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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Practical Essays + +Author: Alexander Bain + +Release Date: January 23, 2006 [EBook #17522] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Marc D'Hooghe. + + +From images generously made available by Gallica +(Bibliothèque Nationale de France) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + +</pre> + +<h1>PRACTICAL ESSAYS.</h1> + +<h3>by</h3> + +<h2>ALEXANDER BAIN, LL.D.,</h2> + +<h3>EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF LOGIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN.</h3> +<br /> + +<h4>LONDON</h4> + +<h4>1884.</h4> + +<br /> + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The present volume is in great part a reprint +of articles contributed to Reviews. The principal +bond of union among them is their +practical character. Beyond that, there is little +to connect them apart from the individuality +of the author and the range of his studies.</p> + +<p>That there is a certain amount of novelty in +the various suggestions here embodied, will be +admitted on the most cursory perusal. The +farther question of their worth is necessarily +left open.</p> + +<p>The first two essays are applications of the +laws of mind to some prevailing Errors.</p> + +<p>The next two have an educational bearing: +the one is on the subjects proper for Competitive +Examinations; the other, on the present +position of the much vexed Classical controversy.</p> + +<p>The fifth considers the range of Philosophical +or Metaphysical Study, and the mode of conducting +this study in Debating Societies.</p> + +<p>The sixth contains a retrospect of the growth +of the Universities, with more especial reference +to those of Scotland; and also a discussion of +the University Ideal, as something more than +professional teaching.</p> + +<p>The seventh is a chapter omitted from the +author's "Science of Education"; it is mainly +devoted to the methods of self-education by +means of books. The situation thus assumed +has peculiarities that admit of being handled +apart from the general theory of Education.</p> + +<p>The eighth contends for the extension of +liberty of thought, as regards Sectarian Creeds +and Subscription to Articles. The total emancipation +of the clerical body from the thraldom +of subscription, is here advocated without reservation.</p> + +<p>The concluding essay discusses the Procedure +of Deliberative Bodies. Its novelty +lies chiefly in proposing to carry out, more +thoroughly than has yet been done, a few +devices already familiar. But for an extraordinary +reluctance in all quarters to adapt simple +and obvious remedies to a growing evil, the +article need never have appeared. It so happens, +that the case principally before the public +mind at present, is the deadlock in the House +of Commons; yet, had that stood alone, the +author would not have ventured to meddle +with the subject. The difficulty, however, is +widely felt: and the principles here put forward +are perfectly general; being applicable wherever +deliberative bodies are numerously constituted +and heavily laden with business.</p> + +<p>ABERDEEN, <i>March</i>, 1884.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<br /> + +<h4><a href='#EI'>I. COMMON ERRORS ON THE MIND.</a></h4> +<br /> + +<p><i>Error regarding Mind as a whole—that Mind can be exerted without +bodily expenditure</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p>Errors with regard to the FEELINGS.</p> + +<p><a href='#I.I'>I. Advice to take on cheerfulness.</a></p> + +<p><i>Authorities for this prescription.</i><br /> + +<i>Presumptions against our ability to comply with it</i>.<br /> + +<i>Concurrence of the cheerful temperament with youth and health</i>.<br /> + +<i>With special corporeal vigour. With absence of care and anxiety</i>.<br /> + +<i>Limitation of Force applies to the mind</i>.<br /> + +<i>The only means of rescuing from dulness—to increase the supports +and diminish the burdens of life</i>.<br /> + +<i>Difficulties In the choice of amusements</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#I.II'>II. Prescribing certain tastes, or pursuits, to persons indiscriminately.</a></p> + +<p><i>Tastes must repose as natural endowment, or else in prolonged education</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#I.III'>III. Inverted relationship of Feelings and Imagination.</a></p> + +<p><i>Imagination does not determine Feeling, but the reverse</i>.<br /> + +<i>Examples:—Bacon, Shelley, Byron, Burke, Chalmers, the Orientals, +the Chinese, the Celt, and the Saxon</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#I.IV'>IV. Fallaciousness of the view, that happiness is best gained by not +being aimed at.</a></p> + +<p><i>Seemingly a self-contradiction</i>.<br /> + +<i>Butler's view of the disinterestedness of Appetite</i>.<br /> + +<i>Apart from pleasure and pain, Appetite would not move us</i>.<br /> + +<i>Parallel from other ends of pursuit—Health</i>.<br /> + +<i>Life has two aims—Happiness and Virtue—each to be sought directly +on its own account</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p>Errors connected with the WILL.</p> + +<p><a href='#I.Ib'>I. Cost of energy, of Will. Need of a suitable physical confirmation.</a></p> + +<p><i>Courage, Prudence, Belief</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#I.IIb'>II. Free-will a centre of various fallacies.</a></p> + +<p><i>Doctrines repudiated from the offence given to personal dignity. +Operation of this on the history of Free-will</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#I.IIIb'>III. Departing from the usual rendering of a fact, treated as denying +the fact.</a></p> + +<p><i>Metaphysical and Ethical examples</i>.<br /> + +<i>Alliance of Mind and Matter</i>.<br /> + +<i>Perception of a Material World</i>.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#I.IVb'>IV. The terms Freedom and Necessity miss the real point of the +human will.</a></p> + +<p><a href='#I.Vb'>V. Moral Ability and Inability.—Fallacy of seizing a question by the +wrong end.</a></p> + +<p><i>Proper signification of Moral Inability—insufficiency of the ordinary +motives, but not of all motives</i>.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EII'>II. ERRORS OF SUPPRESSED CORRELATIVES.</a></h4> +<br /> + +<p>Meanings of Relativity—intellectual and emotional.</p> + +<p>All impressions greatest at first. Law of Accommodation and habit.</p> + +<p>The pleasure of rest presupposes toil.</p> + +<p>Knowledge has its charm from previous ignorance.</p> + +<p>Silence is of value, after excess of speech.</p> + +<p>Previous pain not, in all cases, necessary to pleasure.</p> + +<p>Simplicity of Style praiseworthy only under prevailing artificiality. +To extol Knowledge is to reprobate Ignorance.</p> + +<p>Authority appealed to, when in our favour, repudiated when against +us.</p> + +<p>Fallacy of declaring all labour honourable alike.</p> + +<p>The happiness of Justice supposes reciprocity.</p> + +<p>Love and Benevolence need to be reciprocated.</p> + +<p>The <i>moral nature</i> of God—a fallacy of suppressed correlative</p> + +<p>A perpetual miracle—a self-contradiction.</p> + +<p>Fallacy that, in the world, everything is mysterious.</p> + +<p>Proper meaning of Mystery.</p> + +<p>Locke and Newton on the true nature of Explanation</p> + +<p>The Understanding cannot transcend its own experience.—Time and +Space, their Infinity.</p> + +<p>We can assimilate facts, and generalise the many into one. This +alone constitutes Explanation.</p> + +<p>Example from Gravity: not now mysterious.</p> + +<p>Body and Mind. In what ways the mysteriousness of their union +might be done away with.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EIII'>III. THE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS.</a></h4> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#III.I'>I. HISTORICAL SKETCH.</a></p> + +<p>First official recommendation of Competitive Examinations.</p> + +<p>Successive steps towards their adoption.</p> + +<p>First absolutely open Competition—in the India Service.</p> + +<p>Macaulay's Report on the subjects for examination and their values.</p> + +<p>Table of Subjects. Innovations of Lord Salisbury.</p> + +<p>An amended Table.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#III.II'>II. THE SCIENCE CONSIDERED.</a></p> + +<p>Doubts expressed as to the expediency of the competitive system.</p> + +<p>Criticism of the present prescription for the higher Services.</p> + +<p>The Commissioners' Scheme of Mathematics and Natural Science +objectionable.</p> + +<p>Classification of the Sciences into Abstract or fundamental, and Concrete +or derivative.</p> + +<p>Those of the first class have a fixed order, the order of dependence.</p> + +<p>The other class is represented by the Natural History Sciences, which +bring into play the Logic of Classification.</p> + +<p>Each of these is allied to one or other members of the primary +Sciences.</p> + +<p>The Commissioners' Table misstates the relationships of the various +Sciences.</p> + +<p>The London University Scheme a better model.</p> + +<p>The choice allowed by the Commissioners not founded on a proper +principle.</p> + +<p>The higher Mathematics encouraged to excess.</p> + +<p>Amended scheme of comparative values.</p> + +<p>Position of Languages in the examinations.</p> + +<p>The place in education of Language generally.</p> + +<p>Purposes of Language acquisition.</p> + +<p>Altered position of the Classical, languages.</p> + +<p>Alleged benefits of these languages, after ceasing to be valuable in +their original use.</p> + +<p>The teaching of the languages does not correspond to these secondary +values.</p> + +<p>Languages are not a proper subject for competition with a view to +appointments.</p> + +<p>For foreign service, there should be a pass examination in the languages +needful.</p> + +<p>The training powers attributed to languages should be tested in its +own character.</p> + +<p>Instead of the Languages of Greece, Rome, &c., substitute the History +and Literature.</p> + +<p>Allocation of marks under this view.</p> + +<p>Objections answered.</p> + +<p>Certain subjects should be obligatory.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EIV'>IV. THE CLASSICAL CONTROVERSY. ITS PRESENT ASPECT.</a></h4> +<br /> + +<p>Attack on Classics by Combe, fifty years ago.</p> + +<p>Alternative proposals at the present day:—</p> + +<p><a href='#IV.1'>1. The existing system +Attempts at extending the Science course under this system.</a></p> + +<p><a href='#IV.2'>2. Remitting Greek in favour of a modern language. A defective +arrangement.</a></p> + +<p><a href='#IV.3'>3. Remitting both Latin and Greek in favour of French and German.</a></p> + +<p><a href='#IV.4'>4. Complete bifurcation of the Classical and the Modern sides.</a></p> + +<p>The Universities must be prepared to admit a thorough modern alternative +course.</p> + +<p>Latin should not be compulsory in the modern side.</p> + +<p>Defences of Classics.</p> + +<p>The argument from the Greeks knowing only their own language— +never answered.</p> + +<p>Admission that the teaching of classics needs improvement.</p> + +<p>Alleged results of contact with the great authors of Greece and +Rome—unsupported by facts.</p> + +<p>Amount of benefit attainable without knowledge of originals.</p> + +<p>The element of training may be obtained from modern languages.</p> + +<p>The classics said to keep the mind free from party bias.</p> + +<p>Canon Liddon's argument in favour of Greek as a study.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EV.'>V. METAPHYSICS AND DEBATING SOCIETIES.</a></h4> +<br /> +<p>Metaphysics here taken as comprising Psychology, Logic, and their +dependent sciences.</p> + +<p>Importance of the two fundamental departments.</p> + +<p>The great problems, such as Free-will and External Perception +should be run up into systematic Psychology.</p> + +<p>Logic also requires to be followed out systematically.</p> + +<p>Slender connection of Logic and Psychology.</p> + +<p>Derivative Sciences:—Education.</p> + +<p>Aesthetics—a corner of the larger field of Human Happiness</p> + +<p>The treatment of Happiness should be dissevered from Ethics</p> + +<p>Adam Smith's loose rendering of the conditions of happiness</p> + +<p>Sociology—treated, partly in its own field, and partly as a derivative +of Psychology.</p> + +<p>Through it lies the way to Ethics.</p> + +<p>The sociological and the ethical ends compared.</p> + +<p>Factitious applications of Metaphysical study.</p> + +<p>Bearings on Theology, as regards both attack and defence.</p> + +<p>Incapable of supplying the place of Theology.</p> + +<p>Polemical handling of Metaphysics.</p> + +<p>Methodised Debate in the Greek Schools.</p> + +<p>Much must always be done by the solitary thinker.</p> + +<p>Best openings for Polemic:—Settling' the meanings of terms.</p> + +<p>Discussing the broader generalities.</p> + +<p>The Debate a fight for mastery, and ill-suited for nice adjustments.</p> + +<p>The Essay should be a centre of amicable co-operation, which would +have special advantages.</p> + +<p>Avoidance of such debates as are from their very nature interminable.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EVI'>VI. THE UNIVERSITY IDEAL—PAST AND PRESENT.</a></h4> +<br /> + +<p>The Higher Teaching in Greece.</p> + +<p>The Middle Age and Boëthius.</p> + +<p>Eve of the University.</p> + +<p>Separation of Philosophy from Theology.</p> + +<p>The Universities of Scotland founded—their history.</p> + +<p>First Period.—The Teaching Body.</p> + +<p>The Subjects taught and manner of teaching.</p> + +<p>Second Period.—The Reformation.</p> + +<p>Modified Curriculum—Andrew Melville.</p> + +<p>Attempted reforms in teaching.</p> + +<p>System of Disputation.</p> + +<p>Improvements constituting the transition to the Third Period.</p> + +<p>The Universities and the political revolutions.</p> + +<p>How far the Universities are essential to professional teaching: perennial +alternative of Apprenticeship.</p> + +<p>The Ideal Graduate.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EVII'>VII. THE ART OF STUDY.</a></h4> +<br /> + +<p>Study more immediately supposes learning from Books.</p> + +<p>The Greeks did not found an Art of Study, but afforded examples: +Demosthenes.</p> + +<p>Quintilian's "Institutes" a landmark.</p> + +<p>Bacon's Essay on Studies. Hobbes.</p> + +<p>Milton's Tractate on Education.</p> + +<p>Locke's "Conduct of the Understanding" very specific as to rules +of Study.</p> + +<p>Watts's work entitled "The Improvement of the Mind".</p> + +<p>What an Art of Study should attempt.</p> + +<p>Mode of approaching it.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#VII.I'>I. First Maxim—"Select a Text-book-in-chief".</a></p> + +<p>Violations of the maxim: Milton's system.</p> + +<p>Form or Method to be looked to, in the chief text-book.</p> + +<p>The Sciences. History.</p> + +<p>Non-methodical subjects.</p> + +<p>Repudiation of plans of study by some.</p> + +<p>Merits to be sought in a principal Text-book.</p> + +<p>Question as between old writers and new.</p> + +<p>Paradoxical extreme—one book and no more.</p> + +<p>Single all-sufficing books do not exist.</p> + +<p>Illustration from Locke's treatment of the Bible.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#VII.II'>II. "What constitutes the study of a book?"</a></p> + +<p><a href='#VII.II.1'>1. Copying literally:—Defects of this plan.</a></p> + +<p><a href='#VII.II.2'>2. Committing to memory word for word.</a></p> + +<p>Profitable only for brief portions of a book.</p> + +<p>Memory in extension and intension.</p> + +<p><a href='#VII.II.3'>3. Making Abstracts.</a></p> + +<p>Variety of modes of abstracting.</p> + +<p><a href='#VII.II.4'>4. Locke's plan of reading.</a></p> + +<p>A sense of Form must concur with abstracting.</p> + +<p>Example from the Practice of Medicine.</p> + +<p>Example from the Oratorical Art</p> + +<p>Choice of a series of Speeches to begin upon.</p> + +<p>An oratorical scheme essential.</p> + +<p>Exemplary Speeches.</p> + +<p>Illustration from the oratorical quality of negative tact. Macaulay's +Speeches on Reform.</p> + +<p>Study for improvement in Style.</p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#VII.III'>III. Distributing the Attention in Reading.</a></p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#VII.IV'>IV. Desultory Reading.</a></p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#VII.V'>V. Proportion of book-reading to Observation at first hand.</a></p> +<br /> + +<p><a href='#VII.VI'>VI. Adjuncts of Reading.—Conversation.</a></p> + +<p>Original Composition.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EVIII'>VIII. RELIGIOUS TESTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS.</a></h4> +<br /> +<p>Pursuit of Truth has three departments:—order of nature, ends of +practice, and the supernatural.</p> + +<p>Growth of Intolerance. How innovations became possible.</p> + +<p>In early society, religion a part of the civil government.</p> + +<p>Beginnings of toleration—dissentients from the State Church.</p> + +<p>Evils attendant on Subscription:—the practice inherently fallacious.</p> + +<p>Enforcement of creeds nugatory for the end in view.</p> + +<p>Dogmatic uniformity only a part of the religious character: element +of Feeling.</p> + +<p>Recital of the general argument for religious liberty.</p> + +<p>Beginnings of prosecution for heresy in Greece:—Anaxagoras, Socrates, +Plato, Aristotle.</p> + +<p>Forced reticence in recent times:—Carlyle, Macaulay, Lyell.</p> + +<p>Evil of disfranchising the Clerical class.</p> + +<p>Outspokenness a virtue to be encouraged.</p> + +<p>Special necessities of the present time: conflict of advancing knowledge +with the received orthodoxy.</p> + +<p>Objections answered:—The Church has engaged itself to the State +to teach given tenets.</p> + +<p>Possible abuse of freedom by the clergy.</p> + +<p>The history of the English Presbyterian Church exemplifies the +absence of Subscription.</p> + +<p>Various modes of transition from the prevailing practice.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h4><a href='#EIX'>IX. PROCEDURE OF DELIBERATIVE BODIES.</a></h4> +<br /> +<p>Growing evil of the intolerable length of Debates.</p> + +<p>Hurried decisions might be obviated by allowing an interval previous +to the vote.</p> + +<p>The oral debate reviewed.—Assumptions underlying it, fully examined.</p> + +<p>Evidence that, in Parliament, it is not the main engine of persuasion.</p> + +<p>Its real service is to supply the newspaper reports.</p> + +<p>Printing, without speaking, would serve the end in view.</p> + +<p>Proposal to print and distribute beforehand the reasons for each +Motion.</p> + +<p>Illustration from decisions on Reports of Committees.</p> + +<p>Movers of Amendments to follow the same course.</p> + +<p>Further proposal to give to each member the liberty of circulating a +speech in print, instead of delivering it.</p> + +<p>The dramatic element in legislation much thought of.</p> + +<p>Comparison of the advantages of reading and of listening.</p> + +<p>The numbers of backers to a motion should be proportioned to the +size of the assembly.</p> + +<p>Absurdity of giving so much power to individuals.</p> + +<p>In the House of Commons twenty backers to each bill not too many.</p> + +<p>The advantages of printed speeches. Objections.</p> + +<p>Unworkability of the plan in Committees. How remedied.</p> + +<p>In putting questions to Ministers, there should be at least ten +backers.</p> + +<p>How to compensate for the suppression of oratory in the House:— +Sectional discussions.</p> + +<p>The divisions occasioned at one sitting to be taken at the beginning +of the next.</p> + +<p>Every deliberative body must be free to determine what amount of +speaking it requires.</p> + +<p>The English Parliamentary system considered as a model.</p> + +<p>Lord Derby and Lord Sherbrooke on the extension of printing.</p> + +<p>Defects of the present system becoming more apparent.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<h3><a href='#Notes'><i>Notes and References in connection with Essay VIII. on Subscription</i></a></h3> + +<p>First imposition of Tests after the English Reformation.</p> + +<p>Dean Milman's speech in favour of total abolition of Tests.</p> + +<p>Tests in Scotland: Mr. Taylor Innes on the "Law of Creeds".</p> + +<p>Resumption of Subscription in the English Presbyterian Church.</p> + +<p>Other English Dissenting Churches.</p> + +<p>Presbyterian Church in the United States.</p> + +<p>French Protestant Church—its two divisions.</p> + +<p>Switzerland:—Canton of Valid.</p> + +<p>Independent Evangelical Church of Neuchatel.</p> + +<p>National Protestant Church of Geneva.</p> + +<p>Free Church of Geneva. Germanic Switzerland.</p> + +<p>Hungarian Reformed Church.</p> + +<p>Germany:—Recent prosecutions for heresy.</p> + +<p>Holland:—Calvinists and Modern School.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EI'></a><h2>I.</h2> + +<h2>COMMON ERRORS ON THE MIND.<a name="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1"><sup>[1]</sup></a></h2> +<br /> + +<p>On the prevailing errors on the mind, proposed to be +considered in this paper, some relate to the Feelings, +others to the Will.</p> + +<p>In regard to Mind as a whole, there are still to be +found among us some remnants of a mistake, once +universally prevalent and deeply rooted, namely, the +opinion that mind is not only a different fact from +body—which is true, and a vital and fundamental truth +—but is to a greater or less extent independent of the +body. In former times, the remark seldom occurred +to any one, unless obtruded by some extreme instance, +that to work the mind is also to work a number +of bodily organs; that not a feeling can arise, not a +thought can pass, without a set of concurring bodily +processes. At the present day, however, this doctrine +is very generally preached by men of science. The improved +treatment of the insane has been one consequence +of its reception. The husbanding of mental +power, through a bodily <i>régime</i>, is a no less important +application. Instead of supposing that mind is something +indefinite, elastic, inexhaustible,—a sort of perpetual +motion, or magician's bottle, all expenditure, +and no supply,—we now find that every single throb of +pleasure, every smart of pain, every purpose, thought, +argument, imagination, must have its fixed quota of +oxygen, carbon, and other materials, combined and +transformed in certain physical organs. And, as the +possible extent of physical transformation in each +person's framework is limited in amount, the forces +resulting cannot be directed to one purpose without +being lost for other purposes. If an extra share passes +to the muscles, there is less for the nerves; if the +cerebral functions are pushed to excess, other functions +have to be correspondingly abated. In several +of the prevailing opinions about to be criticised, failure +to recognise this cardinal truth is the prime source of +mistake.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>To begin with the FEELINGS.</p> + +<p><a name='I.I'></a>I. We shall first consider an advice or prescription +repeatedly put forth, not merely by the unthinking +mass, but by men of high repute: it is, that with a +view to happiness, to virtue, and to the accomplishment +of great designs, we should all be cheerful, light-hearted, +gay.</p> + +<p>I quote a passage from the writings of one of the +Apostolic Fathers, the Pastor of Hermas, as given in +Dr. Donaldson's abstract:—</p> + +<p>"Command tenth affirms that sadness is the sister +of doubt, mistrust, and wrath; that it is worse than +all other spirits, and grieves the Holy Spirit. It is +therefore to be completely driven away, and, instead +of it, we are to put on cheerfulness, which is pleasing +to God. 'Every cheerful man works well, and +always thinks those things which are good, and despises +sadness. The sad man, on the other hand, is +always bad.'"<a name="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2"><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> + +<p>[FALLACY OF PRESCRIBING CHEERFULNESS.]</p> + +<p>Dugald Stewart inculcates Good-humour as a +means of happiness and virtue; his language implying +that the quality is one within our power to +appropriate.</p> + +<p>In Mr. Smiles's work entitled "Self-Help," we find +an analogous strain of remarks:—</p> + +<p>"To wait patiently, however, man must work cheerfully. +Cheerfulness is an excellent working quality, +imparting great elasticity to the character. As a +Bishop has said, 'Temper is nine-tenths of Christianity,' +so are cheerfulness and diligence [a considerable +make-weight] nine-tenths of practical wisdom."</p> + +<p>Sir Arthur Helps, in those essays of his, combining +profound observation with strong genial sympathies +and the highest charms of style, repeatedly adverts to +the dulness, the want of sunny light-hearted enjoyment +of the English temperament, and, on one occasion, +piquantly quotes the remark of Froissart on our +Saxon progenitors: "They took their pleasures sadly, +as was their fashion; <i>ils se divertirent moult tristement +à la mode de leur pays</i>"</p> + +<p>There is no dispute as to the value or the desirableness +of this accomplishment. Hume, in his "Life," +says of himself, "he was ever disposed to see the +favourable more than the unfavourable side of things; +a turn of mind which it is more happy to possess +than to be born to an estate of ten thousand a year". +This sanguine, happy temper, is merely another form +of the cheerfulness recommended to general adoption.</p> + +<p>I contend, nevertheless, that to bid a man be habitually +cheerful, he not being so already, is like bidding +him treble his fortune, or add a cubit to his stature. +The quality of a cheerful, buoyant temperament +partly belongs to the original cast of the constitution +—like the bone, the muscle, the power of memory, +the aptitude for science or for music; and is partly +the outcome of the whole manner of life. In order to +sustain the quality, the physical (as the support of the +mental) forces of the system must run largely in one +particular channel; and, of course, as the same forces +are not available elsewhere, so notable a feature of +strength will be accompanied with counterpart weaknesses +or deficiencies. Let us briefly review the facts +bearing upon the point.</p> + +<p>The first presumption in favour of the position is +grounded in the concomitance of the cheerful temperament +with youth, health, abundant nourishment. +It appears conspicuously along with whatever promotes +physical vigour. The state is partially attained +during holidays, in salubrious climates, and health-bringing +avocations; it is lost, in the midst of toils, in +privation of comforts, and in physical prostration. +The seeming exception of elated spirits in bodily decay, +in fasting, and in ascetic practices, is no disproof +of the general principle, but merely the introduction +of another principle, namely, that we can feed one +part of the system at the expense of degrading and +prematurely wasting others.</p> + +<p>[LIGHT-HEARTEDNESS NOT IN OUR OWN POWER.]</p> + +<p>A second presumption is furnished also from our +familiar experience. The high-pitched, hilarious temperament +and disposition commonly appear in company +with some well-marked characteristics of corporeal +vigour. Such persons are usually of a robust +mould; often large and full in person, vigorous in +circulation and in digestion; able for fatigue, endurance, +and exhausting pleasures. An eminent +example of this constitution was seen in Charles +James Fox, whose sociability, cheerfulness, gaiety, +and power of dissipation were the marvel of his age. +Another example might be quoted in the admirable +physical frame of Lord Palmerston. It is no more +possible for an ordinarily constituted person to emulate +the flow and the animation of these men, than it +is to digest with another person's stomach, or to perform +the twelve labours of Hercules.</p> + +<p>A third fact, less on the surface, but no less certain, +is, that the men of cheerful and buoyant temperament, +as a rule, sit easy to the cares and obligations +of life. They are not much given to care and anxiety +as regards their own affairs, and it is not to be expected +that they should be more anxious about other +people's. In point of fact, this is the constitution of +somewhat easy virtue: it is not distinguished by a +severe, rigid attention to the obligations and the +punctualities of life. We should not be justified in +calling such persons selfish; still less should we call +them cold-hearted: their exuberance overflows upon +others in the form of heartiness, geniality, joviality, +and even lavish generosity. Still, they can seldom +be got to look far before them; they do not often +assume the painfully circumspect attitude required in +the more arduous enterprises. They are not conscientious +in trifles. They cast off readily the burdensome +parts of life. All which is in keeping with +our principle. To take on burdens and cares is to +draw upon the vital forces—to leave so much the less +to cheerfulness and buoyant spirits. The same corporeal +framework cannot afford a lavish expenditure +in several different ways at one time. Fox had no +long-sightedness, no tendency to forecast evils, or to +burden himself with possible misfortunes. It is +very doubtful if Palmerston could have borne the part +of Wellington in the Peninsula; his easy-going temperament +would not have submitted itself to all the +anxieties and precautions of that vast enterprise. +But Palmerston was hale and buoyant, and the Prime +Minister of England at eighty: Wellington began to +be infirm at sixty.</p> + +<p>[LIMITATIONS OF THE MENTAL FORCES.]</p> + +<p>To these three experimental proofs we may add +the confirmation derived from the grand doctrine +named the Correlation, Conservation, Persistence, or +Limitation of Force, as applied to the human body +and the human mind. We cannot create force anywhere; +we merely appropriate existing force. The +heat of our fires has been derived from the solar fire. +We cannot lift a weight in the hand without the combustion +of a certain amount of food; we cannot think +a thought without a similar demand; and the force +that goes in one way is unavailable in any other way. +While we are expending ourselves largely in any +single function—in muscular exercise, in digestion, in +thought and feeling, the remaining functions must +continue for the time in comparative abeyance. +Now, the maintenance of a high strain of elated +feeling, unquestionably costs a great deal to the forces +of the system. All the facts confirm this high estimate. +An unusually copious supply of arterial blood +to the brain is an indispensable requisite, even although +other organs should be partially starved, and +consequently be left in a weak condition, or else +deteriorate before their time. To support the excessive +demand of power for one object, less must be +exacted from other functions. Hard bodily labour +and severe mental application sap the very foundations +of buoyancy; they may not entail much +positive suffering, but they are scarcely compatible +with exuberant spirits. There may be exceptional +individuals whose <i>total</i> of power is a very large figure, +who can bear more work, endure more privation, +and yet display more buoyancy, without shortened +life, than the average human being. Hardly any man +can attain commanding greatness without being constituted +larger than his fellows in the sum of human +vitality. But until this is proved to be the fact in +any given instance, we are safe in presuming that +extraordinary endowment in one thing implies deficiency +in other things. More especially must we +conclude, provisionally at least, that a buoyant, hopeful, +elated temperament lacks some other virtues, +aptitudes, or powers, such as are seen flourishing in the +men whose temperament is sombre, inclining to +despondency. Most commonly the contradictory +demand is reconciled by the proverbial "short life +and merry".</p> + +<p>Adverting now to the object that Helps had so +earnestly at heart—namely, to rouse and rescue the +English population from their comparative dulness to +a more lively and cheerful flow of existence—let us +reflect how, upon the foregoing principles, this is to +be done. Not certainly by an eloquent appeal to the +nation to get up and be amused. The process will +turn out to be a more circuitous one.</p> + +<p>The mental conformation of the English people, +which we may admit to be less lively and less easily +amused than the temperament of Irishmen, Frenchmen, +Spaniards, Italians, or even the German branch +of our own Teutonic race, is what it is from natural +causes, whether remote descent, or that coupled with +the operation of climate and other local peculiarities. +How long would it take, and what would be the way +to establish in us a second nature on the point of +cheerfulness?</p> + +<p>Again, with the national temperament such as it is, +there may be great individual differences; and it may +be possible by force of circumstances, to improve the +hilarity and the buoyancy of any given person. Many +of our countrymen are as joyous themselves, and as +much the cause of joy in others, as the most light-hearted +Irishman, or the gayest Frenchman or Italian. +How shall we increase the number of such, so as to +make them the rule rather than the exception?</p> + +<p>[SOLE MEANS OF ATTAINING CHEERFULLNESS.]</p> + +<p>The only answer not at variance with the laws of +the human constitution is—<i>Increase the supports and +diminish the burdens of life</i>.</p> + +<p>For example, if by any means you can raise the +standard of health and longevity, you will at once +effect a stride in the direction sought. But what an +undertaking is this! It is not merely setting up what +we call sanitary arrangements, to which, in our +crowded populations, there must soon be a limit +reached (for how can you secure to the mass of men +even the one condition of sufficient breathing-space?), +it is that health cannot be attained, in any high +general standard, without worldly means far above +the average at the disposal of the existing population; +while the most abundant resources are often neutralised +by ineradicable hereditary taint. To which it is +to be added, that mankind can hardly as yet be said +to be in earnest in the matter of health.</p> + +<p>Farther: it is especially necessary to cheerfulness, +that a man should not be overworked, as many of us +are, whether from choice or from necessity. Much, I +believe, turns upon this circumstance. Severe toil +consumes the forces of the constitution, without leaving +the remainder requisite for hilarity of tone. The +Irishman fed upon three meals of potatoes a day, +the lazy Highlander, the Lazaroni of Naples living +upon sixpence a week, are very poorly supported; +but then their vitality is so little drawn upon by work, +that they may exceed in buoyancy of spirits the well-fed +but hard-worked labourer. We, the English +people, would not change places with them, notwithstanding: +our <i>ideal</i> is industry with abundance; but +then our industry sobers our temperament, and inclines +us to the dulness that Helps regrets. Possibly, +we may one day hit a happier mean; but to the human +mind extremes have generally been found easiest.</p> + +<p>Once more: the light-hearted races trouble themselves +little about their political constitution, about +despotism or liberty; they enjoy the passing moments +of a despot's smiles, and if he turns round and crushes +them, they quietly submit. We live in dread of +tyranny. Our liberty is a serious object; it weighs +upon our minds. Now any weight upon the mind is +so much taken from our happiness; hilarity may +attend on poverty, but not so well on a serious, forecasting +disposition. Our regard to the future makes +us both personally industrious and politically anxious; +a temper not to be amused with the relaxations of +the Parisian in his <i>café</i> on the boulevards, or with the +Sunday merry-go-round of the light-hearted Dane. +Our very pleasures have still a sadness in them.</p> + +<p>Then, again, what are to be our amusements? By +what recreative stimulants shall we irradiate the +gloom of our idle hours and vacation periods? +Doubtless there have been many amusements invented +by the benefactors of our species—society, +games, music, public entertainments, books; and in a +well-chosen round of these, many contrive to pass +their time in a tolerable flow of satisfaction. But +they all cost something; they all cost money, either +directly, to procure them, or indirectly, to be educated +for them. There are few very cheap pleasures. +Books are not so difficult to obtain, but +the enjoying of them in any high degree implies an +amount of cultivation that cannot be had cheaply.</p> + +<p>Moreover, look at the difficulties that beset the +pursuit of amusements. How fatiguing are they very +often! How hard to distribute the time and the +strength between them and our work or our duties! +It needs some art to steer one's way in the midst of +variety of pleasures. Hence there will always be, in +a cautious-minded people, a disposition to remain +satisfied with few and safe delights; to assume a +sobriety of aims that Helps might call dulness, but +that many of us call the middle path.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[FALLACY OF PRESCRIBING TASTES.]</p> + +<p><a name='I.II'></a>II. A second error against the limits of the human +powers is the prescribing to persons indiscriminately, +certain tastes, pursuits, and subjects of interest, on the +ground that what is a spring of enjoyment to one or +a few may be taken up, as a matter of course, by +others with the same relish. It is, indeed, a part of +happiness to have some taste, occupation, or pursuit, +adequate to charm and engross us—a ruling passion, +a favourite study. Accordingly, the victims of dulness +and <i>ennui</i> are often advised to betake themselves +to something of this potent character. Kingsley, in +his little book on the "Wonders of the Shore," endeavoured +to convert mankind at large into marine +naturalists; and, some time ago, there appeared in +the newspapers a letter from Carlyle, regretting that +he himself had not been indoctrinated into the +zoology of our waysides. I have heard a man out of +health, hypochondriac, and idle, recommended to +begin botany, geology, or chemistry, as a diversion of +his misery. The idea is plausible and superficial. +An overpowering taste for any subject—botany, +zoology, antiquities, music—is properly affirmed to be +born with a man. The forces of the brain must from +the first incline largely to that one species of impressions, +to which must be added years of engrossing +pursuit. We may gaze with envy at the fervour of a +botanist over his dried plants, and may wish to take +up so fascinating a pursuit: we may just as easily +wish to be Archimedes when he leaped out of the +bath; a man cannot re-cast his brain nor re-live his +life. A taste of a high order, founded on natural endowment, +formed by education, and strengthened by +active devotion, is also paid for by the atrophy of +other tastes, pursuits, and powers. Carlyle might +have contracted an interest in frogs, and spiders, and +bees, and the other denizens of the wayside, but it +would have been with the surrender of some other +interest, the diversion of his genius out of its present +channels. The strong emotions of the mind are not +to be turned off and on, to this subject and to that. +If you begin early with a human being, you may +impress a particular direction upon the feelings, you +may even cross a natural tendency, and work up a +taste on a small basis of predisposition. Place any +youth in the midst of artists, and you may induce a +taste for art that shall at length be decided and +strong. But if you were to take the same person in +middle life and immure him in a laboratory, that he +might become an enthusiastic chemist, the limits of +human nature would probably forbid your success.</p> + +<p>Such very strong tastes as impart a high and +perennial zest to one's life are merely the special +direction of a natural exuberance of feeling or emotion. +A spare and thin emotional temperament will undoubtedly +have preferences, likings and dislikings, +but it can never supply the material for fervour or +enthusiasm in anything.</p> + +<p>The early determining of natural tastes is a subject +of high practical interest. We shall only remark at +present that a varied and broad groundwork of +early education is the best known device for this +end.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[RELATION OF FEELINGS TO IMAGINATION.]</p> + +<p><a name='I.III'></a>III. A third error, deserving of brief comment, is a +singular inversion of the relationship of the Feelings +to the Imagination. It is frequently affirmed, both +in criticism and in philosophy, that the Feelings depend +upon, or have their basis in, the Imagination.</p> + +<p>An able and polished writer, discussing the character +of Edmund Burke, remarks: "The passions of +Burke were strong; this is attributable in great +measure to the intensity of the imaginative faculty". +Again, Dugald Stewart, observing upon the influence +of the Imagination on Happiness, says: "All that +part of our happiness or misery which arises from our +<i>hopes</i> or our <i>fears</i> derives its existence entirely from +the power of imagination". He even goes the length +of affirming that "<i>cowardice</i> is entirely a disease of +the imagination". Another writer accounts for the +intensity of the amatory sentiments in Robert Burns +by the strength of his imagination.</p> + +<p>[IMAGINATION GROUNDED IN FEELING.]</p> + +<p>Now, I venture to affirm that this view very nearly +reverses the fact. The Imagination is determined by +the Feelings, and not the Feelings by the Imagination. +Intensity of feeling, emotion, or passion, is the +earlier fact: the intellect swayed and controlled by +feeling, shaping forms to correspond with an existing +emotional tone, is Imagination. It was not the +imaginative faculty that gave Wordsworth, Byron, +Shelley, and the poets generally, their great enjoyment +of nature; but the love of nature, pre-existing, +turned the attention and the thoughts upon nature, +filling the mind as a consequence with the impressions, +images, recollections of nature; out of which grew +the poetic imaginings. Imagination is a compound +of intellectual power and feeling. The intellectual +power may be great, but if it is not accompanied with +feeling, it will not minister to feeling; or it will +minister to many feelings by turns, and to none in +particular. As far as the intellectual power of a poet +goes, few men have excelled Bacon. He had a mind +stored with imagery, able to produce various and +vivid illustrations of whatever thought came before +him; but these illustrations touched no deep feeling; +they were fresh, original, racy, fanciful, picturesque, a +play of the head that never touched the heart. The +man was by nature cold; he had not the emotional +depth or compass of an average Englishman. Perhaps +his strongest feeling of an enlarged or generous +description was for human progress, but it did not rise +to passion; there was no fervour, no fury in it. Compare +him with Shelley on the same subject, and you +will see the difference between meagreness and intensity +of feeling. What intellect can be, without +strong feeling, we have in Bacon; what intellect is, +with strong feeling, we have in Shelley. The feeling +gives the tone to the thoughts; sets the intellect at +work to find language having its own intensity, to pile +up lofty and impressive circumstances; and then we +have the poet, the orator, the thoughts that breathe, +and the words that burn. Bacon wrote on many +impressive themes—on Truth, on Love, on Religion, +on Death, and on the Virtues in detail; he was +always original, illustrative, fanciful; if intellectual +means and resources could make a man feel in these +things, he would have felt deeply; yet he never did. +The material of feeling is not contained in the intellect; +it has a seat and a source apart. There was +nothing in mere intellectual gifts to make Byron a +misanthrope: but, given that state of the feelings, the +intellect would be detained and engrossed by it; +would minister to, expand, and illustrate it; and +intellect so employed is Imagination.</p> + +<p>Burke had indisputably a powerful imagination. +He had both elements:—the intellectual power, or +the richly stored and highly productive mind; and +the emotional power, or the strength of passion +that gives the lead to intellect. His intellectual +strength was often put forth in the Baconian manner +of illustration, in light and sportive fancies. There +were many occasions where his feelings were not +much roused. He had topics to urge, views to express, +and he poured out arguments, and enlivened +them with illustrations. He was, on those occasions, +an able expounder, and no more. But when his +passions were stirred to the depths by the French +Revolution, his intellectual power, taking a new flight, +supplied him with figures of extraordinary intensity; +it was no longer the play of a cool man, but the +thunders of an aroused man; we have then "the +hoofs of the swinish multitude,"—"the ten thousand +swords leaping from their scabbards". Such feelings +were not produced by the speaker's imagination: they +were produced by themselves; they had their independent +source in the region of feeling: coupled with +adequate powers of intellect, they burst out into strong +imagery.<a name="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3"><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The Orientals, as a rule, are distinguished for +imaginative flights. This is apparent in their religion, +their morality, their poetry, and their science. +The explanation is to be sought in the strength of +their feelings, coupled with a certain intellectual force. +The same intellect, without the feelings, would have +issued differently. The Chinese are the exception. +They want the feelings, and they want the imagination. +They are below Europeans in this respect. +When we bring before them our own imaginative +themes, our own cast of religion, accommodated as +it is to our own peculiar temperament, we fail in +the desired effect. Our august mysteries are responded +to, not with reverential regard, but with, +cold analysis.</p> + +<p>The Celt and the Saxon are often contrasted on +the point of imagination; the prior fact is the comparative +endowment for emotion.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[HOW HAPPINESS SHOULD BE AIMED AT.]</p> + +<p><a name='I.IV'></a>IV. There is a fallacious mode of presenting the +attainment of happiness; namely, that happiness is +best secured by not being aimed at. We should be +aiming always at something else.</p> + +<p>When examined closely, the doctrine resolves itself +into a kind of paradox. All sorts of puzzles come up +when we attempt to follow it to its consequences.</p> + +<p>We might ask, first, whether there is any other +object of pursuit in the same predicament—wealth, +health, knowledge, fame, power. These are, every +one, a means or instrument of happiness, if not happiness +itself. Must we, then, in the case of each, avoid +aiming straight at the goal? must we look askance +in some other direction?</p> + +<p>Next, in the case of happiness proper, are we to +aim at nothing at all, to drift at random; or may we +aim at a definite object, provided it is not happiness; +or, lastly, is there one side aim in particular that we +must take? The answer here would probably be—Aim +at duty in general, and at the good of others in +particular. These ends are not the same as happiness, +yet by keeping them steadily in the view, and +not thinking of self at all, we shall eventually realise +our greatest happiness.</p> + +<p>Without, at present, raising any question as to the +fact alleged, we must again remark that the prescription +seems to contradict itself. Moralists of the +austere type will never allow us to pursue happiness +at all; we must never mention the thing to ourselves: +duty or virtue is the one single aim and end of being. +Such teachers may be right or they may be wrong, +but they do not contradict themselves. When, however, +we are told that by aiming at virtue, we are on +the best possible road to happiness, this is but +another way of letting us into the secret of happiness, +of putting us on the right, instead of on the wrong, +track, to attain it. Our teacher assumes that we are +in search of happiness, and he tells us how we are to +proceed; not by keeping it straight in the view, but by +keeping virtue straight in the view. Instead of pointing +us to the vulgar happiness-seeker who would take +the goal in a line, he corrects the course, and shows +us the deviation that is necessary in order to arrive +at it; like the sailor making allowance for the deviation +of the magnetic pole, in steering. Happiness is +not gained by a point-blank aim; we must take a +boomerang flight in some other line, and come back +upon the target by an oblique or reflected movement. +It is the idea of Young on the Love of Praise (Satire +I., 5.)—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The love of Praise howe'er concealed by art,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Reigns more or less and glows in every heart,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The proud to gain it, toils on toils endure,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>The modest shun it but to make it sure</i>.</span><br /> + +<p>Under this corrected method, we are happiness +seekers all the same; only our aims are better +directed, and our fruition more assured.</p> + +<p>These remarks are intended to show that the +doctrine of making men aim at virtue, in order to +happiness, has no further effect than to teach us to +include the interests of others with our own; by +showing that our own interests do not thereby suffer, +but the contrary. The doctrine does not substitute a +virtuous motive for a selfish one; it is a refined artifice +for squaring the two. The world is no doubt a +gainer by the change of view, although the individual +is not made really more meritorious.</p> + +<p>We must next consider whether, in fact, the oblique +aim at happiness is really the most effectual.</p> + +<p>A few words, first, as to the original source of the +doctrine of a devious course. Bishop Butler is renowned +for his distinction between Self-Love and +Appetite; he contends that in Appetite the object of +pursuit is not the pleasure of eating, but the food: +consequently, eating is not properly a self-seeking +act, it is an indifferent or disinterested act, to which +there is an incidental accompaniment of pleasure. +We should, under the stimulus of Hunger, seek the +food, whether it gave us pleasure or not.</p> + +<p>Now, any truth that there is in Butler's view +amounts to this:—In our Appetites we are not thinking +every instant of subduing pain and attaining +pleasure; we are ultimately moved by these feelings; +but, having once seen that the medium of their gratification +is a certain material object (food), we direct +our whole aim to procuring that. The hungry wolf +ceases to think of his pains of hunger when he is in +sight of a sheep; but for these pains he would have +paid no heed to the sheep; yet when the sheep has +to be caught, the hunger is submerged for the time; +the only relevant course, even on its account, is to +give the whole mind and body to the chase of the +sheep. Butler calls this indifferent or disinterested +pursuit; and as much as says, that the wolf is not +self-seeking, but sheep-seeking, in its chase. Now, it +is quite true that if the wolf could give no place in its +mind for anything but its hungry pains, it would be +in a bad way. It is wiser than that; it knows the +remedy; it is prepared to dismiss the pains from its +thoughts, in favour of a concentrated attention upon +the distant flock. This proves nothing as to its +unselfishness; nor does it prove that Appetite is a +different thing from self-seeking or self-love.</p> + +<p>[APPETITE DECLARED UNSELFISH.]</p> + +<p>There may be disinterested motives in our constitution; +but Appetite is not in any sense one of these. +We may have instincts answering to the traditional +phrase used in defining instinct, "a blind propensity" +to act, without aiming at anything in particular, and +without any expectation of pleasure or benefit. Such +instincts would conform to Butler's notion of appetite: +they would be entirely out of the course of self-love +or self-seeking of any sort. Whether the nest-building +activity of birds, and the constructiveness of ants, +bees, and beavers, comply with this condition, I do not +undertake to say. There is one process better known +to ourselves, not exactly an instinct, but probably a +mixture of instinct and acquirement—I mean the +process of Imitation—which works very much upon +this model. Although coming under the control of +the Will, yet in its own proper character it operates +blindly, or without purpose; neither courting pleasure, +nor chasing pain. In like manner, Sympathy, in +its most characteristic form, proceeds without any +distinct aim of pleasure to ourselves.</p> + +<p>Nothing of this can be affirmed of the Appetites. +In them, nature places us, as Bentham says, under +the government of two sovereign masters, <i>pain</i> and +<i>pleasure</i>. An appetite would cease to move us, if its +painful and pleasurable accompaniments were done +away with. It matters not that we remit our attention, +at times, to the pain or the pleasure; these are +always in the background; and the strength of the +appetite is their strength.</p> + +<p>So far as concerns Butler's example of the Appetites, +there is no case for the view that to obtain +happiness we must avoid aiming at it directly. If we +do not aim at the pleasure in its own subjective +character, we aim at the thing that immediately +brings the pleasure; which is, for all practical purposes, +to aim at the pleasure.</p> + +<p>The prescription to look away from the final end, +Happiness, in order to secure that end, may be tested +on the example of one of our intermediate pursuits, +as Health. It is not a good thing to be always +dwelling on the state of our health: by doing so, we +get into a morbid condition of self-consciousness, which +is in itself pernicious. It does not follow that we are +to live at random, without ever giving a thought to +our health. There is a plain middle course. Guided +by our own experience, and by the experience of +those that have gone before us, we arrange our plan +of life so as to preserve health; and our actions consist +in adhering to that plan in the detail. So long +as our scheme answers expectation, we think of nothing +but of putting it in force, as occasion arises; we +do not dwell upon our states of good health at all. +It is some interruption that makes us self-conscious; +and then it is that we have to exercise ourselves about +a remedial course. This, when found, is likewise objectively +pursued; our only subjectiveness lies in being +aware of gradual recovery; and we are glad to get +back to the state of paying no attention to the workings +of our viscera. We do not, therefore, remit our +pursuit; only, it is enough to observe the routine +of outward actions, whose sole motive is to keep us +in health.</p> + +<p>The pursuit of the still wider end, Happiness, has +much in common with the narrower pursuit. When +we have discovered what things promote, and what +things impede our happiness, we transfer our attention +to these, as the most direct mode of compassing +the end. If we are satisfied that working for other +people brings us happiness, we work accordingly; +this is no side aim, it is as direct as any aim can be. +It may involve immediate sacrifice, but that does not +alter the case; we can get no considerable happiness +from any source without temporary sacrifice.</p> + +<p>[HAPPINESS AND VIRTUE DISTINCT AIMS.]</p> + +<p>If it be said that the best mode of attaining happiness +is to put ourselves entirely out of account, and to +work for others exclusively, this, as already noted, +is a self-contradiction. It is to tell people not to +think of their own happiness, and yet to know that +they are securing that in the most effectual way. It +is also very questionable, indeed absolutely erroneous, +in fact. The most apparent way to secure happiness +is to ply all the known means of happiness, just as far +as, and no farther than, they are discovered to produce +the effect. We must keep a check upon the methods +that we employ, and abandon those that do not +answer. So long as we find happiness in serving +others, so long we continue in that course. And it is +a melancholy fact that Pope's bold assertion—"Virtue +alone is happiness below,"—cannot be upheld against +the stern realities of life. Life needs to be made up +of two aims—the one, Happiness, the other Virtue, +each on its own account. There is a certain mutual +connection of the two, but all attempts at making out +their identity are failures.</p> + +<p>It is of very great importance to teach men the +bearings of virtue on happiness, so far as these are +known. There will, however, always remain a portion +of duty that detracts from happiness, and must +be done as duty, nevertheless. Men are entitled to +pursue happiness as directly as ever they please; +only, they must couple with the pursuit their round +of duties to others; in which they may or may not +reap a share of the coveted good for self.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Let us, next, consider some of the difficulties and +mistakes attaching to the WILL. Here there are the +questions of world-renown, questions known even +in Pandemonium—Free-will, Responsibility, Moral +Ability, and Inability. It is now suspected, on +good grounds, that, on these questions, we have +somehow got into a wrong groove—that we are +lost in a maze of our own constructing.</p> + +<p>[A STRONG WILL THE GIFT OF NATURE.]