Jm/Z-.y ± UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ^ 3ICTI Bv I. B. Ifc\ %►*.%♦ ^Vi V* * -** % v vi ^ v i * * * THE SPECULATIVE DICTIONARY: CONTAINING MORAL SENTIMENTS, AND PHILOSOPHIC REFLECTIONS; OR TEXTS AND SKELETONS, FOR THE CONTEMPLATION OF PENETRATING INTELLECTS, AND SEARCHERS AFTER TRUTH. BY I. B. SMITH. rf NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY H. D. ROBINSON, 94 CHATHAM STREET. 1835. oo T«^r ERRATA. Page 6, tine 16, insert the word dictionary. 27, " 1, for villainy, read viJlany, 27, " 11, for villainous read villanous 29, " 26, for possible read passible 29, " 27, for impossible, read impassible. 38, " 2, for nations ; read nations 41, ■• 17,/or libeling read libelling 42, " last word of the note, for societv. read I A society. W3- %> t Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1835,. BY H. D. ROBINSON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-York. 2-S&Z STEREOTYPED BY F. F. RIPLEY. NEW-YORK. PUBLISHER'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. We wish, at once, to inform the reader of this new edition of the Speculative Dictionary r , that the greatest part of it was published in England, in the year 1830, and that our inducements for now re-publishing it in this country are, first, the work being out of print, and, second, our hope of calling attention to many important subjects which have seldom met with that serious and philosophic consideration they ought to com- mand, — subjects which are treated here with perfect candour and without dogmatism. In- deed, we know of no modern author who might have appropriated more appositely to himself, Petrarch's modest Introduction to his Essay on Solitude : — "Believe me," says the mellifluous Bard of Italy, "it requires no little confidence to promise help to the struggling, counsel to the doubtful, light to the blind, hope to the despondent, re- freshment to the weary. These are indeed great things, if they be accomplished ; trifles if but in a promise. I however aim not so much to pre- scribe a law for others, as to set forth the law of 4 PUBLISHERS PREFACE. my own mind; which let the man, who shall have approved of it, abide by ; and let him } to whom it shall appear not reasonable, reject it. It is my earnest wish, I confess, to employ my understanding and acquirements in that mode and direction, in which I may be enabled to benefit the largest number possible of my fellow creatures.* Such is the spirit, in our humble opinion, in which the Speculative Dictionary has been concocted. And yet, we doubt not but some in whose hands it may perchance fall will fault the author for the bold tone of free inquiry which is characteristic of the whole work. The fol- lowing anecdote which we have read, (we do not exactly remember where) may be applied to those persons; we therefore relate it for their especial benefit. The literary and liberal Earl of Shaftsbury meeting with a gentleman who had recently re- turned from travelling in the East, entered into a * Crede mihi, non est parvse fiduciae, polliceri opem de- certantibus consilium dubiis, lumen caecis, spem dejectis, refrigerium fessis. Magna quidem hsec sunt si fiant ; par- va, si promittantur. Verum ego non tarn aliis legem ponam, quam legem vobis meoe proprise mentis exponam; quam qui probaverit, teneat; cui non placuerit, abjiciat. Optarem, fateor, talis esse, qui prodesse possem quam piu* rimis. — Petrarch : De Vita Solitaries publisher's preface. 6 conversation concerning a certain Mahomedan of rank whom the latter had visited, when his lordship asked, "Well, ^and how did you find him with re- gard to the wine-drinking and other religious observances?" "Oh," replied the traveller, "as I found many- others of the educated class. All who visit for- eign countries must at first 6 stand in the plague of custom.' When you have lived among the better informed long enough to be familiar, and to venture to advance beyond the ceremonious outworks which Oriental society set up, you dis- cover that the Turks drink wine with modera- tion, but without scruple ; and that they discourse liberally on religious subjects, occasionally laugh- ing at bigots of all sorts." "j Ah ! I always thought that sensible men were of the same religion all the world over," replied his lordship. "And pray, my lord, ^what religion is that?" inquired a lady who sat unobserved at her tam- bour frame. "; Hey !" rejoined lord Shaftsbury, upon whom the question was popped rather unexpectedly; "Why, madam sensible men never tell." 1 Shaftsbury lived, comparatively speaking, in 1* 6 PUBLISHERS PREFACE, a dark age, and from the known motives, or the apprehended bigotry of the lady, it might have been imprudent in so wise a philosopher sud- denly replying, "Why, SCEPTICISM, madam." Happily for our present author, and also for the world at