decays the other will decay with it.
Still it is idle to deny that the doctrines are insusceptible of proof.
'Faith says, I will, _though_ I am not sure; Doubt says, I will not,
_because_ I am not sure; but they both agree in not being sure.'[162] He
utterly repudiates all the attempts made by Newman and others to get out
of the dilemma by some logical device for transmuting a mere estimate of
probabilities into a conclusion of demonstrable certitude. We cannot get
beyond probabilities. But we have to make a choice and to make it at our
peril. We are on a pass, blinded by mist and whirling snow. If we stand
still, 'we shall be frozen to death. If we take the wrong road, we shall
be dashed to pieces. We do not certainly know whether there is any
right one. What must we do? "Be strong and of a good courage." Act for
the best, hope for the best, and take what comes. Above all let us dream
no dreams and tell no lies, but go our way, wherever we may land, with
our eyes open and our heads erect. If death ends all, we cannot meet it
better. If not, let us enter the next scene with no sophistry in our
mouths and no masks on our faces.'[163]

A conclusion of this kind could commend itself neither to the dogmatist
who maintains the certainty of his theories, nor to the sceptic who
regards them as both meaningless and useless. I have dwelt upon them so
long because they seem to me to represent a substantially logical and
coherent view which commended itself to a man of very powerful
intellect, and which may be presumed to represent much that other people
hold less distinctly. The creed of a strong man, expressed with absolute
sincerity, is always as interesting as it is rare; and the presumption
is that it contains truths which would require to be incorporated in a
wider system. At any rate it represents the man; and I have therefore
tried to expound it as clearly as I could. I may take it for granted in
such references as I shall have to make in the following pages to my
brother's judgment of the particular events in which he took part. Mill
himself said, according to Professor Bain,[164] that Fitzjames 'did not
know what he was arguing against, and was more likely to repel than to
attract.' The last remark, as Professor Bain adds, was the truest. Mill
died soon afterwards and made no reply, if he ever intended to reply.
The book was sharply criticised from the positivist point of view by Mr.
Harrison, and from Mill's point of vi