</p> + +<p><a name='I.Ib'></a>I. We shall first notice a misconception akin to +some of the foregoing mistakes respecting the feelings. +In addressing men with a view to spur their +activity, there is usually a too low estimate of what is +implied in great and energetic efforts of will. Here, +exactly as in the cheerful temperament, we find a +certain constitutional endowment, a certain natural +force of character, having its physical supports of +brain, muscle, and other tissue; and neither persuasion, +nor even education, can go very far to alter that +character. If there be anything at all in the observations +of phrenology, it is the connection of energetic +determination with size of brain. Lay your hand +first on the head of an energetic man, and then on +the head of a feeble man, and you will find a difference +that is not to be explained away. Now it +passes all the powers of persuasion and education +combined to make up for a great cranial inequality. +Something always comes of assiduous discipline; but +to set up a King Alfred, or a Luther, as a model to +be imitated by an ordinary man, on the points of +energy, perseverance, endurance, courage, is to pass +the bounds of the human constitution. Persistent +energy of a high order, like the temperament for +happiness, costs a great deal to the human system. +A large share of the total forces of the constitution +go to support it; and the diversion of power often +leaves great defects in other parts of the character, as +for example, a low order of the sensibilities, and a +narrow range of sympathies. The men of extraordinary +vigour and activity—our Roman emperors +and conquering heroes—are often brutal and coarse. +Nature does not supply power profusely on all sides; +and delicate sympathies, of themselves, use up a very +large fraction of the forces of the organisation. Even +intellectually estimated, the power of sympathising +with many various minds and conditions would occupy +as much room in the brain as a language, or an +accomplishment. A man both energetic and sympathetic—a +Pericles, a King Alfred, an Oliver Cromwell +—is one of nature's giants, several men in one.</p> + +<p>There is no more notable phase of our active +nature than Courage. Great energy generally implies +great courage, and courage—at least in nine-tenths of +its amount—comes by nature. To exhort any one to +be courageous is waste of words. We may animate, +for the time, a naturally timid person, by explaining +away the signs of danger, and by assuming a confident +attitude ourselves; but the absolute force of +courage is what neither we nor the man himself can +add to. A long and careful education might effect a +slight increase in this, as in other aspects of energy +of character: we can hardly say how much, because +it is a matter that is scarcely ever subjected to the +trial; the very conditions of the experiment have not +been thought of.</p> + +<p>The moral qualities expressed by Prudence, Forethought, +Circumspection, are talked of with a like +insufficient estimate of what they cost. Great are the +rewards of prudence, but great also is the expenditure +of the prudent man. To retain an abiding sense of +all the possible evils, risks and contingencies of an +ordinary man's position—professional, family, and +personal—is to go about under a constant burden; +the difference between a thorough-going and an easy-going +circumspection is a large additional demand +upon the forces of the brain. The being on the alert +to duck the head at every bullet is a charge to the +vital powers; so much so, that there comes a point +when it is better to run risks than to pile up costly +precautions and bear worrying anxieties.</p> + +<p>Lastly, the attribute of our active nature called +Belief, Confidence, Conviction, is subject to the same +line of remark. This great quality—the opposite +of distrust and timidity, the ally of courage, the +adjunct of a buoyant temperament—is not fed upon +airy nothings. It is, indeed, a true mental quality, +an offshoot of our mental nature; yet, although not +material, it is based upon certain forces of the physical +constitution; it grows when these grow, and is +nourished when they are nourished. People possessed +of great confidence have it as a gift all through life, +like a broad chest or a good digestion. Preaching +and education have their fractional efficacy, and deserve +to be plied, provided the operator is aware of +nature's impassable barriers, and does not suppose +that he is working by charm. It is said of Hannibal +that he dissolved obstructions in the Alps by vinegar; +in the moral world, barriers are not to be removed +either by acetic acid or by honey.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[PREJUDICES DUE TO PERSONAL DIGNITY.]</p> + +<p><a name='I.IIb'></a>II. The question of Free-will might be a text for +discoursing on some of the most inveterate erroneous +tendencies of the mind.</p> + +<p>For one thing, it gives occasion to remark on the +influence exerted over our opinions by the feeling of +Personal Dignity. Of sources of bias, prejudices, +"Idola," "fallacies <i>a priori</i>" this may be allowed precedence. +For example, the maxim has been enunciated +by some philosophers, that, of two differing +opinions, preference is to be given (not to what is +true, but) to what ennobles and dignifies human +nature. One of the objections seriously entertained +against Darwin's theory is that it humbles our ancestral +pride. So, to ascribe to our mental powers a +material foundation is held to be degrading to our +nobler part. Again, a philosopher of our own day—Sir +W. Hamilton—has placed on the title-page of his +principal work this piece of rhetoric: "On earth, +there is nothing great but man; in man, there is +nothing great but mind". Now one would suppose +that there are on earth many things besides man deserving +the appellation of "great"; and that the +mechanism of the body is, in any view, quite as remarkable +a piece of work as the mechanism of the +mind. There was one step more that Hamilton, as an +Aristotelian, should have made: "In mind, there is +nothing great but intellect". Doubtless, we ought not +to dissect an epigram; but epigrams brought into a +perverting contact with science are not harmless. +Such gross pandering to human vanity must be held +as disfiguring a work on philosophy.</p> + +<p>The sentiment of dignity has much to answer +for in the doctrine of Free-will. In Aristotle, the +question had not assumed its modern perplexity; but +the vicious element of factitious personal importance +had already peeped out, it being one of the few points +wherein the bias of the feelings operated decidedly in +his well-balanced mind. In maintaining the doctrine +that vice is voluntary, he argues, that if virtue is +voluntary, vice (its opposite) must also be voluntary; +now to assert virtue not to be voluntary would be to +cast an <i>indignity</i> upon it. This is the earliest association +of the feeling of personal dignity with the +exercise of the human will.</p> + +<p>[FALSE PRIDE IN CONNECTION WITH FREE-WILL.]</p> + +<p>The Stoics are commonly said to have started the +free-will difficulty. This needs an explanation. A +leading tenet of theirs was the distinction between +things in our power and things not in our power; and +they greatly overstrained the limits of what is in +our power. Looking at the sentiment about death, +where the <i>idea</i> is everything, and at many of our +desires and aversions, also purely sentimental, that is, +made and unmade by our education (as, for example, +pride of birth), they considered that pains in general, +even physical pains and grief for the loss of friends, +could be got over by a mental discipline, by intellectually +holding them not to be pains. They extolled +and magnified the power of the will that could +command such a transcendent discipline, and infused +an emotion of <i>pride</i> into the consciousness of this +greatness of will. In subsequent ages, poets, moralists, +and theologians followed up the theme; and the +appeal to the pride of will may be said to be a +standing engine of moral suasion. This originating +of a point of honour or dignity in connection with +our Will has been the main lure in bringing us into +the jungle of Free-will and Necessity.</p> + +<p>It is in the Alexandrian school that we find the +next move in the question. In Philo Judaeus, the +good man is spoken of as free, the wicked man as a +slave. Except as the medium of a compliment to +virtue, the word "freedom" is not very apposite, seeing +that, to the highest goodness, there attaches submission +or restraint, rather than liberty.</p> + +<p>The early Christian Fathers (notably Augustine) +advanced the question to the Theological stage, by +connecting it with the great doctrines of Original Sin +and Predestination; in which stage it shared all the +speculative difficulties attaching to these doctrines. +The Theological world, however, has always been +divided between Free-will and Necessity; and probably +the weightiest names are to be found among +the Necessitarians. No man ever brought greater +acumen into theological controversy than did Jonathan +Edwards; and he took the side of Necessity.</p> + +<p>Latterly, however, since the question has become +one of pure metaphysics, Free-will has been the +favourite dogma, as being most consonant to the +dignity of man, which appears to be its chief recommendation, +and its only argument. The weight of +reasoning is, I believe, in favour of necessity; but the +word carries with it a seeming affront, and hardly +any amount of argument will reconcile men to indignity.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><a name='I.IIIb'></a>III. Another weakness of the human mind receives +illustration from the free-will controversy, and deserves +to be noticed, as helping to account for the +prolonged existence of the dispute: I mean the +disposition to regard any departure from the accustomed +rendering of a fact as denying the fact itself. +The rose under another name is not merely less +sweet, it is not a rose at all. Some of the greatest +questions have suffered by this weakness.</p> + +<p>[ANALYSIS DOES NOT DESTROY THE FACT.]</p> + +<p>The physical theory of matter that resolves it into +<i>points of force</i> will seem to many as doing away with +matter no less effectually than the Berkeleyan Idealism. +A universe of inane mathematical points, +attracting and repelling each other, must appear to +the ordinary mind a sorry substitute for the firm-set +earth, and the majestically-fretted vault of heaven, +with its planets, stars, and galaxies. It takes a +special education to reconcile any one to this theory. +Even if it were everything that a scientific hypothesis +should be, the previously established modes of speech +would be a permanent obstruction to its being received +as the popular doctrine.</p> + +<p>But the best illustrations occur in the Ethical and +Metaphysical departments. For example, some +ethical theorists endeavour to show that Conscience +is not a primitive and distinct power of the mind, like +the sense of colour, or the feeling of resistance, but a +growth and a compound, being made up of various +primitive impulses, together with a process of education. +Again and again has this view been represented +as denying conscience altogether. Exactly +parallel has been the handling of the sentiment of +Benevolence. Some have attempted to resolve it into +simpler elements of the mind, and have been attacked +as denying the existence of the sentiment. Hobbes, +in particular, has been subjected to this treatment. +Because he held pity to be a form of self-love, his +opponents charged him with declaring that there is +no such thing as pity or sympathy in the human +constitution.</p> + +<p>A more notable example is the doctrine of the +alliance of Mind with Matter. It is impossible that any +mode of viewing this alliance can erase the distinction +between the two modes of existence—the +material and the mental; between extended inert +bodies, on the one hand, and pleasures and pains, +thoughts and volitions, on the other. Yet, after the +world has been made familiar with the Cartesian +doctrine of two distinct substances—the one for the +inherence of material facts, and the other for mental +facts—any thinker maintaining the separate mental +substance to be unproved, and unnecessary, is denounced +as trying to blot out our mental existence, +and to resolve us into watches, steam-engines, or +speaking and calculating machines. The upholder of +the single substance has to spend himself in protestations +that he is not denying the existence of the fact, +or the phenomena called mind, but is merely challenging +an arbitrary and unfounded hypothesis for +representing that fact.</p> + +<p>[PERCEPTION OF A MATERIAL WORLD.]</p> + +<p>The still greater controversy—distinct from the +foregoing, although often confounded with it—relating +to the Perception of a Material World, is the crowning +instance of the weakness we are considering. Berkeley +has been unceasingly stigmatised as holding +that there is no material world, merely because he +exposed a self-contradiction in the mode of viewing it, +common to the vulgar and to philosophers, and suggested +a mode of escaping the contradiction by an +altered rendering of the facts. The case is very +peculiar. The received and self-contradictory view is +exceedingly simple and intelligible in its statement; +it is well adapted, not merely for all the commoner +purposes of life, but even for most scientific purposes. +The supposition of an independent material world, +and an independent mental world, created apart, and +coming into mutual contact—the one the objects perceived, +and the other the mind perceiving—expresses +(or over-expresses) the division of the sciences into +sciences of matter and sciences of mind; and the +highest laws of the material world at least are in no +respect falsified by it. On the other hand, any +attempt to state the facts of the outer world on +Berkeley's plan, or on any plan that avoids the self-contradiction, +is most cumbrous and unmanageable. +A smaller, but exactly parallel instance of the situation +is familiar to us. The daily circuit of the sun +around the earth, supposed to be fixed, so exactly +answers all the common uses that, in spite of its +being false, we adhere to it in the language of every-day +life. It is a convenient misrepresentation, and +deceives nobody. And such will, in all likelihood, be +the usage regarding the external world, after the +contradiction is admitted, and rectified by a metaphysical +circumlocution. Speculators are still only +trying their hand at an unobjectionable circumlocution; +but we may almost be sure that nothing will +ever supersede, for practical uses, the notion of the +distinct worlds of Mind and Matter. If, after the +Copernican demonstration of the true position of the +sun, we still find it requisite to keep up the fiction of +his daily course; much more, after the final accomplishment +of the Berkeleyan revolution (to my mind +inevitable), shall we retain the fiction of an independent +external world: only, we shall then know how +to fall back upon some mode of stating the case, +without incurring the contradiction.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><a name='I.IVb'></a>IV. To return to the Will. The fact that we have +to save, and to represent in adequate language, is this: +—A voluntary action is a sequence distinct and <i>sui +generis;</i> a human being avoiding the cold, searching +for food, and clinging to other beings, is not to be +confounded with a pure material sequence, as the fall +of rain, or the explosion of gunpowder. The phenomena, +in both kinds, are phenomena of sequence, and +of <i>regular</i> or <i>uniform</i> sequence; but the things that +make up the sequence are widely different: in the +one, a feeling of the mind, or a concurrence of feelings, +is followed by a conscious muscular exertion; in +the other, both steps are made up of purely material +circumstances. It is the difference between a mental +or psychological, and a material or physical sequence +—in short, the difference between mind and matter; +the greatest contrast within the whole compass of +nature, within the universe of being. Now language +must be found to give ample explicitness to this +diametrical antithesis; still, I am satisfied that rarely +in the usages of human speech has a more unfortunate +choice been made than to employ, in the present +instance, the antithetic couple—Freedom and Necessity. +It misses the real point, and introduces meanings +alien to the case. It converts the glory of the human +character into a reproach (although its leading motive +throughout has been to pay us a compliment). The +<i>constancy</i> of man's emotional nature (but for which +our life would be a chaos, an impossibility) has to be +explained away, for no other reason than that, at one +time, a blundering epithet was applied to designate +the mental sequences. Great is the difference between +Mind and Matter; but the terms Freedom and +Necessity represent the point of agreement as the +point of difference; and this being made familiar, +through iteration, as the mode of expressing the contrast, +the rectification is supposed to unsettle everything, +and to obliterate the wide distinction of the +two natures.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[SEIZING A QUESTION BY THE WRONG END.]</p> + +<p><a name='I.Vb'></a>V. What is called Moral Ability and Inability is +another artificial perplexity in regard to the will, and +might also be the text for a sermon on prevailing +errors. More especially, it exemplifies what may be +termed <i>seizing a question by the wrong end</i>.</p> + +<p>The votary, we shall say, of alcoholic liquor is found +fault with, and makes the excuse, he cannot help it—he +cannot resist the temptation. So far, the language +may pass. But what shall we say to the not uncommon +reply,—You could help it if you would. Surely +there is some mystification here; it is not one of +those plain statements that we desire in practical +affairs. Whether we are dealing with matter or with +mind, we ought to point out some clear and practicable +method of attaining an end in view. To get a good +crop, we till and enrich the soil; to make a youth +knowing in mathematics, we send him to a good +master, and stimulate his attention by combined +reward and punishment. There are also intelligible +courses of reforming the vicious: withdraw them +from temptation till their habits are remodelled; +entice them to other courses, by presenting objects of +superior attraction; or, at lowest, keep the fact of +punishment before their eyes. By these methods +many are kept from vices, and not a few reclaimed +after having fallen. But to say, "You can be virtuous +if you will," is either unmeaning, or it disguises a +real meaning. If it have any force at all—and it +would not be used unless, some efficacy had been +found attaching to it,—the force must be in the +indirect circumstances or accompaniments. What, +then, is the meaning that is so unhappily expressed? +In the first place, it is a vehicle for conveying the +strong wish and determination of the speaker; it is a +clumsy substitute for—"I do wish you would amend +your conduct"; an expression containing a real efficacy, +greater or less according to the estimate formed +of the speaker by the person spoken to. In the next +place, it presents to the mind of the delinquent the +<i>ideal</i> of improvement, which might also be done in +unexceptionable phrase; as one might say—"Reflect +upon your own state, and compare yourself with the +correct and virtuous liver". Then, there is a touch of +the stoical dignity and pride of will. Lastly, there +may be a hint or suggestion to the mind of good and +evil consequences, which is the most powerful motive +of all. In giving rise to these various considerations, +even the objectionable expression may have a genuine +efficacy; but that does not justify the form itself, +which by no interpretation can be construed into +sense or intelligibility.</p> + +<p>[MEANING OF MORAL INABILITY.]</p> + +<p>Moral Inability means that ordinary motives are +insufficient, but not all motives. The confirmed +drunkard or thief has got into the stage of moral +inability; the common motives that keep mankind +sober and honest have failed. Yet there are motives +that would succeed, if we could command them. Men +may be sometimes cured of intemperance when the +constitution is so susceptible that pain follows at once +on indulgence. And so long as pleasure and pain, in +fact and in prospect, operate upon the will, so long as +the individual is in a state wherein motives operate, +there may be moral weakness, but there is nothing +more. In such cases, punishment may be properly +employed as a corrective, and is likely to answer its +end. This is the state termed accountability, or, with +more correctness, PUNISHABILITY, for being accountable +is merely an incident bound up with liability to +punishment. Moral weakness is a matter of a degree, +and in its lowest grades shades into insanity, the state +wherein motives have lost their usual power—when +pleasure and pain cease to be apprehended by the +mind in their proper character. At <i>this</i> point, punishment +is unavailing; the moral inability has passed +into something like physical inability; the loss of +self-control is as complete as if the muscles were +paralysed.</p> + +<p>In the plea of insanity, entered on behalf of any +one charged with crime, the business of the jury is to +ascertain whether the accused is under the operation +of the usual motives—whether pain in prospect has +a deterring effect on the conduct. If a man is as +ready to jump out of the window as to walk downstairs, +of course he is not a moral agent; but so long +as he observes, of his own accord, the usual precautions +against harm to himself, he is to be punished for his +misdeeds.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>These various questions respecting the Will, if +stripped of unsuitable phraseology, are not very difficult +questions. They are about as easy to comprehend +as the air-pump, the law of refraction of light, +or the atomic theory of chemistry. Distort them by +inapposite metaphors, view them in perplexing attitudes, +and you may make them more abstruse than +the hardest proposition of the "Principia". What is +far worse, by involving a simple fact in inextricable +contradictions, they have led people gravely to recognise +self-contradiction as the natural and the proper +condition of a certain class of questions. Consistency +is very well so far, and for the humbler matters of +every-day life, but there is a higher and a sacred +region where it does not hold; where the principles +are to be received all the more readily that they land +us in contradictions. In ordinary matters, inconsistency +is the test of falsehood; in transcendental +subjects, it is accounted the badge of truth.</p> +<br /> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, August, 1868.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a><div class="note"><p> Donaldson's "History of Christian Literature and Doctrine," Vol. +I., p. 277.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a><div class="note"><p> Intensity of passion stands confessed in the self-delineations of men +of imaginative genius. We forbear to quote the familiar instances of +Wordsworth, Shelley, or Burns, but may refer to a remarkable chapter +in the life of the famous Scotch preacher, Dr. Thomas Chalmers. The +mere title of the chapter is enough for our purpose. It related to his +early youth, and ran thus, in his own words:—"A year of mental +elysium". It is while living at a white-heat that all the thoughts and +conceptions take a lofty, hyperbolical character; and the outpouring of +these at the time, or afterwards, is the imagination of the orator or the +poet. +</p><p> +The spread of the misconception that we have been combating is +perhaps accounted for by the circumstance that imagination in one man +is the cause of feeling <i>in others</i>. Wordsworth, by his imaginative +colouring, has excited a warmer sentiment for nature in many spectators +of the lake country. That, however, is a different thing. We may +also allow that the poet intensifies his own feelings by his creative embodiments +of them.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EII'></a><h2>II.</h2> + +<h2>ERRORS OF SUPPRESSED CORRELATIVES.<a name="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4"><sup>[4]</sup></a></h2> +<br /> + +<p>By Relativity is here meant the all-pervading fact +of our nature that we are not impressed, made conscious, +or mentally alive, without some change of +state or impression. An unvarying action on any of +our senses is the same as no action at all. An even +temperature, such as that enjoyed by the fishes in +the tropical seas, leaves the mind an entire blank +as regards heat and cold. We can neither feel nor +know without recognising two distinct states. Hence +all knowledge is double, or is the knowledge of contrasts +or opposites: heavy is relative to light; up +supposes down; being awake implies the state of +sleep.</p> + +<p>The applications of the law in the sphere of +emotion are chiefly contemplated in what follows. +Pleasure and pain are never absolute states; they +have reference always to the previous condition. +Until we know what that has been in any case, we +cannot pronounce upon the efficacy of a present +stimulation. We see a person reposing, apparently +in luxurious ease; if the state has been immediately +consequent upon a protracted and severe exertion, +we are right in calling it highly pleasurable. Under +other circumstances, it might be quite the reverse.</p> + +<p>There is an offshoot or modification of the principle, +arising out of the operation of habit. Impressions +made upon us are greatest when they are absolutely +new: after repetition they all lose something of their +power; although, by remission and alternative, the +causes of pleasure and pain have still a very considerable +efficacy. Many of the consequences of this great fact +are sufficiently acknowledged, or, if they are not, it is +from other causes than our ignorance. The weakness +is moral, rather than intellectual, that makes us expect +that the first flush of a great pleasure, a newly-attained +joy or success, will continue unabated. The +poor man, probably, does not overrate the gratification +of newly-attained wealth; what he fails to allow for +is the deadening effect of an unbroken experience of +ease and plenty. The author of "Romola" says of +the hero and the heroine, in the early moments of +their affection, that they could not look forward to a +time when their kisses should be common things. +So it is with the attainment of all great objects of +pursuit: the first access of good fortune may not disappoint +us; but as we are more and more removed +from the state of privation, as the memory of the +prior experience fades away, so does the vividness of +the present enjoyment. It is the same with changes +for the worse: the agony of a great loss is at first +overpowering; gradually, however, the system accommodates +itself to the new condition, and the severity +dies away. What is called on these occasions the +"force of custom" is the application of the law of +Accommodation, or Relativity modified by habit.</p> + +<p>[RELATIVITY IN PLEASURES.]</p> + +<p>It is a familiar experience of mankind, yet hard +to realise upon mere testimony, that the pleasures +of rest, repose, retirement, are wholly relative to +foregone labour and toil; after the first shock of +transition, they are less and less felt, and can be +renewed only after a renewal of the contrasting experience. +The description, in "Paradise Lost," of +the delicious repose of Adam and Eve in Eden is +fallacious; the poet credits them with an intensity of +pleasure attainable only by the brow-sweating labourer +under the curse.</p> + +<p>The delights of Knowledge are relative to previous +Ignorance; for, although the possession of knowledge +is in many ways a lasting good, yet the full intensity +of the charm is felt only at the moment of passing +from mystery to explanation, from blankness of impression +to intellectual attainment. This form of the +pleasure is sustained only by new acquisitions and +new discoveries. Moreover, in the minor forms of the +gratification due to knowledge, we never escape the +law of relativity; the "power" delights us by relation +to our previous impotence. Plato supposed that, in +knowledge, we have an example of a <i>pure</i> pleasure, +meaning one that had no reference to foregone privation +or pain; but such "purity" would be a barren +fact, not unlike the pure air of a bladeless and waterless +desert. A state of uninterrupted good health, +although a prime condition of enjoyment, is of itself +a state of neutrality or indifference. The man that +has never been ill cannot sing the joys of health; +the exultation of that strain is attainable only by +the valetudinarian.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>These examples have been remarked upon in every +age. It is the moral weakness of being carried away +by a present strong feeling, as if the state would last +for ever, that blinds each of us in turn to the stern +reality of the fact. There are, however, numerous instances, +coming under Relativity, wherein the indispensable +correlative is more or less dropped out of sight +and disavowed. These are the proper errors or fallacies +of Relativity, a branch of the comprehensive class +termed "Fallacies of Confusion". The object of the +present essay is to exhibit a few of these errors as +they occur in questions of practical moment.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>When it is said, as by Carlyle and others, "speech +is silvern, silence is golden," there is implied a condition +of things where speech has been in excess; and +but for this excess, the assertion is untrue. One +might as well talk of the delights of hunger, or of +cold, or of solitary confinement, on the ground of +there being times when food, warmth, or society may +be in excess, and when the opposing states would be +a joyful change.</p> + +<p>The Relativity of Pleasures, although admitted in +many individual cases, has often been misconceived. +The view is sometimes expressed, that there can be +no pleasure without a previous pain; but this goes +beyond the exigencies of the principle. We +cannot go on for ever with any delight; but mere +remission, without any counterpart pain, is enough +for our entering with zest on many of our pleasures. +A healthy man enjoys his meals without any sensible +previous pain of hunger. We do not need to have +been miserable for some time as a preparation for the +reading of a new poem. It is true that if the sense of +privation has been acute, the pleasure is proportionally +increased; and that few pleasures of any great +intensity grow up from indifference: still, remission +and alternation may give a zest for enjoyment without +any consciousness of pain.</p> + +<p>The principle of Comparison is capriciously made +use of by Paley, in his account of the elements of +Happiness. He applies it forcibly and felicitously to +depreciate certain pleasures—as greatness, rank, and +station—and withholds its application from the pleasures +that he more particularly countenances,—namely, +the social affections, the exercise of the +faculties, and health.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[SIMPLICITY OF STYLE A RELATIVE MERIT.]</p> + +<p>The great praise often accorded to Simplicity of +Style, in literature, is an example of the suppression +of the correlative in a case of mutual relationship. +Simplicity is not an absolute merit; it is frequently a +merit by correlation. Thus, if a certain subject has +never been treated except in abstruse and difficult +terminology, a man of surpassing literary powers, +setting it forth in homely and intelligible language, +produces a work whose highest praise is expressed by +Simplicity. Again, after the last century period of +artificial, complex, and highly-wrought composition, +the reaction of Cowper and Wordsworth in favour of +simplicity was an agreeable and refreshing change, +and was in great part acceptable because of the +change. It does not appear that Wordsworth comprehended +this obvious fact; to him, a simplicity that +cost nothing to the composer, and brought no novelty +to the reader, had still a transcendent merit.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It has been a frequent practice of late years to +celebrate the praises of Knowledge. Many eloquent +speakers have dilated on the happiness and the +superiority of the enlightened and the cultivated man. +Now, the correlative or obverse must be equally +true: there must be a corresponding degradation and +disqualification attaching to ignorance and the want +of instruction. This correlative and equally cogent +statement is suppressed on certain occasions, and by +persons that would not demur to the praises of knowledge: +as, when we are told of the native good sense, +the untaught sagacity, the admirable instincts of the +people,—that is, of the ignorant or the uneducated. +Hence the great value of the expository device of following +up every principle with its, counter-statement, +the matter denied when the principle is affirmed. +If knowledge is a thing superlatively good, ignorance +—the opposite of knowledge—is a thing superlatively +bad. There is no middle standing ground.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>In the way that people use the argument from +Authority, there is often an unfelt contradiction from +not adverting to the correlative implication. If I lay +stress upon some one's authority as lending weight to +my opinion, I ought to be equally moved in the +opposite direction when the same authority is against +me. The common case, however, is to make a great +flourish when the authority is one way, and to ignore +it when it is the other way. This is especially the +fashion in dealing with the ancient philosophers. +Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are quoted with much +complacency when they chime in with a modern +view; but, in points where they contradict our +cherished sentiments, we treat them with a kind of +pity as half-informed pagans. It is not seen that +men liable to such gross errors as they are alleged to +have committed—say on Ethics—are by that fact +deprived of all weight in allied subjects, as, for example, +Politics—in which Aristotle is still quoted as +an authority.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[DIGNITY OF ALL LABOUR ABSURD.]</p> + +<p>Many of the sins against Relativity can be traced +to rhetorical exaggeration. Some remarkable instances +of this can be cited.</p> + +<p>When a system of ranks and dignities has once +been established, there are associations of dignity and +of indignity with different conditions and occupations. +It is more dignified to serve in the army than to +engage in trade; to be a surgeon is more honourable +than to be a watchmaker. In this state of things a +fervid rhetorician, eager to redress the inequalities of +mankind, starts forth to preach the dignity of <i>all</i> +labour. The device is a self-contradiction. Make all +labour alike dignified, and nothing is dignified; you +simply abolish dignity by depriving it of the contrast +that it subsists upon.</p> + +<p>Pope's lines—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Honour and shame from no condition rise;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Act well your part; there all the honour lies—</span><br /> + +<p>cannot be exempted from the fallacy of self-contradiction. +Differences of condition are made by differences +in the degree of honour thereto attached. If +every man that did his work well were put on a level, +in point of honour, with every other man that did the +same; if the gatekeeper of a mansion, by being unfailingly +punctual in opening the gate, were to be equally +honoured with a great leader of the House of Commons, +then, indeed, equality of pay would be the +only thing wanted to abolish all differences of condition. +There is, no doubt, in society, a quantity of +misplaced honour; but so long as there are employments +exceptionally arduous, and virtues signally +beneficent in their operation, honour is a legitimate +spur and reward, and should be graduated according +to the desert in each case.</p> + +<p>In spurring the ardour of youth to studious exertion, +it is common to repeat the Homeric maxim, "to +supplant every one else, and stand out first". The +stimulating effect is undoubted; it is strong rhetorical +brandy. Yet only one man can be first, and the +exhortation is given simultaneously to a thousand.<a name="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5"><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> + +<p>[JUSTICE ADMIRABLE ONLY IF RECIPROCATED.]</p> + +<p>In the discussion and inculcation of the moral +duties and virtues, there has been, in all ages, a +tendency to suppress correlative facts, and to affirm +unconditionally what is true only with a condition. +Thus, the admirable nature of Justice, and the happiness +of the Just man, are a proper theme to be +extolled with all the power of eloquence. It has been +so with every civilized people, pagan as well as +Christian. In the dialogues of Plato, justice is a prominent +subject, and is adorned with the full splendour +of his genius. Aristotle, in one of the few moments +when he rises to poetry, pronounces justice "greater +than the evening-star or the morning-star". Now all +this panegyric is admissible only on the supposition +of <i>reciprocal</i> justice. Plato, indeed, had the hardihood +to say that the just man is happy in himself, and by +reason of his justice, even although others are unjust +to him; but the position is untenable. A man is +happy in his justice if it procure for him justice in +return; as a citizen is happy in his civil obedience, if +it gain him protection in return. There are two +parties in the case, and the moralist should obtain +access to both; he should induce the one to fulfil his +share before promising to the other the happiness of +justice and obedience. It may be rhetorical, but it is +not true, that justice will make a man happy in a +society where it is not reciprocated. Justice, in these +circumstances, is highly noble, praiseworthy, virtuous; +but the applying of these lofty compliments is the +proof that it does not bring happiness, and is an +attempt to compensate the deficiency. There is a +certain tendency, not very great as human nature is +constituted, for justice to beget justice in return—for +social virtue on one side to procure it on the other +side. This is a certain encouragement to each man +to perform his own part, in hope that the other party +concerned may do the same. Still, the reciprocity +occasionally fails, and with that the benefits to the +just agent. It is necessary to urge strongly upon +individuals, to impress upon the young, the necessity +of performing their duty to society; it is equally +implied, and equally indispensable, that society should +perform its part to them. The suppressing of the +correlative obligation of the State to the individual +leaves a one-sided doctrine; the motive of the +suppression, doubtless, is that society does not often +fail of its duties to the individual, whereas individuals +frequently fail of their duties to society. This may +be the fact generally, but not always. It is not the +fact where there are bad laws and corrupt administration. +It is not the fact where the restraints on +liberty are greater than the exigencies of the State +demand. It is not the fact, so long as there is a +single vestige of persecution for opinions. To be +thoroughly veracious, for example, in a society that +restrains the discussion and expression of opinions, is +more than such a society is entitled to.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[PLEASURES OF BENEVOLENCE CONDITIONAL.]</p> + +<p>The same fallacy occurs in an allied theme,—the +joys of Love and Benevolence. That love and benevolence +are productive of great happiness is beyond +question; but then the feeling must be mutual, it +must be reciprocated. One-sided love or benevolence +is a <i>virtue</i>, which is as much as to say it is <i>not</i> a +pleasure. The delights of benevolence are the delights +of reciprocated benevolence; until reciprocated, +in some form, the benevolent man has, strictly +speaking, the sacrifice and nothing more. There is a +great reluctance to encounter this simple naked truth; +to state it in theory, at least, for it is fully admitted in +practice. We fence it off by the assumption that +benevolence will always have its reward somehow; +that if the objects of it are ungrateful, others will +make good the defect at last. Now these qualifications +are very pertinent, very suitable to be +urged after allowing the plain truth, that benevolence +is intrinsically a sacrifice, a painful act; and +that this act is redeemed, and far more than redeemed, +by a fair reciprocity of benevolence. Only +such an admission can keep us out of a mesh of +contradictions. Like justice in itself, Benevolence in +itself is painful; any virtue is pain in the first +instance, although, when equally responded to, it +brings a surplus of pleasure. There may be acts of a +beneficent tendency that cost the performer nothing, +or that even may chance to be agreeable; but these +examples must not be given as the rule, or the type. +It is the essence of virtuous acts, the prevailing +character of the class, to tax the agent, to deprive +him of some satisfaction to himself; this is what we +must start from; we are then in a position to explain +how and when, and under what circumstances, and +with what limitations, the virtuous man, whether his +virtue be justice or benevolence, is from that cause a +happy man.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It is a fallacy of the suppressed relative to describe +virtue as determined by the <i>moral nature</i> of God, as +opposed to his arbitrary will. The essence of Morality +is obedience to a superior, to a Law; where there +is no superior there is nothing either moral or immoral. +The supreme power is incapable of an +immoral act. Parliament may do what is injurious, +it cannot do what is illegal. So the Deity may +be beneficent or maleficent, he cannot be moral or +immoral.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Among the various ways, proposed in the seventeenth +century, of solving the difficulty of the mutual +action of the heterogeneous agencies—matter and +mind—one was a mode of Divine interference, called +the "Theory of Occasional Causes". According to +this view, the Deity exerted himself by a <i>perpetual +miracle</i> to bring about the mental changes corresponding +to the physical agents operating on our +senses—light, sound, &c. Now in the mode of action +suggested there is nothing self-contradictory; but in +the use of the word "miracle" there is a mistake of +relativity. The meaning of a miracle is an exceptional +interference; it supposes an habitual state of +things, from which it is a deviation. The very idea +of miracle is abolished if every act is to be alike +miraculous.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[MYSTERY CORRELATES WITH THE INTELLIGIBLE.]</p> + +<p>We shall devote the remainder of this exposition to +a still more notable class of mistakes due to the suppression +of a correlative member in a relative couple +—those, namely, connected with the designation, +"Mystery," a term greatly abused, in various ways, +and especially by disregarding its relative character. +Mystery supposes certain things that are plain, intelligible, +knowable, revealed; and, by contrast to +these, refers to certain other things that are obscure, +unintelligible, unknowable, unrevealed. When a +man's conduct is entirely plain, straightforward, or +accounted for, we call that an intelligible case; when +we are perplexed by the tortuosities of a crafty, +double-dealing person, we say it is all very mysterious. +So, in nature, we consider that we understand certain +phenomena: such as gravity, and all its consequences, +in the fall of bodies, the flow of rivers, the +motions of the planets, the tides. On the other hand, +earthquakes and volcanoes are very mysterious; we +do not know what they depend upon, how or in +what circumstances they are produced. Some of +the operations of living bodies are understood,—as +the heart's action in the mechanical propulsion +of the blood; others, and the greater number, are +mysterious, as the whole process of germination +and growth. Now the existence of the contrast +between things plainly understood, and things not +understood, gives one distinct meaning to the term +Mystery. In some cases, a mystery is formed by an +apparent contradiction, as in the Theological mystery +of Free-will and Divine Foreknowledge; here, too, +there is a contrast with the great mass of consistent +and reconcilable things. But now, when we are told +by sensational writers, that <i>everything is mysterious;</i> +that the simplest phenomenon in nature—the fall of +a stone, the swing of a pendulum, the continuance of a +ball shot in the air—are wonderful, marvellous, miraculous, +our understanding is confounded; there being +then nothing plain at all, there is nothing mysterious. +The wonderful rises from the common; as the lofty +is lofty by relation to something lower: if there is +nothing common, then there is nothing wonderful; if +all phenomena are mysterious, nothing is mysterious; +if we are to stand aghast in amazement because three +times four is twelve, what phenomenon can we take +as the type of the plain and the intelligible? You +must always keep up a standard of the common, the +easy, the comprehensible, if you are to regard other +things as wonderful, difficult, inexplicable.</p> + +<p>[LOCKE ON THE LIMITS OF THE UNDERSTANDING.]</p> + +<p>The real character of a MYSTERY, and what constitutes +the Explanation of a fact, have been greatly +misconceived. The changes of view on these points +make up a chapter in the history of the education of +the human mind. Perhaps the most decisive turning +point was the publication of Locke's "Essay concerning +Human Understanding," the motive of which, +as stated in the homely and forcible language of the +preface, was to ascertain what our understandings can +do, what subjects they are fit to deal with, and where +they should stop. I quote a few sentences:—</p> + +<p>"If by this inquiry into the nature of the Understanding, +I can discover the powers thereof; how +far they reach; to what things they are in any +degree proportionate; and where they fail us: I +suppose it may be of use, to prevail with the busy +mind of man to be more cautious in meddling with +things exceeding its comprehension; to stop when +it is at the utmost extent of its tether; and to sit +down in a quiet ignorance of those things which, +upon examination, are proved to be beyond the +reach of our capacities." "The candle that is set +up in us, shines bright enough for all our purposes. +The discoveries we can make with this ought to +satisfy us. And we shall then use our Understandings +aright, when we entertain all objects in that +way and proportion that they are suited to our +faculties, and upon those grounds they are capable +of being proposed to us." "It is of great use for +the sailor to know the length of his line, though he +cannot fathom with it all the depths of the ocean."</p> + +<p>The course of physical science was preparing the +same salutary lesson. Locke's great contemporary +and friend, Isaac Newton, was his fellow-worker in +this tutorial undertaking; nor should Bacon be forgotten, +although there is dispute as to the extent and +character of his influence. The combined operation +of these great leaders of thought was apparent in the +altered views of scientific inquirers as to what is competent +in research—what is the proper aim of inquiry. +There arose a disposition to abandon the pursuit of +mysterious essences and grand pervading unities, and +ascertain with precision the facts and the laws of +natural phenomena. The study of astronomy was +inaugurated in Greenwich Observatory. The experiments +of Priestley and of Franklin farther exemplified +the eighteenth-century key to the secrets of the +universe.</p> + +<p>The lesson imparted by Newton and Locke and +their successors still remains to be carried out and +embodied in the subtler inquiries. The bearing upon +what constitutes a Mystery, and what constitutes +Explanation, or the accounting for appearances, may +be expressed thus:—</p> + +<p>In the first place, the Understanding can never +pass out of its own experience—its acquired knowledge, +whether of body or of mind. What we obtain +by our various sensibilities to the world about us, and +by our self-consciousness, are the foundation, the ABC +of everything that we are capable of knowing. +We know colours, and we know sound; we know +pleasure and pain, and the various emotions of wonder, +fear, love, anger. If there be any being endowed +with senses different from ours, with that being we +can have no communion. If there be any phenomena +that escape our limited sensibilities, they transcend +the possibility of our knowledge.</p> + +<p>It is necessary, however, to take account of the +combining or constructive aptitudes of the mind. We +can go a certain length in putting together our alphabet +of sensation and experience into many various +compounds. We can imagine a paradise or a pandemonium; +but only as made up of our own knowledge +of things good and evil. The limits of this constructive +power are soon reached. We are baffled to enter +into the feelings of our own kindred, when they are +far removed in character and circumstances from +ourselves. The youth at twenty cannot approximate +to the feelings of men of middle age. The healthy +are unable to comprehend the life of the invalid.</p> + +<p>[TIME AND SPACE RELATIVE TO OUR FACULTIES.]</p> + +<p>To come to the practical applications. The great +leading notions called Time and Space are known to +us only under the conditions of our own sensibility. +Time is made known by all our actions, all our senses, +all our feelings, and by the succession of our thoughts; +it is experienced as a continuance and a repetition of +movement, sight, sound, fear, or any other state of +feeling, or of thinking. One motion or sensation is +continued longer than another; or it is more frequently +repeated after intermission, giving the <i>numerical</i> +estimate of time, as in the beats of the pendulum. +In these ways we form estimates of seconds, minutes, +hours, days. And our constructive faculty can be +brought into play to conceive the larger tracts of +duration—a century, or a hundred centuries. Nay, +by our arithmetical powers we can put down in cipher, +or conceive <i>symbolically</i> (which is the meagrest of all +conceptions) millions of millions of centuries; these +being after all but compounds of our alphabet of +enduring or repeated sensations and thoughts. We +can suppose this arithmetical process to operate upon +past duration or upon future duration, and there is no +limit to the numbers that we can write down. But there +is one thing that we cannot do; we cannot fix upon a +point when Time or succession began, or upon a point +when it will cease. That is an operation not in keeping +with our faculties; the very supposition is impracticable. +We cannot entertain the notion of a +state of things wherein the fact of continuance had no +place; the effort belies itself. Time is inseparable +from our mental nature; whatever we imagine, we +must imagine as enduring. Some philosophers have +supposed that we must be endowed by nature with +the conception of Time, before we begin to exercise +our senses; but the difficulty would be to deprive us +of that adjunct without extinguishing our mental +nature. Give us sensibility, and you cannot withhold +the element of Time. The supposition of Kant and +others, that it is implanted in us as an empty form, +before we begin to employ our senses upon things, is +needless; for as soon as we move, see, hear, think, are +pleased or pained, we create time. And our notion +of Time in general is exactly what these sensibilities +make it, only enlarged by our constructive power +already spoken of.</p> + +<p>[MATTER AND VOID SUPPLEMENTARY.]</p> + +<p>While all our senses and feelings give us time, it is +our experience of Motion and Resistance,—the energetic +or active side of our nature alone,—that gives us +Space. The simplest feature of Space is the alternation +of Resistance and Non-Resistance, of obstructed +motion and freedom to move. The hand presses +dead upon an obstacle; the obstacle gives way and +allows free motion; these two contrasting experiences +are the elements of the two contrasting facts—Matter +and Space. By none of the five senses, in their pure +and proper character as senses, can we obtain these +experiences; and hence at an earlier stage of inquiry +into the mind, when our knowledge-giving sensibilities +were referred to the five senses, there was no +adequate account of the notion of Space or Extension. +Space includes more than this simple contrast of the +resisting and the non-resisting; it includes what we call +the Co-existing or Contemporaneous, the great aggregate +of the outspread world, as existing at any +moment, a somewhat complicated attainment, which I +am not now specially concerned with. It sufficiently +illustrates the limitation of our knowledge by our +sensibilities, from the nature of space, to fasten attention +on the double and mutually supplementing +experience of Matter and Void; the one resisting +movement, and giving the consciousness of resistance, +or dead strain, the other permitting movement, and +giving the consciousness of the unobstructed sweep +of the limbs or members. Whatever else may be in +space, this freedom to move, to soar, to expatiate (in +contrast to being hemmed in, obstructed, held fast), +is an essential part of the conception, and is formed +out of our active or moving sensibilities. Now, as +far as movement is concerned, we must be in one +of two states;—we must be putting forth energy +without effecting movement, being met by obstacles +called matter; or we must be putting forth energy +unresisted and effecting movement, which is what we +mean by empty space. There is no third position in +the matter of putting forth our active energy. Where +resistance ends and freedom begins, there is space; +where freedom ends, and obstruction begins, there is +matter. We find our sentient life to be made up, as +regards movement, of a certain number and range of +these two alternations; in other words, free spaces +and resisting barriers. And we can, by the constructive +power already mentioned, imagine other proportions +of the two experiences; we can imagine the +scope for movement, the absence of obstruction, to +be enlarged more and more, to be counted by +thousands and millions of miles; but the only +terminus or boundary that we can imagine is +resistance, a dead obstacle. We are able to conceive +the starry spaces widened and prolonged from galaxy +to galaxy through enormous strides of increasing +amplitude, but when we try to think an end to this +career, we can think only of a dead wall. There is no +other end of space within the grasp of our faculties; +and that termination is not an end of extension; for +we know that solid matter, viewed in other ways than +as obstructing movement, has the same property of +the extended belonging to the empty void. The +inference is, that the limitation of our means of +knowledge renders altogether incompetent the imagination +of an end to either Time or Space. The +greatest efforts of our combining faculty cannot exceed +the elements presented to it, and these elements +contain nothing that would set forth the situation of +space ending, and obstruction not beginning.</p> + +<p>[ARE TIME AND SPACE INFINITE?]</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, it is an irrevelant enquiry, +to ask, Are Time and Space finite or infinite? +Many philosophers have put the question, and even +answered it. They say Time has no beginning and +no end, and Space has no boundaries; or, as otherwise +expressed,—Time and Space are Infinite: an +answer of such vagueness as to mean anything, from +a harmless and proper assertion of the limits of our +faculties, up to the verge of extravagance and self-contradiction.</p> + +<p>When, in fact, people talk of the Infinite in Time +and Space, they can point to one intelligible signification; +as to the rest, this word is not a subject for +scientific propositions, and the attempt at such can +lead only to contradictions. The Infinite is a phrase +most various in its purport: it is for the most part an +emotional word, expressing human desire and aspiration; +a word of poetry, imagination, and preaching, +not a word to be discussed under science; no intellectual +definition would exhibit its emotional force.</p> + +<p>The second property of our intelligence is, that we +can generalise many facts into one. Tracing agreement +among the multifarious appearances of things, +we can comprehend in one statement a vast number +of details. The single law of gravity expresses the +fall of a stone, the flow of rivers, the retention of the +moon in her circuit round the earth. Now, this +generalising sweep is a real advance in our knowledge, +an ascent in the matter of intelligence, a step towards +centralising the empire of science. What is more, +this is the only real meaning of EXPLANATION. A +difficulty is solved, a mystery unriddled; when it +can be shown to resemble something else; to be an +example of a fact already known. Mystery is isolation, +exception, or, it may be, apparent contradiction; +the resolution of the mystery is found in assimilation, +identity, fraternity. When all things are assimilated, +so far as assimilation can go, so far as likeness holds, +there is an end to explanation; there is an end to +what the mind can do, or can intelligently desire.</p> + +<p>[GRAVITY NOT A MYSTERY.]