large, the time is past when most people could be scared away from examining opposing arguments by the mental cowardice of fearing to encounter any thing that might be contrary to tradition or pre-conceived opinion. With a majority, to hear all sides, is now the order of the day ; and it is not often that we meet with more peculiar information, sound reasoning, and ingenious speculations, than are displayed by the author of the speculative New York, May 31, 1835. PUBLISHER'S PREFACE* .TO THE LONDON EDITION. Of the varied means of conveying instruction, none seems more efficient than the sententious expression of the criti- cisms and speculative opinions of a thoughtful individual, arranged under proper heads, and concisely treated. These become, in reality^ materials for thinking, in affording the means of comparing similar and different effects of thought, and in starting inquiry where it had not previously existed. The maxims of La Rochefoucault are eminent in this style of literature, and are recommended by Lord Chesterfield to his son as an every-day lesson. The reflections of the little work now presented to the inquisitive reader, are extended beyond the subject man ; but all relate to his welfare, in the aim to correct some of his erroneous notions. The author has had the modesty to put forth his reflec- tions, not all as positive conclusions, but as speculative sug- gestions. True philosophy does not consist so much of con- clusion, fixedness, and firm attachment in matters of opinion, as in freedom of inquiry, wherever doubt can be raised, or new sources and subjects for thought developed. In the freedom of his own inquiries, he has prepared a variety of matter for the construction of a larger work of this kind; but he proceeds with the caution of being desirous not to shock too freely the preconceived, though, perhaps, ill-con- ceived, notions of others, and has accordingly made selec- tions. The title sets forth, that the little treatises are offered only as " texts and skeletons/' by and upon which others may enlarge and improve. If the work be found useful, and, as 8 PUBLISHER^ PREFACE, such, in demand, improved editions will appear. On one head the author may be comforted — his work can do no harm. The metaphysical and moral science which connects it- self so much with the present social condition of man, is yet but in a state of infancy. The priesthood has always dis- couraged it, and it now only rises in defiance of that order. The rapid changes of social condition, which are now being introduced into the Western States of Europe, will call forth the mental energies of its population, and make every little publication of this kind to be well-timed. The people once fairly taken out of the hands of the priesthood, and left to their own improvement by free inquiry, discussion, and mu- tual instruction, will display mental changes as rapidly and as gloriously as they are now displaying political changes, and bring a new moral force into the field of social regulation. Leaders are already, and long have been, industriously at work, but the mass must be moved. London, June 15, 1830. INDEX. Absurdity, 13 Aerial Life, 13 " All in All ' ( The great). . 14 Almighty 15 American 16 Animal 19 Anticipation 20 Apprentice 21 Atheist 22 Atomist 23 Attraction 23 Authority (Aristocratic) ... 25 Benevolence 25 Bible . 26 Catholicism 27 Causation 28 Cause and Effect 29 Caution 30 Censure 31 Centripetal 32 Characteristic 33 Chemical and Mechani- cal... 33 Chemistry 33 Comet... 34 Concentration (Alimen- tary) 34 Congruity 35 Conscience 35 Contemptible 36 Contrast (Mental) 36 Coronation 37 Coupling (Sexual) 37 Creation 38 Cruelty 38 Death 39 Deity (Suppositive). ...... 39 Deity (A Secondary) 42 Deism 42 Delicacy (Fastidious) 44 Design 44 Desire 45 Destiny 45 Digestion 46 Dress 46 Drinking 46 Duration 48 Duty 48 Education ( Veridical) 48 Enjoyment (Physical and Intellectual) 50 Enjoyment (Intellectual) . . .50 Eternal 51 Evil (Natural) 52 Excellence (Elements of).. 53 Faith 53 Fallibility 53 Fashion 54 Friendship 55 Frost (Effects of) 56 Fruition 57 Gangrene (Moral) 58 Grossness, Or Heat 58 Happiness (Senile) 59 Hen-Roost 61 Hereafter 62 History 62 Hurry 64 Imbecility ( Theislical) 65 Imbecility (Christian) 66 Imagination 67 Imposture 68 Impotence ( Theological) . . 68 Imprudence 68 10 INDEX. Increase {Speculation) .... 69 Inexperimental ,69 Infinity 70 Intellect 70 Interest {Self) 71 Intoxication {Mental) 72 Invention 72 Judgment 73 Justice 73 Knowledge 73 Labour. 73 Laws 74 Learning 75 Light.. 75 Lightning 70 Light. Heat. Sound 76 Love {Sexual) 77 Lunar 79 Machinery 80 Man {Intellectual) . . 81 Marriage 84 Martyrdom 86 Materialism 88 Matter 88 Memory 89 Mind 93 Misanthropy {Compara- tively justifiable) 95 Misery {Natural) 96 Monarchy 97 Money {Saving of) 98 Motion {Astronomical,'