{"id":"01KG8AKAH8XCY6X3X5W7HVVCWS","cid":"bafkreigorovcs5tqhthjqxbgf2jtxmzfwukoiuskwcx6mct7ljpoyvl2km","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3188,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:57.722Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1JMR8XVKPA0G8ADAPC4","start_line":3134,"text":"through, it may be either that they are very pure or very shallow. Upon\r\nthe whole, it might rather be thought, that he, who, in view of its\r\ninconsistencies, says of human nature the same that, in view of its\r\ncontrasts, is said of the divine nature, that it is past finding out,\r\nthereby evinces a better appreciation of it than he who, by always\r\nrepresenting it in a clear light, leaves it to be inferred that he\r\nclearly knows all about it.\r\n\r\nBut though there is a prejudice against inconsistent characters in\r\nbooks, yet the prejudice bears the other way, when what seemed at first\r\ntheir inconsistency, afterwards, by the skill of the writer, turns out\r\nto be their good keeping. The great masters excel in nothing so much as\r\nin this very particular. They challenge astonishment at the tangled web\r\nof some character, and then raise admiration still greater at their\r\nsatisfactory unraveling of it; in this way throwing open, sometimes to\r\nthe understanding even of school misses, the last complications of that\r\nspirit which is affirmed by its Creator to be fearfully and wonderfully\r\nmade.\r\n\r\nAt least, something like this is claimed for certain psychological\r\nnovelists; nor will the claim be here disputed. Yet, as touching this\r\npoint, it may prove suggestive, that all those sallies of ingenuity,\r\nhaving for their end the revelation of human nature on fixed principles,\r\nhave, by the best judges, been excluded with contempt from the ranks of\r\nthe sciences--palmistry, physiognomy, phrenology, psychology. Likewise,\r\nthe fact, that in all ages such conflicting views have, by the most\r\neminent minds, been taken of mankind, would, as with other topics, seem\r\nsome presumption of a pretty general and pretty thorough ignorance of\r\nit. Which may appear the less improbable if it be considered that, after\r\nporing over the best novels professing to portray human nature, the\r\nstudious youth will still run risk of being too often at fault upon\r\nactually entering the world; whereas, had he been furnished with a true\r\ndelineation, it ought to fare with him something as with a stranger\r\nentering, map in hand, Boston town; the streets may be very crooked, he\r\nmay often pause; but, thanks to his true map, he does not hopelessly\r\nlose his way. Nor, to this comparison, can it be an adequate objection,\r\nthat the twistings of the town are always the same, and those of human\r\nnature subject to variation. The grand points of human nature are the\r\nsame to-day they were a thousand years ago. The only variability in them\r\nis in expression, not in feature.\r\n\r\nBut as, in spite of seeming discouragement, some mathematicians are yet\r\nin hopes of hitting upon an exact method of determining the longitude,\r\nthe more earnest psychologists may, in the face of previous failures,\r\nstill cherish expectations with regard to some mode of infallibly\r\ndiscovering the heart of man.\r\n\r\nBut enough has been said by way of apology for whatever may have seemed\r\namiss or obscure in the character of the merchant; so nothing remains\r\nbut to turn to our comedy, or, rather, to pass from the comedy of\r\nthought to that of action.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJKFFEB6SSPM714EMFFYK","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JMR8XVKPA0G8ADAPC4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKAH86F7PAN4QBKKQBWCE","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:00.552Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:08.317Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}