</p> + +<p>Thus, when Gravity was generalised, by assimilating +the terrestrial attraction seen in falling bodies with the +celestial attraction of the sun and planets; and when, +by fair presumption, the same power was extended to +the remote stars; when, also, the <i>law</i> was ascertained, +so that the movements of the various bodies could be +computed and predicted, there was nothing further to +be done; explanation was exhausted. Unless we can +find some other force to fraternise with gravity, so +that the two might become a still more comprehensive +unity, we must rest in gravity as the ultimatum of our +faculties. There is no conceivable modification, or +substitute, that would better our position. Before +Newton, it was a mystery what kept the moon and +the planets in their places; the assimilation with +falling bodies was the solution. But, say many persons, +is not gravity itself a mystery? We say No; +gravity has passed through all the stages of legitimate +and possible explanation; it is the most highly generalised +of all physical facts, and by no assignable +transformation could it be made more intelligible than +it is. It is singularly easy of comprehension; its law +is exactly known; and, excepting the details of calculation, +in its more complex workings, there is nothing +to complain of, nothing to rectify, nothing to pretend +ignorance about; it is the very pattern, the model, +the consummation of knowledge. The path of +science, as exhibited in modern times, is towards +generality, wider and wider, until we reach the +highest, the widest laws of every department of things; +there explanation is finished, mystery ends, perfect +vision is gained.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>What is always reckoned the mystery by pre-eminence +is the union of BODY and MIND. How, then, +should we treat this Mystery according to the spirit +of modern thought, according to the modern laws of +explanation? The course is to <i>conceive</i> the elements +according to the only possible plan, our own sensibility +or consciousness; which gives us matter as one +class of facts—extension, inertness, weight, and so +on; and mind as another class of facts—pleasures, +pains, volitions, ideas. The difference between these +two is total, diametrical, complete; there is really +nothing common to the experience of pleasure and +the experience of a tree; difference has here reached +its <i>acme</i>; agreement is eliminated; there is no +higher genus to include these two in one; as the +ultimate, the highest elements of knowledge, they +admit of 110 fusion, no resolution, no unity. Our +utmost flight of generality leaves us in possession of a +double, a <i>couple</i> of absolutely heterogeneous elements. +Matter cannot be resolved into mind; mind cannot +be resolved into matter; each has its own definition; +each negatives the other.</p> + +<p>This being the fact, we accept it, and acquiesce. +There is surely nothing to be dissatisfied with, to +complain of, in the circumstance that the elements of +our experience are, in the last resort, two, and not +one. If we had been provided with fifty ultimate +experiences, none of them having a single property in +common with any other; and if we had only our +present limited intellects, we might be entitled to +complain of the world's mysteriousness in the one +proper acceptation of mystery—namely, as overpowering +our means of comprehension, as loading us +with unassimilable facts. As it is, matter, in its +commoner aspects and properties, is perfectly intelligible; +in the great number and variety of its endowments +or properties, it is revealed to us slowly and +with much difficulty, and these subtle properties—the +deep affinities and molecular arrangements—- are +the mysteries rightly so called. Mind in itself is also +intelligible; a pleasure is as intelligible as would be +any transmutation of it into the inscrutable essence +that people often desiderate. It is one of the facts of +our sensibility, and has a great many facts of its own +kindred, which makes it all the more intelligible.</p> + +<p>The varieties of pleasure, pain, and emotion are very +numerous; and to know, remember, and classify +them, is a work of labour, a <i>legitimate</i> mystery. The +subtle links of thought are also very various, although +probably all reducible to a small number; and the +ascertaining and following out of these has been a +work of labour and time; they have, therefore, been +mysterious; mystery and intellectual toil being the +real correlatives. The <i>complications</i> of matter and the +<i>complications</i> of mind are genuine mysteries; the +reducing or simplifying of these complications, by the +exertions of thinking men, is the way, and the only +way out of the darkness into light.</p> + +<p>[UNION OF MIND AND BODY.]</p> + +<p>But what now of the mysterious <i>union</i> of the two +great ultimate facts of human experience? What +should the followers of Newton and Locke say to this +crowning instance of deep and awful mystery? Only +one answer can be given. Accept the union, and +generalise it. Find out the fewest number of simple +laws, such as will express all the phenomena of this +conjoint life. Resolve into the highest possible +generalities the connections of pleasure and pain, +with all the physical stimulants of the senses—food, +tastes, odours, sounds, lights—with all the play of +feature and of gesture, and all the resulting movements +and bodily changes; and when you have +done that, you have so far truly, fully, finally explained +the union of body and mind. Extend your +generalities to the course of the thoughts; determine +what physical changes accompany the memory, the +reason, the imagination, and express those changes in +the most general, comprehensive laws, and you have +explained the how and the why brain causes thought, +and thought works in brain. There is no other explanation +needful, no other competent, no other that +would be explanation. Instead of our being "unfortunate," +as is sometimes said, in not being able to +know the essence of either matter or mind—in not +comprehending their union; our misfortune would be +to have to know anything different from what we do +or may know. If there be still much mystery attaching +to this linking of the two extreme facts of our +experience, it is simply this: that we have made so +little way in ascertaining what in one goes with what +in the other. We know a good deal about the +feelings and their alliances, some of which are open +and palpable to all mankind; and we have obtained +some important generalities in these alliances. Of +the connections of thought with physical changes we +know very little: these connections, therefore, are +truly and properly mysterious; but they are not +intrinsically or hopelessly so. The advancing study +of the physical organs, on the one hand, and of the +mental functions, on the other, may gradually abate +this mystery. And if a day arrive when the links that +unite our intellectual workings with the workings of +the nervous system and the other bodily organs shall +be fully ascertained and adequately generalised, no +one thoroughly educated in the scientific spirit of the +last two centuries will call the union of mind and body +any longer inscrutable or mysterious.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Fortnightly Review</i>, October, 1868.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a><div class="note"><p> We may here recall an incident highly characteristic of the late +Earl of Carlisle. Being elected on one occasion to the office of Lord +Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen, he had to deliver an address +to the students on the usual topics of diligence and hopefulness in their +studious career. Referring for a model to the addresses of former +rectors, he found, in that of his immediate predecessor, Lord Eglinton, +the Homeric sentiment above alluded to. It grated harshly on his mind, +and he avowed the fact to the students, he could not reconcile himself +to the elevating of one man upon the humiliation of all the rest. In a +strain more befitting a civilized age, he urged upon his hearers the pursuit +of excellence as such, without involving as a necessary accompaniment the +supplanting or throwing down of other men. He probably did not +sufficiently guard himself against a fallacy of Relativity; for excellence +is purely comparative; it subsists upon inferior grades of attainment: +still, there are many modes of it shared in by a great number, and not +confined to one or a few.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EIII'></a><h2>III.</h2> + +<h2>THE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS<a name="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6"><sup>[6]</sup></a></h2> +<br /> + +<p><a name='III.I'></a>I. HISTORICAL SKETCH.</p> +<br /> + +<p>Up to the year 1853, the appointing of Civil Servants +lay wholly in the hands of patrons. In 1853, patronage +was severely condemned and competitive examination +officially recommended, for the first time, in a +Report by Sir Stafford Northcote and Sir Charles +Trevelyan; but, while the recommendation was taken +up in the following year and immediately acted upon +in the Indian Civil Service, it was not till very much +later that it was fully adopted in the Home Service. +The history, indeed, of this last is somewhat peculiar. +After the Report already referred to, came an Order +of Council, of date May 21, 1855, in which we find +it "ordered that all such young men as may be proposed +to be appointed to any junior situation in any +department of the Civil Service shall, before they are +admitted to probation, be examined by or under the +Directors of the said Commissioners, and shall receive +from them a Certificate of Qualification for such +situation". This order was rigorously carried out by +the Commissioners, and, although its absolute requirement +was simply that the nominees should pass a +certain examination, it, nevertheless, allowed the +heads of departments to institute competition if they +cared. Accordingly, we find that competition—<i>but +limited</i>—was immediately set on foot in several of the +offices, and the result led to the following remark in +the Report of 1856:—</p> + +<p>"We do not think it within our province to discuss +the expediency of adopting the principle of open +competition as contra-distinguished from examination; +but we must remark that, both in the competitive +examination for clerkships in our own and in +other offices, those who have succeeded in attaining +the appointments have appeared to us to possess +considerably higher attainments than those who have +come in upon simple nomination; and, we may add, +that we cannot doubt that if it be adopted as a usual +course to nominate several candidates to compete for +each vacancy, the expectation of this ordeal will act +most beneficially on the education and industry of +those young persons who are looking forward to +public employment."</p> + +<p>In 1857, a near approach was made to open competition, +in the case of four clerkships awarded by +the competing examination in the Commissioners' +own establishment. "The fact of the competition +was not made public, but was communicated to one +or two heads of schools and colleges, and mentioned +casually to other persons at various times. The +number of competitors who presented themselves was +forty-six, of which number, forty-four were actually +examined."</p> + +<p>[BEGINNING OF OPEN COMPETITION.]</p> + +<p>It was reserved for 1858 to see the first absolutely +open competition, in the case of eight writerships in +the Office of the Secretary of State for India; and in +that year, too, a step in advance was made when the +Commissioners in their Report "pointed out the advantage +which would result from enlarging the field +of competition by substituting, for the plan of nominating +three persons only to compete for each vacant +situation, the system of nominating a proportionate +number of candidates to compete for several appointments +at one examination".</p> + +<p>The year 1860 sounded the death-knell of simple +pass examination. It was then recommended by a +Select Committee of the House of Commons, and the +recommendation was adopted, that the competitive +method, in its limited form, should be henceforth +<i>universally</i> applied to junior situations. This recommendation +was at once acted upon in the case of +clerkships under the control of the Lords Commissioners +of the Treasury, and others by and by followed; +but, as matter of fact, it was never strictly carried out +in all its scope and rigour; and as late as 1868 the +Commissioners in their Report stated that "the number +of situations filled on the competitive method has +been comparatively small". Meanwhile, competitive +examination was making way in other quarters.</p> + +<p>From 1857, the Commissioners had been in the +habit of examining competitively, at the request of +the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, such candidates as +might be nominated for cadetships in the Royal Irish +Constabulary; and, in 1861, the Lords Commissioners +of the Admiralty "threw open to public competition" +appointments as apprentices in Her Majesty's dockyards, +and appointments as "engineer students" in the +steam factories connected therewith.</p> + +<p>In 1870, the end so long aimed at was attained, +and by an Order in Council of June 4, open competition +was made the only door of entry to the +general Civil Service.</p> + +<p>In entire contrast with this, as has been already +said, was the action in the case of the Indian Civil +Service. Here the principle of open competition was +adopted from the first, and the examination took a +very elevated start, comprising the highest branches +of a learned education. These branches were duly +specified in a Report drawn up in November, 1854, by a +Committee, of which Lord Macaulay was chairman; +and, with the exception of Sanskrit and Arabic, they +included simply (as might have been expected) the +literary and scientific subjects ordinarily taught at the +principal seats of general education in the Kingdom. +These were:—</p> + +<p>English Language and Literature (Composition, +History, and General Literature,—to each of which +500 marks were assigned, making a total of 1,500); +Greek and Latin (each with 750 marks); French, +German, and Italian (valued at 375 marks, respectively); +Mathematics, pure and mixed (marks 1,000); +Natural and Moral Sciences (each 500); Sanscrit and +Arabic (375 each).</p> + +<p>[PRINCIPLE OF SELECTION OF SUBJECTS.]</p> + +<p>The principle of selection here is clear and obvious. +It did not rest upon any doctrine regarding the utility +or value of subjects for mental training, but simply +upon this, that those subjects already in the field +must be accepted, and that (as Mr. Jowett, in his +letter to Sir Charles Trevelyan, of January, 1854, put +it) "it will not do to frame our examination on any +mere theory of education. We must test a young +man's ability by what he knows, not by what we wish +him to know." Indeed, this is explicitly avowed in +the Report by the author of the Scheme himself. +The Natural Sciences are included, because (it is +confessed) "of late years they have been introduced +as a part of general education into several of our +universities and colleges": and, as for the Moral +Sciences, "those Sciences are, it is well known, much +studied both at Oxford and at the Scottish Universities".</p> + +<p>Into the details of Macaulay's interesting Report, +I need not here enter. Room, however, must be +found for one quotation. It deals with the distribution +of marks, and is both characteristic and puts +the matter in small compass. "It will be necessary," +says the writer, "that a certain number of marks +should be assigned to each subject, and that the place +of a candidate should be determined by the sum total +of the marks which he has gained. The marks ought, +we conceive, to be distributed among the subjects of +examination in such a manner that no part of the +kingdom, and no class of schools, shall exclusively +furnish servants to the East India Company. It +would be grossly unjust, for example, to the great +academical institutions of England, not to allow skill +in Greek and Latin versification to have a considerable +share in determining the issue of the competition. +Skill in Greek and Latin versification has, indeed, no +direct tendency to form a judge, a financier, or a +diplomatist. But the youth who does best what all the +ablest and most ambitious youths about him are trying +to do well will generally prove a superior man; nor can +we doubt that an accomplishment by which Fox and +Canning, Grenville and Wellesley, Mansfield and +Tenterden first distinguished themselves above their +fellows, indicates powers of mind, which, properly +trained and directed, may do great service to the +State. On the other hand, we must remember that +in the north of this island the art of metrical composition +in the ancient languages is very little cultivated, +and that men so eminent as Dugald Stewart, Horner, +Jeffrey, and Mackintosh, would probably have been +quite unable to write a good copy of Latin alcaics, or +to translate ten lines of Shakspeare into Greek +iambics. We wish to see such a system of examination +established as shall not exclude from the service +of the East India Company either a Mackintosh or a +Tenterden, either a Canning or a Horner."</p> + +<p>[ORIGINAL SCHEME FOR THE INDIA SERVICE.]</p> + +<p>Now, reverting to Macaulay's Table of Subjects as +above exhibited, I may observe that, till quite recently, +no very serious alterations were ever made upon it. +The scale of marks, indeed, was altered more than +once, and sometimes Sanskrit and Arabic were struck +off, and Jurisprudence and Political Economy put in +their stead; but, if we except the exclusion of Political +Philosophy in 1858, at the desire of the present Lord +Derby, from the Moral Science branch, the list remained, +till Lord Salisbury's late innovation, to all +intents and purposes what it was at the beginning. +Here, for instance, is the prescription for 1875:—</p> + +<pre> + MAKES + English Composition 500 + History of England, including that of the laws + and constitution 500 + English Language and Literature 500 + Language, literature, and history of Greece 750 + Rome 750 + France 375 + Germany 375 + Italy 375 + Mathematics, pure and mixed 1,250 + Natural Sciences, that is, (1) chemistry, including + heat; (2) electricity and magnetism; (3) geology + and mineralogy; (4) zoology; (5) botany 1,000 + + *** The total (1,000) marks may be obtained by + adequate proficiency in any two or more of the five + branches of science included under this head. + + Moral Sciences, that is, logic, mental and + moral philosophy 500 + Sanskrit, language and literature 500 + Arabic, language and literature 500 + +</pre> + +<p>But Lord Salisbury's changes have been great and +sweeping. They are probably in keeping with the +restriction of the competitor's age to "over 17 under +19"; but, if so, they serve only to shew all the more +conclusively that the restriction is a mistake. A +scheme that distributes marks on anything but a +rational and intelligent system; a scheme that excludes +the Natural History Sciences, mineralogy +and Geology, as well as Psychology and Moral +Philosophy from its scope altogether; a scheme that +prescribes only <i>Elements</i> and <i>Outlines</i> of such important +subjects as Natural Science (Chemistry, Electricity +and Magnetism, &c.) and Political Economy—stands +self-condemned. But, to do it justice, let us +produce the Table <i>in extenso</i>:—</p> + +<pre> + MAKES. + + English Composition 300 + History of England, including _a period selected_ + by the candidate 300 + English Literature including _books selected_ by + the candidate 300 + Greek 600 + Latin 800 + French 500 + German 500 + Italian 400 + Mathematics, pure and mixed 1,000 + Natural Science, that is, the _Elements_ of any + two of the following Sciences viz.:-- + Chemistry, 500; Electricity and Magnetism, + 300; Experimental Laws of Heat and Light, + 300; Mechanical Philosophy, with _Outlines_ + of Astronomy, 300. + Logic 300 + _Elements_ of Political Economy 300 + Sanskrit 500 + Arabic 500 +</pre> + +<p>Further remarks are reserved for the sequel. Meanwhile, +I give the scheme advocated by myself in the present Essay:— +</p> +<pre> + GENERAL SCIENCES:-- + + Mathematics 500 + Natural Philosophy 500 + Chemistry 500 + Biology, as physiology 500 + Mental Science 500 + + SPECIAL OR CONCRETE SCIENCES:-- + Mineralogy } + Botany } each 250 + Zoology } or 300 + Geology } + + As a substitute for language, literature, and philosophy + of Greece, Rome, France, Germany, and Italy:-- + Greece--Institutions and History 500 + Literature 250 + Rome--Institutions and History 500 + Literature 250 + France--Literature 250 + Germany--Literature 250 + Italy--Literature 250 + Modern History 1,000 +</pre> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<a name='III.II'></a><p>II. THE SCHEME CONSIDERED.</p> + +<p>The system of competitive examinations for the +public service, of which I have laid before the Section +a brief history compiled from the Reports, is one of +those radical innovations that may ultimately lead to +great consequences. For the present, however, it +leads to many debates. Not merely does the working +out of the scheme involve conflicting views, but there +is still, in many quarters, great hesitation as to whether +the innovation is to be productive of good or of evil. +The Report of the Playfair Commission, and the +more recent Report relative to the changes in the +India Civil Service Regulations, indicate pretty +broadly the doubts that still cleave to many minds +on the whole question. It is enough to refer to the +views of Sir Arthur Helps, W.R. Greg, and Dr. +Farr, expressed to the Playfair Commission, as +decidedly adverse to the competitive system. The +authorities cited in the Report on the India Examinations +scarcely go the length of total condemnation; +but many acquiesce only because there is no hope +of a reversal.</p> + +<p>The question of the expediency of the system as a +whole is not well suited to a sectional discussion. +We shall be much better employed in adverting to +some of those details in the conduct of the examinations +that have a bearing on the general education +of the country, as well as on the Civil Service itself. +It was very well for the Commissioners, at first +starting, to be guided, in their choice of subjects and +in their assigning of values to those subjects, by the +received branches of education in the schools and +colleges. But, sooner or later, these subjects must +be discussed on their intrinsic merits for the ends in +view. Indeed, the scheme of Lord Salisbury has +already made the venture that Macaulay declined +to make; it has absolutely excluded some of the +best recognised subjects of our school and college +teaching, instead of leaving them to the option of the +candidates.</p> + +<p>I will occupy the present paper with the consideration +of two departments in the examination programme—the +one relating to the PHYSICAL or +NATURAL SCIENCES, the other relating to LANGUAGES.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[COMMISSIONER' SCHEME OF SCIENCE.]</p> + +<p>The Commissioners' scheme of Mathematics and +Natural Science is not, in my opinion, accordant +either with the best views of the relations of the +sciences, or with the best teaching usages.</p> + +<p>In the classification of the Sciences, the first and +most important distinction is between the fundamental +sciences, sometimes called the Abstract +sciences, and the derivative or Concrete branches. +My purpose does not require any nice clearing of +the meanings of those technical terms. It is sufficient +to say that the fundamental sciences are those that +embrace distinct departments of the natural forces or +phenomena; and the derivative or concrete departments +assume all the laws laid down in the others, +and apply them in certain spheres of natural objects. +For example, Chemistry is a primary, fundamental, +or abstract science; and Mineralogy is a derivative +and concrete science. In Chemistry the stress lies in +explaining a peculiar kind of force, called chemical +force; in Mineralogy the stress is laid on the description +and classification of a select group of natural +objects.</p> + +<p>The fundamental, or departmental sciences, as most +commonly accepted, are these:—1. Mathematics; 2. +Natural Philosophy, or Physics; 3. Chemistry; 4. +Biology; 5. Psychology. They may be, therefore, +expressed as Formal, Inanimate, Animate, and Mental. +In these sciences, the idea is to view exhaustively +some department of natural phenomena, and to +assume the order best suited for the elucidation of +the phenomena. Mathematics, the Formal Science, +exhausts the relations of Quantity and Number; +measure being a universal property of things. Natural +Philosophy, in its two divisions (molar and molecular), +deals with one kind of force; Chemistry with +another: and the two together conspire to exhaust +the phenomena of <i>inanimate</i> nature; being indispensably +aided by the laws and formulae of quantity, as +given in Mathematics. Biology turns over a new +leaf; it takes up the phenomenon—Life, or the <i>animated</i> +world. Finally, Psychology makes another +stride, and embraces the sphere of <i>mind</i>.</p> + +<p>Now, there is no fact or phenomenon of the world +that is not comprised under the doctrines expounded +in some one or other of these sciences. We may +have fifty "ologies" besides, but they will merely +repeat for special ends, or in special connections, +the principles already comprised in these five fundamental +subjects. The regular, systematic, exhaustive +account of the laws of nature is to be found within +their compass.</p> + +<p>[ORDER OF THE FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCES.]</p> + +<p>Again, these sciences have a fixed order or sequence, +the order of dependence. Mathematics precedes them +all, as being not dependent upon any, while all are +more or less dependent upon it. The physical forces +have to be viewed prior to the chemical; and both +physical and chemical forces are preparatory to vital. +So there are reasons for placing Mental Science last +of all. Hence a student cannot comprehend chemistry +without natural philosophy, nor biology without +both. You cannot stand a thorough examination in +chemistry without indirectly showing your knowledge +of physics; and a testing examination in biology +would guarantee, with some slight qualifications, both +physics and chemistry.</p> + +<p>Let us now turn to the other sciences—those that +are not fundamental, but derivative. The chief +examples are the three commonly called Natural +History sciences—Mineralogy, Botany, Zoology. In +these sciences no law or principle is at work that has +not been already brought forward in the primary +sciences. The properties of a Mineral are mathematical, +physical, and chemical: the testing of minerals +is by measurement, by physical tests, by chemical +tests. The aim of this science is not to teach forces +unknown to the student of physics and chemistry; +it is to embrace, under the best classification, all the +bodies called minerals, and to describe the species in +detail under mathematical, physical, and chemical +characters. It is the first in order of the <i>classificatory</i> +sciences. Its purpose in the economy of education +is distinct and peculiar; it imparts knowledge, not +respecting laws, forces, or principles of operating, +but respecting the concrete constituents of the world. +It gives us a commanding view of one whole department +of the material universe; supplying information +useful in practice, and interesting to the feelings. It +also brings into exercise the great logical process, +wanted on many occasions, the process of CLASSIFICATION.</p> + +<p>[CLASSIFICATORY SCIENCES.]</p> + +<p>So much for an instance from the Inorganic world, +as showing the distinction between the two kinds of +sciences. Another example may be cited from the +field of Biology; it is a little more perplexing. For +"biology" is sometimes given as the name for the two +concrete classificatory sciences—botany and zoology. +In point of fact, however, there is a science that +precedes those two branches, although blending with +them; the science commonly expressed by the older +term, 'Physiology,' which is not a classificatory and a +dependent science, but a mother science, like chemistry. +It expounds the peculiarities of living bodies, +as such, and the laws of living processes—such processes +as assimilation, nutrition, respiration, innervation, +reproduction, and so on. One division is +Vegetable Physiology, which is generally fused with +the classificatory science of botany. Animal Physiology +is allied with zoology, but more commonly +stands alone. Lastly, the Physiology of the Human +animal has been from time immemorial a distinct +branch of knowledge, and is, of course, the chief of +them all. Man being the most complicated of all +organised beings, not only are the laws of his vitality +the most numerous, and the most practically interesting, +but they go far to include all that is to be said +of the workings of animal life in general. Thus, then, +the mother science of Biology, as a general or fundamental +science, comprises Vegetable, Animal, and +Human physiology. The classificatory adjunct +sciences are Botany and Zoology. It is in the +various aspects of the mother science that we look +for the account of all vital phenomena, and all practical +applications to the preservation of life. Even if +we stop at these, we shall have a full command of the +laws of the animate world. But we may go farther, +and embrace the sciences that arrange, classify, and +describe the innumerable host of living beings. +These have their own independent interest and +value, but they are not the sciences that of themselves +teach us the living processes.</p> + +<p>Thus, then, a proper scheme of scientific instruction +starts from the essential, fundamental, and law-giving +sciences—Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, +and Mind. It then proceeds to the adjunct branches +—such as Mineralogy, Botany, Zoology: and I might +add others, as Geology, Meteorology, Geography, no +one of which is primary; for they all repeat in new +connections, and for special purposes, the laws systematically +set forth in the primary sciences.</p> + +<p>In the foregoing remarks, I do not advance any +new or debatable views. I believe the scientific +world to be substantially in accord upon all that I +have here stated; any differences that there are in +the manner of expressing the points do not affect +my present purpose—namely, to discuss the scheme +of the mathematical and physical sciences as set forth +in the Civil Service Examinations.</p> + +<p>[BAD GROUPINGS OF SCIENCES.]</p> + +<p>Under Mathematics (pure and mixed) the Commissioners +(in their Scheme of 1875), include mathematics, +properly so called, and those departments of +natural philosophy that are mathematically handled—statics, +dynamics, and optics. But the next branch, +entitled "Natural Science," is what I am chiefly to remark +upon. Under it there is a fivefold enumeration: +—(1) Chemistry, including Heat; (2) Electricity and +Magnetism; (3) Geology and Mineralogy; (4) Zoology; +(5) Botany. I cannot pretend to say where +the Commissioners obtained this arrangement of +natural knowledge. It is not supported by any +authority that I am acquainted with. If the scheme +just set forth is the correct one, it has <i>three</i> defects. +First, it does not embrace in one group the remaining +parts of natural philosophy, the <i>experimental</i> branches +which, with the mathematical treatment, complete the +department; one of these, Heat, is attached to chemistry, +to which undoubtedly it has important relations, +but not such as to withdraw it from physics and +embody it in chemistry. Then, again, the physical +branches, Electricity and Magnetism, are coupled in +a department and made of co-equal value with +chemistry together with heat. I need not say that +the united couple—electricity and magnetism—is in +point of extent of study not a half or a third of what +is included in the other coupling. Lastly, the +three remaining members of the enumeration are +three natural history sciences; geology being coupled +with mineralogy—which is a secondary consideration. +Now I think it is quite right that these three sciences +should have a place in the competition. What is +objectionable is, that Biology is represented solely by +its two classificatory components or adjuncts, botany +and zoology; there is no mother science of Physiology: +and consequently the knowledge of the vast +region of the Laws of Life goes for nothing. Nor +can it be said that physiology is given with the +others. The subject of <i>vegetable</i> physiology could +easily enough be taken with Botany: I would +not make a quarrel upon this part. It is zoology +and animal physiology that cannot be so coupled. +If we look to the questions actually set under +zoology, we shall see that there is no pretence to +take in physiology. I contend, therefore, that there +is a radical omission in the scheme of natural +science; an omission that seems without any justification. +I am not here to sing the praises of Physiology: +its place is fixed and determined by the +concurrence of all competent judges: I merely point +out that Zoology does not include it, but presupposes +it.</p> + +<p>The Science scheme of the London University, to +which the first Civil Service Commissioners, Sir +Edward Ryan and Sir John Lefevre, were parties, is +very nearly what I contend for. It gives the order—Mathematics, +Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Biology, +Mental Science (including Logic). In the working of +that scheme, however, Biology is made to comprehend +both the mother science, Physiology, and the two +classificatory sciences, Botany and Zoology. Of +course the presence of two such enormous adjuncts +cramps and confines the purely physiological examination, +which in my opinion should have full justice +done to it in the first instance: still, the physiology is +not suppressed nor reduced to a mere formality. +Now, in any science scheme, I would provide for the +general sciences first, and take the others, so far as +expedient, in a new grouping, where those of a kind +shall appear together, and stand in their proper +character, not as law-giving, but as arranging and +describing sciences. There is no more reason for +coupling Zoology with Physiology, than for tacking +on Mineralogy to Chemistry. In point of outward +form, Mineralogy and Zoology are kindred subjects.</p> + +<p>When the subjects are placed in the order that I +have suggested, there is an end of that promiscuous +and random choosing that the arrangement of the +Commissioners suggests and encourages. To the +specification of the five heads of natural science, it is +added, that the whole of the 1,000 marks may be +gained by high eminence in any two; as if the choice +were a matter of indifference. Now, I cannot think +that this suggestion is in conformity with a just view +of the continuity of science. When the sciences are +rightly arranged, there is but one order in the mother +sciences; if we are to choose a single science, it must +be (with some qualifications) the first; if two, the +first and second, and so on. To choose one of the +higher sciences, Chemistry or Physiology, without the +others that precede, is irrational. Indeed, it would +scarcely ever be done, and for this reason. A man +cannot have mastered Physiology without having +gone through Physics and Chemistry; and, although +it is not necessary that he should retain a hold of +everything in these previous sciences, yet he is sure to +have done enough in both one and the other to make +it worth his while to take these up in the examination. +So a good chemist must have so much familiarity +with Physics, as to make it bad economy on his +part not to give in Physics as well. The only case +where an earlier science might be dropped is Mathematics; +for although that finds its application extensively +in Physics and indirectly in Chemistry, yet there +is a very large body of physical and chemical doctrine +that is not dependent upon any of the more difficult +branches, so that these may admit of being partially +neglected. But, as an examination in Physics ought +to include (as in the London University) all the mathematical +applications, short of the higher calculus, it is +not likely that Mathematics would be often dropped. +So that, as regards the <i>mother</i> sciences, the variation +of choice would be reduced to the different lengths +that the candidate would go in the order as laid down. +As regards the other sciences—those of <i>classification</i> +and <i>description</i>—the selection might certainly be +arbitrary to this extent, that Mineralogy, Botany, and +Zoology might each be prescribed alone. But then, +whoever presented one of these would also present +the related mother science. He that took up Mineralogy, +would infallibly also take up the three first as +far as Chemistry. He that gave in Botany would +probably take up Physiology, although not so necessarily, +because the area of plant Physiology is very +limited, and has little bearing on descriptive Botany, +so that anything like a familiarity with Physiology +might be evaded. But he that took up Zoology, would +to a certainty take up Physiology; and very probably +also the antecedent members of the fundamental +group. As to Geology, it is usually coupled with +Mineralogy, although involving also a slight knowledge +of Botany and Zoology. A competent mineralogist +would be pretty sure to add Geology to his +professional subjects.</p> + +<p>Before considering the re-arrangement of marks +entailed by the proposed distribution of the sciences, +I must advert to the position of Mathematics in the +Commissioners' scheme. This position was first +assigned in the original draft of 1854, and on the +motives therein set forth with such ostentatious +candour; namely, the wish to reward the existing +subjects of teaching, whatever they might be. Now, +I contend that it is wholly beside the ends either of +the Indian Civil Service, or of the Home Service, with +known exceptions, to stimulate the very high mathematical +knowledge that has hitherto entered into the +examination scheme. A certain amount of Mathematics, +the amount required in a pass examination in +the London University, is essential as a basis of +rational culture; but, for a good general education, +all beyond that is misdirected energy. After receiving +the modicum required, the student should pass on to +the other sciences, and employ his strength in adding +Experimental Physics and Chemistry to his stock. +Whether a candidate succeeds or fails in the competitions, +this is his best policy.</p> + +<p>[PROPER SCIENCE VALUES.]</p> + +<p>Without arguing the point farther, I will now come +to the amended scheme of science markings. It +would be over-refining, and would not bring conviction +to the general public, to make out a case for +inequality in the five fundamental branches. It may +be said that Physiology is of more value than Chemistry, +because it is farther on, and takes Chemistry +with it; the answer is, let the Physiology candidate go +in and take marks in Chemistry also, which he is sure +to do. I have purposely avoided all discussion about +Mental Science; I merely assume it as a branch coordinate +with the prior sciences placed before it in the +general list. I would then simply, in conclusion, give +the <i>primary sciences</i>, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, +Chemistry, Biology (as explained), Mental Philosophy, +each 500 marks. The other sciences, Mineralogy, +Botany, Zoology, Geology, I would make equal as +between themselves, but somewhat lower than the +primaries. The reasons are already apparent: the +candidate for them would always have some of the +others to present; and their importance is, on the +whole, less than the importance of the law-giving +sciences. I should conceive that 250 or 300 marks +apiece would be a proper amount of consideration +shewn towards them. With that figure, I believe +many science students could take up one or other in +addition to the general sciences.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The other topic that I am to bring forward is one +of very serious import. It concerns the Civil Service +competitions only as a part of our whole scheme of +Education. I mean the position of LANGUAGES +in our examinations. While the vast field of Natural +Science is comprised in one heading, with a total of +1,000 marks (raised finally to 1,400), our Civil Service +scheme presents a row of five languages besides our +own—two ancient, and three modern—with an aggregate +value of 2,625 marks, or 2,800, as finally adjusted. +The India scheme has, in addition, Sanskrit and +Arabic, at 500 marks each; the reasons for this prescription +being, however, not the same as for the +foregoing.</p> + +<p>The place of Language in education is not confined +to the question as between the ancient and the modern +languages. There is a wider enquiry as to the place +of languages as a whole. In pursuing this enquiry, +we may begin with certain things that are obvious +and incontestable.</p> + +<p>In the first place, it is apparent that if a man is +sent to hold intercourse with the people of a foreign +nation, he must be able to understand and to speak +the language of that nation. Our India civil servants +are on that ground required to master the Hindoo +spoken dialects.</p> + +<p>[PLACE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION.]</p> + +<p>In the next place, if a certain range of information +that you find indispensable is locked up in a foreign +language, you are obliged to learn the language. If, +in course of time, all this information is transferred to +our native tongue, the necessity apparently ceases. +These two extreme suppositions will be allowed at +once. There may, however, be an indefinite number +of intermediate stages. The information may be +partially translated; and it will then be a question +whether the trouble of learning the language should +be incurred for the sake of the untranslated part. Or, +it may be wholly translated: but, conscious of the +necessary defects even of good translations, if the +subject-matter be supremely important, some people +will think it worth while to learn the language in +order to obtain the knowledge in its greatest purity +and precision. This is a situation that admits of no +certain rule. Our clergy are expected to know the +original languages of the Bible, notwithstanding the +abundance of translations; many of which must be +far superior in worth and authority to the judgment +of a merely ordinary proficient in Hebrew and in +Greek.</p> + +<p>It is now generally conceded that the classical +languages are no longer the exclusive depository of +any kind of valuable information, as they were two or +three centuries ago. Yet they are still continued in +the schools as if they possessed their original function +unabated. We do not speak in them, nor listen to +them spoken, nor write in them, nor read in them, for +obtaining information. Why then are they kept up? +Many reasons are given, as we know. There is an +endeavour to show that even in their original function, +they are not quite effete. Certain professions are said +to rely upon them for some points of information not +fully communicated by the medium of English. Such +is the rather indirect example of the clergy with Greek. +So, it is said that Law is not thoroughly understood +without Latin, because the great source of law, the +Roman code, is written in Latin, and is in many +points untranslatable. Further, it is contended that +Greek philosophy cannot be fully mastered without a +knowledge of the language of Plato and Aristotle. But +an argument that is reduced to these examples must be +near its vanishing point. Not one of the cases stands +a rigorous scrutiny; and they are not relied upon as +the main justification of the continuance of classics. +A new line of defence is opened up which was not at +all present to the minds of sixteenth century scholars. +We are told of numerous indirect and secondary +advantages of cultivating language in general and the +classic languages in particular, which make the acquisition +a rewarding labour, even without one particle +of the primary use. But for these secondary advantages, +languages could have no claim to appear, with +such enormous values, in the Civil Service scheme.</p> + +<p>[LANGUAGE MAY HAVE SECONDARY USES.]</p> + +<p>My purpose requires me to advert in these alleged +secondary uses of language, not, however, for the view +of counter-arguing them, but rather in order to indicate +what seems to me the true mode of bringing them to +the proof.</p> + +<p>The most usual phraseology for describing the indirect +benefit of languages is, that they supply a +<i>training</i> to the powers of the mind; that, if not information, +they are <i>culture</i>; that they re-act upon our +mastery of our own language, and so on. It is quite +necessary, however, to find phrases more definite and +tangible than the slippery words "culture" and "training": +we must know precisely what particular powers +or aptitudes are increased by the study of a foreign +language. Nevertheless, the conclusions set forth in +this paper do not require me to work out an exhaustive +review of these advantages. It is enough to give +as many as will serve for examples.</p> + +<p>Now, it must be freely admitted as a possible case, +that a practice introduced in the first instance for a +particular purpose, may be found applicable to many +other purposes; so much so, that, ceasing to be employed +for the original use, the practice may be kept +up for the sake of the after uses. For example, +clothing was no doubt primarily contrived for +warmth; but it is not now confined to that: +decoration or ornament, distinction of sexes, ranks +and offices, modesty—are also attained by means of +clothes. This example is a suggestive one. We have +only to suppose ourselves migrating to some African +climate, where clothing for warmth is absolutely dispensed +with. We should not on that account adopt +literal nudity—we should still desire to maintain +those other advantages. The artistic decoration of +the person would continue to be thought of; and, as +no amount of painting and tattooing, with strings of +beads superadded, would answer to our ideal of personal +elegance, we should have recourse to some light +filmy textures, such as would allow the varieties of +drapery, colours, and design, and show off the poetry +of motion; we should also indicate the personal differences +that we were accustomed to show by vesture. +But now comes the point of the moral; we should not +maintain our close heavy fabrics, our great-coats, +shawls and cloaks. These would cease with the need +for them. Perhaps the first emigrants would keep up +the prejudice for their warm things, but not so their +successors.</p> + +<p>Well, then, suppose the extreme case of a foreign +language that is entirely and avowedly superseded as +regards communication and interpretation of thoughts, +but still furnishing so many valuable aids to mental +improvement, that we keep it up for the sake of these. +As we are not to hear, speak, or read the language, +we do not need absolutely to know the meaning of +every word: we may, perhaps, dispense with much of +the technicality of its grammar. The vocables and +the grammar would be kept up exactly so far as to +serve the other purposes, and no farther. The teacher +would have in view the secondary uses alone. Supposing +the language related to our own by derivation +of words, and that this was what we put stress upon; +then the derivation would always be uppermost in the +teacher's thoughts. If it were to illustrate Universal +Grammar and Philology, this would be brought out +to the neglect of translation.</p> + +<p>[CLASSICAL TEACHER'S IDEAL.]</p> + +<p>I have made an imaginary supposition to prepare +the way for the real case. The classical or language +teacher, is assumed to be fully conscious of the fact +that the primary use of the languages is as good as +defunct; and that he is continued in office because of +certain clearly assigned secondary uses, but for which +he would be superseded entirely. Some of the secondary +uses present to his mind, at all events one of +those that are put forward in argument, is that a +foreign language, and especially Latin, conduces to +good composition in our own language. And as we +do compose in our own language, and never compose +in Latin, the teacher is bound to think mainly of the +English part of the task—to see that the pupils succeed +in the English translation, whether they succeed +in the other or not. They may be left in a state of +considerable ignorance of good Latin forms (ignorance +will never expose them); but any defects in their +English expression will be sure to be disclosed. +Again, it is said that Universal Grammar or Philology +is taught upon the basis of a foreign language. Is +this object, in point of fact, present to the mind of +every teacher, and brought forward, even to the sacrifice +of the power of reading and writing, which, by +the supposition, is never to be wanted? Further, the +Latin Grammar is said to be a logical discipline. Is +this, too, kept in view as a predominating end? Once +more, it is declared that, through the classics, we attain +the highest cultivation of Taste, by seeing models of +unparalleled literary form. Be it so: is this habitually +attended to in the teaching of these languages?</p> + +<p>I believe I am safe in saying that, whilst these +various secondary advantages are put forward in the +polemic as to the value of languages, the teaching +practice is by no means in harmony therewith. +Even when in word the supporters of classics put +forward the secondary uses, in deed they belie themselves. +Excellence in teaching is held by them to +consist, in the first instance, in the power of accurate +interpretation,—as if that obsolete use were still <i>the</i> +use. If a teacher does this well, he is reckoned a +good teacher, although he does little or nothing for +the other ends, which in argument are treated as the +reason of his existence. Indeed, this is the kind of +teaching that is alone to be expected from the +ordinary teacher; all the other ends are more +difficult than simple word teaching. Even when +English Composition, Logic and Taste are taught in +the most direct way, they are more abstruse than +the simple teaching of a foreign language for purposes +of interpretation; but when tacked on as accessories +to instruction in a language, they are still more +troublesome to impart. A teacher of rare excellence +may help his pupils in English style, in philology, in +logic, and in taste; but the mass of teachers can do +very little in any of those directions. They are never +found fault with merely because their teaching does +not rise to the height of the great arguments that +justify their vocation; they would be found fault +with, if their pupils were supposed to have made +little way in that first function of language which is +never to be called into exercise.</p> + +<p>I do not rest satisfied with quoting the palpable inconsistency +between the practice of the teacher and +the polemic of the defender of languages. I believe, +further, that it is not expedient to carry on so many +different acquisitions together. If you want to teach +thorough English, you need to arrange a course of +English, allot a definite time to it, and follow it with +undivided attention during that time. If you wish +to teach Philology you must provide a systematic +scheme, or else a text-book of Philology, and bring +together all the most select illustrations from languages +generally. So for Logic and for Taste. These +subjects are far too serious to be imparted in passing +allusions while the pupil is engaged in struggling +with linguistic difficulties. They need a place in the +programme to themselves; and, when so provided +for, the small dropping contributions of the language +teacher may easily be dispensed with.</p> + +<p>[SECONDARY ENDS OF LANGUAGE NOT PRESSED.]</p> + +<p>The argument for Languages may, no doubt, take +a bolder flight, and go so far as to maintain that the +teacher does not need to turn aside from his plain +path to secure these secondary ends—now the only +valuable ends. The contention may be that in the +close and rigorous attention to mere interpretation, +just as if interpretation were still the living use, these +other purposes are inevitably secured—good English, +universal grammar, logic, taste, &c. I think, however, +that this is too far from the fact to be very confidently +maintained. Of course, were it correct, the +teacher should never have departed from it, as the +best teachers continually do, and glory in doing.</p> + +<p>On the face of the thing, it must seem an unworkable +position to surrender the value of a language, +as a language, and keep it up for something else. +The teaching must always be guided by the original, +although defunct, use; this is the natural, the easy, +course to follow; for the mass of teachers at all times +it is the broad way. Whatever the necessities of +argument may drive a man to say, yet in his teaching +he cannot help postulating to himself, as an indispensable +fiction, that his pupils are some day or other +to hear, to read, to speak, or to write the language.</p> + +<p>The intense conservatism in the matter of Languages—the +alacrity to prescribe languages on all +sides, without inquiring whether they are likely to be +turned to account—may be referred to various causes. +For one thing—although the remark may seem ungracious +and invidious—many minds, not always of +the highest force, are absorbed and intoxicated by +languages. But apart from this, languages are, by +comparison, easy to teach, and easy to examine upon. +Now, if there is any motive in education more powerful +than another, it is ease in the work itself. We are +all, as teachers, copyists of that Irish celebrity who, +when he came to a good bit of road, paced it to +and fro a number of times before going forward to +his destination on the rougher footing.</p> + +<p>So far I may seem to be arguing against the teaching +of language at all, or, at any rate, the languages +expressively called dead. I am not, however, pressing +this point farther than as an illustration. I do not +ask anyone to give an opinion against Classics as a +subject of instruction; although, undoubtedly, if this +opinion were prevalent, my principal task would be +very much lightened. I have merely analysed the +utilities ascribed to the ancient and the modern languages, +with a view to settling their place in competitive +examinations.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[LANGUAGES NOT PROPER FOR THE COMPETITION.]</p> + +<p>My thesis, then, is, that languages are not a proper +subject for competition with a view to professional +appointments. The explanation falls under two +heads.</p> + +<p>In the first place, there are certain avocations +where a foreign language must be known, because it +has to be used in actual business. Such are the +Indian spoken languages. Now, it is clear that in +these cases the knowledge of the language, as being +a <i>sine quâ non</i>, must be made imperative. This, however, +as I think, is not a case for competition, but for +a sufficient pass. There is a certain pitch of attainment +that is desirable even at first entering the service; +no one should fall below this, and to rise much +above it cannot matter a great deal. At all events, I +think the measure should be absolute and not relative. +I would not give a man merit in a competition because +another man happens to be worse than himself in a +matter that all must know; both the men may be +absolutely bad.</p> + +<p>It may be the case that certain languages are so +admirably constructed and so full of beauties that to +study them is a liberal education in itself. But this +does not necessarily hold of every language that an +official of the British Empire may happen to need. +It does not apply to the Indian tongues, nor to +Chinese, nor, I should suppose, to the Fiji dialects. +The only human faculty that is tested and brought +into play in these acquisitions is the commonest kind +of memory exercised for a certain time. The value +to the Service of the man that can excel in spoken +languages does not lie in his superior administrative +ability, but in his being sooner fitted for actual duty. +Undoubtedly, if two men go out to Calcutta so +unequal in their knowledge of native languages, or +in the preparation for that knowledge, that one can +begin work in six months, while the other takes nine, +there is an important difference between them. But +what is the obvious mode of rewarding the difference? +Not, I should think, by pronouncing one a +higher man in the scale of the competition, but by +giving him some money prize in proportion to the +redemption of his time for official work.</p> + +<p>Now, as regards the second kind of languages—those +that are supposed to carry with them all the +valuable indirect consequences that we have just reviewed. +There are in the Civil Service Scheme five +such languages—two ancient, and three modern. +They are kept there, not because they are ever to be +read or spoken in the Service, but because they +exercise some magical efficacy in elevating the whole +tone of the human intellect.</p> + +<p>If I were discussing the Indian Civil Service in its +own specialities, I would deprecate the introduction +of extraneous languages into the competition, for this +reason, that the Service itself taxes the verbal powers +more than any other service. I do not think that +Lord Macaulay and his colleagues had this circumstance +fully in view. Macaulay was himself a glutton +for language; and, while in India, read a great quantity +of Latin and Greek. But he was exempted from +the ordinary lot of the Indian civil servant; he had +no native languages to acquire and to use. If a man +both speaks and writes in good English, and converses +familiarly in several Oriental dialects, his +language memory is sufficiently well taxed, and if +he carries with him one European language besides, +it is as much as belongs to the fitness of things in +that department.</p> + +<p>[SECONDARY USES OF LANGUAGE DIRECTLY TESTED.]