow，wasanadjectiveinventedasequivalenttoHog-ianandmoreeuphoniousanddignified。
　　Now，mydearfriend，Idoassureyou，mostpositively，thatI
　　representthismatterfairly，onthesoundestauthorityandyoucaneasilyunderstandhowanotionsoabsurdonitsveryfacemusthaveoperatedtoretardtheprogressofalltrueknowledgewhichmakesitsadvancesalmostinvariablybyintuitivebounds。Theancientideaconfinedinvestigationstocrawling；andforhundredsofyearssogreatwastheinfatuationaboutHogespecially，thatavirtualendwasputtoallthinking，properlysocalled。NomandaredutteratruthtowhichhefelthimselfindebtedtohisSoulalone。Itmatterednotwhetherthetruthwasevendemonstrablyatruth，forthebullet-headedsavansofthetimeregardedonlytheroadbywhichhehadattainedit。Theywouldnotevenlookattheend。“Letusseethemeans。”theycried，“themeans！”If，uponinvestigationofthemeans，itwasfoundtocomeunderneitherthecategoryAriesthatistosayRamnorunderthecategoryHog，whythenthesavanswentnofarther，butpronouncedthe“theorist“afool，andwouldhavenothingtodowithhimorhistruth。
　　Now，itcannotbemaintained，even，thatbythecrawlingsystemthegreatestamountoftruthwouldbeattainedinanylongseriesofages，fortherepressionofimaginationwasanevilnottobecompensatedforbyanysuperiorcertaintyintheancientmodesofinvestigation。TheerroroftheseJurmains，theseVrinch，theseInglitch，andtheseAmriccansthelatter，bytheway，wereourownimmediateprogenitors，wasanerrorquiteanalogouswiththatofthewiseacrewhofanciesthathemustnecessarilyseeanobjectthebetterthemorecloselyheholdsittohiseyes。Thesepeopleblindedthemselvesbydetails。WhentheyproceededHoggishly，their“facts“
　　werebynomeansalwaysfactsamatteroflittleconsequencehaditnotbeenforassumingthattheywerefactsandmustbefactsbecausetheyappearedtobesuch。WhentheyproceededonthepathoftheRam，theircoursewasscarcelyasstraightasaram’shorn，fortheyneverhadanaxiomwhichwasanaxiomatall。Theymusthavebeenveryblindnottoseethis，evenintheirownday；forevenintheirowndaymanyofthelong“established“axiomshadbeenrejected。Forexample“Exnihilonihilfit“；“abodycannotactwhereitisnot“；“therecannotexistantipodes“；“darknesscannotcomeoutoflight“allthese，andadozenothersimilarpropositions，formerlyadmittedwithouthesitationasaxioms，were，evenattheperiodofwhichIspeak，seentobeuntenable。Howabsurdinthesepeople，then，topersistinputtingfaithin“axioms“asimmutablebasesofTruth！Butevenoutofthemouthsoftheirsoundestreasonersitiseasytodemonstratethefutility，theimpalpabilityoftheiraxiomsingeneral。Whowasthesoundestoftheirlogicians？Letmesee！IwillgoandaskPunditandbebackinaminute……Ah，herewehaveit！HereisabookwrittennearlyathousandyearsagoandlatelytranslatedfromtheInglitchwhich，bytheway，appearstohavebeentherudimentoftheAmriccan。Punditsaysitisdecidedlythecleverestancientworkonitstopic，Logic。
　　TheauthorwhowasmuchthoughtofinhisdaywasoneMiller，orMill；andwefinditrecordedofhim，asapointofsomeimportance，thathehadamill-horsecalledBentham。Butletusglanceatthetreatise！
　　Ah！“Abilityorinabilitytoconceive。”saysMr。Mill，veryproperly，“isinnocasetobereceivedasacriterionofaxiomatictruth。”Whatmoderninhissenseswouldeverthinkofdisputingthistruism？Theonlywonderwithusmustbe，howithappenedthatMr。
　　Millconceiveditnecessaryeventohintatanythingsoobvious。Sofargoodbutletusturnoveranotherpaper。Whathavewehere？
　　“Contradictoriescannotbothbetruethatis，cannotco-existinnature。”HereMr。Millmeans，forexample，thatatreemustbeeitheratreeornotatreethatitcannotbeatthesametimeatreeandnotatree。Verywell；butIaskhimwhy。Hisreplyisthisandneverpretendstobeanythingelsethanthis“Becauseitisimpossibletoconceivethatcontradictoriescanbothbetrue。”Butthisisnoansweratall，byhisownshowing，forhashenotjustadmittedasatruismthat“abilityorinabilitytoconceiveisinnocasetobereceivedasacriterionofaxiomatictruth。”
