‘But without having recourse to bones or monuments of any kind, if a man has looked upon the world as long as I have done with any observation he must be convinced that the size of man is diminishing. I have seen such bodies of men as are not now to be seen: I have observed in families, of which I have known three generations, a gradual decline in that, and I am afraid in other respects. Others may think otherwise; but for my part I have so great a veneration for our ancestors, that I have much indulgence for that ancient superstition among the Etrurians, and from them derived to the Romans, of worshipping the _manes_ of their ancestors under the names of _Lares_ or domestic gods, which undoubtedly proceeded upon the supposition that they were men superior to themselves, and their departed souls such genii as Hesiod has described, ἐσθλοι, ἀλεξικακοι, φυλακες θνητων ἀνθρωπων. And if antiquity and the universal consent of nations can give a sanction to any opinion, it is to this, that our forefathers were better men than we. Even as far back as the Trojan war, the best age of men of which we have any particular account, Homer has said that few men were better than their fathers, and the greater part worse: οἱ πλεονες κακιους, παυροι δε τε πατρος ἀρειους. And this he puts into the mouth of the Goddess of Wisdom.... But when I speak of the universal consent of nations, I ought to except the men, and particularly the young men, of this age, who generally believe themselves to be better men than their fathers, or than any of their predecessors.’—_Ancient Metaphysics_, vol. iii. p. 161. Footnote 54: ἡμεις μεν προπαν ἡμαρ, ἐς ἡελιον καταδυντα, ἡμεθα, δαινυμενοι κρεα τ’ ἀσπετα και μεθυ ἡδυ κτλ. Footnote 55: The nightingale is gay, For she can vanquish night, Dreaming, she sings of day, Notes that make darkness bright. But when the refluent gloom Saddens the gaps of song, We charge on her the dolefulness, And call her crazed with wrong.—PATMORE. Footnote 56: Hudibras, Part III. ii. 1493. Footnote 57: See Forsyth’s _Principles of Moral Science_. Footnote 58: ‘Il buvoit du vin, mais le laissoit volontiers pour du lait, du thé, ou d’autres liqueurs douces.’—BUFFON _of the Oran Outang, whom he saw himself in Paris_. Footnote 59: See Mr. Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads. Footnote 60: The figures of speech marked in italics are familiar to the admirers of parliamentary rhetoric. Footnote 61: _Supplices_, 807, ed. Schutz. Footnote 62: Matthew xi. 19. Footnote 63: