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POPULAR DICTIONARY

OF

ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE, HISTORY, POLITICS, AND
BIOGRAPHY.

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AE5 1833

1859 v. 7

Entered, according to the Act of Congress in the year 1831, by
CAREY AND LEA,

In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

ENCYCLOPÆDIA AMERICANA.

INDUCTION, in logic; a conclusion from the particular to the general. Strict conclusions are made from the general to the particular. The general premise be ing true, the application to the particular case which is included in it follows with logical certainty. Induction gives only probability. If, for instance, we conclude, from the earth being habitable, that the other planets are so, the conclusion is only probable. Induction rests upon the belief that general laws and rules are expressed in the particular case; but a possibility always remains, that these general laws and rules are not perfectly known. An induction may be perfect or imperfect. To make it perfect, the premises must include all the grounds that can affect the result. If this is not the case, it is imperfect. For instance, every terrestrial animal lives, every aërial animal lives, every aquatic animal lives, every reptile lives; therefore, every animal lives. If we now allow that there exists no animal not included in the four enumerated classes, the induction is perfect.

INDULGENCE, in the Roman Catholic system; the remission of sin, which the church has power to grant. (We shall first give the Protestant, and then the Catholic views on this subject.) The visible head of the church, the pope, distributes indulgences in various ways. They are divided into temporary and plenary. The principle of indulgences rests on that of good works; for the Catholic theologians prove the authority of the church to issue indulgences in this way-many saints and pious men have done more good works, and suffered more than was required for the remission of their sins, and the sum of this surplus constitutes a

treasure for the church, of which the pope has the keys, and is authorized to distribute as much or little as he pleases. in exchange for pious gifts. The historical origin of indulgences is traced to the public penances and the canonical punishments, which the old Christian church imposed on the community, especially on those who did not remain firm unto martyrdom. When ecclesiastic discipline became milder, and the clergy inore covetous, it was allowed to commute these punishments into fines, for the benefit of the church. At first, the only source of indulgences was in Rome, and they could be obtained only by going there. At Rome, this treasure of the church was divided among many churches, which seven principal ones were gifted the most largely by the popes. These churches were termed stationes indulgentiarum. One of the richest was the church in the Lateran, on which were bestowed, at its renewed consecration, as many days of indulgence as the drops which fall in a rain continuing three days and three nights. The whole treasure of indulgences of the churches in Rome was accordingly inexhaustible. When the popes were in want of money, and the number of pilgrims who resorted to Rome to obtain the remission of their sins began to decrease, indulgences were put into the hands of the foreign archbishops and bishops; and, finally, agents were sent about, who made them an object of the meanest traffic. During the period of jubilee (see Jubilee), the people were taught to believe that the efficacy of indulgences was doubled, and the richest harvests were always reaped at this time. Leo X, famous for his love of splendor, commenced nis reign-1513:

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