　　NowIdonotcomplainoftheseancientssomuchbecausetheirlogicis，bytheirownshowing，utterlybaseless，worthlessandfantasticaltogether，asbecauseoftheirpompousandimbecileproscriptionofallotherroadsofTruth，ofallothermeansforitsattainmentthanthetwopreposterouspathstheoneofcreepingandtheoneofcrawlingtowhichtheyhavedaredtoconfinetheSoulthatlovesnothingsowellastosoar。
　　Bytheby，mydearfriend，doyounotthinkitwouldhavepuzzledtheseancientdogmaticianstohavedeterminedbywhichoftheirtworoadsitwasthatthemostimportantandmostsublimeofalltheirtruthswas，ineffect，attained？ImeanthetruthofGravitation。
　　NewtonowedittoKepler。KepleradmittedthathisthreelawswereguessedatthesethreelawsofalllawswhichledthegreatInglitchmathematiciantohisprinciple，thebasisofallphysicalprincipletogobehindwhichwemustentertheKingdomofMetaphysics。Keplerguessedthatistosayimagined。Hewasessentiallya“theorist“thatwordnowofsomuchsanctity，formerlyanepithetofcontempt。Woulditnothavepuzzledtheseoldmolestoo，tohaveexplainedbywhichofthetwo“roads“acryptographistunriddlesacryptographofmorethanusualsecrecy，orbywhichofthetworoadsChampolliondirectedmankindtothoseenduringandalmostinnumerabletruthswhichresultedfromhisdecipheringtheHieroglyphics。
　　OnewordmoreonthistopicandIwillbedoneboringyou。Isitnotpassingstrangethat，withtheireternalprattlingaboutroadstoTruth，thesebigotedpeoplemissedwhatwenowsoclearlyperceivetobethegreathighwaythatofConsistency？DoesitnotseemsingularhowtheyshouldhavefailedtodeducefromtheworksofGodthevitalfactthataperfectconsistencymustbeanabsolutetruth！
　　Howplainhasbeenourprogresssincethelateannouncementofthisproposition！Investigationhasbeentakenoutofthehandsoftheground-molesandgiven，asatask，tothetrueandonlytruethinkers，themenofardentimagination。Theselattertheorize。Canyounotfancytheshoutofscornwithwhichmywordswouldbereceivedbyourprogenitorswereitpossibleforthemtobenowlookingovermyshoulder？Thesemen，Isay，theorize；andtheirtheoriesaresimplycorrected，reduced，systematizedcleared，littlebylittle，oftheirdrossofinconsistencyuntil，finally，aperfectconsistencystandsapparentwhicheventhemoststolidadmit，becauseitisaconsistency，tobeanabsoluteandanunquestionabletruth。
　　April4。Thenewgasisdoingwonders，inconjunctionwiththenewimprovementwithguttapercha。Howverysafe，commodious，manageable，andineveryrespectconvenientareourmodernballoons！Hereisanimmenseoneapproachingusattherateofatleastahundredandfiftymilesanhour。Itseemstobecrowdedwithpeopleperhapstherearethreeorfourhundredpassengersandyetitsoarstoanelevationofnearlyamile，lookingdownuponpooruswithsovereigncontempt。Stillahundredoreventwohundredmilesanhourisslowtravellingafterall。DoyourememberourflightontherailroadacrosstheKanadawcontinent？fullythreehundredmilesthehourthatwastravelling。Nothingtobeseenthoughnothingtobedonebutflirt，feastanddanceinthemagnificentsaloons。Doyourememberwhatanoddsensationwasexperiencedwhen，bychance，wecaughtaglimpseofexternalobjectswhilethecarswereinfullflight？Everythingseemeduniqueinonemass。Formypart，I
　　cannotsaybutthatIpreferredthetravellingbytheslowtrainofahundredmilesthehour。Herewewerepermittedtohaveglasswindowseventohavethemopenandsomethinglikeadistinctviewofthecountrywasattainable……PunditsaysthattherouteforthegreatKanadawrailroadmusthavebeeninsomemeasuremarkedoutaboutninehundredyearsago！Infact，hegoessofarastoassertthatactualtracesofaroadarestilldiscernibletracesreferabletoaperiodquiteasremoteasthatmentioned。Thetrack，itappearswasdoubleonly；ours，youknow，hastwelvepaths；andthreeorfournewonesareinpreparation。Theancientrailswereveryslight，andplacedsoclosetogetherastobe，accordingtomodernnotions，quitefrivolous，ifnotdangerousintheextreme。Thepresentwidthoftrackfiftyfeetisconsidered，indeed，scarcelysecureenough。Formypart，Imakenodoubtthatatrackofsomesortmusthaveexistedinveryremotetimes，asPunditasserts；
　　fornothingcanbeclearer，tomymind，thanthat，atsomeperiod
　　notlessthansevencenturiesago，certainlytheNorthernandSouthernKanadawcontinentswereunited；theKanawdians，then，wouldhavebeendriven，bynecessity，toagreatrailroadacrossthecontinent。