</p> + +<p>My proposal, then, goes the length of excluding +all these five cultivated languages from the competition, +notwithstanding the influence that they may be +supposed to have as general culture. In supporting +it, I shall assume that everything that can be said in +their favour is true to the letter: that they assist us +in our own language, that they cultivate logic and +taste, that they exemplify universal grammar, and so +on. All that my purpose requires is to affirm that +the same good ends may be attained in other ways: +that Latin, Greek, &c, are but one of several instruments +for instructing us in English composition, +reasoning, or taste. My contention, then, is that the +<i>ends</i> themselves are to be looked to, and not the +means or instruments, since these are very various. +English composition is, of course, a valuable end, +whether got through the study of Latin, or through +the study of English authors themselves, or through +the inspiration of natural genius. Whatever amount +of skill and attainment a candidate can show in this +department should be valued <i>the examination for +English</i>; and all the good that Latin has done for +him would thus be entered to his credit. If, then, the +study of Latin is found the best means of securing +good marks in English, it will be pursued on that +account; if the candidate is able to discover other +less laborious ways of attaining the end, he will +prefer these ways.</p> + +<p>The same applies to all the other secondary ends +of language. Let them be valued <i>in their own departments</i>. +Let the improvement of the reasoning +faculty be counted wherever that is shown in the +examination. Good reasoning powers will evince +themselves in many places, and will have their, +reward.</p> + +<p>The principle is a plain and obvious one. It is +that of payment for results, without inquiring into +the means. There are certain extreme cases where +the means are not improperly coupled with the +results in the final examination; and these are illustrations +of the principle. Thus, in passing a candidate +for the medical profession, the final end is his or her +knowledge of diseases and their remedies. As it is +admitted, however, that there are certain indispensable +preparatory studies—anatomy, physiology, and +materia medica—such studies are made part of the +examination, because they contribute to the testing +for the final end.</p> + +<p>[HISTORY AND LITERATURE DETACHABLE FROM LANGUAGE.]</p> + +<p>The argument is not complete until we survey +another branch of the subject of examination in languages. +It will be observed in the wording of the +programme that each separate language is coupled +with 'literature and history (or, as latterly expressed, +'literature—including books selected by the +candidate')'. It is the Language, Literature, and History +of Rome, Greece, &c. And the examination +questions show the exact scope of these adjuncts, +and also the values attached to them, as compared +with the language by itself.</p> + +<p>Let us consider this matter a little. Take History +first, as being the least perplexed. Greece and Rome +have both a certain lasting importance attaching to +their history and institutions; and these accordingly +are a useful study. Of course, the extant writings are +the chief groundwork of our knowledge of these, and +must be read. But, at the present day, all that can +be extracted from the originals is presented to the +student in English books; and to these he is exclusively +referred for this part of his knowledge. In the +small portion of original texts that a pupil at school +or college toils through, he necessarily gets a few of +the historical facts at first hand; but he could much +more easily get these few where he gets the rest—in +the English compilations. Admitting, then, that the +history and institutions of Greece and Rome constitute +a valuable education, it is in our power to secure +it independently of the original tongues.</p> + +<p>The other branch—Literature—is not so easily disposed +of. In fact, the separating of the literature +from the language, you will say, is a self-evident +absurdity. That, however, only shows that you have +not looked carefully into examination papers. I am +not concerned with what the <i>à priori</i> imagination +may suppose to be Literature, but with the actual +questions put by examiners under that name. I find +that such questions are, generally speaking, very few, +perhaps one or two in a long paper, and nearly all +pertain to the outworks of literature, so to speak. +Here is the Latin literature of one paper:—In what +special branch of literature were the Romans independent +of the Greeks? Mention the principal +writers in it, with the peculiar characteristics of each. +Who was the first to employ the hexameter in Latin +poetry, and in what poem? To what language is +Latin most nearly related; and what is the cause of +their great resemblance? The Greek literature of +the same examination involves these points:—The +Aristophanic estimate of Euripides, with criticisms on +its taste and justice (for which, however, a historical +subject is given as an alternative); the Greek chorus, +and choric metres. Now such an examination is, in +the first place, a most meagre view of literature: it +does not necessarily exercise the faculty of critical +discernment. In the next place, it is chiefly a matter +of compilation from English sources; the actual readings +of the candidate in Greek and Latin would be of +little account in the matter. Of course, the choric +metres could not be described without some knowledge +of Greek, but the matter is of very trifling +importance in an educational point of view. Generally +speaking, the questions in literature, which in +number bear no proportion to historical questions, +are such as might be included under history, as the +department of the History of Literature.</p> + +<p>[LANGUAGES EXAMINATION PAPERS REVIEWED.]</p> + +<p>The distribution of the 750 marks allotted respectively +to Latin and to Greek, in the scheme of 1875, +is this. There are three papers: two are occupied +exclusively with translation. The third is language, +literature, and history: the language means purely +grammatical questions; so that possibly 583 marks +are for the language proper. The remaining number, +167, should be allotted equally between literature and +history, but history has always the lion's share, and is +in fact the only part of the whole examination that +has, to my mind, any real worth. It is generally a +very searching view of important institutions and +events, together with what may be called their philosophy. +Now, the reform that seems to me to be +wanted is to strike out everything else from the +examination. At the same time, I should like to see the +experiment of a <i>real</i> literary examination, such as +did not necessarily imply a knowledge of the originals.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to turn to the examination in +modern languages, where the ancient scheme is +copied, by appending literature and history. Here +the Literature is decidedly more prominent and +thorough. There is also a fair paper of History +questions. What strikes us, however, in this, is a +slavish adherence to the form, without the reality, of +the ancient situation. We have independent histories +of Greece and Rome, but scarcely of Germany, +France, and Italy. Instead of partitioning Modern +European history among the language-examiners for +English, French, German, Italian, it would be better +to relieve them of history altogether, and place the +subject as a whole in the hands of a distinct examiner. +I would still allow merit for a literary examination in +French, German, and Italian, but would strike off the +languages, and let the candidate get up the literature +as he chose. The basis of a candidate's literary +knowledge, and his first introduction to literature, +ought to be his own language: but he may extend +his discrimination and his power by other literatures, +either in translations or in originals, as he pleases; +still the examination, as before, should test the discrimination +and the power, and not the vocabulary of +the languages themselves.</p> + +<p>In order to do full justice to classical antiquity, I +would allow markings at the rate of 500 for Political +Institutions and History, and 250 for Literature. +Some day this will be thought too much; but political +philosophy or sociology may become more systematic +than at present, and history questions will then take +a different form.</p> + +<p>In like manner, I would abolish the language-examination +in modern languages, and give 250 +marks for the literature of each of the three modern +languages—French, German, Italian. The history +would be taken as Modern History, with an adequate +total value.</p> + +<p>The objections to this proposal will mainly resolve +themselves into its revolutionary character. The remark +will at once be made that the classical languages +would cease to be taught, and even the modern +languages discouraged. The meaning of this I take +to be, that, if such teaching is judged solely by its +fruits, it must necessarily be condemned.</p> + +<p>The only way to fence this unpalatable conclusion, +is to maintain that the results could not be fully tested +in an examination as suggested. Some of these are +so fine, impalpable, and spiritual in their texture, that +they cannot be seized by any questions that can be +put; and would be dropped out if the present system +were changed. But results so untraceable cannot be +proved to exist at all.</p> + +<p>[LANGUAGE QUESTIONS TAKE THE PLACE OF THE SUBJECT.]</p> + +<p>So far from the results being missed by disusing +the exercises of translation, one might contend that +they would only begin to be appreciated fairly when +the whole stress of the examination is put upon them. +If an examiner sets a paper in Roman Law, containing +long Latin extracts to be translated, he is +starving the examination in Law by substituting for +it an examination in Latin. Whatever knowledge of +Latin terminology is necessary to the knowledge of +Law should be required, and no more. So, it is not +an examination in Aristotle to require long translations +from the Greek; only by dispensing with all +this, does the main subject receive proper attention.</p> + +<p>If the properly literary part of the present examinations +were much of a reality, there would be a nice +discussion as to the amount of literary tact that could +be imparted in connection with a foreign language, as +translated or translatable. But I have made an +ample concession, when I propose that the trial +should be made of examining in literature in this +fashion; and I do not see any difficulty beyond the +initial repugnance of the professors of languages to be +employed in this task, and the fear, on the part of +candidates, that, undue stress might be placed on +points that need a knowledge of originals.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I will conclude with a remark on the apparent +tendency of the wide options in the Commissioners' +scheme. No one subject is obligatory; and the choice +is so wide that by a very narrow range of acquirements +a man may sometimes succeed. No doubt, as +a rule, it requires a considerable mixture of subjects: +both sciences and literature have to be included. But +I find the case of a man entering the Indian Service +by force of Languages alone, which I cannot but +think a miscarriage. Then the very high marks +assigned to Mathematics allow a man to win with no +other science, and no other culture, but a middling +examination in English. To those that think so +highly of foreign languages, this must seem a much +greater anomaly than it does to me. I would prefer, +however, that such a candidate had traversed a wider +field of science, instead of excelling in high mathematics +alone.</p> + +<p>There are, I should say, <i>three</i> great regions of study +that should be fairly represented by every successful +candidate. The first is the Sciences as a whole, in +the form and order that I have suggested. The +second is English Composition, in which successful +men in the Indian competition sometimes show a +cipher. The third is what I may call loosely the +Humanities, meaning the department of institutions +and history, with perhaps literature: to be computed +in any or all of the regions of ancient and modern +history. In every one of these three departments, I +would fix a minimum, below which the candidate must +not fall.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[6]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>The Civil Service Examination Scheme, considered with reference (1) +to Sciences, and (2) to Languages</i>. A paper read before the Educational +Section of the Social Science Association, at the meeting in Aberdeen. +1877: with additions relevant to Lord Salisbury's Scheme.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<h2><a name='EIV'></a>IV.</h2> + +<h2>THE CLASSICAL CONTROVERSY. ITS PRESENT ASPECT.<a name="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7"><sup>[7]</sup></a></h2> +<br /> + +<p>In the present state of the controversy on classical +studies, the publication of George Combe's contributions +to Education is highly opportune. Combe took +the lead in the attack on these studies fifty years ago, +and Mr. Jolly, the editor of the volume, gives a connected +view of the struggle that followed. The results +were, on the whole, not very great. A small portion +of natural science was introduced into the secondary +schools; but as the classical teaching was kept up as +before, the pupils were simply subjected to a greater +crush of subjects; they could derive very little benefit +from science introduced on such terms. The +effect on the Universities was <i>nil</i>; they were true +to Dugald Stewart's celebrated deliverance on their +conservatism.<a name="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> The general public, however, were +not unmoved; during a number of years there was +a most material reduction in the numbers attending +all the Scotch Universities, and the anti-classical +agitation was reputed to be the cause.</p> + +<p>The reasonings of Combe will still repay perusal. +He puts with great felicity and clearness the standing +objections to the classical system; while he is exceedingly +liberal in his concessions, and moderate in his +demands. "I do not denounce the ancient languages +and classical literature on their own account, or desire +to see them cast into utter oblivion. I admit them to +be refined studies, and think that there are individuals +who, having a natural turn for them, learn them easily +and enjoy them much. They ought, therefore, to be +cultivated by all such persons. My objection is solely +to the practice of rendering them the main substance +of the education bestowed on young men who have +no taste or talent for them, and whose pursuits in life +will not render them a valuable acquisition."</p> + +<p>Before alluding to the more recent utterances in +defence of classical teaching, I wish to lay out as +distinctly as I can the various alternatives that are +apparently now before us as respects the higher education—that +is to say, the education begun in the +secondary or grammar schools, and completed and +stamped in the Universities.</p> + +<p>[THE EXISTING CLASSICAL TEACHING.]</p> + +<p><a name='IV.1'></a>1. The existing system of requiring proficiency in +both classical languages. Except in the University +of London, this requirement is still imperative. The +other Universities agree in exacting Latin and Greek +as the condition of an Arts' Degree, and in very little +else. The defenders of classics say with some truth +that these languages are the principal basis of uniformity +in our degrees; if they were struck out, the +public would not know what a degree meant.</p> + +<p>How exclusive was the study of Latin and Greek +in the schools in England, until lately, is too well +known to need any detailed statement. A recent +utterance of Mr. Gladstone, however, has felicitously +supplied the crowning illustration. At Eton, in his +time, the engrossment with classics was such as to +keep out religious instruction!</p> + +<p>As not many contend that Latin and Greek make +an education in themselves, we may not improperly call +to mind what other things it has been found possible +to include with them in the scope of the Arts' Degree. +The Scotch Universities were always distinguished +from the English in the breadth of their requirements: +they have comprised, for many ages, three +other subjects; mathematics, natural philosophy, and +mental philosophy (including logic and ethics). In +exceptional instances, another science is added; in +one case, natural history, in another, chemistry. According +to the notions of scientific order and completeness +in the present day, a full course of the +primary sciences would comprise mathematics, natural +philosophy, chemistry, physiology or biology, and +mental philosophy. The natural history branches +are not looked upon as primary sciences; they give +no laws, but repeat the laws of the primary sciences +while classifying the kingdoms of Nature. (See +paragraph that begins with: In the classification +of the sciences ...).</p> + +<p>In John Stuart Mill's celebrated Address at St. +Andrews, he stood up for the continuance of the +Classics in all their integrity, and suddenly became a +great authority with numbers of persons who probably +had never treated him as an authority before. +But his advocacy of the classics was coupled with an +equally strenuous advocacy for the extension of the +scientific course to the full circle of the primary +sciences; that is to say, he urged the addition of +chemistry and physiology to the received sciences. +Those that have so industriously brandished his +authority for retaining classics, are discreetly silent +upon this other recommendation. He was too little +conversant with the working of Universities to be +aware that the addition of two sciences to the existing +course was impracticable; and he was never +asked which alternative he would prefer. I am inclined +to believe that he would have sacrificed the +classics to scientific completeness; he would have +been satisfied with the quantum of these already +gained at school. But while we have no positive assurance +on this point, I consider that his opinion +should be wholly discounted as not bearing on the +actual case.</p> + +<p>[UNIVERSITY OF LONDON CURRICULUM.]</p> + +<p>The founders of the University of London attempted +to realise Mill's conception to the full. They +retained Classics; they added English and a modern +language, and completed the course of the primary +sciences by including both Chemistry and Physiology. +This was a noble experiment, and we can now report +on its success. The classical languages, English and +French or German, mathematics and natural philosophy, +and (after a time) logic and moral philosophy, +were all kept at a good standard; thus exceeding the +requirements of the Scotch Universities at the time +by English and a modern language. The amount of +attainment in chemistry was very small, and was disposed +of in the Matriculation examination. Physiology +was reserved for the final B.A. examination, and +was the least satisfactory of all. Having myself sat +at the Examining Board while Dr. Sharpey was +Examiner in Physiology, I had occasion to know +that he considered it prudent to be content with a +mere show of studying the subject. Thus, though +the experience of the University of London, as well +as of the Scotch Universities, proves that the classical +languages are compatible with a very tolerable scientific +education, yet these will need to be curtailed if +every one of the fundamental sciences, as Mill urged, +is to be represented at a passable figure.</p> + +<p>In the various new proposals for extending the +sphere of scientific knowledge, a much smaller amount +of classics is to be required, but neither of the two +languages is wholly dispensed with. If not taught at +college, they must be taken up at school as a preparation +for entering on the Arts' curriculum in the +University. This can hardly be a permanent state +of things, but it is likely to be in operation for some +time.</p> + +<p><a name='IV.2'></a>2. The remitting of Greek in favour of a modern +language is the alternative most prominently before +the public at present. It accepts the mixed form of +the old curriculum, and replaces one of the dead +languages by one of the living. Resisted by nearly +the whole might of the classical party, this proposal +finds favour with the lay professions as giving +one language that will actually be useful to the pupils +as a language. It is the very smallest change that +would be a real relief. That it will speedily be carried +we do not doubt.</p> + +<p>Except as a relaxation of the grip of classicism, +this change is not altogether satisfactory. That there +must be two languages (besides English) in order to +an Arts' Degree is far from obvious. Moreover, +although it is very desirable that every pupil should +have facilities at school or at college for commencing +modern languages, these do not rank as indispensable +and universal culture, like the knowledge of sciences +and of literature generally. They would have to be +taught along with their respective literatures to correspond +to the classics.</p> + +<p>Another objection to replacing classics by modern +languages is the necessity of importing foreigners as +teachers. Now, although there are plenty of Frenchmen +and Germans that can teach as well as any +Englishman, it is a painful fact that foreigners do +oftener miscarry, both in teaching and in discipline, +with English pupils, than our own countrymen. +Foreign masters are well enough for those that go to +them voluntarily with the desire of being taught; it +is as teachers in a compulsory curriculum that their +inferiority becomes apparent.</p> + +<p>The retort is sometimes made to this proposal— +Why omit Greek rather than Latin? Should you not +retain the greater of the two languages? This may +be pronounced as mainly a piece of tactics; for every +one must know that the order of teaching Latin and +Greek at the schools will never be topsyturvied to +suit the fancy of an individual here and there, even +although John Stuart Mill himself was educated in +that order. On the scheme of withdrawing all foreign +languages from the imperative curriculum, and providing +for them as voluntary adjuncts, such freedom +of selection would be easy.<a name="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9"><sup>[9]</sup></a></p> + +<p>[ALTERNATIVE OF MODERN LANGUAGES.]</p> + +<p><a name='IV.3'></a>3. Another alternative is to remit both Latin and +Greek in favour of French and German. Strange to +say, this advance upon the previous alternative was +actually contained in Mr. Gladstone's ill-fated Irish +University Bill. Had that Bill succeeded, the Irish +would have been for fourteen years in the enjoyment +of a full option for both the languages.<a name="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> From a +careful perusal of the debates, I could not discover +that the opposition ever fastened upon this bold surrender +of the classical exclusiveness.</p> + +<p>The proposal was facilitated by the existence of +professors of French and German in the Queen's +Colleges, In the English and Scotch Colleges endowments +are not as yet provided for these languages; +although it would be easy enough to make provision +for them in Oxford and Cambridge.</p> + +<p>In favour of this alternative, it is urged that the +classics, if entered on at all, should be entered on +thoroughly and entirely. The two languages and +literatures form a coherent whole, a homogeneous +discipline; and those that do not mean to follow this +out should not begin it. Some of the upholders of +classics take this view.</p> + +<p><a name='IV.4'></a>4. More thorough-going still is the scheme of complete +bifurcation of the classical and the modern +sides. In our great schools there has been instituted +what is called the <i>modern side</i>, made up of sciences +and modern languages, together with Latin. The +understanding hitherto has been, that the votaries of +the ancient and classical side should alone proceed to +the Universities; the modern side being the introduction +to commercial life, and to professions that +dispense with a University degree. Here, as far as +the schools are concerned, a fair scope is given to +modern studies.</p> + +<p>As was to be expected, the modern side is now +demanding admission to the Universities on its own +terms; that is, to continue the same line of studies +there, and to be crowned with the same distinctions +as the classical side. This attempt to render school +and college homogeneous throughout, to treat ancient +studies and modern studies as of equal value in the +eye of the law, will of course be resisted to the utmost. +Yet it seems the only solution likely to bring about +a settlement that will last.</p> + +<p>The defenders of the classical system in its extreme +exclusiveness are fond of adducing examples of very +illustrious men who at college showed an utter incapacity +for science in its simplest elements. They +say that, by classics alone, these men are what they +are, and if their way had been stopped by serious +scientific requirements, they would have never come +before the world at all. The allegation is somewhat +strongly put; yet we shall assume it to be correct, on +condition of being allowed to draw an inference. If +some minds are so constituted for languages, and for +classics in particular, may not there be other minds +equally constituted for science, and equally incapable +of taking up two classical languages? Should this +be granted, the next question is—Ought these two +classes of minds to be treated as equal in rights and +privileges? The upholders of the present system say, +No. The Language mind is the true aristocrat; the +Science mind is an inferior creation. Degrees and +privileges are for the man that can score languages, +with never so little science; outer darkness is assigned +to the man whose <i>forte</i> is science alone. But +a war of caste in education is an unseemly thing; and, +after all the levelling operations that we have passed +through, it is not likely that this distinction will be +long preserved.</p> + +<p>[CLAIMS OF THE MODERN SIDE.]</p> + +<p>The modern side, as at present constituted, still retains +Latin. There is a considerable strength of +feeling in favour of that language for all kinds of +people; it is thought to be a proper appendage of +the lay professions; and there is a wide-spread opinion +in favour of its utility for English. So much is this +the case, that the modern-siders are at present quite +willing to come under a pledge to keep up Latin, +and to pass in it with a view to the University. In +fact, the schools find this for the present the most +convenient arrangement. It is easier to supply teaching +in Latin than in a modern language, or in most +other things; and while Latin continues to be held in +respect, it will remain untouched. Yet the quantity +of time occupied by it, with so little result, must ultimately +force a departure from the present curriculum. +The real destination of the modern side is to be +modern throughout. It should not be rigorously tied +down even to a certain number of modern languages. +English and one other language ought to be quite +enough; and the choice should be free. On this +footing, the modern side ought to have its place in +the schools as the co-equal of classics; it would be +the natural precursor of the modernised alternatives +in the Universities; those where knowledge subjects +predominate.</p> + +<p>The proposal to give an <i>inferior degree</i> to a curriculum +that excludes Greek should, in my judgment, +be simply declined. It is, however, a matter of opinion +whether, in point of tactics, the modern party did not +do well to accept this as an instalment in the meantime. +The Oxford offer, as I understand it, was so +far liberal, that the new degree was to rank equal in +privileges with the old, although inferior in <i>prestige</i>. +In Scotland, the decree conceded by the classical +party to a Greekless education was worthless, and was +offered for that very reason.<a name="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11"><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> + +<p>[SURRENDER OF CLAIMS FOR SOME.]</p> + +<p>Among the adherents of classics, Professor Blackie +is distinguished for surrendering the study of them +in the case of those that cannot profit by them. He +believes that with a free alternative, such as the thorough +bifurcation into two sides would give, they would +still hold their ground, and bear all their present fruits. +His classical brethren, however, do not in general +share this conviction. They seem to think that if +they can no longer compel every University graduate +to pass beneath the double yoke of Rome and Greece, +these two illustrious nationalities will be in danger of +passing out of the popular mind altogether. For +my own part, I do not share their fears, nor do I +think that, even on the voluntary footing, the study +of the two languages will decline with any great +rapidity. As I have said, the belief in Latin is wide +and deep. Whatever may be urged as to the extraordinary +stringency of the intellectual discipline now +said to be given by means of Latin and Greek, I am +satisfied that the feeling with both teachers and +scholars is, that the process of acquisition is not toilsome +to either party; less so perhaps than anything +that would come in their place. Of the hundreds of +hours spent over them, a very large number are +associated with listless idleness. Carlyle describes +Scott's novels as a "beatific lubber land"; with the +exception of the "beatific," we might say nearly the +same of classics. To all which must be added the +immense endowments of classical teaching; not only +of old date but of recent acquisition. It will be a +very long time before these endowments can be +diverted, even although the study decline steadily in +estimation.</p> + +<p>The thing that stands to reason is to place the +modern and the ancient studies on exactly the same +footing; to accord a fair field and no favour. The +public will decide for themselves in the long run. If +the classical advocates are afraid of this test, they +have no faith in the merits of their own case.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The arguments <i>pro</i> and <i>con</i> on the question have +been almost exhausted. Nothing is left except to +vary the expression and illustration. Still, so long as +the monopoly exists, it will be argued and counter-argued; +and, if there are no new reasons, the old will +have to be iterated.</p> + +<p>[EXAMPLE FROM THE GREEKS THEMSELVES]</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most hackneyed of all the answers to +the case for the classics is the one that has been most +rarely replied to. I mean the fact that the Greeks +were not acquainted with any language but their own. +I have never known an attempt to parry this thrust. +Yet, besides the fact itself, there are strong presumptions +in favour of the position that to know a language +well, you should devote your time and strength to it +alone, and not attempt to learn three or four. Of +course, the Greeks were in possession of the most +perfect language, and were not likely to be gainers +by studying the languages of their contemporaries. +So, we too are in possession of a very admirable +language, although put together in a nondescript +fashion; and it is not impossible that if Plato had +his Dialogues to compose among us, he would give +his whole strength to working up our own resources, +and not trouble himself with Greek. The popular +dictum—<i>multum non multa</i>, doing one thing well—may +be plausibly adduced in behalf of parsimony +in the study of languages.</p> + +<p>The recent agitation in Cambridge, in Oxford, and +indeed, all over the country, for remitting the study +of Greek as an essential of the Arts' Degree, has led +to a reproduction of the usual defences of things as +they are. The articles in the March number of the +<i>Contemporary Review, 1879</i>, by Professors Blackie and +Bonamy Price, may claim to be the <i>derniers mots</i>.</p> + +<p>Professor Blackie's article is a warning to the +teachers of classics, to the effect that they must +change their front; that, whereas the value of the +classics as a key to thought has diminished, and is +diminishing, they must by all means in the first place +improve their drill. In fact, unless something can be +done to lessen the labour of the acquisition by better +teaching, and to secure the much-vaunted intellectual +discipline of the languages, the battle will soon +be lost. Accordingly, the professor goes minutely +into what he conceives the best methods of teaching. +It is not my purpose to follow him in this sufficiently +interesting discussion. I simply remark that he is +staking the case, for the continuance of Latin and +Greek in the schools, on the possibility of something +like an entire revolution in the teaching art. Revolution +is not too strong a word for what is proposed. +The weak part of the new position is that the value +of the languages <i>as languages</i> has declined, and has +to be made up by the incident of their value as <i>drill</i>. +This is, to say the least, a paradoxical position for a +language teacher. If it is mere drill that is wanted, +a very small corner of one language would suffice. +The teacher and the pupil alike are placed between +the two stools—interpretation and drill. A new +generation of teachers must arise to attain the dexterity +requisite for the task.</p> + +<p>Professor Blackie's concession is of no small importance +in the actual situation. "No one is to receive +a full degree without showing a fair proficiency +in two foreign languages, one ancient and one modern, +with free option." This would almost satisfy the +present demand everywhere, and for some time to +come.</p> + +<p>[ARGUMENT FROM RESULTS.]</p> + +<p>The article of Professor Bonamy Price is conceived +in even a higher strain than the other. There is so +far a method of argumentation in it that the case is +laid out under four distinct heads, but there is no +decisive separation of reasons; many of the things +said under one head might easily be transferred without +the sense of dislocation to any other head. The +writer indulges in high-flown rhetorical assertions +rather than in specific facts and arguments. The first +merit of classics is that "they are languages; not +particular sciences, nor definite branches of knowledge, +but literatures". Under this head we have +such glowing sentences as these: "Think of the +many elements of thought a boy comes in contact +with when he reads Caesar and Tacitus in succession, +Herodotus and Homer, Thucydides and Aristotle". +"See what is implied in having read Homer intelligently +through, or Thucydides or Demosthenes; what +light will have been shed on the essence and laws of +human existence, on political society, on the relations +of man to man, on human nature itself." There are +various conceivable ways of counter-arguing these +assertions, but the shortest is to call for the facts—the +results upon the many thousands that have passed +through their ten years of classical drill. Professor +Campbell of St. Andrews, once remarked, with reference +to the value of Greek in particular, that the +question would have to be ultimately decided by the +inner consciousness of those that have undergone +the study. To this we are entitled to add, their +powers as manifested to the world, of which powers +spectators can be the judges. When, with a few +brilliant exceptions, we discover nothing at all remarkable +in the men that have been subjected to the +classical training, we may consider it as almost a +waste of time to analyse the grandiloquent assertions +of Mr. Bonamy Price. But if we were to analyse +them, we should find that <i>boys</i> never read Caesar and +Tacitus through in succession; still less Thucydides +Demosthenes, and Aristotle; that very few <i>men</i> read +and understand these writers; that the shortest way +to come into contact with Aristotle is to avoid his +Greek altogether, and take his expositors and translators +in the modern languages.</p> + +<p>The professor is not insensible to the reproach that +the vaunted classical education has been a failure, as +compared with these splendid promises. He says, +however, that though many have failed to become +classical scholars in the full sense of the word, "it +does not follow that they have gained nothing from +their study of Greek and Latin; just the contrary is +the truth". The "contrary" must mean that they +have gained something; which something is stated to +be "the extent to which the faculties of the boy have +been developed, the quantity of impalpable but not +less real attainments he has achieved, and his general +readiness for life, and for action as a man". But it +is becoming more and more difficult to induce people +to spend a long course of youthful years upon a confessedly +<i>impalpable</i> result. We might give up a few +months to a speculative and doubtful good, but we +need palpable consequences to show for our years +spent on classics. Next comes the admission that +the teaching is often bad. But why should the teaching +be so bad, and what is the hope of making it +better? Then we are told that science by itself +leaves the largest and most important portion of the +youths' nature absolutely undeveloped. But, in the +first place, it is not proposed to reduce the school and +college curriculum to science alone; and, in the next +place, who can say what are the "impalpable" results +of science?</p> + +<p>[WORTH OF THE CLASSICAL WRITERS.]</p> + +<p>The second branch of the argument relates to the +greatness of the classical writers. Undoubtedly the +Greek and Roman worlds produced some very great +writers, and a good many not great. But the greatness +of Herodotus, Thucydides, Demosthenes, Plato, +and Aristotle can be exhibited in a modern rendering; +while no small portion of the poetical excellence +of Homer and the Dramatists can be made +apparent without toiling at the original tongues. +The value of the languages then resolves itself, as +has been often remarked, into a <i>residuum</i>. Something +also is to be said for the greatness of the +writers that have written in modern times. Sir John +Herschel remarked long ago that the human intellect +cannot have degenerated, so long as we are able to +quote Newton, Lagrange and Laplace, against Aristotle +and Archimedes. I would not undertake to say +that any modern mind has equalled Aristotle in the +<i>range</i> of his intellectual powers; but in point of intensity +of grasp in any one subject, he has many +rivals; so that to obtain his equal, we have only to +take two or three first-rate moderns.</p> + +<p>If a few fanatics are to go on lauding to the skies +the exclusive and transcendent greatness of the classical +writers, we shall probably be tempted to scrutinize +their merits more severely than is usual. Many things +could be said against their sufficiency as instructors +in matters of thought; and many more against the +low and barbarous tone of their <i>morale</i>—the inhumanity +and brutality of both their principles and their +practice. All this might no doubt be very easily +overdone, and would certainly be so, if undertaken in +the style of Professor Price's panegyric.</p> + +<p>The professor's third branch of the argument comes +to the real point; namely, what is there in Greek and +Latin that there is not in the modern tongues? For +one thing, says the professor, they are dead; which of +course we allow. Then, being dead, they must be +learnt by book and by rule; they cannot be learnt by +ear. Here, however, Professor Blackie would dissent, +and would say that the great improvement of teaching, +on which the salvation of classical study now +hangs, is to make it a teaching by the ear. But, says +Professor Price: "A Greek or Latin sentence is a nut +with a strong shell concealing the kernel—a puzzle, +demanding reflection, adaptation of means to end, +and labour for its solution, and the educational value +resides in the shell and in the puzzle". As this strain +of remark is not new, there is nothing new to be said +in answer to it. Such puzzling efforts are certainly +not the rule in learning Latin and Greek. Moreover, +the very same terms would describe what may happen +equally often in reading difficult authors in French, +German, or Italian. Would not the pupil find puzzles +and difficulties in Dante, or in Goethe? And are +there not many puzzling exercises in deciphering +English authors? Besides, what is the great objection +to science, but that it is too puzzling for minds +that are quite competent for the puzzles of Greek and +Latin? Once more, the <i>teaching</i> of any language +must be very imperfect, if it brings about habitually +such situations of difficulty as are here described.</p> + +<p>[ARGUMENTS FOR CLASSICS.]</p> + +<p>The professor relapses into a cooler and correcter +strain when he remarks that the pupil's mind is necessarily +more delayed over the expression of a thought +in a foreign language (whether dead or alive matters +not), and therefore remembers the meaning better. +Here, however, the desiderated reform of teaching +might come into play. Granted that the boy left to +himself would go more rapidly through Burke than +through Thucydides, might not his pace be retarded +by a well-directed cross-examination; with this advantage, +that the length of attention might be graduated +according to the importance of the subject, and +not according to the accidental difficulty of the +language?</p> + +<p>The professor boldly grapples with the alleged +waste of time in classics, and urges that "the gain +may be measured by the time expended," which is +very like begging the question.</p> + +<p>One advantage adduced under this head deserves +notice. The languages being dead, as well as all the +societies and interests that they represent, they do not +excite the prejudices and passions of modern life. +This, however, may need some qualification. Grote +wrote his history of Greece to counterwork the party +bias of Mitford. The battles of despotism, oligarchy, +and democracy are to this hour fought over the dead +bodies of Greece and Rome. If the professor meant +to insinuate, that those that have gone through the +classical training are less violent as partisans, more +dispassionate in political judgments, than the rest of +mankind, we can only say that we should not have +known this from our actual experience. The discovery +of some sweet, oblivious, antidote to party +feeling seems, as far as we can judge, to be still in +the future. If we want studies that will, while they +last, thoroughly divert the mind from the prejudices +of party, science is even better than ancient history; +there are no party cries connected with the Binomial +Theorem.</p> + +<p>The professor's last branch of argument, I am +obliged, with all deference, to say, contains no argument +at all. It is that, in classical education, a close +contact is established between the mind of the boy +and the mind of the master. He does not even +attempt to show how the effect is peculiar to classical +teaching. The whole of this part of the paper is, in +fact, addressed, by way of remonstrance, to the writer's +own friends, the classical teachers. He reproaches +them for their inefficiency, for their not being Arnolds. +It is not my business to interfere between him and +them in this matter. So much stress does he lay +upon the teacher's part in the work, that I almost +expected the admission—that a good teacher in English, +German, natural history, political economy, +might even be preferable to a bad teacher of Latin +and Greek.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[CANON LIDDON'S ARGUMENT.]</p> + +<p>The recent Oxford contest has brought out the +eminent oratorical powers of Canon Liddon; and we +have some curiosity in noting his contributions to the +classical side. I refer to his letters in the <i>Times</i>. +The gist of his advocacy of Greek is contained in the +following allegations. First, the present system enables +a man to recur with profit and advantage to +Greek literature. To this, it has been often replied, +that by far the greater number are too little familiarized +with the classical languages, and especially +Greek, to make the literature easy reading. But +farther, the recurring to the study of ancient authors +by busy professional men in the present day, is an +event of such extreme rarity that it cannot be taken +into account in any question of public policy. The +second remark is, that the half-knowledge of the +ordinary graduate is a link between the total blank +of the outer world, and the thorough knowledge of +the accomplished classic. I am not much struck by +the force of this argument. I think that the classical +scholar, might, by expositions, commentaries, and +translations, address the outer world equally well, +without the intervening mass of imperfect scholars. +Lastly, the Canon puts in a claim for his own cloth. +The knowledge of Greek paves the way for serious +men to enter the ministry in middle life. Argument +would be thrown away upon any one that could for a +moment entertain this as a sufficient reason for compelling +every graduate in Arts to study Greek. The +observation that I would make upon it has a wider +bearing. Middle life is not too late for learning any +language that we suddenly discover to be a want; the +stimulus of necessity or of strong interest, and the +wider compass of general knowledge, compensate for +the diminution of verbal memory.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[7]</a><div class="note"><p> CONTEMPORARY REVIEW, August, 1879. A few months previously, +there were printed, in the Review, papers on the Classical +question, by Professors Blackie and Bonamy Price; both of which are +here alluded to and quoted, so far as either is controverted or concurred +with.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[8]</a><div class="note"><p> "The academical establishments of some parts of Europe are not +without their use to the historian of the human mind. Immovably +moored to the same station by the strength of their cables and the +weight of their anchors, they enable him to measure the rapidity of the +current by which the rest of the world is borne along."</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[9]</a><div class="note"><p> If the two Literatures were studied, as they might be, by means of +expositions and translations, the Greek would be first as a tiling of +course. Historians of the Latin authors are obliged to trace their subject, +in every department, to the corresponding authors in Greece.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[10]</a><div class="note"><p> No doubt the classical languages would have been required, to +some extent, in matriculating to enter college. This arrangement, +however, as regarded the students that chose the modern languages, +would have been found too burdensome by our Irish friends, and, on +their expressing themselves to that effect, would have been soon dispensed +with.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11">[11]</a><div class="note"><p> One possible consequence of a Natural Science Degree might have +been, that the public would have turned to it with favour, while the +old one sank into discredit.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EV.'></a><h2>V.</h2> + +<h2>METAPHYSICS AND DEBATING SOCIETIES.<a name="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12"><sup>[12]</sup></a></h2> +<br /> + +<p>By "Metaphysical Study," or "Metaphysics," I here +mean—what seems intended by the designation in its +current employment at present—the circle of the +mental or subjective sciences. The central department +of the field is PSYCHOLOGY, and the adjunct to +psychology is LOGIC, which has its foundations partly +in psychology, but still more in the sciences altogether, +whose procedure it gathers up and formulates. +The outlying and dependent branches are: the +narrower metaphysics or Ontology, Ethics, Sociology, +together with Art or Aesthetics. There are other +applied sciences of the department, as Education and +Philology.</p> + +<p>The branches most usually looked upon as the +cognate or allied studies of the subjective department +of human knowledge are, Psychology, Logic, Ontology, +Ethics. The debates in a society like the +present will generally be found to revolve in the orbit +thus chalked out. It is the sphere of the most +animated controversies, and the widest discordance of +view. The additional branch most nearly connected +with the group is Sociology, which under that name, +and under the older title, the Philosophy of History, +has opened up a new series of problems, of the kind +to divide opinions and provoke debate. A quieter +interest attaches to Aesthetics, although the subject is +a not unfruitful application and test of psychological +laws.</p> + +<p>My remarks will embrace, first, the aims, real and +factitious, in the study of this group of sciences; and +next, the polemic conduct of such study, or the utility +and management of debating societies, instituted in +connection therewith.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[PSYCHOLOGY AND LOGIC FUNDAMENTAL.]</p> + +<p>The two sciences—PSYCHOLOGY and LOGIC—I consider +the fundamental and knowledge-giving +departments. The others are the applications of +these to the more stirring questions of human life. +Now, the successful cultivation of the field requires +you to give at least as much attention to the root +sciences as you give to the branch sciences. That is +to say, psychology, in its pure and proper character, +and logic, in its systematic array, should be kept +before the view, concurrently with ontology, ethics, +and sociology. Essays and debates tending to clear +up and expound systematic psychology and systematic +logic should make a full half of the society's +work.</p> + +<p>Does any one feel a doubt upon the point, as so +stated? If so, it will be upon him to show that +Psychology, in its methodical pursuit, is a needless +and superfluous employment of strength; that the +problems of ethics, ontology, &c., can be solved +without it—a hard task indeed, so long as they are +unsolved in any way. I have no space for indulging +in a dissertation on the value of methodical study +and arrangement in the extension of our knowledge, +as opposed to the promiscuous mingling of +different kinds of facts, which is often required in +practice, but repugnant to the increase of knowledge. +If you want to improve our acquaintance with the +sense of touch, you accumulate and methodize all +the experiences relating to touch; you compare them, +see whether they are consistent or inconsistent, select +the good, reject the bad, improve the statement of +one by light borrowed from the others; you mark +desiderata, experiments to be tried, or observations to +be sought. All that time, you refrain from wandering +into other spheres of mental phenomena. You make +use of comparison with the rest of the senses, it may +be, but you keep strictly to the points of analogy, +where mutual lights are to be had. This is the +culture of knowledge as such, and is the best, the +essential, preparation for practical questions involving +the particular subject along with others.</p> + +<p>To take an example from the question of the Will. +I do not object: to the detaching and isolating of the +problem of free-will, as a matter for discussion and +debate; but I think that it can be handled to equal, if +not greater advantage, in the systematic psychology of +voluntary power. Those that have never tried it in +this last form have not obtained the best vantage-ground +for overcoming the inevitable subtleties that +invest it.</p> + +<p>The great problem of External Perception has a +psychological place, where its difficulties are very +much attenuated, to say the least of it; and, however +convenient it may be to treat it as a detached problem, +we should carry with us into the discussion all +the lights that we obtain while regarding it as it +stands among the intellectual powers.</p> + +<p>It is in systematic Psychology that we are most +free to attend to the defining of terms (without which +a professed science is mere moonshine), to the formulating +of axioms and generalities, to the concatenating +and taking stock of all the existing knowledge, +and to the appraising of it at its real value. If these +things are neglected, there is nothing that I see to +constitute a psychology at all.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[DISCUSSIONS IN LOGIC PROPER.]</p> + +<p>As to the other fundamental science, LOGIC, the +same remarks may be repeated. Of debated questions, +a certain number pertain properly to logic; yet +most of these relate to logic at its points of contact +with psychology. Since we have got out of the +narrow round of the Aristotelian syllogism, we have +agreed to call logic <i>ars artium</i>, or, better still, <i>scientia +scientiarum</i>, the science that deals with the sciences +altogether—both object sciences and subject sciences. +Now this I take to be a study quite apart from +psychology in particular, although, as I have said, +touching it at several points. It reviews all science +and all knowledge, as to its structure, method, arrangement, +classification, probation, enlargement. It deals +in generalities the most general of any. By taking +up what belongs to all knowledge, it seems to rise +above the matter of knowledge to the region of pure +form; it demands, therefore, a peculiar subtlety of +handling, and may easily land us, as we are all aware, +in knotty questions and quagmires.</p> + +<p>Now what I have to repeat in this connection is, +that you should, in your debates, overhaul portions +or chapters of systematic logic, with a view to present +the difficulties in their natural position in the subject. +You might, for example, take up the question as to +the Province of logic, with its divisions, parts, and +order—all which admit of many various views—and +bring forward the vexed controversies under lights +favourable to their resolution. Regarding logic as an +aid to the faculties in tackling whatever is abstruse, +you should endeavour to cultivate and enhance its +powers, in this particular, by detailed exposition and +criticism of all its canons and prescriptions. The +department of Classification is a good instance; a +region full of delicate subtleties as well as "bread-and-butter" +applications.</p> + +<p>It is in this last view of logic that we can canvass +philosophical systems upon the ground of their method +or procedure alone. Looking at the absence, in any +given system, of the arts and precautions that are +indispensable to the establishment of truth in the +special case, we may pronounce against it, <i>à priori</i>; +we know that such a system can be true only by +accident, or else by miracle. We may reasonably +demand of a system-builder—Is he in the narrow way +that leadeth to truth, or in the broad way that leadeth +somewhere else?</p> + +<p>I have said that I consider the connection between +Logic and Psychology to be but slender, although not +unimportant. The amount and nature of this connection +would reward a careful consideration. There +would be considerable difficulty in seeing any connection +at all between the Aristotelian Syllogism and +psychology, but for the high-sounding designations +appended to the notion and the proposition—simple +apprehension and judgment—of which I fail to discover +the propriety or relevance. I know that Grote +gave a very profound turn to the employment of the +term "judgment" by Aristotle, as being a recognition +of the relativity of knowledge to the affirming mind. +I am not to say, absolutely, "Ice is cold"; I am to +say that, to the best of my judgment or belief, or in +so far as I am concerned, ice is cold. This, however, +has little to do with the logic of the syllogism, and +not much with any logic. So, when we speak of a +"notion," we must understand it as apprehended by +some mind; but for nearly all purposes, this is +assumed tacitly; it need not appear in a formal designation, +which, not being wanted, is calculated to +mislead.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[APPLIED OR DERIVATIVE SCIENCES.]</p> + +<p>With these remarks on the two fundamental sciences +of our group, I now turn to the <i>applied</i> or <i>derivative</i> +sciences, wherein the great controversies stand out +most conspicuous, which, in fact, exist for the purpose +of contention—Ontology and Ethics. These +branches were in request long before the mother +sciences—psychology and logic—came into being at +all. They had occupied their chief positions without +consulting the others, partly because these were not +there to consult, and partly because they were not +inclined to consult any extraneous authority. By Ontology +we may designate the standing controversies +of the intellectual powers—perception, innate ideas, +nominalism <i>versus</i> realism, and noumenon <i>versus</i> phenomenon. +I am not going to pronounce upon these +questions; I have already recommended the alternative +mode of approaching them under systematic +psychology and logic; and I will now regard them +as constituents of the fourfold enumeration of the +metaphysical sciences.</p> + +<p>The Germans may be credited for teaching us, or +trying to teach us, to distinguish "bread and butter" +from what passes beyond, transcends bread and butter. +With them the distinction is thoroughly ingrained, +and comes to hand at a moment's notice. If I am +to review in detail what may be considered the practical +or applied departments of logic and psychology, +I am in danger of trenching on their "bread-and-butter" +region. Before descending, therefore, into +the larder, let us first spend a few seconds in considering +psychology as the pursuit of <i>truth</i> in all +that relates to our mental constitution. If difficulty +be a stimulus to the human exertions, it may be +found here. To ascertain, fix, and embody the precise +truth in regard to the facts of the mind is about as +hard an undertaking as could be prescribed to a man. +But this is another way of saying that psychology is +not a very advanced science; is not well stored with +clear and certain doctrines; and is unable, therefore, +to confer any very great precision on its dependent +branches, whether purely speculative or practical. In +a word, the greatest modesty or humility is the +deportment most becoming to all that engage in this +field of labour, even when doing their best; while +the same virtues in even greater measure are due +from those engaging in it without doing their best.