_Ly_. Why (bear with me), a critical investigating faculty, mental acumen, intellectual precision and independence equal to the occasion; without this, the completest inspection will be useless. Reason insists that the owner of it must further be allowed ample time; he will collect the rival candidates together, and make his choice with long, lingering, repeated deliberation; he will give no heed to the candidate's age, appearance, or repute for wisdom, but perform his functions like the Areopagites, who judge in the darkness of night, so that they must regard not the pleaders, but the pleadings. Then and not till then will you be able to make a sound choice and live a philosopher. _Her_. Live? an after life, then. No mortal span will meet your demands; let me see: go the whole round, examine each with care, on that examination form a judgement, on that judgement make a choice, on that choice be a philosopher; so and no otherwise you say the truth may be found. _Ly_. I hardly dare tell you--even that is not exhaustive; I am afraid, after all, the solid basis we thought we had found was imaginary. You know how fishermen often let down their nets, feel a weight, and pull them up expecting a great haul; when they have got them up with much toil, behold, a stone, or an old pot full of sand. I fear our catch is one of those. _Her_. I don't know what this particular net may be; your nets are all round me, anyhow. _Ly_. Well, try and get through; providentially, you are as good a swimmer as can be. Now, this is it: granted that we go all round experimenting, and get it done at last, too, I do not believe we shall have solved the elementary question, whether _any_ of them has the much-desired; perhaps they are all wrong together. _Her_. Oh, come now! not one of _them_ right either? _Ly_. I cannot tell. Do you think it impossible they may all be deluded, and the truth be something which none of them has yet found? _Her_. How can it possibly be? _Ly_. This way: take a correct number, twenty; suppose, I mean, a man has twenty beans in his closed hand, and asks ten different persons to guess the number; they guess seven, five, thirty, ten, fifteen--various numbers, in short. It is possible, I suppose, that one may be right? _Her_. Yes. _Ly_. It is not impossible, however, that they may all guess different incorrect numbers, and not one of them suggest twenty beans. What say you? _Her_. It is not impossible.