e
of exquisite harmony, simplicity, and clearness.

The central propositions of the whole "Discourse" are these. There is a
path that leads to truth so surely, that if any one who will follow it
must needs reach the goal, whether his capacity be great or small. And
there is one guiding rule by which a man may always find this path, and
keep himself from straying when he has found it. This golden rule
is--give unqualified assent to no propositions but those the truth of
which is so clear and distinct that they cannot be doubted.

The enunciation of this great first commandment of science consecrated
Doubt. It removed Doubt from the seat of penance among the grievous sins
to which it had long been condemned, and enthroned it in that high place
among the primary duties, which is assigned to it by the scientific
conscience of these latter days. Descartes was the first among the
moderns to obey this commandment deliberately; and, as a matter of
religious duty, to strip off all his beliefs and reduce himself to a
state of intellectual nakedness, until such time as he could satisfy
himself which were fit to be worn. He thought a bare skin healthier than
the most respectable and well-cut clothing of what might, possibly, be
mere shoddy.

When I say that Descartes consecrated doubt, you must remember that it
was that sort of doubt which Goethe has called "the active scepticism,
whose whole aim is to conquer itself;"[70] and not that other sort which
is born of flippancy and ignorance, and whose aim is only to perpetuate
itself, as an excuse for idleness and indifference. But it is impossible
to define what is meant by scientific doubt better than in Descartes'
own words. After describing the gradual progress of his negative
criticism, he tells us:--

"For all that, I did not imitate the sceptics, who doubt only for
doubting's sake, and pretend to be always undecided; on the
contrary, my whole intention was to arrive at certainty, and to dig
away the drift and the sand until I reached the rock or the clay
beneath."

And further, since no man of common sense, when he pulls down his house
for the purpose of rebuilding it, fails to provide himself with some
shelter while the work is in progress; so, before demolishing the
spacious, if not commodious, mansion of his old beliefs, Descartes
thought it wise to equip himself with what he calls "_une morale par
provision_," by which he resolved to govern his