</p> + +<p>It must be admitted, however, that the highest +evidence and safeguard of truth is application. In +every other science, the utility test is final. The +great parent sciences—mathematics, physics, chemistry, +physiology—have each a host of filial dependents, +in close contact with the supply of human +wants; and the success of the applications is the +testimony to the truth of the sciences applied. Thus, +although we may not narrow the sphere of truth to +bread and butter, yet we have no surer test of the +truth itself. Our trade requires navigation, and navigation +verifies astronomy; and, but for navigation, +we may be pretty confident that astronomy would +now have very little accuracy to boast of.</p> + +<p>To come then to the practical bearings or outgoings +of psychology, assisted by logic. My contention +is that the parent sciences and the filial sciences +should be carried on together; that theses should be +extracted by turns from all; that the lights thus +obtained would be mutual. I will support the position +by a review of the subjects thus drawn into the +metaphysical field.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION.]</p> + +<p>Foremost among these applied sciences I would +place EDUCATION, the subject of the day. The +priority of mention is due not so much to its special +or pre-eminent importance, as to its being the most +feasible and hopeful of the practical applications of +conjoined psychology and logic. I say this, however, +with a more express eye to <i>intellectual</i> education. I +deem it quite possible to frame a practical, science +applicable to the training of the intellect that shall be +precise and definite in a very considerable measure. +The elements that make up our intellectual furniture +can be stated with clearness; the laws of intellectual +growth or acquisition are almost the best ascertained +generalities of the human mind; even the most complicated +studies can be analyzed into their components, +partly by psychology and partly by the +higher logic. In a word, if we cannot make a science +of education, as far as Intellect is concerned, we may +abandon metaphysical study altogether.</p> + +<p>I do not speak with the same confidence as to <i>moral</i> +education. There has long been in existence a respectable +rule-of-thumb practice in this region, the +result of a sufficiently wide experience. There are +certain psychological laws, especially those relating +to the formation of moral habits, that have a considerable +value; but to frame a theory of moral +education, on a level in a point of definiteness with +the possible theory of intellectual education, is a +task that I should not like to have imposed upon me. +In point of fact, two problems are joined in one, to +the confusion of both. There is <i>first</i> the vast question +of <i>moral control</i>, which stretches far and wide +over many fields, and would have to be tracked with +immense labour: it belongs to the arts of government; +it comes under moral suasion, as exercised by the +preacher and orator; it even implicates the tact of +diplomacy. I do not regard this as a properly educational +question (although it refers to an art that every +teacher must try to master); that is to say, its solution +is not connected with education processes +strictly so called. The <i>second</i> problem of moral +education is the one really within the scope of the +subject—the problem of <i>fixing moral bents</i> or habits, +when the right conduct is once initiated. On this +head, some scientific insight is attainable; and suggestions +of solid value may in time accrue, although +there never can be the precision attainable in the +intellectual region.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I will next advert to the applied science of Art or +Aesthetics, long a barren ground, so far as scientific +handling was concerned, but now a land of promise. +The old thesis, "What is Beauty?" a good debating +society topic, is, I hope, past contending about. The +numerous influences that concur in works of art, or in +natural beauty, present a fine opening for delicate +analysis; at the same time, they implicate the vaguest +and least advanced portion of psychology—the +Emotions. The German philosophers have usually +ranked aesthetics as one of the subjective sciences; +but, it is only of late that the department has taken +shape in their country. Lessing gave a great impulse +to literary art, and originated a number of pregnant +suggestions; and the German love of music has +necessarily led to theories as well as to compositions. +We are now in the way to that consummation of +aesthetics which may be described as containing (1) a +reference to psychology as the mother science, (2) a +classification, comparison, and contrast of the fine +arts themselves, and (3) an induction of the principles +of art composition from the best examples. Anything +like a thorough sifting of fine-art questions would +strain psychology at every point—senses, emotions, +intellect; and, if criticism is to go deep, it must +ground upon psychological reasons. Now the mere +artist can never be a psychologist; the art critic may, +but seldom will; hence, as they will not come over +to us, some of us must go over to them. The Art +discussion of the greatest fountains of human feeling +—love and anger—would react with advantage upon +the very difficult psychology of these emotions, so +long the sport of superficiality.</p> + +<p>[AESTHETICS: HEDONICS.]</p> + +<p>But I hold that aesthetics is but a corner of a larger +field that is seldom even named among the sciences +of mind; I mean human happiness as a whole, +"eudaemonics," or "hedonics," or whatever you please +to call it. That the subject is neglected, I do not +affirm; but it is not cultivated in the proper place, or +in the proper light-giving connection—that is to say, +under the psychology of the human feelings. It +should have at once a close reference to psychology, +and an independent construction; while either in +comprehending aesthetics, or in lying side by side +with that, it would give and receive illumination. +The researches now making into the laws and limits +of human sensibility, if they have any value, ought to +lead to the economy of pleasure and the abatement +of pain. The analysis of sensation and of emotion +points to this end. Whoever raises any question as to +human happiness should refer it, in the first instance, +to psychology; in the next, to some general scheme +that would answer for a science of happiness; and, +thirdly, to an induction of the facts of human experience; +the three distinct appeals correcting one +another. If psychology can contribute nothing to the +point, it confesses to a desideratum for future inquirers.</p> + +<p>[HEDONICS SEPARATE FROM ETHICS.]</p> + +<p>I am not at all satisfied with the coupling of happiness +with ethics, as is usually done. Ethics is the +sphere of duty; happiness is mentioned only to be +repressed and discouraged. This is not the situation +for unfolding all the blossoms of human delight, nor +for studying to allay every rising uneasiness. He +would be a rare ethical philosopher that would permit +full scope to such an operation within his grounds; +neither Epicurus nor Bentham could come up to this +mark. But even if the thing were permitted, the +lights are not there; it is only by combining the parent +psychology and the hedonic derivative, that the work +can be done. It is neither disrespect nor disadvantage +to duty, that it is not mentioned in the department +until the very end. To cultivate happiness is not +selfishness or vice, unless you confine it to self; and +the mere act of inquiring does not so confine it. If +you are in other respects a selfish man, you will apply +your knowledge for your own sole behoof; if you are +not selfish, you will apply it for the good of your +fellows also, which is another name for virtue.</p> + +<p>But the obstacles to a science of happiness are not +solely clue to the gaps and deficiencies in our psychological +knowledge; they are equally owing to the +prevailing terrorism in favour of self-denial at all +hands. Many of the maxims as to happiness would +not stand examination if people felt themselves free +to discuss them. You must work yourselves into a +fervour of revolt and defiance, before you call in +question Paley's declaration that "happiness is equally +distributed among all orders of the community". +I do not know whether I should wonder most at the +cheerful temperament or the complacent optimism of +Adam Smith, when he asks, "What can be added to +the happiness of the man who is in health, who is out +of debt, and has a clear conscience?"<a name="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> When the +greatest philosophers talk thus, what is to be expected +from the unphilosophic mob? The dependence of +health on activity is always kept very loose, it may +be for the convenience of shutting our mouths against +complaints of being overworked. To render this +dependence precise is a matter of pure psychology.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[SOCIOLOGY.]</p> + +<p>Before coming to Ethics I must, as a preparation, +view another derivative branch of psychology, the old +subject of politics and society, under its new name, +SOCIOLOGY. It is obvious that all terms used in +describing social facts and their generalities are terms +of mind: command and obedience, law and right, +order and progress, are notions made up of human +feelings, purposes, and thoughts.</p> + +<p>Sociology is usually studied in its own special field, +and nowhere else; that is to say, the sociologist +employs himself in observing and comparing the +operations of societies under all varieties of circumstances, +and in all historic ages. The field is essentially +human nature, and the laws arrived at are laws +of human nature. A consummate sociologist is not +often to be found; the really great theorists in society +could be counted on one's fingers. Some of them +have been psychologists as well; I need mention only +Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, the Mills. Others +as Vico, Montesquieu, Millar, Condorcet, Auguste +Comte, De Tocqueville, have not independently +studied the mind on the broad psychological basis. +Now the bearings on sociology of a pure psychological +preparation can be convincingly shown. The laws of +society, if not the merest empiricisms, are derivative +laws of the mind; hence a theorist cannot be trusted +with the handling of a derivative law, unless he knows, +as well as can be known, the simple or constituent +laws. All the elements of human character crop up +in men's social relations; in the foreground are their +self-interest or sense of self-preservation, together with +their social and anti-social promptings; a little farther +back are their active energy, their intelligence, their +artistic feelings, and their religious susceptibilities. +Now all these should be broadly examined as elements +of the mind, without an immediate reference to the +political machine. Of course, the social feelings need +a social situation, and cannot be studied without that; +but there are many social situations that give scope +for examining them, besides what is contemplated in +political society; and the psychologist proper ought +to avail himself of all the opportunities of rendering +the statement of these various elements precise. For +this purpose, his chief aim is the ultimate analysis of +the various faculties and feelings. This analysis nobody +but himself cares to institute; and yet a knowledge +of the ultimate constitution of an emotional +tendency is one of the best aids in appreciating its +mode of working. Without a good preliminary +analysis of the social and anti-social emotions, for +example, you are almost sure to be counting the same +thing twice over, or else confounding two different +facts under one designation. On the one hand, +the precise relationship of the states named love, +sympathy, disinterestedness; and, on the other hand, +the common basis of domination, resentment, pride, +egotism,—should be distinctly cleared up, as is possible +only in psychological study strictly so called. The +workings of the religious sentiment cannot be shown +sociologically, without a previous analysis of the constituent +emotions.</p> + +<p>[SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF ETHICS.]</p> + +<p>An allusion so very slender to so vast a subject as +sociology would be a waste of words, but for the +conviction, that through sociology is the way to the +great field of Ethics. This is to reverse the traditional +arrangement—ethics, politics, or government—followed +even by Bentham. The lights of ethics are, in +the first instance, psychological; its discussions presuppose +a number of definitions and distinctions that +are pure psychology. But before these have to be +adduced, the subject has to be set forth as a problem +of sociology. "How is the King's government to be +carried on?" "How is society to be held together?" +is the first consideration; and the sociologist—as +constitution-builder, administrator, judge—is the person +to grapple with the problem. It is with him that +law, obligation, right, command, obedience, sanction, +have their origin and their explanation. Ethics is an +important supplement to social or political law. But +it is still a department of law. In any other view it +is a maze, a mystery, a hopeless embroilment.</p> + +<p>That ethics is involved in society is of course +admitted; what is not admitted is, that ethical terms +should be settled under the social science in the first +place. I may refer to the leading term "law," whose +meaning in sociology is remarkably clear; in ethics +remarkably the reverse. The confusion deepens +when the moral faculty is brought forward. In the +eye of the sociologist, nothing could be simpler than +the conception of that part of our nature that is +appealed to for securing obedience. He assumes a +certain effort of the intelligence for understanding the +signification of a command or a law; and, for the +motive part, he counts upon nothing but volition in +its most ordinary form—the avoidance of a pain. +Intelligence and Will, in their usual and recognised +workings, are all that are required for social obedience; +law is conceived and framed exactly to suit the +every-day and every-hour manifestations of these +powers. The lawgiver does not speak of an obedience-faculty, +nor even of a social-faculty. If there were in +the mind a power unique and apart, having nothing +in common with our usual intelligence, and nothing +in common with our usual will or volition, that +power ought to be expressed in terms that exclude +the smallest participation of both knowledge +and will; it ought to have a form special +to itself, and not the form:—"Do this, and ye shall +be made to suffer".</p> + +<p>I am quite aware that there are elements in ethics +not included in the problem of social obedience; +what I contend for is, that the ground should be +cleared by marking out the two provinces, as is +actually done by a very small number of theorists, of +whom John Austin is about the best example.</p> + +<p>The ethical philosopher, from not building on a +foregone sociology, is obliged to extemporize, in a +paragraph, the social system; just as the physical +philosopher would, if he had no regularly constructed +mathematics to fall back upon, but had to stop every +now and then to enunciate a mathematical theorem.</p> + +<p>The question of the ethical end should first appear +as the question of the sociological end. For what +purpose or purposes is society maintained? All the +ethical difficulties are here met by anticipation, and +in a form much better adapted to their solution. It +is from the point of view of the social ruler, that you +learn reserve, moderation, and sobriety in your aims; +you learn to think that something much less than the +Utopias—universal happiness and universal virtue—should +be propounded; you find that a definite and +limited province can be assigned, separating what the +social power is able to do, must do, and can advantageously +do, from what it is unable to do, need not +do, and cannot with advantage do; and this or a +similar demarcation is reproducible in ethics.</p> + +<p>[PRECEPTS OF ETHICS MAINLY SOCIAL.]</p> + +<p>The precepts of ethics are mainly the precepts of +social authority; at all events the social precepts and +their sanctions have the priority in scientific method. +Some of the highest virtues are sociological; patriotic +self-sacrifice is one of the conditions of social preservation. +The inculcation of this and of many other +virtues would not appear in ethics at all, or only in a +supplementary treatment, if social science took its +proper sphere, and fully occupied that sphere.</p> + +<p>Once more. The great problem of moral control, +which I would remove entirely from a science of +education, would be first dealt with in Sociology. It +there appears in the form of the choice and gradation +of punishments, in prison discipline, and in the reformation +of criminals,—all which have been made the +subject of enlightened, not to say scientific, treatment. +It is in the best experience in those subjects that I +would begin to seek for lights on the comprehensive +question. I would next go to diplomacy for the arts +of delicate address in reconciling opposing interests; +after which I would look to the management of parties +and conflicting interests in the State. I would farther +inquire how armies are disciplined, and subordination +combined with the enthusiasm that leads to noble +deeds.</p> + +<p>There is an abundant field for the application of +pure psychology to ethics, when it takes its own +proper ground. The exact psychological character of +disinterested impulse needs to be assigned; and, if +that impulse can be fully referred to the sympathetic +or social instincts and habits, the supposed moral +faculty is finally eviscerated of its contents for all +ethical purposes.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>So far I have exemplified what seems to me real +or genuine aims and applications of metaphysical +study. I now proceed to the objects that are more or +less factitious. We are here on delicate ground, and +run the risk of discrediting our pursuit, as regards the +very things that in the eyes of many people make its +value.</p> + +<p>First, then, as psychology involves all our sensibilities, +pleasures, affections, aspirations, capacities, it +is thought on that ground to have a special nobility +and greatness, and a special power of evoking in the +student the feelings themselves. The mathematician, +dealing with conic sections, spirals, and differential +equations, is in danger of being ultimately resolved +into a function or a co-efficient; the metaphysician, by +investigating conscience, must become conscientious; +driving fat oxen is the way to grow fat.</p> + +<p>[MAN'S RELATIONS TO THE INFINITE.]</p> + +<p>But to pass to a far graver application. It has +usually been supposed that metaphysical theory is +more especially akin to the speculation that mounts +to the supernatural and the transcendental world. +"Man's relations to the infinite" is a frequent phrase +in the mouth of the metaphysician. Metaphysics is +supposed to be "philosophy" by way of eminence; +and philosophy in the large sense has not merely to +satisfy the curiosity of the human mind, it has to +provide scope for its emotions and aspirations; in +fact, to play the part of theology. In times when the +prevailing orthodox beliefs are shaken, some scheme of +philosophy is brought forward to take their place. If +I understand aright the drift of the German metaphysical +systems for a century back, they all more or +less propose to themselves to supply the same +spiritual wants as religion supplies. In our own +country, such of us as are not under German influence +put the matter differently; but we still consider that +we have something to say on the "highest questions". +We are apt to believe that on us more than on any +other class of thinkers, does it depend whether the +prevailing theology shall be upheld, impugned, or +transformed. The chief weapons of the defenders of +the faith are forged in the schools of metaphysics. +Locke and Butler, Reid, Stewart and Brown are +theological authorities. And when theology is attacked, +its metaphysical buttresses have to be assailed +as the very first thing. If these are declared unsound, +either it must fall, or it must change its front. It is +Natural Theology, more particularly, that is thus +allied to metaphysics; yet, not exclusively; for the +defence of Revelation by miracles involves at the +outset a point of logic.</p> + +<p>Now I do not mean to say, that this is a purely +factitious and ill-grounded employment of the metaphysical +sciences. I fully admit that the later defences +of theology, as well as the attacks, have been +furnished from psychology, logic, ethics, and ontology. +The earliest beliefs in religion, the greatest and +strongest convictions, had little to do with any of +these departments of speculation. But when simple +traditionary faith gave place to the questionings of +the reason, the basis of religion was transferred to the +reason-built sciences; and metaphysics came in for a +large share in the decision.</p> + +<p>[METAPHYSICS AND THEOLOGY.]</p> + +<p>What I maintain is, that there is something factitious +in the degree of prominence given to metaphysics +in this great enterprise; that its pretentions +are excessive, its importance over-stated; and when +most employed for such a purpose, it is least to be +trusted. Theological polemic is only in part conducted +through science; and physical science shares +equally with moral. The most serious shocks to the +traditional orthodoxy have come from the physical +sciences. The argument from Design has no doubt +a metaphysical or logical element—the estimate +of the degree of analogy between the universe +and a piece of human workmanship; but the argument +itself needs a scientific survey of the entire +phenomena of nature, both matter and mind. Our +Bridgewater Treatises proceeded upon this view; +they embraced the consideration of the whole circle +of the sciences, as bearing on the theological argument. +The scheme was so far just and to the purpose; +the obvious drawback to the value of the +Treatises lay in their being special pleadings, backed +by a fee of a thousand pounds to each writer for +maintaining one side. If a similar fee had been given +to nine equally able writers to represent the other side, +the argument from design would have been far more +satisfactorily sifted than by the exclusively metaphysical +criticism of Kant.</p> + +<p>When theology is supported exclusively by such +doctrines as—an independent and immaterial soul, a +special moral faculty, and what is called free-will,—the +metaphysician is a person of importance in the +contest; he is powerful either to uphold or to subvert +the fabric. But, if these were ever to constitute the +chief stronghold of the faith, its tenure would not be +very secure. It is only a metaphysician, however, +that believes or disbelieves in metaphysical grounds +alone; such a man as Cousin, no doubt, rests his +whole spiritual philosophy on this foundation. But +the great mass will either adhere to religion in spite +of metaphysical difficulties, or else abandon it notwithstanding +its metaphysical evidences. An eminent +man now departed said in my hearing, that he was a +believer in Christianity until he became acquainted +with geology, when, finding the first chapter of Genesis +at variance with geological doctrines, he applied +to the Bible the rule <i>falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus,</i> +and thenceforth abandoned his old belief. I never +heard of any one that was so worked upon by a +purely metaphysical argument.</p> + +<p>The aspect of theological doctrine that has come +most to the front of late is the question of the Divine +goodness, as shown in the plan of the universe. +Speculations are divided between optimism and +pessimism. How shall we decide between these +extremes, or, if repudiating both, how shall we fix +the mean? Is a metaphysician more especially +qualified to find out the truth? I hardly think so. I +believe he could contribute, with others, to such a +solution as may be possible. He has, we shall suppose, +surveyed closely the compass of the human +sensibilities, and is able to assign, with more than +common precision, what things operate on them +favourably or unfavourably. So far good. Then, as +a logician, he is more expert at detecting bad inferences +in regard to the form of reasoning; but +whether certain allegations of fact are well or ill +founded, he may not be able to say, at least out of +his own department. If a mixed commission of +ten were nominated to adjudicate upon this vast +problem, metaphysics might claim to be represented +by two.</p> + +<p>[FILLING THE THEOLOGICAL VOID.]</p> + +<p>Least of all, do I understand the claims made in +behalf of this department to supply the spiritual void +in case the old theology is no longer accredited. +When one looks closely at the stream and tendency +of thought, one sees a growing alliance and kinship +between religion and poetry or art. There is, as we +know, a dogmatic, precise, severe, logical side of +theology, by which creeds are constructed, religious +tests imposed, and belief made a matter of legal +compulsion. There is also a sentimental, ideal, +imaginative side that resists definition, that refuses +dogmatic prescription, and seeks only to satisfy +spiritual needs and emotions. Metaphysics may no +doubt take a part in the dogmatic or doctrinal treatment, +but it must qualify itself by biblical study, and +become altogether theology. In the other aspect, +metaphysics, as I conceive it, is unavailing; the poet +is the proper medium for keeping up the emotional +side, under all transformations of doctrinal belief. +But as conceived by others, metaphysics is philosophy +and poetry in one, to which I can never agree. The +combination of the two, as hitherto exhibited, has +been made at the expense of both. The leading +terms of philosophy—reason, spirit, soul, the ideal, +the infinite, the absolute, phenomenal truth, being, +consciousness—are lubricated with emotion, and +thrown together in ways that defy the understanding. +The unintelligible, which ought to be the shame of +philosophy, is made its glory.</p> + +<p>These remarks prepare for the conclusion that I +arrive at as to the scope of metaphysics with reference +to the higher questions. That it has bearings upon +these questions I allow; and those bearings are legitimately +within the range of metaphysical debates. +But I make a wide distinction between metaphysical +discussion and theological discussion; and do not +consider that they can be combined to advantage. In +the great latitude of free inquiry in the present day, +theology is freely canvassed, and societies might be +properly devoted to that express object; but I cannot +see any benefit that would arise by a philosophical +society undertaking, in addition to its own province, +to raise the questions belonging to theology. I am +well aware that there is one society of very distinguished +persons in the metropolis, calling itself +metaphysical, that freely ventures upon the perilous +seas of theological debate.<a name="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> No doubt good comes +from any exercise of the liberty of discussion, so long +restrained in this region; yet, I can hardly suppose +that purely metaphysical, studies can thrive in such a +connection. Many of the members must think far +more of the theological issues than of the cultivation +of mental and logical science; and a purely metaphysical +debate can seldom be pursued with profit +under these conditions.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[POLEMICS IN GREECE.]</p> + +<p>I now pass to the POLEMICAL handling of the +metaphysical subjects. We owe to the Greeks the +study of philosophy through methodised debate; and +the state of scientific knowledge in the age of the +early Athenian schools was favourable to that mode +of treatment. The conversations of Socrates, the Dialogues +of Plato, and the Topics of Aristotle, are the +monuments of Greek contentiousness, turned to +account as a great refinement in social intercourse, as +a stimulus to individual thought, and a means of +advancing at least the speculative departments of +knowledge. Grote, both in his "Plato," and in his +"Aristotle," while copiously illustrating all these consequences, +has laid extraordinary stress on still +another aspect of the polemic of Socrates and Plato, +the aspect of <i>free-thought</i>, as against venerated +tradition and the received commonplaces of society. +The assertion of the right of private judgment in +matters of doctrine and belief, was, according to +Grote, the greatest of all the fruits of the systematised +negation begun by Zeno, and carried out in the +"Search Dialogues" of Plato. In the "Exposition +Dialogues" it is wanting; and in the "Topica," where +Eristic is reduced to method and system by one of +Aristotle's greatest logical achievements, the freethinker's +wings are very much clipt; the execution of +Socrates probably had to answer for that. It is to +the Platonic dialogues that we look for the full +grandeur of Grecian debate in all its phases. The +Plato of Grote is the apotheosis of Negation; it is +not a philosophy so much as an epic; the theme— +"The Noble Wrath of the Greek Dissenter".</p> + +<p>At all times, there is much that has to be achieved +by solitary thinking. Some definite shape must be +given to our thoughts before we can submit them to +the operation of other minds; the greater the originality, +the longer must be the process of solitary +elaboration. The "Principia" was composed from +first to last by recluse meditation; probably the +attempt to discuss or debate any parts of it would +have only fretted and paralysed the author's invention. +Indeed, after an enormous strain of the constructive +intellect, a man may be in no humour to +have his work carped at, even to improve it. In the +region of fact, in observation and experiment, there +must be a mass of individual and unassisted exertion. +The use of allies in this region is to check and confirm +the accuracy of the first observer.</p> + +<p>Again, an inquirer, by dint of prolonged familiarity +with a subject, may be his own best critic; he may +be better able to detect flaws than any one he could +call in. This is another way of stating the superiority +of a particular individual over all others in the same +walk. Such a monarchical position as removes a +man alike from the rivalry and from the sympathy +of his fellows, is the exception; mutual criticism +and mutual encouragement are the rule. The social +stimulants are of avail in knowledge and in truth as +well as everything else.</p> + +<p>A comparison of the state of speculation in the +golden age of debate, with the state of the sciences in +the present day, both metaphysical and physical, +shows us clearly enough, what are the fields where +polemic is most profitable. I set aside the struggles +of politics and theology, and look to the scientific +form of knowledge, which is, after all, the type of our +highest certainty everywhere. Now, undoubtedly, it +is in classifying, generalising, defining, and in the so-called +logical processes—induction and deduction—that +a man can be least left to himself. Until many +men have gone over the same field of facts, a classification, +a definition, or an induction, cannot be held as safe +and sound. In modern science, there are numerous +matters that have passed through the fiery furnace of +iterated criticism, seven times purified; but there are, +attaching to every science, a number of things still in +the furnace. Most of all does this apply to the +metaphysical or subject sciences, where, according +to the popular belief, nothing has yet passed finally +out of the fiery trial. In psychology, in logic, in +eudaemonics, in sociology, in ethics, the facts are +nearly all around our feet; the question is how to +classify, define, generalise, express them. This +was the situation of Zeno, Socrates, and Plato, for +which they invoked the militant ardour of the mind. +Man, they saw, is a fighting being; if fighting will do +a thing, he will do it well.</p> + +<p>[MOST USEFUL CLASSES OF DEBATES.]</p> + +<p>In conformity with this view, the foremost class of +debates, and certainly not the least profitable, are +such as discuss the meanings of important terms. +The genius of Socrates perceived that this was the +beginning of all valid knowledge, and, in seeing this, +laid the foundation of reasoned truth. I need not +repeat the leading terms of metaphysical philosophy; +but you can at once understand the form of proceeding +by such an instance as "consciousness," debated +so as to bring out the question whether, as +Hamilton supposed, it is necessarily grounded on +knowledge.</p> + +<p>Next to the leading terms are the broader and more +fundamental generalities: for example, the law of +relativity; the laws of memory and its conditions, +such as the intensity of the present consciousness; +Hamilton's inverse relationship of sensation and +perception. These are a few psychological instances. +The value of a debate on any of these questions +depends entirely upon its resolving itself into an +inductive survey of the facts, and such surveys are +never without fruit.</p> + +<p>A debating society that includes logic in its sphere +should cultivate the methods of debate; setting an +example to other societies and to mankind in general. +The "Topica" of Aristotle shows an immensity of +power expended on this object, doubtless without +corresponding results. Nevertheless the attempt, if +resumed at the present day, with our clearer and +wider views of logical method, would not be barren. +This is too little thought of by us; and we may +say that polemic, as an art, is still immature. The +best examples of procedure are to be found in the +Law Courts, some of whose methods might be borrowed +in other debates. For one thing, I think that +each of the two leaders should provide the members +beforehand with a synopsis of the leading arguments +or positions to be set forth in the debate. This, I +believe, should be insisted on everywhere, not even +excepting the debates of Parliament.</p> + +<p>It is the custom of debating societies to alternate +the Debate and the Essay: a very important distinction, +as it seems to me; and I will endeavour to +indicate how it should be maintained. Frequently +there is no substantial distinction observed; an essay +is simply the opening of a debate, and a debate the +criticism of an essay. I should like to see the two +carried out each on its own principle, as I shall now +endeavour to explain.</p> + +<p>[THE DEBATE: A FIGHT FOR MASTERY.]</p> + +<p>The Debate is <i>the fight for mastery</i> as between two +sides. The combatants strain their powers to say +everything that can be said so as to shake the case of +their opponents. The debate is a field-day, a challenge +to a trial of strength. Now, while I admit that +the intellectual powers may be quickened to unusual +perspicacity under the sound of the trumpet and the +shock of arms, I also see in the operation many perils +and shortcomings, when the subject of contest is +truth. In a heated controversy, only the more glaring +and prominent facts, considerations, doctrines, distinctions, +can obtain a footing. Now truth is the +still small voice; it subsists often upon delicate +differences, unobtrusive instances, fine calculations. +Whether or not man is a wholly selfish being, may be +submitted to a contentious debate, because the facts +and appearances on both sides are broad and palpable; +but whether all our actions are, in the last +resort or final analysis, self-regarding, is almost too +delicate for debate. Chalmers upholds, as a thesis, +the intrinsic misery of the vicious affections: there +could not be a finer topic of pure debate.</p> + +<p>My conception of the Essay, on the other hand, is +that it should represent <i>amicable co-operation</i>, with an +eye to the truth. By it you should rise from the lower +or competitive, to the higher or communistic attitude. +There may be a loss of energy, but there is a gain +in the manner of applying it. The essayist should +set himself to ascertain the truth upon a subject; he +should not be anxious to make a case. The listeners, +in the same spirit, should welcome all his suggestions, +help him out where he is in difficulties, be indulgent +to his failings, endeavour to see good in everything. +If there be a real occasion for debate, it should be +purposely forborne and reserved. In propounding +subjects, the respective fitness for the debate and for +the essay might be taken into account.</p> + +<p>[CO-OPERATIVE DISCUSSION IN THE ESSAY.]</p> + +<p>When questions have been often debated without +coming nearer to a conclusion, it should be regarded +as a sign that they are too delicate and subtle for +debate. A trial should then be made of the amicable +or co-operative treatment represented by the Essay. +The Freedom of the Will might, I think, be adjusted +by friendly accommodation, but not by force of contention. +External Perception is beyond the province +of debate. It is fair and legitimate to try all +problems by debate, in the first instance, because the +excitement quickens the intelligence, and leads to +new suggestions; but if the question involves an +adjustment of various considerations and minute +differences, the contending sides will be contentious +still.</p> + +<p>A society that really aims at the furtherance of +knowledge, might test its operations by now and then +preparing a report of progress; setting forth what +problems had been debated, what themes elucidated, +and with what results. It would be very refreshing +to see a candid avowal that after several attempts—both +debate and essay—some leading topic of the +department remained exactly where it stood at the +outset. After such a confession, the Society might +well resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole +House, to consider its ways, and indeed its entire +position, with a view to a new start on some more +hopeful track.</p> + +<p>My closing remark is, as to avoiding debates that +are in their very nature interminable. It is easy to +fix upon a few salient features that make all the +difference between a hopeful and a hopeless controversy. +For one thing, there is a certain intensity of +emotion, interest, bias, or prejudice if you will, that +can neither reason nor be reasoned with. On the +purely intellectual side, the disqualifying circumstances +are complexity and vagueness. If a topic +necessarily hauls in numerous other topics of difficulty, +the essay may do something for it, but not the debate. +Worst of all is the presence of several large, ill-defined, +or unsettled terms, of which there are still plenty in +our department. A not unfrequent case is a combination +of the several defects each perhaps in a small +degree. A tinge of predilection or party, a double or +triple complication of doctrines, and one or two hazy +terms, will make a debate that is pretty sure to end +as it began. Thus it is that a question, plausible to +appearance, may contain within it capacities of misunderstanding, +cross-purposes, and pointless issues, +sufficient to occupy the long night of Pandemonium, +or beguile the journey to the nearest fixed star.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12">[12]</a><div class="note"><p> An Address, delivered on the 28th of March, 1877, to the Edinburgh +University Philosophical Society. CONTEMPORARY REVIEW, +April, 1877.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13">[13]</a><div class="note"><p> This very plausible utterance begs every question. There would +be some difficulty in condensing an equal amount of fallacy, confusion +of thought, in so few words. +</p><p> +In the first place, it assumes that the three requisites—health, +freedom from debt, and a good conscience—are matters of easy and +general attainment; that they are, in fact, the rule among human +beings. Is this really so? +</p><p> +Take Health, a word of very wide import. There is a certain small +amount, such as is marked by being out of the physician's hands, but +implying very little of the energy needed for the labours and the enjoyment +of life. There is a high and resplendent degree that renders toil easy, +and responds to the commonest stimulants, so that enjoyment cannot +be quashed without unusually unfavourable circumstances. The first +kind is widely diffused; the second is very rare, except in the earlier +portion of life. Most men and women, as they pass middle age, lose the +elasticity required for easy and spontaneous enjoyment, and, even if +they keep the appearance of health, have too little animal spirits for +enjoyment under cheap and ordinary excitements. +</p><p> +But there is more to be said. In order to obtain, and to retain, health, +freedom from debt, and a good conscience, there are pre-supposed +very considerable advantages. We cannot continue healthy and out +of debt, unless we have a fair start in life, that is, unless we have a +tolerable provision to begin with; a circumstance that the maxim +keeps out of sight. +</p><p> +Yet farther. The conditions named are of themselves mere negatives; +they imply simply the absence of certain decided causes of +unhappiness—ill-health, poverty, and bad conduct. There is a farther +stealthy assumption, namely, that the individual is placed in a situation +otherwise conducive to happiness. Health, absence of debt, and a +good conscience will not make happiness, under severe or ungenial toil, +irritation, ill-usage, affliction, sorrow,—- even if they could be long +maintained under such circumstances. Nor even, in the case of +exemption from the worst ills of life, can we be happy without some +positive agreeables—family, general society, amusements, and gratifications. +There is a certain degree of loneliness, seclusion, dulness, that +destroys happiness without sapping health, or miming us into debt and +vice. +</p><p> +The maxim, as expressed, professes to aim at happiness, but it more +properly belongs to duty. If we fail in the conditions mentioned, we +run the risk rather of neglecting our duties than of missing our pleasures. +It is not every form of ill-health that makes us miserable; and +we may become seared to debt and ill-conduct, so as to suffer only the +incidental misery of being dunned, which many can take with great +composure. +</p><p> +The definition of happiness by Paley is vague and incomplete; but +it does not omit the positive conditions. After health, Paley enumerates +the exercise of the affections and some engaging occupation or +pursuit; both which are highly relevant to the attainment of happiness. +Indeed with an exemption from cares, and a considerable share of the +positive gratifications, we can enjoy life on a very slender stock of +health; otherwise, where should we be in the inevitable decline that +age brings with it?</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14">[14]</a><div class="note"><p> This Society has since been dissolved.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EVI'></a><h2>VI.</h2> + +<h2>THE UNIVERSITY IDEAL—PAST AND PRESENT.<a name="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15"><sup>[15]</sup></a></h2> +<br /> + +<p>GENTLEMEN,</p> + +<p>By your flattering estimate of my services, +I have been unexpectedly summoned from +retirement, to assume the honours and the duties +of the purple, and to occupy the most historically +important office in the Universities of Europe.</p> + +<p>The present demands upon the Rectorship somewhat +resemble what we are told of the Homeric chief, +who, in company with his Council or Senate, the +<i>Boulè</i>, and the Popular Assembly, or <i>Agora</i>, made up +the political constitution of the tribe. The functions +of the chief, it is said, were to supply wise counsel to +the <i>Boulè</i> (as we might call our Court), and unctuous +eloquence to the <i>Agora</i>. The second of these requirements +is what weighs upon me at the present +moment.</p> + +<p>Whatever may have been the practice of my predecessors, +generally strangers to you, it would be +altogether unbecoming in me to travel out of our +University life, for the materials of an Address. My +remarks then will principally bear on the UNIVERSITY +IDEAL.</p> + +<p>[THE HIGHER TEACHING IN GREECE.]</p> + +<p>To the Greeks we are indebted for the earliest +germ of the University. It was with them chiefly +that education took that great leap, the greatest ever +made, from the traditional teaching of the home, the +shop, the social surroundings, to schoolmaster teaching +properly so called. Nowadays, we, schoolmasters, +think so much of ourselves, that we do not make full +allowance for that other teaching, which was, for unknown +ages, the only teaching of mankind. The +Greeks were the first to introduce, not perhaps the +primary schoolmaster, for the R's, but certainly the +secondary or higher schoolmaster, known as Rhetorician +or Sophist, who taught the higher professions; +while their Philosophers or wise men, introduced a +kind of knowledge that gave scope to the intellectual +faculties, with or without professional applications; +the very idea of our Faculty of Arts.</p> + +<p>So self-asserting were these new-born teachers of +the Sophist class, that Plato thought it necessary to +recall attention to the good old perennial source of +instruction, the home, the trade, and the society. He +pointed out that the pretenders to teach virtue by +moral lecturing, were as yet completely outrivalled +by the influence of the family and the social pressure +of the community. In like manner, the arts of life +were all originally handed down by apprenticeship +and imitation. The greatest statesmen and generals +of early times had simply the education of the actual +work. Philip of Macedon could have had no other +teaching; his greater son was the first of the line to +receive what we may call a liberal, or a general +education, under the educator of all Europe.</p> + +<p>[LOGIC IN THE MIDDLE AGES.]</p> + +<p>THE MIDDLE AGE AND BOËTHIUS.</p> + +<p>I must skip eight centuries, to introduce the man +that linked the ancient and the modern world, and +was almost the sole luminary in the west during the +dark ages, namely, Boëthius, minister of the Gothic +Emperor Theodoric. As much of Aristotle as was +known between the 6th and the 11th centuries was +handed down by him. During that time, only the +logical treatises existed among the Latins; and of +these the best parts were neglected. Historical importance +attaches to a small circle of them known as +the Old Logic (<i>vectus logica</i>), which were the pabulum +of abstract thought for five dreary centuries. These +consisted of the two treatises or chapters of Aristotle +called the "Categories," and the "De Interpretatione," +or the Theory of Propositions; and of a book of +Porphyry the Neo-Platonist, entitled 'Introduction' +(<i>Isagoge</i>), and treating of the so-called Five Predicables. +A hundred average pages would include them +all; and three weeks would suffice to master them.</p> + +<p>Boëthius, however, did much more than hand on +these works to the mediaeval students; he translated +the whole of Aristotle's logical writings (the Organon), +but the others were seldom taken up. It was he too +that handled the question of Universals in his first +Dialogue on Porphyry, and sowed the seed that was +not to germinate till four centuries afterwards, but +which, when the time came, was to bear fruit in no +measured amount. And Boëthius is the name associated +with the scheme of higher education that preceded +the University teaching, called the <i>quadrivium</i>, +or quadruple group of subjects, namely, Arithmetic, +Geometry, Music and Astronomy. This, together +with the <i>trivium</i>, or preparatory group of three subjects—Grammar, +Rhetoric, and Logic—constituted +what was known as the <i>seven liberal arts</i>; but, in the +darkest ages, the quadrivium was almost lost sight of, +and few went beyond the trivium.</p> +<br /> + +<p>EVE OF THE UNIVERSITY.</p> + +<p>In the 7th century, the era of deepest intellectual +gloom, philosophy was at an entire stand-still. Light +arises with the 8th, when we are introduced to the +Cathedral and Cloister Schools of Charlemagne; and +the 9th saw these schools fully established, and an +educational reform completed that was to be productive +of lasting good results. But the range of instruction +was still narrow, scarcely proceeding beyond the +Old Logic, and the teachers were, as formerly, the +Monks. The 11th century is really the period of +dawn. The East was now opened up through the +Crusades, and there was frequent intercourse with +the learned Saracens of Spain; and thus there were +brought into the West the whole of Aristotle's works, +with Arabic commentaries, chiefly in Latin translations. +The effervescence was prodigious and alarming. +The schools were reinforced by a higher class +of teachers, Lay as well as Clerical; a marked advance +was made in Logic and Dialectic; and the +great controversy of Realism <i>versus</i> Nominalism, +which had found its birth in the previous century, +raged with extraordinary vigour. We are now on +the eve of the founding of the Universities; Bologna, +indeed, being already in existence.</p> + +<p>[TWO CLASSES OF MEDIEVAL CHURCHMEN.]</p> + +<p>SEPARATION OF PHILOSOPHY FROM THEOLOGY.</p> + +<p>The University proper, however, can hardly be +dated earlier than the 12th century; and the important +particulars in its first constitution are these:— +First, the separation of Philosophy from Theology. +To expound this, would be to give a chapter of +mediaeval history. Suffice it to say that Aristotle and +the awakening intellect of the 11th century were the +main causes of it. Two classes of minds at this time +divided the Church—the pious, devout believers (such +as St. Bernard), who needed no reasons for their faith, +and the polemic speculative divines (such as Abaelard), +who wished to make Theology rational. It +was an age, too, of stirring political events; the +crusading spirit was abroad, and found a certain gratification +even in the war of words. The nature of +Universals was eagerly debated; but when this controversy +came into collision with such leading theological +doctrines as the Trinity and Predestination, +it was no longer possible for Philosophy and Theology +to remain conjoined.</p> + +<p>A separation was effected, and determined the +leading feature of the University system. The foundation +was Philosophy, and the fundamental Faculty +the Faculty of Arts. Bologna, indeed, was eminent +for Law or Jurisprudence, and this celebrity it retained +for ages; but the University of Paris, which is the +prototype of our Scottish Universities, as of so many +others, taught nothing but Philosophy—in other +words, had no Faculty but Arts—for many years. +Neither Theology, Medicine, nor Law had existence +there till the 13th century.</p> + +<p>Second, the system of conferring Degrees, after +appropriate trials. These were at first simply a +licence to teach. They acquired their commanding +importance through the action of Pope Nicholas I, +who gave to the graduates of the University of Paris, +the power of teaching everywhere, a power that our +own countrymen were the foremost to turn to +account.</p> +<br /> + +<p>THE OFFICE OF RECTOR.</p> + +<p>Third, the Organisation of the primitive University. +Europe was unsettled; even in the capitals, the +civil power was often unhinged. Wherever multitudes +came together, there was manifested a spirit of +turbulence. The Universities often exemplified this +fact; and it was found necessary to establish a +government within themselves. The basis was popular; +but, while, in Paris, only the teaching body was +incorporated, in Bologna, the students had a voice. +They elected the Rector, and his jurisdiction was very +great indeed, and much more important than speechifying +to his constituents. His Court had the power +of internal regulation, with both a civil and criminal +jurisdiction. The Scotch Universities, on this point, +followed Bologna; and that fact is the remote cause +of this day's meeting.</p> + +<p>[SCOTCHMEN ABROAD.]</p> + +<p>THE UNIVERSITIES OF SCOTLAND FOUNDED.</p> + +<p>So started the University. The idea took; and in +three centuries, many of the leading towns in Italy, +France, the German Empire, had their Universities; +in England arose Oxford and Cambridge; the model +was Paris or Bologna.</p> + +<p>Scotland did not at first enter the race of University-founding, +but worked on the plan of the cuckoo, +by laying its eggs in the nests of others. For two +centuries, Scotchmen were almost shut out of England; +and so could not make for themselves a career +in Oxford and Cambridge, as in later times. They +had, however, at home, good grammar schools, where +they were grounded in Latin. They perambulated +Europe, and were familiar figures in the great University +towns, and especially Paris. From their disputatious +and metaphysical aptitude, they worked +their upward way—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And gladly would they learn and gladly teach.</span><br /> + +<p>At length, the nation did take up the work in good +earnest. In 1411, was founded the first of the St. +Andrews' Colleges; 1451 is the date of Glasgow; +1494, King's College, Aberdeen. These are the +pre-Reformation colleges; but for the Reformation, we +might not have had any other. Their founders were +ecclesiastics; their constitution and ceremonial were +ecclesiastical. They were intended, no doubt, to keep +the Scotch students at home. They were also expected +to serve as bulwarks to the Church against the +rising heretics of the times. In this they were a disappointment; +the first-begotten of them became the +cradle of the Reformation.</p> + +<p>In these our three eldest foundations, we are to seek +the primitive constitution and the teaching system of +our Universities. In essentials, they were the same; +only between the dates of Glasgow and Old Aberdeen +occurred two great events. One was the taking +of Constantinople, which spread the Greek scholars +with their treasures over Europe. The other was the +progress of printing. In 1451, when Glasgow commenced, +there was no printed text-book. In 1494, +when King's College began, the ancient classics had +been largely printed; the early editions of Aristotle in +our Library, show the date of 1486.</p> +<br /> + +<p>FIRST PERIOD—THE TEACHING BODY.</p> + +<p>Our Universities have three well-marked periods; +the first anterior to the Reformation; the second from +the Reformation to the beginning of last century; the +third, the last and present centuries. Confining ourselves +still to the Faculty of Arts, the features of the +Pre-Reformation University were these:—</p> + +<p>First, as regards the teaching Body. The quadriennial +Arts' course was conducted by so-called +Regents, who each carried the same students through +all the four years, thus taking upon himself the burden +of all the sciences—a walking Encyclopaedia. The +system was in full force, in spite of attempts to change +it, during both the first and the second periods. You, +the students of Arts, at the present day, encountering +in your four years, seven faces, seven voices, seven +repositories of knowledge, need an effort to understand +how your predecessors could be cheerful and +happy, confined all through to one personality; sometimes +juvenile, sometimes senile, often feeble at his +best.</p> + +<p>[ARISTOTLE THE BASIS OF THE TEACHING.]</p> + +<p>THE SUBJECTS TAUGHT.</p> + +<p>Next, as regards the Subjects taught. To know +these you have simply to know what are the writings +of Aristotle. The little work on him by Sir Alexander +Grant supplies the needful information. The +records of the Glasgow University furnish the curriculum +of Arts soon after its foundation. The subjects +are laid out in two heads—Logic and Philosophy. +The Logic comprised first the three Treatises of the +Old Logic; to these were now added the whole of +the works making up Aristotle's Organon. This +brought in the Syllogism, and allied matters. There +was also a selection from the work known as the +<i>Topics</i>, not now included in Logical teaching, yet one +of the most remarkable and distinctive of Aristotle's +writings. It is a highly laboured account of the whole +art of Disputation, laid out under his scheme of the +Predicables. The selection fell chiefly on two books +—the second, comprising what Aristotle had to say +on Induction, and the sixth, on Definition; together +with the "Logical Captions" or Fallacies. Disputation +was one of the products of the Greek mind; and +Aristotle was its prophet.</p> + +<p>Now for Philosophy. This comprised nearly the +whole of Aristotle's Physical treatises—his very worst +side—together with his Metaphysics, some parts of +which are hardly distinguishable from the Physics. +Next was the very difficult treatise—<i>De Anima</i>, on +the mind, or Soul—and some allied Psychological +treatises, as that on Memory. Such was the ordinary +and sufficing curriculum. It was allowed to be varied +with a part of the Ethics; but in this age we do not +find the Politics; and the Rhetoric is never mentioned. +So also, the really valuable Biological works +of Aristotle, including his book on Animals, appear +to have been neglected.</p> + +<p>Certain portions of Mathematics always found a +place in the curriculum. Likewise, some work on +Astronomy, which was one of the quadrivium subjects.</p> + +<p>All this was given in Latin. Greek was not then +known (it was introduced into Scotland, in 1534). +No classical Latin author is given; the education in +Latin was finished at the Grammar School.