Page:Ferrier's Works Volume 3 "Philosophical Remains" (1883 ed.).djvu/82

72 The first general expression, then, of this great law (which, however, may require much minute attention to calculate all its subordinate forces and their precise balances) is this: When passion, or any state of mind at the one pole, is at its maximum, consciousness is at its minimum, this maximum being sometimes so great as absolutely to extinguish consciousness while it continues; and, vice versa, when consciousness is at its maximum, the passion, or whatever the state of mind at the opposite pole may be, is at its minimum, the maximum being in this case, too, sometimes so great as to amount to a total suspension of the passion, &c. What important consequences does the mere enunciation of this great law suggest! In particular, what a firm and intelligible basis does it afford to the great superstructure of morality! What light does it carry down into the profoundest recesses of duty! Man's passions may be said to be the origin of all human wickedness. What more important fact, then, can there be than this, that the very act of consciousness, simple as it may seem, brings along with it, to a considerable extent, the suspension of any passion which may be tyrannising over us; and that, as the origination of this act is our own, so is it in our own power to heighten and increase its lustre as we please, even up to the highest degree of self-reflection, where it triumphs over passion completely? These matters, however, shall be more fully unfolded when we come