effort in despair, have
taken refuge in some fortuitous word, which has served their purpose
better than the best results of their logical analysis. The book which
has been the supreme ruler of the intellect in this kind of work, stands
forth as an illustrious example of failure. To those writings of
Aristotle which dealt with mind, his editing pupils could give no
name,--therefore they called them the things after the physics--the
_metaphysics_; and that fortuitous title the great arena of thought to
which they refer still bears, despite of efforts to supply an apter
designation in such words as Psychology, Pneumatology, and
Transcendentalism.

Writhing under this nightmare kind of difficulty, men in later times
tried to achieve completeness by lengthening the title-page; but they
found that the longer they made it, the more it wriggled itself into
devious tracks, and the farther did it depart from a comprehensive name.
Some title-pages in old folios make about half an hour's reading.[42]
One advantage, however, was found in these lengthy titles--they
afforded to controversialists a means of condensing the pith of their
malignity towards each other, and throwing it, as it were, right in the
face of the adversary. It will thus often happen that the
controversialist states his case first in the title-page; he then gives
it at greater length in the introduction; again, perhaps, in a preface;
a third time in an analytical form, through means of a table of
contents; after all this skirmishing, he brings up his heavy columns in
the body of the book; and if he be very skilful, he may let fly a few
Parthian arrows from the index.

[Footnote 42: A good modern specimen of a lengthy title-page may be
found in one of the books appropriate to the matter in hand, by the
diligent French bibliographer Peignot:--

"DICTIONNAIRE RAISONNE DE BIBLIOLOGIE: contenant--1mo, L'explication des
principaux termes relatifs a la bibliographie, a l'art typographique, a
la diplomatique, aux langues, aux archives, aux manuscrits, aux
medailles, aux antiquites, &c.; 2do, Des notices historiques detaillees
sur les principales bibliotheques anciennes et modernes; sur les
differentes sectes philosophiques; sur les plus celebres imprimeurs,
avec une indication des meilleures editions sorties de leurs presses, et
sur les bibliographes, avec la liste de leurs ouvrages; 3tio, enfin,
L'exposition des differentes systemes bibliographiques, &c.,--ouvrage
u