</p> + +<p>[TEACHING EXCLUSIVELY IN TEXTS.]</p> + +<p>MANNER OF TEACHING.</p> + +<p>Such was the Arts' Faculty of the 15th century; a +dreary, single-manned, Aristotelian quadriennium. +The position is not completely before us, till we +understand farther the manner of working.</p> + +<p>The pupils could not, as a rule, possess the text of +Aristotle. The teacher read and expounded the text +for them; but a very large portion of the time was +always occupied in dictating, or "diting," notes, +which the pupils were examined upon, <i>vivâ voce</i>; +their best plan usually being to get them by heart, as +any one might ask them to repeat passages literally; +while perhaps few could examine well upon the +meaning. The notes would be selections and abridgments +from Aristotle, with the comments of modern +writers. The "diting" system was often complained +of as waste of time, but was not discontinued till +the third, or present, University dynasty, and not +entirely then, as many of us know.</p> + +<p>The teaching was thus exclusively <i>Text</i> teaching. +The teacher had little or nothing to say for himself +(at least in the earliest period). He was even restricted +in the remarks he might make by way of commentary. +He was as nearly as possible a machine.</p> + +<p>But lastly, to complete the view of the first period, +we must add the practice of Disputation, of which +we shall have a better idea from the records of the +next period. This practice was co-eval with the +Universities; it was the single mode of stimulating +the thought of the individual student; the chief antidote +to the mechanical teaching by Text-books and +dictation.</p> + +<p>The pre-Reformation period of Aberdeen University +was little more than sixty years. For a portion +of those years it attained celebrity. In 1541, the +town was honoured by a visit from James V., and the +University contributed to his entertainment. The +somewhat penny-a-lining account is, that there were +exercises and disputations in Greek, Latin, and other +languages! The official records, however, show that +the College at that very time had sunk into a convent +and conventual school.</p> +<br /> + +<p>SECOND PERIOD—THE REFORMATION.</p> + +<p>The Reformation introduced the second period, and +made important changes. First of all, in the great +convulsion of European thought, the ascendancy of +Aristotle was shaken. It is enough to mention two +incidents in the downfall of the mighty Stagyrite. +One was the attack on him by the renowned Peter +Rainus, in the University of Paris. Our countryman, +Andrew Melville, attended Ramus's Lectures, and +became the means of introducing his system into +Scotland. The other incident is still more notable. +The Reformers had to consider their attitude towards +Aristotle. At first their opinion was condemnatory. +Luther regarded him as a very devil; he was "a godless +bulwark of the Papists". Melancthon was also +hostile; but he soon perceived that Theology would +crumble into fanatical dissolution without the co-operation +of some philosophy. As yet there was +nothing to fall back upon except the pagan systems. +Of these, Melancthon was obliged to confess that +Aristotle was the least objectionable, and was, moreover, +in possession. The plan, therefore, was to accept +him as a basis, and fence him round with orthodox +emendations. This done, Aristotle, no longer despotic, +but as a limited constitutional monarch, had his +reign prolonged a century and a half.</p> + +<p>[NEW SUBJECTS INTRODUCED BY MELVILLE.]</p> + +<p>THE MODIFIED CURRICULUM—ANDREW MELVILLE.</p> + +<p>The first thing, after the Reformation in Scotland, +was to purge the Universities of the inflexible adherents +of the old faith. Then came the question of +amending the Curriculum, not simply with a view to +Protestantism, but for the sake of an enlightened +teaching. The right man appeared at the right +moment. In 1574, Andrew Melville, then in Geneva, +received pressing invitations to come home and take +part in the needed reforms. He was immediately +made Principal of Glasgow University, at that time +in a state of utter collapse and ruin. He had matured +his plans, after consultation with George Buchanan, +and they were worthy of a great reformer. He +sketched a curriculum, substantially the curriculum +of the second University period. The modifications +upon the almost exclusive Aristotelianism of the first +period, were significant. The Greek language was +introduced, and Greek classical authors read. The +reading in the Roman classics was extended. A +text-book on Rhetoric accompanied the classical +readings. The dialectics of Ramus made the prelude +to Logic, instead of the three treatises of the old +Logic. The Mathematics included Euclid. Geography +and Cosmography were taken up. Then +came a course of Moral Philosophy on an enlarged +basis. With the Ethics and Politics of Aristotle, +were combined Cicero's Ethical works and certain +Dialogues of Plato. Finally, in the Physics, Melville +still used Aristotle, but along with a more +modern treatise. He also gave a view of Universal +History and Chronology.</p> + +<p>This curriculum, which Melville took upon himself +to teach, in order to train future teachers, was the +point of departure of the courses in all the Universities +during the second period. With variations of +time and place, the Arts' course may be described as +made up of the Greek and Latin classics, with Rhetoric, +Logic, and Dialectics, Moral Philosophy, or +Ethics, Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy. The +little text-book of Rhetoric, by Talon or Talaeus, +was made up of notes from the Lectures of Peter +Ramus, and used in all our Colleges till superseded +by the better compilation of the Dutch scholar, Gerard +John Voss.</p> + +<p>Melville had to contend with many opponents, +among them the sticklers for the infallibility of the +Stagyrite. Like the German Reformers, he had +accepted Aristotelianism as a basis, with a similar +process of reconciliation. So it was that Aristotle +and Calvin were brought to kiss each other.</p> + +<p>[MELVILLE DEFEATED ON THE REGENTING.]</p> + +<p>ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH REGENTING.</p> + +<p>Melville's next proposal was all too revolutionary. +It consisted in restricting the Regents each to a +special group of subjects; in fact, anticipating our +modern professoriate. He actually set up this plan +in Glasgow: one Regent took Greek and Latin; +another, his nephew, James Melville, took Mathematics, +Logic, and Moral Philosophy; a third, Physics +and Astronomy. The system went on, in appearance +at least, for fifty years; it is only in 1642, that we +find the Regents given without a specific designation. +Why it should have gone on so long, and been then +dropt, we are not informed. Melville's influence +started it in the other Universities, but it was defeated +in every one from the very outset. After six +years at Glasgow, he went to St. Andrew's as Principal +and Professor of Divinity, and tried there the +same reforms, but the resistance was too great. In +spite of a public enactment, the division of labour +among the Regents was never carried out. Yet such +was Melville's authority, that the same enactment was +extended to King's College, in a scheme having a remarkable +history—the so-called New Foundation of +Aberdeen University, promulgated in a Royal Charter +of about the year 1581. The Earl Marischal was a +chief promoter of the plan of reform comprised in +this charter. The division of labour among the Regents +was most expressly enjoined. The plan fell +through; and there was a legal dispute fifty years +afterwards as to whether it had ever any legal validity. +Charles I. was made to express indignation +at the idea of reducing the University to a school!</p> + +<p>We now approach the foundation of Marischal +College. The Earl Marischal may have been actuated +by the failure of his attempt to reform King's +College. At all events, his mind was made up to +follow Melville in assigning separate subjects to his +Regents. The Charter is explicit on this head. Yet +in spite of the Charter and in spite of his own presence, +the intention was thwarted; the old Regenting +lasted 160 years.</p> +<br /> + +<p>ARISTOTELIAN PHYSICS TOO LONG MAINTAINED.</p> + +<p>Still the Curriculum reform was gained. There +was, indeed, one great miss. The year before Marischal +College was founded, Galileo had published +his work on Mechanics, which, taken with what had +been accomplished by Archimedes and others, laid +the foundations of our modern Physics. Copernicus +had already published his work on the Heavens. It +was now time that the Aristotelian Physics should be +clean swept away. In this whole department, Aristotle +had made a reign of confusion; he had thrown +the subject back, being himself off the rails from first +to last. Had there been in Scotland an adviser in +this department, like Melville in general literature, or +like Napier of Merchiston in pure mathematics, one +fourth of the college teaching might have been reclaimed +from utter waste, and a healthy tone of thinking +diffused through the remainder.</p> + +<p>A curious fascination always attached to the study +of Astronomy, even when there was not much to be +said, apart from the unsatisfactory disquisitions of +Aristotle. A little book, entitled "<i>Sacrobosco</i> on the +Sphere," containing little more than what we should +now teach to boys and girls, along with the Globes, +was a University text-book throughout Europe for +centuries. I was informed by a late King's College +professor that the Use of the Globes was, within his +memory, taught in the Magistrand Class. This would +be simply what is termed a "survival".</p> + +<p>[GRADUATION BY MEANS OF DISPUTES ON THESIS.]</p> + +<p>SYSTEM OF DISPUTATION.</p> + +<p>Now as to the mode of instruction. There were +<i>vivâ voce</i> examinations upon the notes, such as we +can imagine. But the stress was laid on Disputations +and Declamations in various forms. Besides +disputing and declaiming on the regular class work +before the Regent, we find that, in Edinburgh, and I +suppose elsewhere, the classes were divided into companies, +who met apart, and conferred and debated +among themselves daily. The students were occupied, +altogether, six hours a day. Then the higher classes +were frequently pitched against each other. This +was a favourite occupation on Saturdays. The doctrines +espoused by the leading students became their +nicknames. The pass for Graduation consisted in the +<i>propugning</i> or <i>impugning</i> of questions by each candidate +in turn. An elaborate Thesis was drawn up by +the Regent, giving the heads of his philosophy course; +this was accepted by the candidates, signed by them, +and printed at their expense. Then on the day of +trial, at a long sitting, each candidate stood up and +propunged or impunged a portion of the Thesis; all +were heard in turn; and on the result the Degree was +conferred. A good many of these Theses are preserved +in our Library; some of them are very long—a +hundred pages of close type; they are our best clue +to the teaching of the period. We can see how far +Aristotle was qualified by modern views.</p> +<br /> + +<p>REGENTING DOOMED.</p> + +<p>I said there might have been times when the +students never had the relief of a second face all the +four years. The exceptions are of importance. First, +as regards Marischal College. Within a few years of +the foundation, Dr. Duncan Liddell founded the Mathematical +Chair, and thus withdrew from the Regents +the subject that most of all needed a specialist; a +succession of very able mathematicians sat in this +chair. King's College had not the same good fortune. +From its foundation it possessed a separate functionary, +the Humanist or Grammarian; but he had +also, till 1753, to act as Rector of the Grammar +School. Edinburgh obtained from an early date a +Mathematical chair, occupied by men of celebrity. +There was no other innovation till near the end of the +17th century, when Greek was isolated both in Edinburgh +and in Marischal College; but the end of +Regenting was then near.</p> + +<p>The old system, however, had some curious writhings. +During the troubled 17th century, University +reform could not command persistent attention. But +after the 1688-Revolution, opinions were strongly +expressed in favour of the Melville system. The +obvious argument was urged, that, by division of +labour each man would be able to master a special +subject, and do it justice in teaching. Yet, it was +replied, that, by the continued intercourse, the master +knew better the humours, inclinations, and talents of +their scholars. To which the answer was—the +humours and inclinations of scholars are not so deeply +hid but that in a few weeks they appear. Moreover, +it was said, the students are more respectful to a +Master while he is new to them.</p> + +<p>The final division of subjects took place in Edinburgh, +in 1708; in Glasgow, in 1727; in St. Andrews, +in 1747. In Marischal College, the change was made +by a minute of 11th Jan., 1753; but, whether from +ignorance, or from want of grace, the Senatus did +not record its satisfaction at having, after a lapse of +five generations, fulfilled the wishes of the pious +founder. In King's College, the old system lasted till +1798.</p> + +<p>This closes the second age of the Universities, and +introduces the third age, the age of the Professoriate, +of Lecturing instead of Text-books, the end of Disputation, +and the use of the English Language. It was +now, and not till now, that the Scottish Universities +stood forth, in several leading departments of knowledge, +as the teachers of the world.</p> + +<p>[AGE OF THE PROFESSORIATE.]</p> + +<p>THE UNIVERSITIES AND THE POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS.</p> + +<p>The second age of the Universities was Scotland's +most trying time. In a hundred and thirty years, the +country had passed through four revolutions and +counter-revolutions; every one of which told upon +the Universities. The victorious party imposed its +test upon the University teacher, and drove out recusants. +You must all know something of the purging +of the University and the Ministry of Aberdeen by +the Covenanting General Assembly of 1640. These +deposed Aberdeen doctors may have had too strong +leanings to episcopacy in the Church and to absolutism +in the State, but they were not Vicars of Bray. +The first half of the century was adorned by a band +of scholars, who have gained renown by their cultivation +of Latin poetry; a little oasis in the desert of +Aristotelian Dialectics. It would be needless and +ungracious to enquire whether this was the best thing +that could have been done for the generation of +Bishop Patrick Forbes.</p> + +<p>Your reading in the History of Scotland will thus +bring you face to face with the great powers that contended +for the mastery from 1560: the Monarchy, +always striving to be absolute; the Church, whose +position made it the advocate of popular freedom; the +Universities, fluctuating as regards political liberty, +but standing up for intellectual liberty. In the 17th +century the Church ruled the Universities; in the +18th, it may be said, that the Universities returned +the compliment.</p> + +<p>[PROFESSIONAL TEACHING BY APPRENTICESHIP]</p> + +<p>UNIVERSITIES NOT ESSENTIAL FOR PROFESSIONS.</p> + +<p>Enough for the past. A word or two on the present. +What is now the need for a University system, +and what must the system be to answer that need? +Many things are altered since the 12th century.</p> + +<p>First, then, Universities, as I understand them, are +not absolutely essential to the teaching of professions. +Let me make an extreme supposition. A great naval +commander, like Nelson, is sent on board ship, at +eleven or twelve; his previous knowledge, or general +training, is what you may suppose for that age. It is +in the course of actual service, and in no other way, +that he acquires his professional fitness for commanding +fleets. Is this right or is it wrong? Perhaps it is +wrong, but it has gone on so for a long time. Well, +why may not a preacher be formed on the same plan? +John Wesley was not a greater man in preaching, +than Nelson in seamanship. Take, then, a youth of +thirteen from the school. Apprentice him to the +minister of a parish. Let him make at once preparations +for clerical work. Let him store his memory +with sermons, let him make abstracts of Divinity +systems; master the best exegetical commentators. +Then, in a year or two, he would begin to catechise +the young, to give addresses in the way of exposition, +exhortation, encouragement, and rebuke. Practice +would bring facility. Might not, I say; seven years of +the actual work, in the susceptible period of life, make +a preacher of no mean power, without the Grammar +School, without the Arts' Classes, without the Divinity +Hall?</p> + +<p>What then do we gain by taking such a roundabout +approach to our professional work? The +answer is twofold.</p> + +<p>First, as regards the profession itself. Nearly +every skilled occupation, in our time, involves principles +and facts that have been investigated, and are +taught, outside the profession; to the medical man +are given courses of Chemistry, Physiology, and so +on. Hence to be completely equipped for your professional +work, you must repair to the teachers of +those tributary departments of knowledge. The +requirement, however, is not absolute; it admits of +being evaded. Your professional teachers ought to +master these outside subjects, and give you just as +much of them as you need, and no more; which +would be an obvious economy of your valuable time.</p> + +<p>Thus, I apprehend, the strictly professional uses of +general knowledge fail to justify the Grammar School +and the Arts' curriculum. Something, indeed, may +still be said for the higher grades of professional excellence, +and for introducing improved methods into +the practice of the several crafts; for which wider +outside studies lend their aid. This, however, is not +enough; inventors are the exception. In fact, the +ground must be widened, and include, secondly, <i>the +life beyond the profession</i>. We are citizens of a self-governed +country; members of various smaller societies; +heads, or members of families. We have, moreover, +to carve out recreation and enjoyment as the +alternative and the reward of our professional toil. +Now the entire tone and character of this life outside +the profession, is profoundly dependent on the compass +of our early studies. He that leaves the school +for the shop at thirteen, is on one platform. He that +spends the years from thirteen to twenty in acquiring +general knowledge, is on a totally different platform; +he is, in the best sense, an aristocrat. Those that +begin work at thirteen, and those that are born not to +work at all, are alike his inferiors. He should be able +to spread light all around. He it is that may stand +forth before the world as the model man.</p> + +<p>[THE GRADUATE AS SUCH.]</p> + +<p>THE IDEAL GRADUATE.</p> + +<p>All this supposes that you realise the position; that +you fill up the measure of the opportunities; that you +keep in view at once the Professional life, the Citizen +life, and the life of Intellectual tastes. The mere professional +man, however prosperous, cannot be a power +in society, as the Arts' graduate may become. His +leisure occupations are all of a lower stamp. He does +not participate in the march of knowledge. He must +be aware of his incompetence to judge for himself in +the greater questions of our destiny; his part is to be +a follower, and not a leader.</p> + +<p>It is not, then, the name of graduate that will do +all this. It is not a scrape pass; it is not decent +mediocrity with a languid interest. It is a fair and +even attention throughout, supplemented by auxiliaries +to the class work. It is such a hold of the leading +subjects, such a mastery of the various alphabets, +as will make future references intelligible, and a continuation +of the study possible.</p> + +<p>Our curriculum is one of the completest in the +country, or perhaps anywhere. By the happy thought +of the Senatus of Marischal College, in 1753, you have +a fundamental class (Natural History) not existing in +the other colleges. You have a fair representation +of the three great lines of science—the Abstract, the +Experimental, and the Classifying. When it is a +general education that you are thinking of, every +scheme of option is imperfect that does not provide +for such three-sided cultivation of our reasoning +powers. A larger quantity of one will no more +serve for the absence of the rest than a double +covering of one part of the body, will enable another +part to be left bare.</p> +<br /> + +<p>VOLUNTARY EXTENSION OF THE BASIS.</p> + +<p>Your time in the Arts' curriculum is not entirely +used up by the classes. You can make up for deficiences +in the course, when once you have formed +your ideal of completeness. For a year, or two after +graduating, while still rejoicing in youthful freshness, +you can be widening your foundations. The thing +then is, to possess a good scheme and to abide by it. +Now, making every allowance for the variation of +tastes and of circumstances, and looking solely to +what is desirable for a citizen and a man, it is impossible +to refuse the claims of the department of +Historical and Social study. One or two good representative +historical periods might be thoroughly +mastered in conjunction with the best theoretical +compends of Social Philosophy.</p> + +<p>[THE WELL-INSTRUCTED MAN.]</p> + +<p>Farther, the ideal graduate, who is to guide and +not follow opinion, should be well versed in all the +bearings of the Spiritual Philosophy of the time. +The subject branches out into wide regions, but not +wider than you should be capable of following it. +This is not a professional study merely; it is the +study of a well-instructed man.</p> + +<p>Once more. A share of attention should be bestowed +early on the higher Literature of the Imagination. +As, in after life, poetry and elegant composition +are to be counted on as a pleasure and solace, they +should be taken up at first as a study. The critical +examination of styles, and of authors, which forms +an admirable basis of a student's society, should be +a work of study and research. The advantages will +be many and lasting. To conceive the exact scope +and functions of the Imagination in art, in science, +in religion, and everywhere, will repay the trouble.</p> +<br /> + +<p>THE ARTS' GRADUATE IN LITERATURE.</p> + +<p>Ever since I remember, I have been accustomed +to hear of the superiority of the Arts' graduate, in +various crafts, more especially as a teacher. Many +of you in these days pass into another vocation—Letters, +or the Press. Here too, almost everything +you learn will pay you professionally. Still, I am +careful not to rest the case for general education on +professional grounds alone. I might show you that +the highest work of all—original enquiry—needs a +broad basis of liberal study; or at all events is vastly +aided by that. Genius will work on even a narrow +basis, but imperfect preparatory study leaves marks +of imperfection in the product.</p> + +<p>The same considerations that determine your voluntary +studies, determine also the University Ideal. A +University, in my view, stands or falls with its Arts' +Faculty. Without debating the details, we may say +that this Faculty should always be representative of +the needs of our intelligence, both for the professional +and for the extra-professional life; it should not be +of the shop, shoppy. The University exists because +the professions would stagnate without it; and still +more, because it may be a means of enlarging knowledge +at all points. Its watchword is Progress. We +have, at last, the division of labour in teaching; outside +the University, teachers too much resemble the +Regent of old—having too many subjects, and too +much time spent in grinding. Our teachers are exactly +the reverse.</p> + +<p>Yet, there cannot be progress without a sincere +and single eye to the truth. The fatal sterility of +the middle ages, and of our first and second University +periods, had to do with the mistake of gagging +men's mouths, and dictating all their conclusions. +Things came to be so arranged that contradictory +views ran side by side, like opposing electric currents; +the thick wrappage of ingenious phraseology +arresting the destructive discharge. There was, indeed, +an elaborate and pretentious Logic, supplied +by Aristotle, and amended by Bacon; what was still +wanted was a taste of the Logic of Freedom.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15">[15]</a><div class="note"><p> RECTORIAL ADDRESS, to the Students of Aberdeen University, +<i>15th November</i>, 1882.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EVII'></a><h2>VII.</h2> + +<h2>THE ART OF STUDY.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Of hackneyed subjects, a foremost place may be +assigned to the Art of Study. Allied to the theory +and practice of Education generally, it has still a +field of its own, although not very precisely marked +out. It relates more to self-education than to instruction +under masters; it supposes the voluntary +choice of the individual rather than the constraint of +an outward discipline. Consequently, the time for +its application is when the pupil is emancipated from +the prescription and control of the scholastic curriculum.</p> + +<p>There is another idea closely associated with our +notion of study—namely, learning from books. We +may stretch the word, without culpable licence, to +comprise the observation of facts of all kinds, but it +more naturally suggests the resort to book lore for +the knowledge that we are in quest of. There is a +considerable propriety in restricting it to this meaning; +or, at all events, in treating the art of becoming +wise through reading, as different from the arts of +observing facts at first hand. In short, study should +not be made co-extensive with knowledge getting, +but with book learning. In thus narrowing the field, +we have the obvious advantage of cultivating it more +carefully, and the unobvious, but very real, advantage +of dealing with one homogeneous subject.</p> + +<p>In the current phrase, "<i>studying under</i> some one," +there is a more express reference to being taught +by a master, as in listening to lectures. There is, +however, the implication that the learner is applying +his own mind to the special field, and, at the same +time, is not neglecting the other sources of knowledge, +such as books. The master is looked upon +rather as a guide to enquiry, than as the sole fountain +of the information sought.</p> + +<p>Thus, then, the mental exercise that we now call +"study" began when books began; when knowledge +was reduced to language and laid out systematically +in verbal compositions. A certain form of it existed +in the days when language was as yet oral merely; +when there might be long compositions existing +only in the memory of experts, and communicable +by speech alone. But study then was a very simple +affair: it would consist mainly in attentive listening +to recitation, so as to store up in the memory what +was thus communicated. The art, if any, would attach +equally to the reciter and to the listener; the duty +of the one would be to accommodate his lessons in +time, quantity, and mode of delivery to the retentive +capacity of the other; who, in his turn, would be +required to con and recapitulate what he had been +told, until he made it his own, whatever it might +be worth.</p> + +<p>[BOOK STUDY AMONG THE ANCIENTS]</p> + +<p>Even when books came into existence, an art of +study would be at first very simple. The whole +extent of book literature among the Jews before +Christ would be soon read; and, when once read, +there was nothing left but to re-read it in whole or in +part, with a view of committal to memory, whether +for meditative reflection, or for awakening the emotions. +We see, in the Psalms of David, the emphasis +attached to mental dwelling on the particulars of the +Mosaic Law, as the nourishment of the feelings of +devotion.</p> + +<p>The Greek Literature about 350 B.C., when Aristotle +and Demosthenes had reached manhood (being +then 34), had attained a considerable mass; as one +may see at a glance from Jebb's chronology attached +to his Primer. There was a splendid poetical library, +including all the great tragedians, with the older and +the middle Comedy. There were the three great +historians—Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon; +and the orators—- Lysias, Isocrates, and Isaeus; there +were the precursors of Socrates in Philosophy; and, +finally, the Platonic Dialogues. To overtake all these +would employ several years of learned leisure; and +to imbibe their substance would be a rich and varied +culture, especially of the poetic and rhetorical kind. +To make the most of the field, a judicious procedure +would be very helpful; there was evident scope for +an art of study. The fertile intellect of the Greeks +produced the first systematic guides to high culture; +the Rhetorical art for Oratory and Poetry, the Logical +art for Reasoning, and the Eristic art for Disputation. +There was nothing precisely corresponding to an Art +of Study, but there were examples of the self-culture +of celebrated men. The most notorious of these is +Demosthenes; of whom we know that, while he took +special lessons in the art of oratory, he also bestowed +extraordinary pains upon the general cultivation of +his intellectual powers. His application to Thucydides +in particular is recounted in terms of obvious +mythical exaggeration; showing, nevertheless, his +idea of fixing upon a special book with a view to +extracting from it every particle of intellectual nourishment +that it could yield: in which we have an example +of the art of study as I have defined it. Then, +it is said that, in his anxiety to master his author, he +copied the entire work eight times, with his own +hand, and had it by heart <i>verbatim</i>, so as to be able +to re-write it when the manuscripts were accidentally +destroyed. Both points enter into the art of study, +and will come under review in the sequel.</p> + +<p>We do not possess from the genius of Aristotle—the +originator or improver of so many practical departments—an +Art of Study. The omission was not +supplied by any other Greek writer known to us. +The oratorical art was a prominent part of education +both in Greece and in Rome; and was discussed +by many authors—notably by Cicero himself; but +the exhaustive treatment is found in Quintilian. +The very wide scope of the "Institutes of Oratory" +comprises a chapter upon the orator's reading, in +which the author reviews the principal Greek and +Roman classics from Homer to Seneca, with remarks +upon the value of each for the mental cultivation of +the oratorical pupil. Something of this sort might be +legitimately included in the art of study, but might +also be withheld, as being provided in the critical +estimates already formed respecting all writers of +note.</p> + +<p>[MODERN GUIDES TO STUDY.]</p> + +<p>After Ouintilian, it is little use to search for an +art of study, either among the later Latin classics, +or among the mediaeval authors generally. I proceed +at once to remark upon the well-known essay of +Bacon, which shows his characteristic subtlety, judiciousness, +and weight; yet is too short for practical +guidance. He hits the point, as I conceive it, when he +identifies study with reading, and brings in, but only +by way of contrast and complement, conference or +conversation and composition. He endeavours to +indicate the worth of book learning, as an essential +addition to the actual practice of business, and the +experience, of life. He marks a difference between +books that we are merely to dip into (books to be +tasted) and such as are to be mastered; without, +however, stating examples. He ventures also to +settle the respective kinds of culture assignable to +different departments of knowledge—history, poetry, +mathematics, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, +logic and rhetoric; a very useful attempt in its own +way, and one that may well enough enter into a +comprehensive art of study, if not provided for in +the still wider theory of Education at large.</p> + +<p>Bacon's illustrious friend, Hobbes, did not write on +studies, but made a notable remark bearing on one +topic connected with the art,—namely, that if he had +read as much as other men, he should have remained +still as ignorant as other men. This must not be +interpreted too literally. Hobbes was really a great +reader of the ancients, and must have studied with +care some of the philosophers immediately preceding +himself. Still, it indicates an important point for +discussion in the art of study, in which great men +have gone to opposite extremes—I mean in reference +to the amount of attention to be given to previous +writers, in taking up new ground.</p> + +<p>To come down to another great name, we have +Milton's ideal of Education, given in his short Tractate. +Here, with many protestations of knowing +things, rather than words, we find an enormous prescription +of book reading, including, in fact, every +known author on every one of a wide circle of subjects. +This was characteristic of the man: he was a voracious +reader himself, and an example to show, in +opposition to Hobbes, that original genius is not +necessarily quenched by great or even excessive +erudition. As bearing on the art of study, especially +for striplings under twenty, Milton's scheme is +open to two criticisms: first, that the amount of +reading on the whole is too great; second, that in +subjects handled by several authors of repute, one +should have been selected as the leading text-book +and got up thoroughly; the others being taken in +due time as enlarging or correcting the knowledge +thus laid in. Think of a boy learning Rhetoric upon +six authors taken together!</p> + +<p>[LOCKE'S CONDUCT OF THE UNDERSTANDING.]</p> + +<p>The transition from Milton to Locke is the inverse +of that from Hobbes to Milton. Locke was also a +man of few books. If he had been sent to school +under Milton, as he might have been,<a name="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16"><sup>[16]</sup></a> he would have +very soon thrown up the learned drudgery prescribed +for him, and would have bolted.</p> + +<p>The practical outcome of Locke's enquiries respecting +the human faculties is to be found in the little +treatise named—"The Conduct of the Understanding". +It is an earnest appeal in favour of devotion +to the attainment of truth, and an exposure of <i>all</i> the +various sources of error, moral and intellectual; more +especially prejudices and bias. There are not, however, +many references to book study; and such as we +find are chiefly directed to the one aim of painful and +laborious examination, first, of an author's meaning, +and next of the goodness of his arguments. Two +or three sentences will give the clue. "Those who +have read of everything, are thought to understand +everything too; but it is not always so. Reading +furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; +it is thinking makes what we read ours. We +are of the ruminating kind, and it is not enough to +cram ourselves with a great deal of collections, unless +we chew them over again, they will not give us strength +and nourishment." Farther: "Books and reading +are looked upon to be the great helps of the understanding, +and instruments of knowledge, as it must +be allowed that they are; and yet I beg leave to +question whether these do not prove a hindrance to +many, and keep several bookish men from attaining +to solid and true knowledge". Here, again, is his +stern way of dealing with any author:—"To fix in +the mind the clear and distinct idea of the question +stripped of words; and so likewise, in the train of +argumentation, to take up the author's ideas, neglecting +his words, observing how they connect or separate +those in the question." Of this last, more afterwards.</p> + +<p>[WATT'S IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND.]</p> + +<p>A disciple of Locke, and a man of considerable +and various powers, the non-conformist divine Isaac +Watts, produced perhaps the first considerable didactic +treatise on Study. I refer, of course, to his +well-known work entitled "The Improvement of the +Mind"; on which, he tells us, he was occupied at intervals +for twenty years. It has two Parts: one on +the acquisition of knowledge; the other on Communication +or leaching. The scheme is a very wide one. +Observation, Reading, attending Lectures, Conversation,—are +all included. To the word "Study," Watts +attaches a special meaning, namely Meditation and +Reflection, together with the control or regulation of +all the exercises of the mind. I doubt if this meaning +is well supported by usage. At all events it is +not the signification that I propose to attach to the +term. Observation is an art in itself: so is Conversation, +whether amicable or contentious. The <i>proportions</i> +that these exercises should bear to reading, +would fairly claim a place in the complete Art of +Study.</p> + +<p>Watts has two short chapters on Books and Reading, +containing sensible remarks. He urges the importance +of thorough mastery of select authors; but +assumes a power of discriminating good and bad +beyond the reach of a learner, and does not show +how it is to be attained. He is very much concerned +all through as to the moral tone and religious orthodoxy +of the books read, he also reproves hasty and +ill-natured judgments upon the authors.</p> + +<p>Watts's Essay is so pithily written, and so full of +sense and propriety, that it long maintained a high +position in our literature; he tells us, that it had become +a text-book in the University. I do not know +of any better work on the same plan. A "Student's +Guide," by an American named Todd, was in vogue +with us, some time ago; but anyone looking at its +contents, will not be sorry that it is now forgotten. +It would not, however, be correct to say that the +subject has died out. If there have not been many +express didactic treatises of late, there has been an +innumerable host of small dissertations, in the form +of addresses, speeches, incidental discussions, leading +articles, sermons—all intended to guide both young +and old in the path of useful study. What to read, +when to read, and how to read,—have been themes of +many an essay, texts of many a discourse. According +as Education at large has been more and more +discussed, the particular province of self-education, +as here marked out, has had an ample share of attention +from more or less qualified advisers.</p> + +<p>What we have got before us, then, is, first, to define +our ground, and then to appropriate and value the +accumulated fruits of the labour expended on it. I +have already indicated how I would narrow the subject +of Study, so as to occupy a field apart, and not +jumble together matters that follow distinct laws. +The theory of Education in general is the theory of +good Teaching: that is a field by itself, although +many things in it are applicable also to self-education. +To estimate the values of different acquisitions +—Science, Language, and the rest, is good for all modes +of culture. The laws of the understanding in general, +and of the memory in particular, must be taken into +account under every mode of acquiring knowledge. +Yet the alteration of circumstances, when a pupil is +carving out his own course, and working under his +own free-will, leads to new and distinct rules of +procedure. Also, that part of self-education consisting +in the application to books is distinct from the +other forms of mental cultivation, namely, conversing, +disputing, original composition, and tutorial aid. Each +of these has its own rules or methods, which I do +not mean to notice except by brief allusion.</p> + +<p>In connection with the Plan of study, it is material +to ask what the individual is studying for. Each +profession, each accomplishment, has its own course of +education. If book reading is an essential part, then +the choice of books must follow the line of the special +pursuit. This is obvious; but does not do away +with the consideration of the best modes of studying +whatever books are suitable for the end. One man +has to read in Chemistry, another in Law, another in +Divinity, and so on. For each and all of these, there +is a profitable and an unprofitable mode of working, +and the speciality of the matter is unessential.</p> + +<p>[DIFFERENT ENDS OF STUDY.]</p> + +<p>The more important differences of subject, involving +differences of method, are seen in such +contrasted departments as Science and Language, +Thought and Style, Reality and Poetry, Generality +and Particularity. In applying the mind to these +various branches, and in using books as the medium +of acquisition, there are considerable differences in +the mode of procedure. The study of a book of +Science is not on the same plan as the study of +a History or a Poem. Yet even in these last, there +are many circumstances in common, arising out of +the constitution of our faculties and the nature of a +verbal medium of communication of thought.</p> + +<p>An art of Study in general should not presume to +follow out in minute detail the education of the +several professions. There should still be, for example, +a distinct view of the training special in an +Orator, on which the ancients bestowed so much +pains; there being no corresponding course hitherto +chalked out for a Philosopher as such, or even for a +Poet.</p> + +<p>Next, there is an important distinction between +studies for a professional walk, and the studies of a +man's leisure, with a view to gratifying a special taste, +or for the higher object of independent thinking on +all the higher questions belonging to a citizen and a +man. Both positions has its peculiarities; and an +art of study should be catholic enough to embrace +them. To have the best part of the day for study, +and the rest for recreation and refreshment, is one +thing: and to study in by-hours, in snatches of time, +and in holidays is quite another thing. In the latter +case, the choice of subjects, and the extent of them, +must be considerably different; while the consideration +of the best modes of economizing time and +strength, and of harmonizing one's life as a whole, +is more pressing and more arduous. But, when the +course is chalked out, the details of study must conform +to the general conditions of all acquirements +in knowledge through the instrumentality of books.</p> + +<p>One, and only one, more preliminary clearing. +When an instructor proceeds, as Milton in his school, +or as James Mill with his son, by prescribing to each +pupil a mass of books to be read, with more or less +of examination as to their contents; in such a case, +education from without has passed into study in our +narrow sense; and the procedure for one situation +is applicable to both. The two cases are equally in +contrast to educating by the direct instruction of the +teacher. In so far, however, as any teacher requires +book study to co-operate with his own addresses, to +that extent do the methods laid down for private +study come into play.</p> + +<p>Under every view, it is a momentous fact, that the +man of modern times has become a book-reading +animal. The acquisition of knowledge and the cultivation +of the intellectual powers of the mind, form +only a small part of the use of books; although the +part more properly named Study. The moral +tendencies are controlled; the emotions regulated; +sympathy with mankind, or the opposite, generated; +pleasurable excitement afforded. These other uses +may be provided apart, as in our literature of amusement, +or they may be given in combination with the +element of knowledge, in which case they are apt to +be a disturbing force, rendering uncertain our calculations +as to the efficacy of particular modes of study.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The practical problem of Study is not to be +approached by any high <i>priori</i> road; in other words, +by setting out from abstract principles as to the nature +of the mind's receptivity and the operation of book-reading +upon that receptivity. A humbler line of +approach will be more likely to succeed.</p> + +<p>There exist a number of received maxims on study, +the result of many men's experience and wisdom. +Our endeavour will be to collect these, arrange them +in a methodical plan, so that they may give mutual +aid, and supply each other's defects. We shall go a +little farther, and criticise them according to the best +available lights; and, when too vague or sweeping, +supply needful qualifications.</p> + +<p>The Choice of Books, in the first instance, depends +on the merits attributed to them severally by persons +most conversant with the special department. In +some degree, too, this choice is controlled by the +consideration of the best modes of study, as will soon +be apparent.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[A TEXT-BOOK-IN-CHIEF.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.I'></a>I. Our first maxim is—"Select a Text-book-in-chief". +The meaning is, that when a large subject is +to be overtaken by book study alone, some one work +should be chosen to apply to, in the first instance, +which work should be conned and mastered before +any other is taken up. There being, in most subjects, +a variety of good books, the thorough student will +not be satisfied in the long run without consulting +several, and perhaps making a study of them all; +yet, it is unwise to distract the attention with more +than one, while the elements are to be learnt. In +Geometry, the pupil begins upon Euclid, or some +other compendium, and is not allowed to deviate +from the single line of his author. If he is once +thoroughly at home on the main ideas and the leading +propositions of Geometry, he is safe in dipping +into other manuals, in comparing the differences of +treatment, and in widening his knowledge by additional +theorems, and by various modes of demonstration.</p> + +<p>In principle, the maxim is generally allowed. +Nevertheless, it is often departed from in practice. +This happens in several ways.</p> + +<p>[MILTON'S PLAN WITH HIS PUPILS.]</p> + +<p>[KEEPING TO A SINGLE LINE OF THOUGHT.]</p> + +<p>One way is exemplified in Milton's Tractate, already +referred to. His method of teaching any subject +would appear to have been to take, the received +authors, and to read them one after another, probably +according to date; the reading pace, and degree +of concentration, being apparently equal all through. +His six authors on Rhetoric were—Plato (select Dialogues, +of course), Aristotle, Phalereus, Cicero, Hermogenes, +Longinus. To read their several treatises +through in the order named, with equal attention, +would undoubtedly leave in the mind a good many +thoughts on Rhetoric, but in a somewhat chaotic +state. Much better would it have been to have +adopted a Text-book-in-chief, the choice lying between +Aristotle and Ouintilian (who comes in at a +prior stage of the Miltonic curriculum). The book +so chosen would be read, and re-read; or rather each +chapter would be gone over several times, with appropriate +testing exercises and examinations. The +other works might then be overtaken and compared +with the principal text-book; the judgment of the +pupil being so far matured, as to see what in them +was already superseded, and what might be adopted +as additions to his already acquired stock of ideas. +Milton's views of education embraced the useful to a +remarkable degree; he was no pamperer of imagination +and the ornamental. His list of subjects might +be said to be utility run wild:—comprising the chief +parts of Mathematics, together with Engineering, +Navigation, Architecture, and Fortification; Natural +Philosophy; Natural History; Anatomy, and Practice +of Physic; Ethics, Politics, Economics, Jurisprudence, +Theology; a full course of the Orators and Poets; +Logic, Rhetoric, and Poetics. He tumbles out a whole +library of reading: but only in Ethics, does he indicate +a leading or preferential work; the half-dozen of +classical books on the subject are to be perused, +"under the determinate sentence" of the scripture +authorities. With all this voracity for the useful, +Milton had no conception of scientific form, or method; +and indeed, few of the subjects had as yet passed +the stage of desultory treatment; so that the idea of +casting the knowledge into some one form, under the +guidance of a chosen author, would never occur to +him. Better things might have been expected of +James Mill, in conducting the education of his son. +Yet we find his plan to have been to require an even +and exhaustive perusal of nearly every book on +nearly every subject, without singling out any one +to impart the best known form in each case. The +disadvantage of the process would be that, at first, +all the writers were regarded as profitable alike. +Nevertheless, in the special subjects that he knew +himself, he gave his own instructions as the leading +text, and his pupil's knowledge took form according +to these. In some cases, accident gave a text-in-chief, +as when young Mill at ten years of age, studied +Thomson's Chemistry, without the distraction of any +other work. If there had been half-a-dozen Chemical +manuals in existence, he would probably have +read them all, and fared much worse. It happens, +however, that, in the more exact sciences, there is a +greater sameness in the leading ideas, than in Politics, +Morals, or the Human Mind; and the evil of +distraction is so much smaller. Undoubtedly, the +best of all ways of learning anything is to have a +competent master to dole out a fixed quantity every +day, just sufficient to be taken in, and no more; the +pupils to apply themselves to the matter so imparted, +and to do nothing else. The singleness of aim is favourable +to the greatest rapidity of acquirement; and +any defects are to be left out of account, until one +thread of ideas is firmly set in the mind. Not unfrequently, +however, and not improperly, the teacher +has a text-book in aid of his oral instructions. To +make this a help, and not a hindrance, demands the +greatest delicacy; the sole consideration being that +the pupil must be kept <i>in one single line of thought</i>, +and never be required to comprehend, on the same +point, conflicting or varying statements.</p> + +<p>Even the foot-notes to a work may have to be disregarded, +in the first instance. They may act like +a second author, and keep up an irritating friction. +There is, doubtless, a consummate power of annotation +that anticipates difficulties, and clears away +haze, without distracting the mind. There is also an +art of bringing out relief by an accompaniment, like +the two images of the stereoscope. This is most +likely to arise through a living teacher or commentator, +who, by his tones and emphasis, as well as by +his very guarded and reserved additions, can make +the meaning of the author take shape and fulness.</p> + +<p>As the chief text-book is chosen, among other +reasons, for its method and system, any defects on +this head may be very suitably supplied, during the +reader's progress, by notes or otherwise. When the +end is clearly kept in view, we shall not go wrong as +to the means: the spirit will remedy an undue bias to +the letter.</p> + +<p>The subjects that depend for their full comprehension +upon a certain method and order of details, are +numerous, and include the most important branches +of human culture. The Sciences, in mass, are avowedly +of this character: even such departments as Theology, +Ethics, Rhetoric, and Criticism have their definite +form; and, until the mind of the student is fully impressed +with this, all the particulars are vague and +chaotic, and comparatively useless for practical application. +So, any subject cast in a <i>polemic</i> form must +be received and held in the connection thereby given +to it. If the arguments <i>pro</i> and <i>con</i> fall out of their +places in the mind of the reader, their force is missed +or misconceived.</p> + +<p>History is pre-eminently a subject for method, and, +therefore, involves some such plan as is here recommended. +Every narrative read otherwise than for +mere amusement, as we read a novel, should leave in +the mind—(1) the Chronological sequence (more or +less detailed); and (2) the Causal sequence, that is, +the influences at work in bringing about the events. +These are best gained by application to a single work +in the first place; other works being resorted to in +due time.</p> + +<p>Of the non-methodical subjects, forming an illustrative +contrast, mention may be made of purely +didactic treatises, where the precepts are each valuable +for itself, and by itself: such as, until very +recently, the works on Agriculture, and even on +Medicine. A book of Domestic Receipts, consulted +by index, is not a work for study.</p> + +<p>Poems and fictitious narrations will naturally be +regarded as of the un-methodical class. If there are +exceptions, they consist of long poems—Epics and +Dramas—whose plan is highly artistic, and must be +felt in order to the full effect. Probably, however, +this is the merit that the generality of readers are +content to miss, especially if greater strain of attention +is needed to discover it. Readers bent on enjoyment +dwell on the passing page, and are not inclined +to carry with them what has gone before, in order to +understand what is to follow.</p> + +<p>[REPUDIATION OF METHOD BY MEN OF REPUTE.]</p> + +<p>Very intelligent and superior men have wholly +repudiated the notion of study by method. We +must not lay too much stress upon these disclaimers, +seeing that they are usually cited from those in +advanced years, or men whose day of methodical +education is passed. When Johnson said—"A man +ought to read just as inclination leads him," he +was not thinking of beginners, for whom he would +probably have dictated a different course. Still, it is +a prevailing tendency of many minds, to read all +books equally, provided the interest or enjoyment of +them is equal. Macaulay, Sir William Hamilton, De +Quincey, as well as Johnson, and a numerous host +besides, were book-gluttons, books in breeches; they +imbibed information copiously, and also retained it, +but as a matter of chance. The enjoyment of their +life was to read; whereas, to master thoroughly a +considerable field of knowledge, can never be all +enjoyment. Gibbon was a book devourer, but he +had a plan; he was organizing a vast work of +composition. Macaulay, also, showed himself capable +of realizing a scheme of composition; both +his History and his Speeches have the stamp of +method, even to the pitch of being valuable as models. +Hamilton and De Quincey, each in his way, could +form high ideals of work, and in part execute them; +but their productiveness suffered from too much +bookish intoxication. While readers generally mix +the motive of instruction with stimulation, the class +that seek instruction solely is but small; the other +extreme is frequent enough.</p> + +<p>[DIFFICULTY IN CHOOSING A FIRST TEXT-BOOK.]</p> + +<p>In many subjects, the difficulties of fixing upon the +proper Text-book are not inconsiderable. The mere +reputation of a book may be great, and well-founded; +and yet the merits may not be of the kind that fits it +for the commencing student. Such conditions as the +following must be taken into account. The Form or +Method should be of a high order: this we shall +have occasion to illustrate under the next head. It +should be abreast: of the time, on its own subject. It +should be moderately full, without being necessarily +exhaustive in detail. It is on this point that the cheap +primers of the present day are mainly defective. They +state general ideas, and lay down outlines; but they +do not provide sufficiently expanded illustration to +stamp these on the mind of the learner. A shilling +primer is really a more advanced book than one on a +triple scale, that should embrace the same compass of +leading ideas. As a farther condition, the work +chosen should not have so much of individuality as to +fail in the character of representing the prevailing +views. The greatest authors often err on this point; +and, while a work of genius is not to be neglected, it +may, for this reason, have to take the second place in +the order of study. Newton's <i>Principia</i> could never +be a work suited for an early stage of mathematical +study. Lyell's Geology has been a landmark in the +history of the subject; but it is not cast in the form +for a beginner in Geology. It is, in its whole plan, +argumentative; setting up and defending a special +thesis in Geology; the facts being arrayed with that +view. Many other great works have assumed a like +form; such are Malthus on Population, Grove's Correlation +of Physical Forces, Darwin's Origin of Species. +Even expressly didactic works are often composed +more to bring forward a peculiar view, than from the +desire to develop a subject in its due proportions. +Locke's Essay on the Understanding does not propose +to give a methodical and exhaustive handling +of the Powers of the Mind, or even of the Intellect. +That was reserved for Reid.</p> + +<p>The question as between old writers and new, would +receive an easy solution upon such grounds as the +foregoing, were it not for the sentiment of veneration +for the old, because they are old. If an ancient writer +retains a place by virtue of surpassing merits, as +against all subsequent writers, his case is quite clear. +In the nature of things, this must be rare: if there +be an example, it is Euclid; yet his position is held +only through the mutual jealousy of his modern +rivals.</p> + +<p>The only motive for commencing a study upon a +very old writer is a desire to work out a subject +historically; which, in some instances may be allowed, +but not very often. In Politics, Ethics, and Rhetoric, +the plan might have its advantages; but, with this +imperative condition, that we shall follow out the +development in the modern works. In proportion as +a subject assumes a scientific shape, it must carefully +define its terms, marshal its propositions in proper +dependence, and offer strict proof of all matters of +fact; now, in these respects, every known branch of +knowledge has improved with the lapse of ages; so +that the more recent works are necessarily the best +for entering upon the study. A historical sequence +may be proper to be observed; but that should be +backward and not forward. The earlier stages of +some subjects are absolutely worthless; as, for example, +Physics, Chemistry, and most of Biology, in +other subjects, as Politics and Ethics, the tentatives of +such men as Plato and Aristotle have an undying +value; nevertheless, the student should not begin, but +end, with them.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There is an extreme form of putting our present +doctrine that runs it into paradox: namely, the one-book-and-no-more +maxim. Scarcely any book in +existence is so all-sufficient for its purpose that a +student is better occupied in re-reading it for the +tenth time, than in reading some others once. Even +the merits of the one book are not fully known +unless we compare it with others; nor have we +grasped any subject unless we are able to see it +stated in various forms, without being distracted or +confused. It is not a high knowledge of horsemanship +that can be gained by the most thorough acquaintance +with one horse.</p> + +<p>[NO WORK ENTIRELY SELF-SUFFICIENT.]</p> + +<p>Any truth that there is in the paradox of excluding +all books but one from perusal, belongs to it as a +form of the maxim we have now been considering. +There is not in existence a work corresponding to +the notion of absolute self-sufficiency. Suppose we +were to go over the <i>chef-d'oeuvres</i> of human genius, +we should not find one in the position of entire +independence of all others. Take, for example, the +poems of Homer; the Republic and a few other of +Plato's pre-eminent Dialogues; the great speeches of +Demosthenes; the Ethics and Politics of Aristotle; the +poems of Dante; Shakespeare, as a whole; Bacon's +Novum Organum; Newton's Principia; Locke on the +Understanding; the <i>Méchanique Céleste</i> of Laplace. +No one of all these could produce its effect on the +mind without referring to other works, previous, contemporary, +or following. The remark is not confined +to works of elucidation and comment merely—as the +contemporary history of Greece, or the speeches of +Demosthenes—but extends to other compositions, of +the very same tenor, by different, although inferior, +writers. Shakespeare himself is made much more +profitable by a perusal of the other Elizabethans, and +by a comparison with dramatic models before and +after him.</p> + +<p>The nearest approach to a perfectly all-sufficing +book is seen in scientific compilations by a conjunction +of highly accomplished editors. A new edition +of Quain's Anatomy, revised and brought up to date +by the best anatomists, would, for the moment, probably +be fully adequate to the wants of the student, +and dispense with all other references whatsoever. Not +that even then, it would be desirable to abstain from +ever opening a different compendium; although undoubtedly +there would be the very minimum of +necessity for doing so. Nevertheless, literature presents +few analogous instances. One of the great +works of an original genius, like Aristotle, might, by +profuse annotation, be made nearly sufficing; but +this is another way of reading by quotation a plurality +of writers; and it would be better still to peruse some +of these in full, there being no need for studying +them with the degree of intensity bestowed on a +main work.</p> + +<p>[LOCKE'S TREATMENT OF THE BIBLE.]</p> + +<p>The example, by pre-eminence, of one self-sufficing +work is the Bible. Being the sole and ultimate +authority of Christian doctrine, it holds a position +entirely apart; and, among Protestants at least, there +is a becoming jealousy of allowing any extraneous +writing to overbear its contents. Yet we are not to +infer, as many have done practically, that no other +work needs to be read in company with it. Granting +that its genuine doctrines have been overlaid by +subsequent accretions, the way to get clear of these +is not to neglect the entire body of fathers, commentators, +and theologians, and to give the whole attention +to the scriptural text. Locke himself set an example +of this attempt. He proposed, in his "Reasonableness +of Christianity," to ascertain the exact meaning of +the New Testament, by casting aside all the glosses +of commentators and divines, and applying his own +unassisted judgment to spell out its teachings. He +did not disdain to use the lights of extraneous history, +and the traditions of the heathen world; he only +refused to be bound by any of the artificial creeds +and systems devised in later ages to embody the +doctrines supposed to be found in the Bible. The +fallacy of his position obviously was, that he could +not strip himself of his education and acquired +notions, the result of the teaching of the orthodox +church. He seemed unconscious of the necessity of +trying to make allowance for his unavoidable prepossessions. +In consequence, he simply fell into an +old groove of received doctrines; and these he +handled under the set purpose of simplifying the +fundamentals of Christianity to the utmost. Such +purpose was not the result of his Bible study, but of +his wish to overcome the political difficulties of the +time. He found, by keeping close to the Gospels and +by making proper selections from the Epistles, that the +belief in Christ as the Messiah could be shown to be +the central fact of the Christian faith; that the other +main doctrines followed out of this by a process of +reasoning; and that, as all minds might not perform +the process alike, these doctrines could not be essential +to the acceptance of Christianity. He got out of the +difficulty of framing a creed, as many others have +done, by simply using Scripture language, without +subjecting it to any very strict definition; certainly +without the operation of stripping the meaning of its +words, to see what it amounted to. That his short +and easy method was not very successful, the history +of the Deistical controversy sufficiently proves. The +end in view would, in our time, be sought by an +opposite course. Instead of disregarding commentators, +and the successions of creed embodiments, a +scholar of the present day would ascend through +these to the original, and find out its meaning, after +making allowance for all the tendencies that operated +to give a bias to that meaning. As to putting us in the +position of listening to the Bible authors at first hand, +we should trust more to the erudition of a Pusey or an +Ewald, than to the unassisted judgment of a Locke.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><a name='VII.II'></a>II. "What constitutes the study of a book?" Mere +perusal at the average reading pace is not the way to +imbibe the contents of any work of importance, +especially if the subject is new and difficult.</p> + +<p>There are various methods in use among authoritative +guides. To revert to the Demosthenic traditions: +we find two modes indicated—namely, repeated +copying, and committing to memory <i>verbatim</i>. A +third is, making abstracts in writing. A fourth may +be designated the Lockian method. Let us consider +the respective merits of the four.</p> + +<p>[STUDY BY LITERAL COPYING.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.II.1'></a>1. Of copying a book literally through, there is this +to be said, that it engages the attention upon every +word, until the act of writing serves to impress the +memory. But there are very important qualifications +to be assigned in judging of the worth of the exercise. +Observe what is the main design of the copyist. It +is to produce a <i>replica</i> of an original upon paper. +He cannot do this without a certain amount of +attention to the original; enough at least to enable +him to put down the exact words in the copy; and, +by such attention, he is so far impressed with the +matter, that a certain portion may remain in the +memory. If, however, instead of the paper, he could +write directly on the brain, he would be aiming +straight at his object. Now, experience shows that +the making of a copy of any document is compatible +with a very small amount of attention to the purport. +The extreme case is the copying clerk. He can +literally reproduce an original, with entire forgetfulness +of what it is about. If his eye takes a faithful +note of the sequence of words, he may entirely +neglect the meaning. In point of fact, he constantly +does so. He remembers nobody's secrets; and he +cannot be counted on to check blunders that make +nonsense of his text. Probably no one could go on +copying for eight hours a day unless the strain of +attention to the originals were at a minimum. I +conceive, therefore, that copying habits arising from a +certain amount of experience at the vocation, would +be utterly fatal to the employment of the exercise as +a means of study. It may be valuable to such as have +seldom used their pen except in original composition. +Very probably, in school lessons, to write an +exercise two or three times may be a help to the +usual routine of saying off the book. I have heard +experienced teachers testify to the good effects of the +practice. Yet very little would turn the attention the +wrong way. Even the requirement of neatness on +the part of the master, or the pupil's own liking for +it, would abate the desired impression. The multiplied +copying set as punishment might stamp a +thing on the memory through disgust; it might also +engender the mechanical routine of the copyist. In +short, to sit down and copy a long work is about the +last thing that I should dream of, as a means of +study. To copy Thucydides eight times, as the +tradition respecting Demosthenes goes, would be +about the same as copying Gibbon three times: and +who would undertake that?</p> + +<p>[COMMITTING TO MEMORY WORD FOR WORD.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.II.2'></a>2. Committing to memory <i>verbatim</i>, or nearly so. +This too belongs to the same tradition regarding +Demosthenes, and is probably as inaccurate as the +other. Certainly the eight copyings would not suffice +for having the whole by heart. Excepting a professional +rhapsodist, or some one gifted with extraordinary +powers of memory that would hardly be +compatible with a great understanding, nobody would +think of committing Thucydides to memory. That +Demosthenes should be a perfect master both of the +narrated facts, and of the sagacious theorisings of +Thucydides in those facts, we may take for granted. +And, farther, the orations delivered by opposing +speakers in the great critical debates, might very well +have been committed <i>verbatim</i> by a young orator; +many of them are masterpieces of oratory in every +point of view. But the reason for getting them by +heart does not apply to the general narrative. Even +to imbibe the best qualities of the style of Thucydides +would not require whole pages to be learnt <i>verbatim</i>; +a much better way would readily occur to any intelligent +man.</p> + +<p>In fact, there is no case where it is profitable to +load the memory with a whole book, or with large +portions of a book. There are many small portions +of every leading work that might be committed with +advantage. Principal propositions ought to be retained +to the letter. Passages, here and there, +remarkable for compact force, for argumentative +power, or elegant diction, might be read and re-read +till they clung to the memory; but this should be the +consummation of a thorough and critical estimate of +their merits. To commit to memory without thinking +of the meaning is a senseless act; and could not be +ascribed to Demosthenes. At the stage when the +young student is forming a style, he is assisted by +laying up <i>memoriter</i> a number of passages of great +authors; but it is never necessary to go beyond select +paragraphs. Detached sentences are valuable, and +strain the memory least. Entire paragraphs have a farther +value in impressing good paragraph connection; +but, to string a number of paragraphs together, or to +learn whole chapters by memory, has nothing to recommend +it in the way of mental culture.</p> + +<p>There is a memory in <i>extension</i> that holds a long +string of words and ideas together. Its value is to +get readily at anything occurring in a certain train, as +in a given book. It is the memory of easy reference. +There is also a memory of <i>intension</i>, that takes a +strong grasp of brief expressions and thoughts, and +brings them out for use, on the slightest relevancy. +The two modes interfere with each other's development; +we cannot be great in both; while, for original +force, the second is worth the most: it extracts and +resets gems to tesselate our future structures; it constitutes +depth as against fluency.</p> + +<p>To commit poetical passages to memory is a valuable +contribution to our stock of material for emotional +resuscitation in after years. It also aids in adorning +our style, even although we may not aspire to compose +in poetry. But the burden of holding the connection +of a long poem should be eschewed. Children +can readily learn a short psalm or hymn, and can +retain it in permanence; but to repeat the 119th +psalm from the beginning is the mere <i>tour-de-force</i> of +a strong natural memory, and a waste of power; just +as much as committing an entire book of the Aeneid +or of Paradise Lost.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[MAKING ABSTRACTS.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.II.3'></a>3. Making Abstracts.—This is the plan of studying +that most advances our intelligent comprehension of +any work of difficulty, and also impresses it on the +memory in the best form. But there are many ways +of doing it; and beginners, from the very fact that +they are beginners, are not competent to choose +the best. If a book has an obvious and methodical +plan in itself, the reader can follow that plan, +taking down the leading positions, selecting some +of the chief examples or illustrations, giving short +headings of chapters and paragraphs, and thus +making a synopsis, or full table of contents. All +this is useful. The memory is much better impressed +through the exertion of picking, choosing, +and condensing, than by copying <i>verbatim</i>; and the +plan or evolution of the whole is more fully comprehended. +But, if a work does not easily lend itself to a +methodical abstract, the task of the beginner is much +harder. To abstract the treatises of Aristotle was +fitting employment for Hobbes. The "Wealth of +Nations" is not easy to abstract; but, at the present +day, it would not be chosen as the Text-book-in-chief +for Political Economy: as a third or fourth work to +be perused at a reading pace, it would have its proper +effect. The best studious exercise upon it would be +to mark the agreements and disagreements with the +newer authority, the weak and strong points of the +exposition, and the perennial force of a certain number +of the propositions and examples. Many parts +could be skipped entirely as not even repaying historical +study. Yet, as the work of a great and +original mind, its interest is perennial.</p> + +<p>To go back once more to the example of Thucydides. +Setting aside, from intrinsic improbability, +both the traditions—the copyings, and the committal +to memory <i>verbatim</i>,—we can easily see what Demosthenes +could find in the work, and how he could +make the most of it. The narrative or story could be +indelibly fixed in his memory by a few perusals, and, +if need be, by a full chronology drawn up by his own +hand. The speeches could be committed in whole or +in part, for their arguments and language; and a +minute study could be made of the turns of expression, +as they seemed to be either meritorious or +defective. The young orator had already studied the +more finished styles of Isocrates, Lysias, Isanis, and +Plato, and could make comparisons between their +forms and the peculiarities of Thucydides, which belonged +to an earlier age. This, however, was a +discipline altogether apart, and had nothing to do +with copying, committing, or abstracting. It involved +one exercise more or less allied to the last, namely, +<i>making changes upon an author, according to ones best +ideal at the time</i>: changes, if possible, for the better, +but perhaps not; still requiring, however, an effort of +mind, and so far favourable to culture.</p> + +<p>[VARIOUS MODES OF ABSTRACTING.]</p> + +<p>Every one's first attempts at abstracting must be +very bad. There is no more opportune occasion for +the assistance of a tutor or intelligent monitor, than to +revise an abstract. The weaknesses of a beginner are +apparent at a glance; even better than by a <i>viva voce</i> +interrogation. Useful abstracting comes at a late +stage of study, when one or two subjects have been +pretty well mastered. It is then that the pupil can +best overtake more advanced works on the subjects +already commenced, or can enter upon an entirely +new department, in the light of previous acquisitions.</p> + +<p>Any work that deserves thorough study deserves +the labour of making an abstract; without which, +indeed, the study is not thorough. It is quite possible +to read so as to comprehend the drift of a book, and +yet forget it entirely. The point for us to consider is +—Are we likely to want any portion of it afterwards? +If we can fix upon the parts most likely to be useful, +we either copy or abstract these, or preserve a reference +so as to turn them up when wanted. In the case of +a work, containing a mass of new and valuable +materials, such as we wish to incorporate with our +intellectual structure, we must act the part of the +beginner in a new field, and make an abstract on the +most approved plan: that is, by such changes as shall +at once preserve the author's ideas, and intersperse +them with our own. There is an ideal balance of two +opposing tendencies: one to take down the writer too +literally, which fails to impress the meaning; the other +to accommodate him too much to our own language +and thinking, in which case, we shall remember more, +but it will be remembering ourselves and not him. +He that can hit the just mean between these extremes +is the perfect student.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>There are easier modes of abstracting, such as serve +many useful purposes, although not sufficient for the +mastery of a leading Text-book, or even of a second +or third in a new subject. We may pencil on the +margin, or underscore, all the leading propositions, and +the typical examples. In a well-composed scientific +manual, the proceeding is too obvious to be impressive. +Very often, however, the main points are not +given in the most methodical way, but have to be +searched out by carefully scanning each paragraph. +This is an exercise that both instructs and impresses +us; it is the kind of change that calls our faculties +into play, and gives us a better hold of an author, +without superseding him.</p> + +<p>A Table of Contents carefully examined is favourable +to a comprehensive view of the whole; and, this +attained, the details are remembered in the best possible +way, that is, by taking their place in the scheme. +Any other form of recollection is of the desultory +kind.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[LOCKE'S RECOMMENDATIONS.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.II.4'></a>4. Let us next glance at Locke's method of reading, +which is unique and original, like the man himself. +It is given with much iteration in his Conduct of the +Understanding, but comes in substance to this:—</p> + +<p>We are to fix in the mind the author's ideas, +stripped of his words; to distinguish between such +ideas as are pertinent to the subject, and such as are +not; to keep the precise question steadily before our +minds; to appreciate the bearing of the arguments; +and, finally, to see what the question bottoms upon, +or what are the fundamental verities or assumptions +underneath.</p> + +<p>All this is very thorough in its way; but, in the +first place, it applies chiefly to argumentative works, +and, in the second place, it is entirely beyond the +powers of ordinary students. Such an examination +of an author as Locke contemplates is not seen many +times in a generation. His own controversies give +but indifferent examples of it; several of Bentham's +works and a few of John Mill's polemical articles +also give an idea of thorough handling; but it is not +so properly a studious effort, as the consummated +product of a highly logical discipline, and is within +the reach of only a small elect number.</p> + +<p>Locke would have been more intelligible, if, instead +of telling us to strip an author's meaning of the words, +he had impressed strongly the necessity of <i>defining +all leading terms</i>; and of making sure that each was +always used in the same meaning. While, in order +to veracious conclusions, it is necessary that every +matter of fact should be truly given, it is equally +necessary that the language should be free from +ambiguity. If an author uses the word "law," at one +time as an enactment: by some authority, and at +another time, as a sequence in the order of nature, he +is sure to land us in fallacy and confusion, as Butler +did in explaining the Divine government. The remedy +is, not to perform the operation of separating the +meaning entirely from the language, but to vary +the language, so as to substitute terms that have no +ambiguity. "Law" is equivocal; "social enactment," +and "order of nature," are both unequivocal; and +when one is chosen, and adhered to, the confusion is +at an end.</p> + +<p>The mere art of study is no preparation for such a +task. It demands a very advanced condition of +knowledge on the particular subject, as well as a +logical habit of mind, however acquired; and to +include it in a practical essay on the Conduct of the +Understanding is to overstep the limits of the subject.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>As our present head represents the very pith and +marrow of the art of study, we may dwell a little +longer on the process of changing the form of an +author, whether by condensing, expanding, varying the +expression, altering the order, selecting, and rejecting, +—or by any other known device. Worst of all is +change for the mere sake of change; it is simply better +than literal copying. But, to rise above it, needs a +sense of FORM already attained. According as this +sense is developed, the exercise of altering or amending +is more and more profitable. Consequently, +there should be an express application of the mind +to the attainment of form; and particular works +pre-eminent for that quality should be sought out +and read. "Form" is doubtless a wide word, and comprises +both the logical or pervading method of a work, +and the expression or dress throughout. Method by +itself can be soonest acquired because it turns on a +small number of points; language is a multifarious +acquirement, and can hardly be forced, although it +will come eventually by due application.</p> + +<p>[EXAMPLE FROM PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.]</p> + +<p>To show what is meant by learning Form, with a +view to the more effectual study of subject-matter, I +will take the example of a work on the Practice of +Medicine; in which the idea is to describe Diseases +<i>seriatim</i>, with their treatment or cures. At the +present day, this subject possesses method or form: +there is a systematic classification of diseased processes +and diseases; also, a regular plan of setting +forth the specific marks of each disease, its diagnosis, +and, finally, its remedies. There are more and less +perfect models of the methodical element; while there +are differences among authors in the fulness of the +detailed information. There is, besides, a Logic of +Medicine, representing the absolute form, in a kind of +logical synopsis, by which it is more easily comprehended +in the first instance: not to mention the +general body of the Logic of the Inductive Sciences, +of which medicine is one. Now, undoubtedly, the +best work to begin with—the Text-book-in-chief—would +be one where Form is in its highest perfection; +the amount of matter being of less consequence. In +a subject of great complication, and vast detail, the +student cannot too soon get possession of the best +method or form of arrangement. When a work of +this character is before him, he is to read and re-read +it, till the form becomes strongly apparent; he is to +compare one part with another, to see how the author +adheres to his own pervading method; he should, if +possible, make a synopsis of the plan in itself, disentangling +it from the applications, for greater clearness. +The scheme of a medical work, for example, +comprises the Classification of Diseases, the parting +off of Diseased Processes—-Fever, Inflammation, &c.—from +Diseases properly so called; the modes of defining +Disease; the separation of defining marks, from +predications, and so on: all involved in a strict Logic +of Disease. Armed with these logical or methodical +preliminaries, the student next attacks one of the +extended treatises on the Practice of Medicine. He +is now prepared to work the process of abstracting to +the utmost advantage, both for clearness of understanding, +and for impressing the memory. As in +such a vast subject, no one author is deemed adequate +to a full exposition, and as, moreover, a great portion +of the information occurs, apart from systems, in +detached memoirs or monographs,—the only mode +of unifying and holding together the aggregate, is to +reduce all the statements to a common form and +order, by help of the pre-acquired plan. The progress +of study may amend the plan, as well as add to +the particular information; but absolute perfection in +the scheme is not so essential as strict adherence to +it through all the details. To work without a plan +at all, is not merely to tax the memory beyond its +powers, but probably also to misconceive and jumble +the facts.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>To enhance the illustration of the two main heads +of the Art of Study, I will so far deviate from the idea +of the essay, as to take up a special branch of education, +which, more than any other, has been reduced to +form and rule, I mean the great accomplishment of +Oratory, or the Art of Persuasion. The practical +Science of Rhetoric, cultivated both by ancients and +by moderns, has especially occupied itself with directions +for acquiring this great engine of influencing +mankind.</p> + +<p>It was emphatically averred by the ancient teachers +of the Oratorical art, that it must be grounded on a +wide basis of general information. I do not here +discuss the exact scope of this preparatory study, as +my purpose is to narrow the illustration to what is +special to the faculty of persuasion. I must even +omit all those points relating to delivery or elocution, +on which so much depends; and also the consideration +of how to attain readiness or fluency in spoken +address, except in so far as that follows from abundant +oratorical resources. We thus sink the difference between +spoken oratory, and persuasion through the +press.</p> + +<p>Even as thus limited, oratory is still too wide for a +pointed illustration: and, so, I propose farther to +confine my references to the department of Political +Oratory; coupling with that, however, the Forensic +branch—which has much in common with the other, +and has given birth to some of our most splendid +examples of the art of persuasion.</p> + +<p>While declining to enter on the wide field of the +general education of the orator, I may not improperly +advert to the more immediate preparation for the +political orator, by a familiar acquaintance with History +and Political Philosophy, howsoever obtained. +Then, on the other hand, the course here to be chalked +out assumes a considerable proficiency in language or +expression. The special education will incidentally +improve both these accomplishments, but must not be +relied on for creating them, or for causing a marked +advance in either. The effect to be looked for is +rather to give them direction for the special end.</p> + +<p>[EXAMPLE FROM THE ART OF ORATORY.]</p> + +<p>These things premised, the line of proceeding +manifestly is to study the choicest examples of the +oratorical art, according to the methods already laid +down, with due adaptation to the peculiarities of the +case.</p> + +<p>Now, we have not, as in a Science, two or three systematic +works, one of which is to be chosen as a chief, +to be followed by a reference more or less to the others. +Our material is a long series of detached orations; +from these we must make a selection at starting, and +such selection, which may comprise ten or twenty +or more, will have to be treated with the intense +single-minded devotion that we hitherto limited to a +single work. Repeated perusal, with a process of +abstracting to be described presently, must be bestowed +upon the chosen examples, before embarking, +as will be necessary, upon the wide field of miscellaneous +oratory.</p> + +<p>No doubt, an oratorical education could be grounded +in a general and equal study of the orators at large, +taking the ancients either first or last, according to +fancy. Probably the greater number of students +have fallen into this apparently obvious course. Our +present contention is, that it is better to make a +thorough study of a proper selection of the greatest +speeches, together with the most persuasive unspoken +compositions. This, however, is not all. We are +following the wisdom of the ancients, in insisting on +the farther expedient of proceeding to the study +of the great examples by the aid of an oratorical +scheme. At a very early stage of Oratory in Greece, +its methods began to be studied, and, in the education +of the orator, these methods were made to accompany +the study of exemplary speeches.</p> + +<p>The principles of Rhetoric at large, and of the +Persuasive art in particular, have been elaborated by +successive stages, and are now in a tolerable state +of advancement. The learner will choose the scheme +that is judged best, and will endeavour to master it +provisionally, before entering on the oratorical models; +holding it open to amendment from time to time, as +his education goes on. The scheme and the examples +mutually act and re-act: the better the scheme, the +more rapidly will the examples fructify; and the +scheme will, in its turn, profit by the mastery of the +details.</p> + +<p>[NECESSITY OF AN ORATORICAL ANALYSIS.]</p> + +<p>One great use of an oratorical analysis, as supplied +by the teachers of Rhetoric, is to part off the different +merits of a perfect oration; and to show which are +to be extracted from the various exemplary orators. +One man excels in forcible arguments, another in the +lucid array of facts; one is impressive and impassioned, +another is quiet but circumspect. Now, the +benefit of studying on principle, instead of working +at random, is, that we concentrate attention on each +one's strong points, and disregard the rest. But it +needs a preparatory analysis, in order to make the +discrimination. All that the uninstructed reader or +hearer of a great oration knows is, that the oration is +great: this may be enough for the persons to be +moved; it is insufficient for an oratorical disciple.</p> + +<p>In the hazardous task of pursuing the illustration +by naming the examples of oratory most suitable to +commence with, I shall pass over living men, and +choose from the past orators of our own country. +Without discussing minutely the respective merits of +individuals, I am safe in selecting, as in every way +suitable for our purpose, Burke, Fox, Erskine, Canning, +Brougham, and Macaulay. Burke's Speeches +on America; Fox on the Westminster Scrutiny; +Erskine on Stockdale, and on Hardy, Tooke, &c.; +Canning on the Slave Trade; Brougham, Lyndhurst, +and Denman in the Queen's Trial; Macaulay on the +Reform Bill,—would comprise, in a moderate compass, +a considerable range of oratorical excellence. I doubt +if any member of the list would be more suitable +for a beginning than Macaulay's Reform Speeches. +These are no mere displays of a brilliant imagination: +they are known to have influenced thousands of minds +otherwise averse to political change. The reader finds +in them an immense repository of historical facts as +well as of doctrines; but facts and doctrines, by themselves, +do not make oratory. It is the use made of +these, that gives us the instruction we are now in +quest of. In a first or second reading, however, matter +and form equally captivate the mind. It would be +impossible, at that early stage, to make an abstract +such as would separate the oratorical from the non-oratorical +merits. Only when, by help of our scheme, +we have made a critical distinction between the two +kinds of excellence, are we able to arrive at an approach +to a pure oratorical lesson; and, for a long time, +we shall fail to make the desired isolation. We +have to learn not to expect too much from any one +speech: to pass over in Macaulay, what is more conspicuously +shown, say in Fox, or in Erskine. If our +political and historical education has made some progress, +the mere thoughts and facts do not detain us; +their employment for the end of persuasion is what we +have to take account of.</p> + +<p>[COMPREHENSIVE PRINCIPLE OF ORATORY.]</p> + +<p>It is impossible here to indicate, except in a very +general way, the successive steps of the operation. +The one summary consideration in the Rhetoric of +Oratory, from which flows the entire array of details, +is the regard to the dispositions and state of mind of +the audience; the presenting of topics and considerations +that chime in with these dispositions, and the +avoiding of everything that would conflict with them. +To grasp this comprehensive view, and to follow it out +in some of the chief circumstantials of persuasive +address—the leading forms of argument, and the +appeals to the more prominent feelings,—would soon +provide a touchstone to a great oration, and lead us to +distinguish the materials of oratory from the use made +of them.</p> + +<p>Take the circumstance of <i>negative tact</i>; by which +is meant the careful avoidance of whatever might +grate on the minds of those addressed. Forensic +oratory in general, and the oratory of Parliamentary +leaders in particular, will show this in perfection; and, +for a first study of it, there is probably nothing to +surpass the Erskine Speeches above cited. It could, +however, be found in Macaulay; although in a different +proportion to the other merits.</p> + +<p>The Macaulay Speeches have the abundance of +matter, and the powers of style, that minister to +oratory, although not constituting its distinctive feature. +In these speeches, we may note how he guages +the minds of the men of rank and property, in and +out of Parliament, who constituted the opposition to +Reform; how tenderly he deals with their prejudices +and class interests; how he shapes and adduces his +arguments so as to gain those very feelings to the +side he advocates; how he brings his accumulated +store of historical illustrations to his aid, under the +guidance of both the positive and the negative tact +of the orator; saying everything to gain, and nothing +to alienate the dispositions that he has carefully +measured.</p> + +<p>After Erskine and Macaulay have yielded their first +contribution to the oratorical student, he could turn +with profit to Burke, who has the materials of oratory +in the same high order as Macaulay, but who in the +employment of them so often miscarries—sometimes +partially, at other times wholly. It then becomes +an exercise to distinguish his successes from his +failures; to resolve these into their elementary merits +and defects, according to the oratorical scheme. The +close study of one or two orations is still the preferable +course; and the most profitable transition from +the Burke sample is to the selected speech or speeches +of some other orator as Canning or Brougham. All +the time, the pupil must be enlarging and improving +his analytic scheme, which is the means of keeping +his mind to the point in hand, amid the distraction of +the orator's gorgeous material.</p> + +<p>The subsequent stages of oratorical study are much +plainer than the commencement. A time comes when +the pupil will roam freely over the great field of +oratory, modern and ancient, knowing more and more +exactly what to appropriate and what to neglect. He +will be quite aware of the necessity of rivalling the +great masters in resources of knowledge on the one +hand, and of style on the other; but he will look for +these elsewhere, as well as in the professed orators.</p> + +<p>[EXAMPLES OF PERSUASIVE ART.]</p> + +<p>Moreover, as the persuasive art is exemplified in +men that have never been public speakers, the oratorical +pupil will make a selection from the most influential +of this class. He will find, for example, in the +argumentative treatises of Johnson, in the Letters of +Junius, in the writings of Godwin, in Sydney Smith, +in Bentham, in Cobbett, in Robert Hall, in Fonblanque, +in J.S. Mill, in Whately, and a host besides, +the exemplification of oratorical merits, together with +materials that are of value. It is understood, however, +that the search for materials and the acquisition +of oratorical form, are not made to advantage on the +same lines, and, for this and other reasons, should +not go together.</p> + +<p>The extreme test of the principle of concentration +as against equal application, is the acquirement of +Style, or the extending of our resources of diction and +expression in all its particulars. Being a matter of +endless minute details, we may feel ourselves at a loss +to compass it by the intensive study of a narrow and +select example. Still, with due allowance for the +speciality of the case, the principle will still be found +applicable. We should, however, carry along with us, +the maxim exemplified under oratory, of separating in +our study, as far as may be, the style from the matter. +We begin by choosing a treatise of some great master. +We may then operate either (1) by simple reading +and re-reading, or (2) by committing portions to +memory <i>verbatim</i>, or (3), best of all, by making some +changes according to an already acquired ideal of +good composition. This too shows the great importance +of attaining as early as possible some regulating +principles of goodness of style: the action and reaction +of these, on the most exemplary authors, constitute +our progress in the art, and, in the quickest +way, store the memory with the resources of good +expression.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[ECONOMICS OF BOOK READING.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.III'></a>III. The head just now finished includes really +by far the greatest portion of the economy of study. +There are various other devices of importance in their +way, but much less liable to error in practice. Of +these, a leading place may be assigned to the best +modes of Distributing the Attention in reading. Such +questions as the following present themselves for consideration +to the earnest student. How many distinct +studies can be carried on together? What interval +should be allowed in passing from one to another? +How much time should be given to the art of reading, +and how much to subsequent meditating or ruminating +on what has been read? These points are +all susceptible of being determined, within moderate +limits of error. As to the first, the remark was +made by Quintilian, that, in youth, we can most +easily pass from one study to another. The reason +of this, however, is, that youth does not take very +seriously to any study. When a special study becomes +engrossing, the alternatives must rather be recreative +than acquisitive; not much progress being made in +what is slighted, or left over to the exhaustion +caused by attention to the favourite topic. A more +precise answer can be made to the second and +third queries, namely, as to an interval for recall and +meditation, after putting down a book, and before +turning the attention into other channels. There is +a very clear principle of economy here. We should +save as far as possible the fatigue of the reading +process, or make a given amount of attention to the +printed page yield the greatest impression on the +memory. This is done by the exercise of recalling +without the book; an advantage that we do not +possess in listening to a lecture, until the whole is +finished, when we have too much to recall. To +hurry from book to book is to gain stimulation at +the cost of acquisition.</p> + +<p>I have alluded to the case of an engrossing subject, +which starves all accompanying studies. There are but +two ways of obviating the evil, if it be an evil; which +it indeed becomes, when the alternative demands also +are legitimate. The one is peremptorily to limit the +time given to it daily, so as to rescue some portion of +the strength for other topics. The other is to intermit +it wholly for a certain period, and let other subjects +have their swing. In advancing life, and when our +studious leisure is only what is left from professional +occupation, two different studies can hardly go on +together. The alternative of a single study needs to +be purely recreative.</p> + +<p>One other point may be noted under this head. In +the application to a book of importance and difficulty, +there are two ways of going to work: to move on +slowly, and master as we go; or to move on quickly to +the end, and begin again. There is most to be said +for the first method, although distinguished men have +worked upon the other. The freshness of the matter +is taken off by a single reading; the re-reading is so +much flatter in point of interest. Moreover, there is +a great satisfaction in making our footing sure at each +step, as well as in finishing the task when the first +perusal is completed. We cannot well dispense with +re-reading, but it need not extend to the whole; marked +passages should show where the comprehension and +mastery are still lagging.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[DESULTORY READING.]</p> + +<p><a name='VII.IV'></a>IV. Another topic is Desultory Reading. This is +the whole of the reading of the unstudious mass; it +is but a part of the reading of the true student. It +may mean, for one thing, jumping from book to book, +perhaps reading no one through, except for pure +amusement. It may also include the reading of +periodicals, where no one subject is treated at any +length. As a general rule, such reading does not +give us new foundations, or constitute the point of +departure of a fresh department of knowledge; yet +the amount of labour and thought bestowed upon +articles in periodicals, may render them efficacious in +adding to a previous stock of materials, or in correcting +imperfect views. The truth is, that to the studious +man, the desultory is not desultory. The only difference +with him is that he has two <i>attitudes</i> that he +may assume—the severe and the easy-going; the one +is most associated with systematic works on leading +subjects; the other with short essays, periodicals, +newspapers, and conversation. In this last attitude, +which is reserved for hours of relaxation, he skips +matters of difficulty, and absorbs scattered and interesting +particulars without expressly aiming at the +solution of problems or the discussion of abstract +principles. There is no reason why an essay in a +periodical, a pamphlet, or a speech in Parliament, +may not take a first place in anyone's education. All +the labour and resource that go to form a work of +magnitude may be concentrated in any one of these. +Still, they are presented in the form that we are accustomed +to associate with our desultory work, and our +times of relaxation; and so, they seldom produce in +the minds of readers the effect that they are capable +of producing. The thorough student will not fail to +extract materials from one and all of them, but even +he will scarcely choose from such sources the text for +the commencement of a new study.</p> + +<p>The desultory is not a bad way of increasing our resources +of expression. Although there be a systematic +and a best mode of acquiring language, there is also +an inferior, yet not ineffective mode; namely, reading +copiously whatever authors have at once a good style +and a sustaining interest. Hence, for this purpose, +shifting from book to book, taking up short and light +compositions, may be of considerable value; anything +is better than not reading at all, or than reading compositions +inferior in point of style. The desultory +man will not be without a certain flow of language as +well as a command of ideas; notwithstanding which, +he will never be confounded with the studious man.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><a name='VII.V'></a>V. A fifth point is the proportion of book-reading +to Observation of the facts at first hand. From want +of opportunity, or from disinclination, many persons +have all their information on certain subjects cast in +the bookish mould, and do not fully conceive the +particular facts as these strike the mind in their own +character. A reader of History, with no experience +of affairs, is likely to have imperfect bookish notions; +just as a man of affairs, not a reader, is subject to +narrowness of another kind. It was remarked by Sir +G. Cornewall Lewis, that the German historians of the +Athenian Democracy write like men that never had +any actual experience of popular assemblies. A +lawyer must be equally versed in principles and in +cases as heard in court: this is a type of knowledge +generally. In the Natural History Sciences, observation +and reading go hand in hand from the first. In +the science of the Human Mind, there are general +doctrines, contrived to embrace the world of mental +phenomena: the student may have to begin with these, +and work upon them exclusively for a time, but in the +end, phenomena must be independently viewed by him +in their naked character, as exhibited directly in his +own mind, and inferentially in the minds of those that +fall under his observation. Book knowledge of Disease +has to be coupled with bed-side knowledge; +neither will take the place of the other.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><a name='VII.VI'></a>VI. I began by limiting the meaning of study to +the reading of books, and have reviewed the various +points in the economy of this process. The other +means of attaining, enlarging, deepening our knowledge, +namely, Observation of facts, Conversation, +Disputation, Composition, have each an art of its own +—especially Disputation, which has long been reduced +to rule. Observation also admits of specific directions, +but, in stating the necessity of combining observation +with book theories and descriptions, I have assumed +the knowledge of how to observe.</p> + +<p>[AIDS OF CONVERSATION AND COMPOSITION.]</p> + +<p>Of all the adjuncts of study, none is so familiar, so +available, and, on the whole, so helpful, as Conversation. +The authors of Guides to Students, as Isaac +Watts, give elaborate rules for carrying on conversation, +a good many of them being more moral than +intellectual; but an art of conversation would be very +difficult to formulate; it would take quite as long an +essay as I have devoted to study, and even then would +not follow half of the windings of the subject. The +only notice of it that my plan requires, is such as I +have already bestowed upon Observation: namely, to +point out the advantage of combining a certain amount +of reading with, conversation; a thing that almost +everybody does according to their opportunities. To +rehearse what we have read to some willing and sympathizing +listener, is the best way of impressing the +memory and of clearing up difficulties to the understanding. +It brings in the social stimulus, which ranks +so high among human motives. It is a wholesome +change of attitude; relieving the fatigue of book-study, +while adding to its fruitfulness. Even beginners in +study are mutually helpful, by exchanging the results +of their several book acquirements; while it is possible +to raise conversation to the rank of a high art, +both for intellectual improvement and for mutual +delectation. I cannot say that the ideal is often realized; +since two or more must combine to conversation, +and it is not often that the mutual action and +re-action is perfectly adjusted for the highest effect.</p> + +<p>The last great adjunct of study is original Composition, +which also would need to be formulated +distinct from the theory of book-study. Viewed in +the same way as we have viewed the other collateral +exercises, one can pronounce it too an invaluable +adjunct to book-reading, as well as an end in itself; +it is a variation of effort that diverts the mental +strain, and re-acts powerfully upon the extraction +of nutriment from books. Besides the pride of +achievement, it evokes the social stimulus with the +highest effect; our compositions being usually intended +for some listeners. But, when to begin the +work of original composition, as distinct from the +written exercises upon books, in the way of abstracting, +amending, and the rest; what forms it should +assume at the outset, and by what steps it should +gradually ascend to the culminating effects of the +art,—would all admit of expansion and discussion +as an altogether separate theme. Enough to remark +here, that a course of book-reading without attempts +at original composition is as faulty an extreme, as to +begin and carry on writing upon a stinted basis of +reading. The thorough student, as concerned in my +present essay, carrying on book-study in the manner +I have sketched, will almost infallibly end, at the +proper time, in a self-thinker, and a self-originator. +An adequate familiarity with the great writers of the +past both checks presumptuous or hasty efforts of reproduction, +and encourages modest attempts of our +own as we feel ourselves becoming gradually invigorated +through the combined influence of all the various +modes of well-directed study.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16">[16]</a><div class="note"><p> Milton had charge of pupils in 1644, when Locke was twelve.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EVIII'></a><h2>VIII.</h2> + +<h2>RELIGIOUS TESTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Every man has an interest in arriving at truth for +himself. However useful it may be to mislead other +people, however sweet to look down from a height on +the erring throng beneath, it is neither useful nor +sweet to be ourselves at sea without a compass. We +may not care to walk by the light we have, but we +do not choose to exchange it for darkness.</p> + +<p>This reflection is most obvious with reference to the +order of Nature. Our life depends on adapting means +to ends; which supposes that we know cause and +effect in the world around us. A long story is cut +short by the adage, "Knowledge is power"; otherwise +rendered, "Truth is bliss".</p> + +<p>The bearing of truth is free from all doubt when +the problem is, how to gain certain ends—how to be +fed, how to get from one place to another, how to +cure disease. A new case is presented by the choice +of ends. The tyrannical French minister, when appealed +to by a starving peasantry in the terms, "We +must live," replied, "I do not see the necessity". +There was here no question of true and false, no +problem for science to solve. It was a question of +ends, and could not be reargued. The only possible +retort was to ask, "What does your Excellency consider +a necessity?" If the reply were, "That I and my +King may rule France and be happy," then might the +starving wretches find some aid from a political +scientist who could show that, in the order of nature, +ruler and people must stand or fall together. So, it +is no question of true or false in the order of nature, +whether I shall adopt, as the end of life, my own +gratification purely, the good of others purely, or part +of both. In like manner the Benthamite, who propounds +happiness as the general end of human society, +cannot prove this, as Newton could prove that gravity +follows the inverse square of the distance; nor can +his position be impugned in the way that Newton +impugned the vortices of Descartes, by showing +that they were at variance with fact.</p> + +<p>There is a third case. Assertions are made out of +the sphere of the sensible world, and beyond the +reach of verification by the methods of science. +There is a region of the supersensible or supernatural, +where cause and effect may be affirmed and human +interests involved, but where we cannot supply the +same evidence or the same confutation as in sublunary +knowledge. That all human beings shall have an +existence after death is matter of truth or falsehood, +but the evidence is of a kind that would not be +adduced for proving that a caterpillar becomes a +butterfly or that a seed turns to a plant. The reasoning +employed, no doubt, makes references to facts of +the order of nature; but it is circuitous and analogical, +and is admitted merely because better cannot be +had.</p> + +<p>[THREE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF ASSERTIONS.]</p> + +<p>The peculiarity of this last class of affirmations is +that they give great room for the indulgence of our +likings. So little being fixed with any precision, we +can shape our beliefs to please ourselves. Even as +regards the sensible world, we can sometimes accommodate +our views to what we wish, as when we +assume that our favourite foods and stimulants are +wholesome; but such license soon meets with checks +in the physical sphere, while there are no such checks +in the realms of the superphysical.</p> + +<p>Now, in all these three departments of opinion, the +interest of mankind lies in obtaining the best views +that can possibly be obtained. As regards the first +and third—- the region of true and false, one in the +sensible, the other in the supersensible world—we are +clearly interested in getting the truth. As regards +the second—the region of ends—if there be one class +of ends preferable to another, we should find out that +class.</p> + +<p>The only doubt that can arise anywhere is, whether +in the third case—the case of the supernatural,—truth +is of the same consequence to us. Such a doubt, +however, begs the whole question at issue. If the +truth be of no consequence here, it is because we shall +never be landed in any reality corresponding to what +is declared: that the nature of the future life is purely +imaginary and not to be converted into fact; in +other words, that there is no future life; that there is +merely a land of dreams and fiction, which can never +be proved true and never proved false. It would then +be a projection of thought from the present life, and +would cease with that life. All that people could claim +in the matter would be the liberty of imagination; +and this being so, we are not to be committed to any +one form. In short, we are to picture what we please +in a world that cannot be made out to exist. The +point is not, to be true or false; it is, to be well or ill +imagined.</p> + +<p>What, then, is to be the criterion of proper or +improper imagination? On what grounds are we to +make our preference between the different schemes of +the supersensible world? Is each one of us to be +free to imagine for ourselves, or are we to submit to +the dictation of others? These questions lead up to +another. How far are the interests of the present life +concerned in the form given to our conceptions of a +future life?</p> + +<p>It would seem to be an unanswerable assumption +that, in all the three situations above supposed, we +should do the very best that the case admits of. In +the order of nature we should get, as far as possible, +the truth and the whole truth; in the choice of ends +for this life we should embrace the best ends; in the +shaping of another life we should be free to follow out +whatever may be the course suitable to the operation.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[EARLY SOURCES OF INTOLERANCE.]</p> + +<p>The means for arriving at truth in the order of +nature is an active search according to certain well-known +methods. It farther involves the negative condition +of perfect freedom to canvass, to controvert, or to +refute, every received doctrine or opinion. There is no +use in going after new facts, or in rising to new generalities, +if we are not to be allowed to displace errors. +This is now conceded, except at the points of contact +of the natural and the supernatural. In spite of the +wide separation of the two worlds—the world of fact +and the world of imagination,—we cannot conceive the +second except in terms of the first; and if the shaping +of the supernatural acquires fixity and consecration, +the natural facts made use of in the fabric acquire a +corresponding fixity, even although the rendering is +found to be inaccurate. The prevailing conception +of a future life needs a view of the separate and +independent subsistence of the mental powers of man, +very difficult to reconcile with present knowledge.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The growth of intolerance is quite explicable, but +the explanation is not necessarily a justification. +Although every division of the human family must +have passed through many social phases, and must +therefore have experienced revolutionary shocks, yet +the rule of man's existence has been a rigorous fixity +of institutions, with a hatred of change. Innovations, +when not the effect of conquest, would be made under +the pressure of some great crisis, or some tremendous +difficulty that could not otherwise be met. The idea +of individuals being allowed, in quiet times, to propose +alterations in government, in religion, in morals, or +even in the common arts of life, was thought of only +to be stamped out. There was a step in advance of +the ancient and habitual order of things, when an +innovating citizen was permitted to make his proposal +to the assembled tribe, with a rope about his neck, to +be drawn tight if he failed to convince his audience. +This might make men think twice before advancing +new views, but it was not an entire suppression of them.</p> + +<p>The first introduction of the great religions of the +world would in each case afford an interesting study +of the difficulties of change and of the modes of surmounting +these difficulties. There must always have +concurred at least two things,—general uneasiness or +discontent from some cause or other; and the moral +or intellectual ascendency of some one man, whose +views, although original, were yet of a kind to be +finally accepted by the people. These conditions are +equally shown in political changes, and are historically +illustrated in many notable instances. It is +enough to cite the Greek legislation of Lycurgus and +of Solon.</p> + +<p>Such changes are the exceptions in human affairs; +they occur only at great intervals. In the ordinary +course of societies, the governing powers not merely +adhere to what is established, but forbid under severe +penalties the very suggestion of change. The chronic +misery of the race is compatible with unreasoning +acquiescence in a state of things once established; +incipient reformers are at once immolated <i>pour encourager +les autres</i>. It is the aim of governments to +make themselves superfluously strong; they take precautions +against unfavourable ideas no less than +against open revolt. In this, they are seconded by +the general community, which would make things too +hot even for a reforming king.</p> + +<p>[SEPARATION OF RELIGION FROM POLITICS.]</p> + +<p>It is said by the evolution or historical school of +politicians, that this was all as it should be. The +free permission to question the existing institutions, +political and religious, would have been incompatible +with stability. In early society more especially, religion +and morality were a part of civil government; a +dissenter in religion was the same thing as a rebel in +politics; the distinction between the civil and the +religious could not yet be drawn.</p> + +<p>Without saying whether this was the case or not—for +I should not like to commit myself to the position, +"Whatever was, was right" at the time—I trust +we are now far on the way to being agreed that the +civil and the religious are no longer to be identified; +that the State, as a state, is not concerned to uphold +any one form of religious belief. Modern civilized +communities are believed capable of existing without +an official religion; the citizens being free to form +themselves into self-governed religious bodies, as +various as the prevailing modes of religious belief. It +may be long ere this goal be fully reached; but even +the upholders of the present state religions admit that, +supposing these were not in existence, nobody would +now propose to institute them.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The foregoing remarks may appear somewhat desultory, +as well as too brief for the extent of the +theme. They must be accepted, however, as an +introduction to a more limited topic, which presupposes +in some measure the general principle of +toleration by the state of all forms of religious opinion. +Whether with or without established religions, perfect +freedom of dissent is now demanded, and, with some +hankering reservations, pretty generally conceded. +Individuals are allowed to congregate into religious +societies, on the most various and opposite creeds.</p> + +<p>So far good. Yet there remains a difficulty. Long +before the age of toleration, when each state had an +established religion, the people in general formed their +habits of religious observance in connection with the +State Church—its doctrines, its ritual, its buildings, +and its sacred places. When disruption took place, +the separatists formed themselves into societies on +the original model, merely dropping the matters of +disagreement. Fixity of creed and of ritual was still +enacted; the only remedy for dissatisfaction on either +subject was to swarm afresh, and set up a new variety +of doctrine or of ritual, to which a rigid adherence was +still expected as a condition of membership.</p> + +<p>By this costly and troublesome process, Churches +have been multiplied according to the changes of +view among sections of the community. A certain +energy of conviction has always been necessary to +such a result. Equally great changes of opinion occur +among members of the older Church communities, +without inducing them to break with these; so that +nominal membership ceases to be a mark of real +adhesion to the articles of belief.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[EVILS OF PENAL RESTRAINT ON DISCUSSION.]</p> + +<p>These few commonplaces are meant to introduce +the enquiry—now a pressing one—whether, and how +far, fixed creeds are desirable or expedient in religious +bodies generally; no difference being made between +state Churches and voluntary Churches. This is the +question of Subscription to Articles by the clergy.</p> + +<p>Let us now review the evils attendant on subscription, +and next consider the objections to its removal.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the process of restraining discussion +by penal tests is inherently untenable, absurd, +and fallacious.</p> + +<p>In support of this strong assertion, we have only +to repeat, that every man has an interest in getting at +the truth, and consequently in whatever promotes +that end. We live by the truth; error is death. To +stand between a man and the attainment of truth, is +to inflict an injury of incalculable amount. The +circumstances wherein the prohibition of truth is +desirable, must be extraordinary and altogether exceptional. +The few may have a self-interest in +withholding truth from the many; neither the few +nor the many have an interest in its being withheld +from themselves. Each one of us has the most direct +concern in knowing on what plan this universe is +constituted, what are its exact arrangements and +laws. Whether for the present life, or for any other +life, we must steer our course by our knowledge, and +that knowledge needs to be true. Obstruction to the +truth recoils upon the obstructors. To flee to the +refuge of lies is not the greatest happiness of anybody.</p> + +<p>It has been maintained that there are illusions so +beneficial as to be preferable to truth. Occasionally, +in private life, we practise little deceptions upon individuals +when the truth would cause some great temporary +mischief. This case need not be discussed. +The important instance is in reference to religious +belief. A benevolent Deity and a future life are so +cheering and consoling, it is said, that they should be +secured against challenge or criticism; they ought +not to be weakened by discussion. This, of course, +assumes that these doctrines are unable to maintain +themselves against opponents, that, with all their +intrinsic charm (which nobody can be indifferent to), +they would give way under a free handling. Such a +confession is fatal. Men will go on cherishing pleasing +illusions, but not such as need to be <i>protected</i> in +order to exist. According to Plato, the belief in the +goodness of the Deity was of so great importance +that it was to be maintained by state penalties—about +the worst way of making the belief efficacious +for its end. What should we think of an Act passed +to imprison whoever disputed the goodness of King +Alfred, the Man of Ross, or Howard?</p> + +<p>Granting that certain illusions are highly beneficial, +it does not follow that they are to be exempted from +criticism. Their effect depends on the prestige of +their truth. That is, they must have reasons on their +side. But a doctrine is not supported by reasons, +unless the objections are stated and answered; not +sham objections, but the real difficulties of an enquiring +mind. If the statement of such difficulties is +forcibly suppressed, the rational foundations will +sooner or later be sapped.</p> + +<p>[FREEDOM ESSENTIAL TO THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.]</p> + +<p>If illusions are themselves good, freedom of thought +will give us the best. Why should we protect inferior +illusions against the discovery of the superior? The +unfettered march of the intellect may improve the +quality of our illusions as illusions, while also +strengthening their foundations. If religion be a +good thing, the best religion is the best thing; and +we cannot be sure of having the best, if men are +forbidden to make a search.</p> + +<p>Supposing, then, truth is desirable, the means to the +end are desirable. Now one of the means is perfect +liberty to call in question every opinion whatsoever. +This is not all that is necessary; it is not even the +principal condition of the discovery of new truth. It +is, however, an indispensable adjunct, a negative condition. +While laborious search for facts, care in +comparing them, genius in detecting deep identities, +are the highways to knowledge,—the permission to +promulgate new doctrines and to counter-argue the +old is equally essential. Men cannot be expected +to go through the toil of making discoveries at the +hazard of persecution. If a few have done so, it is +their glory and everybody else's shame.</p> + +<p>That the torch of truth should be shaken till it +shine, is generally admitted. Still, exceptions are +made; otherwise the present argument would be +superfluous. On certain subjects there is a demand +for protection against innovating views. The implication +is that, in these subjects, truth is better arrived +at by delegating the search to a few, and treating +their judgment as final. I need not ask where we +should have been, if this mode of arriving at truth +had been followed universally. The monopoly of +enquiry claimed for the higher subjects, if set up in +the lower, would be treated as the empire of darkness.</p> + +<p>Second. The subscription to articles, and the enforcement +of a creed by penalties, are nugatory for +their own purpose; they fail to secure uniformity of +belief.</p> + +<p>This is shown in various ways. For instance, to +inculcate adhesion to a set of articles, is merely to +ensure that none shall use words that formally deny +one or other of the doctrines prescribed. It does not +say, that the subscriber shall teach the whole round +of doctrines, in their due order and proportion. A +preacher may at pleasure omit from his pulpit discourses +any single doctrine; so that, in so far as his +ministrations are concerned, to the hearers such +doctrine is non-existent; without being denied, it is +ignored. Against omission, a prosecution for heresy +would not hold. In this way, the clergy have always +had a certain amount of liberty, and have freely used +it. In so doing, they have altered the whole character +of the prescribed creed, without being technically +heterodox. Everyone of us has listened to preachers +of this description. Some ignore the Trinity, some +the Atonement; many nowadays, without denying +future punishment, never mention hell to ears polite. +If the rigorous exclusion of a leading doctrine should +excite misgivings, a very slight, formal, and passing +admission may be made, while the stress of exhortation +is thrown upon quite different points.</p> + +<p>[SUBSCRIPTION FAILS TO ATTAIN ITS END.]</p> + +<p>To attain a conviction for heresy, involving deprivation +of office, the forms of justice must be respected. +It is only under peculiar circumstances, that the +ecclesiastical authority can be content with saying, "I +do not like thee, Dr. Fell, or Dr. Smith, and I depose +thee accordingly". A regular trial, with proof of +specific contradiction of specific articles, allowing the +accused the full benefit of his explanations, must be +the rule in every corporation that respects justice. +In the Church of England, a man cannot be deprived +unless he contradict the articles clearly and consistently; +the smallest incoherence on his part, the +slightest vacillation in the rigour of his denial, is +enough to save him. We may easily imagine, therefore, +how widely a clergyman may stray from the +fair, ordinary, current rendering of the doctrines of +the Church, without danger. The whole essence of +Christianity may be perverted under a few cunning +precautions and by observing a few verbal formalities.</p> + +<p>It has been pointed out, many times over, that the +legally imposed creeds were the creatures of accident +and circumstances at the time of their enactment, +and are wholly unsuitable to the conservation of the +more permanent and essential articles of the Christian +faith. The amount of heresy, as against the more +truly representative doctrines, that may pass through +their meshes is very great.</p> + +<p>This weakness is aggravated by another—the want +of any provision for amending the creed from time to +time. If it were desirable to adopt measures for +maintaining uniformity of opinions among the clergy, +the creed should be excised, or added to, according to +the needs of every age. That this is not done, shows +that the machinery of tests is altogether abnormal; it +is not within the type of regular legislation. That +any given creed should be regarded as out of keeping, +as both redundant and defective, and yet that the +ecclesiastical authority should shrink from applying a +remedy to its most obvious defects, proves that the +system itself is bad. All healthy legislation lends +itself to perpetual improvement; that the enactments +of articles of belief cannot be reconsidered, is a sign +of rottenness.</p> + +<p>A third objection to tests is, that mere dogmatic +uniformity, if it were more complete than any tests can +make it, is at best but a part of the religious character. +It does nothing to secure or promote fervour, feeling, +the emotional element in religion. It is by moral heat, +far more than by its mould of doctrine, that religion +influences mankind. There is no means of censuring +preachers for coldness or languid indifference; or +rather, there is another and more legitimate means +than penal prosecutions, namely, expressed dissatisfaction +and the preference of those that excel in the +quality. A warm, glowing manner, an unctuous +delivery, commands hearers and conducts to popularity +and importance. The men of cold and unfeeling +natures may get into office, but they are lightly +esteemed. They are not had up to a public trial and +deposed, but they are treated, and spoken of, in such +a way as to discourage men of their type from becoming +preachers, and to encourage the other sort. +There are many qualifications that go to forming a +good preacher; the holding of the creed of the body +is only one. Yet, with the exception of gross immorality +or abandonment of duty, correctness of creed +is the only one that is subjected to the extreme +penalty of loss of office; the others are secured by +different means. Is it too much to infer that, without +the extreme penalty, a reasonable conformity to the +prevailing creed might also be secured?</p> + +<p>[ELEMENT OF FEELING NOT SECURED.]</p> + +<p>The importance of the element of feeling has been +most perceived in times when the religious current +was strongest. At these times, its expression would +not be hemmed in by rigorous formulas. The first +communication of religious doctrines has always +partaken of a broad and free rendering; apparent +discrepancies were disregarded. To reduce all the +utterances of the prophets and the apostles to definite +forms and rigid dogmas, was to misconceive the +situation. We may well suppose that the New +Testament writers would have refused to subscribe +the Athanasian Creed or the Westminster Confession; +not because these were in flat contradiction to Scripture, +but because the way of embodying the religious +verities in these documents would be repugnant to +their ideas of form in such matters. The creed-builders +may have been never so anxious to give +exact equivalents of the original authorities; yet +their fine distinctions and subtle logic would have, in +all probability, been ranked by Paul and Peter among +the latter-day perversions of the faith. The very composition +of a creed would have been as distasteful to the +first century, as it is incongruous to the nineteenth.</p> + +<p>The evil operation of religious tests, and of the +accompanying intolerance of the public mind as shown +towards any form of dissent from the stereotyped +orthodoxy, admits of a very wide handling. It is of +course the problem of religious liberty. Some parts +of the argument need to be reproduced here, to help +us in replying to the objections against an unconditional +abolition of compulsory creeds.</p> + +<p>In conversing, many years ago, with the late Jules +Mohl, the great Oriental scholar, professor of Persian +in the College de France, I was much struck with his +account of the nature of his duties as an expounder +of the modern Persian authors. These authors, for +example the poet Sadi, were in creed adherents of the +ancient Persian fire-worship, notwithstanding the Mohammedan +conquest of their country. They were, of +course, forbidden to avow that creed directly; and in +consequence, they had recourse to a form of composition +by <i>doubles entendres</i>, veiling the ancient creed +under Mohammedan forms. Mohl's business, as their +expounder, was to strip off the disguise and show the +true bearings of the writers, under their show of conformity +to the established opinions.</p> + +<p>This is a typical illustration of what has happened +in Europe for more than two thousand years. The +first recorded martyr to free speculation in philosophy +was Anaxagoras in Greece. Muleted in the sum of +five talents, and expelled from Athens, he was considered +fortunate in being allowed to retire to Lampsacus +and end his days there. His fate, however, was +soon eclipsed by the execution of Socrates,—an event +whereby the Athenian burghers were enabled to bias +the expression of free opinions from that time to this. +The first person to feel the shock was Plato. That he +was affected by it, to the extent of suppressing his +views on the higher questions, we can infer with the +greatest probability.</p> + +<p>[CONSEQUENCES OF THE EXECUTION OF SOCRATES.]</p> + +<p>Aristotle was equally cowed. A little before his +death, the chief priest of Eleusis, following the Socratic +precedent, entered an indictment against him for +impiety. This indictment was supported by citations +of certain heretical doctrines from his published +writings; on which Grote makes the significant remark, +that his paean in honour of his friend Hermeias would +be more offensive to the feelings of an ordinary +Athenian citizen than any philosophical dogma extracted +from the <i>cautious prose compositions</i> of Aristotle. +That is to say, the execution of Socrates was +always before his eyes; he had to pare his expressions +so as not to give offence to Athenian orthodoxy. +We can never know the full bearings of such a disturbing +force. The editors of Aristotle complain of +the corruptness of his text; a far worse corruptness +lies behind. In Greece, Socrates alone had the +courage of his opinions. While his views as to a +future life, for example, are plain and frank, the real +opinion of Aristotle on the question is an insoluble +problem. Now, considering the enormous sway of +Aristotle in modern Europe,—how desirable was it +that his real sentiments had reached us unperverted +by the Athenian burgher and the hemlock!</p> + +<p>It would be too adventurous to continue the illustration +in detail through the Christian ages. It is +well known that the later schoolmen strove to represent +reason as against authority, but wrote under +the curb of the Papal power; hence their aims can +only be divined. A modern instance or two will be +still more effective.</p> + +<p>It can at last be clearly seen what was the motive +of Carlyle's perplexing style of composition. We +now know what his opinions were, when he began +to write, and that to express them then would +have been fatal to his success; yet he was not a +man to indulge in rank hypocrisy. He, accordingly, +adopted a studied and ambiguous phraseology, +which for long imposed upon the religious public, +who put their own interpretation upon his mystical +utterances, and gave him the benefit of any doubts. +In the "Life of Sterling" he threw off the mask, but +still was not taken at his word. Had there been a +perfect tolerance of all opinions he would have begun +as he ended; and his strain of composition, while still +mystical and high-flown, would never have been +identified with our national orthodoxy.</p> + +<p>I have grave doubts as to whether we possess +Macaulay's real opinions on religion. His way of +dealing with the subject is so like the hedging of an +unbeliever that, without some good assurance to the +contrary, I must include him also among the imitators +of Aristotle's "caution". Some future critic will +devote himself, like Professor Mohl, to expounding +his ambiguous utterances.</p> + +<p>[EVIL OF DISFRANCHISING THE CLERGY.]</p> + +<p>When Sir Charles Lyell brought out his "Antiquity +of Man" he too was cautious. Knowing the dangers +of his footing, he abstained from giving an estimate +of the extension of time required by his evidences of +human remains. Society in London, however, would +not put up with that reticence, and he had to disclose +at dinner parties what he had withheld from the public +—namely, that, in his opinion, the duration of man +could not be less than fifty thousand years.</p> + +<p>These few instances must suffice to represent a long +history of compelled reticence on the part of the men +best qualified to instruct mankind. The question now +is—What has been gained by it? What did the +condemnation of Socrates do for the Athenian public? +What did the chief priest of Eleusis hope to +attain by indicting Aristotle? Unless we can show, +as is no doubt attempted, that the set of opinions that +happen to be consecrated at any one time, whether +right or wrong, were essential to the existence of +society,—then the attempt to improve upon them was +truly meritorious, instead of being censurable. If the +good of society as a whole is not plainly implicated, +there remains only the interest of the place-holders +under the existing system, as opposed to the interest +of the mass of the people, who are, one and all, concerned +in knowing the truth.</p> + +<p>Again contracting the discussion to the narrow +limits of the title of the essay, I must urge the special +injury done to mankind by disfranchising the whole +clerical class; that is to say, by depriving their authority +of its proper weight in matters of faith. It is +an incontrovertible rule of evidence, that the authority +of an interested party is devoid of worth. Reasons +are good in themselves, whoever utters them; but in +trusting to authority, apart from reason, we need a +disinterested authority. This the clergy at present +are not, except on the points left undecided by the +articles. If a man has five thousand a year, conditional +on his holding certain views, his holding those +views says nothing in their favour. For a much less +bribe, plenty of men can be 'got to maintain any +opinions whatsoever. When to this is added that, for +certain other views, the holders are subjected to loss +—it may be to fine, imprisonment, or death,—the +value of men's adhesion to the favoured creed, as mere +authority, is simply <i>nil</i>.</p> + +<p>Truth, honesty, outspokenness, are not so well established +as virtues, that we can afford to subject +them to discouragement. The contrary course would +be more for the general good in every way. When +the law is intolerant in principle, men will be hypocrites +from policy. You cannot train children to speak +the truth if, from whatever cause, they have an interest +in deception. A repressive discipline induces a +coarse outward submission, but cannot reach the inward +parts: it only engenders hatred, and substitutes +for open revolt an insidious secret retaliation. Those +only that come under the generous nurture of freedom +can be counted on for hearty and willing devotion. +If we would reap the higher virtues, we must sow on +the soil of liberty. Encourage a man to say whatever +he thinks, and you make the most of him; for difficult +questions, where the mind needs all its powers, +there should be no burdensome 'caution' in giving +out the results.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[RELAXATION NOW PRESSING.]</p> + +<p>The imposing of subscription has its defenders, and +these have to be fairly met. First, however, let us +advert to the reasons why relaxation is more pressing +now than formerly.</p> + +<p>It is known that, among dissentients from the leading +dogmas of the prevailing creed of Christendom, +are to be included some of the most authoritative +names of the last three centuries; our present formulas +would not have been subscribed by Bacon, +Newton, Locke, Kant; unless from mere pliancy and +for the sake of quiet, like Hobbes. If they had +been in clerical orders, and had freely avowed their +opinions as we know them, they would have been liable +to deposition. Yet the difficulties that these men +might feel were far less than those that now beset the +profession of our prevailing creeds. The advances of +knowledge on all the subjects that come into contact +with the various articles, as received by the orthodox +Churches, may not, indeed, compel the relinquishment +of those articles, but will force the holders to change +front, to re-shape them in different forms. To such +necessary modification, the creeds are a fatal obstacle. +On a few points, such as the Creation in six days, these +have been found elastic. The doctrine that death +came by the fall has been explained away as spiritual +death. This process cannot go much further, without +too much paltering with obvious meanings. The +recently-proclaimed doctrine of the Antiquity of Man +comes into apparent conflict with man's creation and +fall, as set forth in Genesis, on which are suspended +the most vital doctrines of our creed. A reconciliation +may be possible, but not without a very extensive +modification of the scheme of the Atonement. +It is not necessary to press Darwin's doctrine of Evolution; +the deficiency of positive proof for that hypothesis +may always be pleaded, as against the havoc +it would make with the more distinctive points of +Christian doctrine. But the existence of man on the +earth, at the very lowest statement, must be carried +back twenty thousand years; this is not hypothesis, but +fact. The record of the creation and the fall of man +will probably have to be subjected to a process of +allegorising, but with inevitable loss. Now, whoever +refuses a matter of fact counts on being severely +handled; it is a different thing to refuse an allegory.</p> + +<p>The modern doctrine named the "struggle for existence" +is the old difficulty, known as "the origin of +evil," presented in a new shape. It is rendered more +formidable, as a stumbling-block to the benevolence of +the Author of nature, by making what was considered +exceptional the rule. It gathers up into one comprehensive +statement the scattered occasions of misery, +and reveals a system whereby the few thrive at the +expense of the many. The apologist for Divine goodness +has thus an aggravation of his load, and needs +to be freed from all unnecessary trammels in the +shaping of his creed.</p> + +<p>[OPPOSING DOGMAS TO THE RECONCILED.]</p> + +<p>It has not escaped attention, that the honours paid +to the illustrious Darwin, are an admission that our +received Christianity is open to revision. In consequence +of a few conciliatory phrases, Darwin has been +credited with theism; nevertheless he has ridden +rough-shod over all that is characteristic in our established +creeds. Can the creeds come scathless out of +the ordeal?</p> + +<p>It is passing from the greater to the less, to dwell +upon the increasing difficulties connected with the +Inspiration of the Bible. The Church-of-Englander +luckily escapes making shipwreck here; the legal +interpretation of the formularies saves him. Yet +to mankind, generally, it seems necessary that a +superior weight should attach to a revealed book; +and the other Churches cling to some form of +inspiration, notwithstanding the growing difficulties +attending it. Here too there must be more freedom +given to the men that would extricate the situation. +At all events, the doctrine should be made an open +question. Even Cardinal Newman suggests doubts +as to its being an imperative portion of the creed.</p> + +<p>The attacks made on all sides against the Miraculous +element in religion will force on a change of +front. When an eminent popular writer and sincere +friend of the Church of England surrenders miracles +without the slightest compunction, it needs not the +elaborate argumentation of "Supernatural Religion" +to show that some new treatment of the question is +called for. But may it not be impossible to put the +new wine into the sworn bottles?</p> + +<p>Like most great innovations, the proposal to liberate +the clergy from all restraint as to the opinions +that they may promulgate, necessarily encounters +opposition. We are, therefore, bound to consider +the reasons on the other side.</p> + +<p>These reasons may be quoted in mass. As regards +Established Churches in particular, it is said there is +a State compact or understanding with the clergy +that they should teach certain doctrines and no other; +that if tests were abolished, there would be no security +against the most extreme opinions; men eating the +bread of a Reformed Church might inculcate Romanism +instead of Protestantism; the pulpits might +give forth Deism or Agnosticism. No sect could +hope to maintain its principles, if the clergy might +preach any doctrine that pleased themselves. More +especially would it be monstrous and unjust, to allow +the rich benefices of our highly endowed Church of +England to be enjoyed by men whose hearts are in +some quite different form of religion, or no religion, +and who would occupy themselves in drawing men +away from the faith.</p> + +<p>On certain assumptions, these arguments have great +force. Clearly a man ought not to take pay for +doing one thing and do something quite different. +When a body of religionists come together upon +certain tenets, it would be a <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> +for any of its ministers to be occupied in denying and +controverting these tenets.</p> + +<p>All this supposes, however, that men will not be +made to conform by any means short of prosecution and +deprivation; that the suspending of a severe penalty +over men's heads is in itself a harmless device; and +that religious systems are now stereotyped to our +satisfaction, so that to deviate from them is mere +wantonness and love of singularity. Such are the +assumptions that we feel called upon to challenge.</p> + +<p>The plea that the Church has engaged itself to +the State to teach certain tenets, in return for its +emoluments and privileges, has lost its point in our +time. 'L'état, c'est moi.' The Church and the State +are composed of the same persons. Gibbon's famous +<i>mot</i> has collapsed. 'The religions of the Roman +world,' he says, 'were all considered by the people as +equally true, by the philosopher as equally false, and +by the magistrate as equally useful' The people are +now their own magistrates, and the true and the useful +must contrive to unite upon the same thing. If the +Church feels subscription and fixity of creed a burden, +it has only to turn its members to account in their +capacity of citizens of the State to relieve itself. If +it silently ignores the creed, it is still responsible +mainly to itself.</p> + +<p>[POSSIBLE ABUSES OF CLERICAL FREEDOM.]</p> + +<p>The more serious objection is the possible abuse of +the freedom of the clergy to utter opinions at variance +with the prevailing creed. This position needs a careful +scrutiny.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the argument: supposes a condition +of things that has now ceased. When creeds +were accepted in their literality by the bodies professing +them, when the state of general opinion contained +nothing hostile, and suggested no difficulties,—for any +one member of a body to turn traitor may have well +seemed mere perversity, temper, love of singularity, +or anything but a wish to get at truth. The offence +assumed the character of a moral obliquity, and discipline +can never be relaxed for immorality proper.</p> + +<p>All the circumstances are now changed. The ministers +and members of religious communities no longer +cherish the same set of doctrines with only immaterial +varieties; they no longer accept their articles +in the sense of the original framers. The body at +large has contracted the immoral taint; the whole +head is sick; any remaining soundness is not with +the acquiescent mass, but with the out-spoken individuals. +In such a state of things, ordinary rules are +inapplicable. There is a sort of paralysis of authority, +an uncertainty whether to punish or to wink at flagrant +heresy. To say in such a case that the relaxation +of the creed is not a thing to be proposed, is to +confess, like Livy on the condition of Rome, that we +can endure neither our vices nor their remedies.</p> + +<p>Too much has at all times been made of individual +divergences from the established creed. The influence +of a solitary preacher smitten with the love of +heretical peculiarity has been grossly overrated. The +assumption is, that his own flock will, as a matter of +course, follow their shepherd; that is to say, the adhesion +of individual congregations to the creed of the +Church depends upon its being faithfully reproduced +by their regular minister. Such is not by any means +the fact; the creed of the members of a Church is +not at the mercy of any passing influence. It has been +engrained by a plurality of influences; one man did not +make it, and one man cannot unmake it. Moreover, +allowance should be made for the spirit of opposition +found in Church members, as well as in other people.</p> + +<p>[INDIVIDUAL DIVERGENCES UNIMPORTANT.]</p> + +<p>It may be said that persons ought not to be subjected +to the annoyance of hearing attacks upon +their hereditary tenets, in which they expect to be +more and more confirmed by their spiritual teacher. +This is of course, in itself, an evil. We are not to +expect ordinary men to recognise the necessity of +listening to the arguments against their views, in +order to hold these all the stronger. If this height +were generally reached, every Church would invite, as +a part of its constituted machinery, a representative +of all the heresies afloat; a certain number of its +ministers should be the avowed champions of the +views most opposed to its own—<i>advocati diaboli</i>, so +to speak. There would then be nothing irregular in +the retention of converts from its own number to +these other doctrines. It would be, however, altogether +improper to found any argument on the supposition +of such a state of matters.</p> + +<p>It is an incident of every institution made up of +a large collection of officials, that some one or more +are always below the standard of efficiency, whence +those that depend on their services must suffer inconvenience. +A great amount of dulness in preaching +has always to be tolerated; so also might an occasional +deviation from orthodoxy; the more so, that the +severity of the discipline for heresy has a good deal +to do with the dulness.</p> + +<p>If heretical tendencies have shown themselves in a +Church communion, either they are absurd, unmeaning, +irrelevant—perhaps a reversion to some defunct +opinion,—or they are the suggestion of new knowledge +in theology, or outside of it. In the first case, they +will die a natural death, unless prosecution gives them +importance; in the other case, they are to be candidly +examined, to be met by argument rather than by +deposition. An individual heretic can always be +neglected; if he is enthusiastic and able, he may +have a temporary following, especially when the +community has sunk into torpor. If two or three in +a hundred adopt erroneous opinions, it is nothing; if +thirty or forty in a hundred have been led astray, the +matter hangs dubious, and discretion is advisable. +When a majority is gained, the fulness of the time +has arrived; the heresy has triumphed.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>However strong may be the theoretical reasons for +the abolition of the penal sanctions to orthodoxy, +they do not dispense with the confirmation of experience; +and I must next refer to the more prominent +examples of Churches constituted on the +principle of freedom to the clergy.</p> + +<p>[THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH EXEMPLARY.]</p> + +<p>The most remarkable and telling instance is that +furnished by the English Presbyterian Church, with +its coadjutor in Ireland. The history of this Church +is not unfamiliar to us; the great lawsuit relating to +Lady Hewley's charity gave notoriety to the changes +of opinion that had come over it in the course of a +century. But whoever is earnest on the question as +to the expediency of tests should study the history +thoroughly, as being in every way most instructive. +The leading facts, as concerns the present argument, +are mainly these:—</p> + +<p>First, the great decision at the Salters' Hall conference, +on the 10th of March, 1719, when, by a +majority of 73 to 69, it was resolved to exact no test +from the clergy as a condition of their being ordained +ministers of the body. The point more immediately +at issue was the Trinity, on which opinions had been +already divided; but the decision was general. The +principle of the right of private judgment admitted of +no exceptions.</p> + +<p>Second. Long before this decision, the minds of +the ministers had been ripening to the conviction, +that creeds and subscriptions could do no good, and +often did harm, indeed, the terms employed by +some of them are everything that we now desire. +For example, Joseph Hunter, on the eve of the +decision, wrote thus: "We have always thought that +such human declarations of faith were far from being +eligible on their own account, since they tend to narrow +the foundations of Christianity and to restrain that +latitude of expression in which our great Legislator +has seen fit to deliver His Will to us".</p> + +<p>Third. Most remarkable is it to witness the consequences +of this great act of emancipation. A +hundred and sixty-five years have elapsed—a sufficient +time for judging of the experiment. The +Presbyterian body at the time were made up partly +of Arians, partly of Trinitarians, who held each other +in mutual tolerance; the ministers freely exchanging +pulpits. No bad consequence followed. We +do not hear of individual ministers going to extravagant +lengths in either direction. A large body +gravitated, in the course of time, to the modern +Unitarian position; but, considering the start, the +stride was not great. In such a century as the +eighteenth, there might well have been greater modifications +of the creeds than actually occurred. Evidently, +in the absence of any compulsory adherence +to settled articles, there was an abundant tendency to +conservatism. Commencing with Baxter, Howe, and +Calamy, we find, in the course of the century, such +names as Lardner, Price, Priestley, Belsham, Kippis, +James Lindsay, Lant Carpenter—men of liberal and +enlightened views on all political questions, and +earnest in their good works. These men's testimony +to what is truth in religion, is of more value to us +than the opinions of the creed-bound clergy. Reason +is still reason, but the weight of authority is with the +free enquirers.</p> + +<p>Fourth. The history of the Presbyterians answers +a question that may be properly asked of the creed-abolitionist; +namely, What bond is left to hold a +religious community together? The bond, in their +case, simply was voluntary adhesion and custom. A +religious community may hold together, like a political +party, with only a vague tacit understanding. +When a body is once formed, it has an outward +cohesion, which is quite enough for maintaining it in +the absence of explosive materials. The established +Churches could retain their historical continuity under +any modification of the articles. By the present +system, they have been habituated to take their creed +as their legal definition; for that they could substitute +their history and framework.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[MODES OF TRANSITION FROM THE PRESENT SYSTEM.]</p> + +<p>Various modes have been suggested for making +the transition from the present system.</p> + +<p>One way is, to fall back upon the Bible as a test. +This is the same as no test at all. A man could not +call himself a Christian minister, if he did not accept +the Bible in some sense; and it would be obviously +impracticable to frame a libel, and conduct a process +for heresy, on an appeal to the Old and New Testaments +at large. The Bible may be the first source of +the Christian faith, but other confluent streams have +entered into its development; and we must accept +the consequences of a fact that we cannot deny. +However much religion may have to be broadened +and liberalised, the operation cannot consist in reverting +to the literal phraseology of the Bible.</p> + +<p>A second method is, to prune away the portions +of the creed that are no longer tenable. It could +not have been intended by the original framers of +the creeds, that they should remain untouched for +centuries. With many Churches, there was a clear +understanding that the formulas should be revised at +brief intervals. The non-established Churches show +a disposition to resume this power. The United +Presbyterian Church of Scotland has had the courage +to make a beginning; still, relief will not in this way +be given to minorities, and small changes do not +correspond to the demands of new situations.</p> + +<p>A more effectual mode is to discourage and suspend +prosecutions for heresy. The practice of heresy-hunting +might be allowed to fall into disuse. Instead of +deposing heretics, the orthodox champions should +simply refute them.</p> + +<p>In the Church of England, in particular, a change +of the law may be necessary to give the desired relaxation. +The judges before whom heretics are tried +are very exacting in the matter of evidence, but they +cannot stop a prosecution made in regular form. The +Church of Scotland has more latitude in this respect, +and has already given indications of entering on the +path leading to desuetude.<a name="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17"><sup>[17]</sup></a></p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17">[17]</a><div class="note"><p> See, at the end, Notes and References on the history and +practice of Subscription and Penal Tests.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='EIX'></a><h2>IX.</h2> + +<h2>THE PROCEDURE OF DELIBERATIVE +BODIES.<a name="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18"><sup>[18]</sup></a></h2> + +<p>That great institution of political liberty, the Deliberative +Assembly, seems to be on the eve of +breaking down. I do not speak merely of the highest +assembly in the country, but of the numerous smaller +bodies as well, from many of which a cry of distress +may be heard. The one evil in all is the intolerable +length of the debates. Business has increased, local +representative bodies have a larger membership than +formerly, and, notwithstanding the assistance rendered +by committees, the meetings are protracted beyond +bounds.</p> + +<p>In this difficulty, attention naturally fastens, in the +first instance, on the fact that the larger part of the +speaking is entirely useless; neither informing nor +convincing any of the hearers, and yet occupying the +time allotted for the despatch of business. How to +eliminate and suppress this ineffectual oratory would +appear to be the point to consider. But as Inspiration +itself did not reveal a mode of separating in advance +the tares from the wheat, so there is not now any +patent process for insuring that, in the debates of +corporate bodies, the good speaking, and only the good +speaking, shall be allowed.</p> + +<p>Partial solutions of the difficulty are not wanting. +The inventors of corporate government—the Greeks, +were necessarily the inventors of the forms of debate, +and they introduced the timing of the speakers. To +this is added, occasionally, the selection of the +speakers, a practice that could be systematically +worked, if nothing else would do. Both methods have +their obvious disadvantages. The arbitrary selection +of speakers, even by the most impartial Committee of +Selection, would, according to our present notions, +seem to infringe upon a natural right, the right of each +member of a body to deliver an opinion, and give the +reasons for it. It would seem like reviving the censorship +of the press, to allow only a select number to be +heard on all occasions.</p> + +<p>May not something be done to circumvent this vast +problem? May there not be a greater extension +given to maxims and forms of procedure already in +existence?</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[OBVIATING HURRIED DECISIONS.]</p> + +<p>First, then, we recognize in various ways the propriety +of obviating hurried and unpremeditated +decisions. Giving previous notice of motions has that +end in view; although, perhaps, this is more commonly +regarded simply as a protection to absentees. Advantage +is necessarily taken of the foreknowledge of +the business to prepare for the debates. It is a farther +help, that the subject has been already discussed somewhere +or other by a committee of the body, or by the +agency of the public press. Very often an assembly +is merely called upon to decide upon the adoption of +a proposal that has been long canvassed out of doors. +The task of the speakers is then easy—we might almost +say no speaking should be required: but this is to +anticipate.</p> + +<p>In legislation by Parliament, the forms allow +repetition of the debates at least three times in both +Houses. This is rather a cumbrous and costly remedy +for the disadvantage, in debate, of having to reply to +a speaker who has just sat down. In principle, no +one ought to be called to answer an argumentative +speech on the spur of the moment. The generality +of speakers are utterly unfit for the task, and accordingly +do it ill. A few men, by long training, acquire +the power of casting their thoughts into speaking train, +so as to make a good appearance in extempore reply; +yet even these would do still better if they had a little +time. The adjournment of a debate, and the reopening +of a question at successive stages, furnish the real +opportunities for effective reply. In a debate begun +and ended at one sitting, the speaking takes very +little of the form of an exhaustive review, by each +speaker, of the speeches that went before.</p> + +<p>It is always reckoned a thing of course to take the +vote as soon as the debate is closed. There are some +historical occasions when a speech on one side has +been so extraordinarily impressive that an adjournment +has been moved to let the fervour subside; but +it is usually not thought desirable to let a day elapse +between the final reply and the division. This is a +matter of necessity in the case of the smaller corporations, +which have to dispose of all current business at +one sitting; but when a body meets for a succession +of days, it would seem to be in accordance with sound +principle not to take the vote on the same day as the +debate.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[ASSUMPTIONS AT THE BASIS OF ORAL DEBATE.]</p> + +<p>These few remarks upon one important element of +procedure are meant to clear the way for a somewhat +searching examination of the principles that govern +the, entire system of oral debate. It is this practice +that I propose to put upon its trial. The grounds of +the practice I take to be the following:—</p> + +<p>1. That each member of a deliberative body shall +be provided with a complete statement of the facts +and reasons in favour of a proposed measure, and also +an equally complete account of whatever can be said +against it. And this is a requirement I would concede +to the fullest extent. No decision should be asked +upon a question until the reasonings <i>pro</i> and <i>con</i> are +brought fairly within the reach of every one; to which +I would add—in circumstances that give due time for +consideration of the whole case.</p> + +<p>2. The second ground is that this ample provision +of arguments, for and against, should be made by oral +delivery. Whatever opportunities members may have +previously enjoyed for mastering a question, these are +all discounted when the assembly is called to pronounce +its decision. The proposer of the resolution +invariably summarizes, if he is able, all that is to be +said for his proposal; his arguments are enforced and +supplemented by other speakers on his side; while +the opposition endeavours to be equally exhaustive. +In short, though one were to come to the meeting +with a mind entirely blank, yet such a one, having +ordinary faculties of judging, would in the end be +completely informed, and prepared for an intelligent +vote.</p> + +<p>Now, I am fully disposed to acquiesce in this second +assumption likewise, but with a qualification that is of +considerable moment, as we shall see presently.</p> + +<p>3. The third and last assumption is as follows:—Not +only is the question in all its bearings supposed +to be adequately set forth in the speeches constituting +the debate, but, in point of fact, the mass of the +members, or a very important section or proportion of +them, rely upon this source, make full use of it, and +are equipped for their decision by means of it; so +much so, that if it were withdrawn none of the other +methods as at present plied, or as they might be plied, +would give the due preparation for an intelligent +vote; whence must ensue a degradation in the quality +of the decisions.</p> + +<p>It is this assumption that I am now to challenge, in +the greatest instance of all, as completely belied by +the facts. But, indeed, the case is so notoriously +the opposite, that the statement of it will be unavoidably +made up of the stalest commonplaces; and the +novelty will lie wholly in the inference.</p> + +<p>The ordinary attendance in the House of Commons +could be best described by a member or a regular +official. An outsider can represent it only by the +current reports. My purpose does not require great +accuracy; it is enough, that only a very small fraction +of the body makes up the average audience. If an +official were posted to record the fluctuating numbers +at intervals of five minutes, the attendance might be +recorded and presented in a curve like the fluctuations +of the barometer; but this would be misleading as to +the proportion of effective listeners—those that sat out +entire debates, or at all events the leading speeches of +the debates, or whose intelligence was mainly fed from +the speaking in each instance. The number of this +class is next to impossible to get at; but it will be +allowed on all hands to be very small.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, in such an inquiry, most can be made of +indirect evidences. If members are to be qualified for +an intelligent decision in chief part by listening to the +speeches, why is not the House made large enough +to accommodate them all at once? It would appear +strange, on the spoken-debate theory of enlightenment, +that more than one-third should be permanently +excluded by want of space. One might naturally +suppose that, in this fact, there was a breach of +privilege of the most portentous kind. That it is so +rarely alluded to as a grievance, even although +amounting to the exclusion of a large number of the +members from some of the grandest displays of +eloquence and the most exciting State communications, +is a proof that attendance in the House is not looked +upon as a high privilege, or as the <i>sine quâ non</i> of +political schooling.</p> + +<p>[EVIDENCE OF THE INUTILITY OF THE MERE SPEAKING.]</p> + +<p>If it were necessary to listen to the debates in order +to know how to vote, the messages of the whips would +take a different form. The members on each side +would be warned of the time of commencement of +each debate, that they might hear the comprehensive +statement of the opener, and remain at least through +the chief speech in reply. They might not attend all +through the inferior and desultory speaking, but they +would be ready to pop in when an able debater was +on his legs, and they would hear the leaders wind up +at the close. Such, however, is not the theory acted +on by the whips. They are satisfied if they can +procure attendance at the division, and look upon the +many hours spent in the debate as an insignificant +accessory, which could be disregarded at pleasure. +It would take the genius of a satirist to treat the +whipping-up machinery as it might well deserve to be +treated. We are here concerned with a graver view +of it—namely, to inquire whether the institution of +oral debate may not be transformed and contracted +in dimensions, to the great relief of our legislative +machinery.</p> + +<p>Of course, no one is ignorant of the fact that the great +body of members of Parliament refrain altogether +from weighing individually the opposing arguments in +the several questions, and trust implicitly to their +leaders. This, however, is merely another nail in the +coffin of the debating system. The theory of independent +and intelligent consideration, by each member, +of every measure that comes up, is the one most favourable +to the present plan, while, even on that theory, its +efficiency breaks down under a critical handling.</p> + +<p>It is time now to turn to what will have come into +the mind of every reader of the last few paragraphs—the +reporting of the speeches. Here, I admit, there is +a real and indispensable service to legislation. My +contention is, that in it we possess what is alone +valuable; and, if we could secure this, in its present +efficiency, with only a very small minimum of oral +delivery, we should be as well off as we are now. The +apparent self-contradiction of the proposal to report +speeches without speaking, is not hard to resolve.</p> + +<p>To come at once, then, to the mode of arriving at +the printed debates, I shall proceed by a succession +of steps, each one efficient in itself, without necessitating +a farther. The first and easiest device, and one +that would be felt of advantage in all bodies whatsoever, +would be for the mover of a resolution to give in, +along with the terms of his resolution, his reasons—in +fact, what he intends as his speech, to be printed and +distributed to each member previous to the meeting. +Two important ends are at once gained—the time of +a speech is saved, and the members are in possession +beforehand of the precise arguments to be used. The +debate is in this way advanced an important step +without any speaking; opponents can prepare for, +instead of having to improvise their reply, and every +one is at the outset a good way towards a final +judgment.</p> + +<p>[DEBATES INTRODUCED BY PRINTED STATEMENTS.]</p> + +<p>As this single device could be adopted alone, I will +try and meet the objections to it, if I am only fortunate +enough to light on any. My experience of +public bodies suggests but very few; and I think the +strongest is the reluctance to take the requisite trouble. +Most men think beforehand what they are to say in +introducing a resolution to a public body, but do not +consider it necessary to write down their speech at full. +Then, again, there is a peculiar satisfaction in holding +the attention of a meeting for a certain time, great in +proportion to the success of the effort. But, on the +other hand, many persons do write their speeches, and +many are not so much at ease in speaking but that +they would dispense with it willingly. The conclusive +answer on the whole is—the greater good of the +commonwealth. Such objections as these are not of +a kind to weigh down the manifest advantages, at all +events, in the case of corporations full of business and +pressed for time.</p> + +<p>I believe that a debate so introduced would be +shortened by more than the time gained by cutting +off the speech of the mover. The greater preparation +of everyone's mind at the commencement would +make people satisfied with a less amount of speaking, +and what there was would be more to the purpose.</p> + +<p>We can best understand the effects of such an +innovation by referring to the familiar experience of +having to decide on the Report of Committee, which +has been previously circulated among the members. +This is usually the most summary act of a deliberative +body; partly owing, no doubt, to the fact that the +concurrence of a certain proportion is already gained; +while the <i>pros</i> and <i>cons</i> have been sifted by a regular +conference and debate. Yet we all feel that we are in +a much better position by having had before us in +print, for some time previous, the materials necessary +to a conclusion. At a later stage, I will consider +the modes of raising the quality and status of the +introductory speech to something of the nature of a +Committee's Report.<a name="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19"><sup>[19]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The second step is to impose upon the mover of +every amendment the same obligation to hand in his +speech, in writing, along with the terms of the amendment. +Many public bodies do not require notice of +amendments. It would be in all cases a great improvement +to insist upon such notice, and of course a +still greater improvement to require the reasons to be +given in also, that they might be circulated as above. +The debate is now two steps in advance without a +moment's loss of time to the constituted meeting; +while what remains is likely to be much more rapidly +gone through.</p> + +<p>The movers of resolutions and of amendments +should, as a matter of course, have the right of reply; +a portion of the oral system that would, I presume, +survive all the advances towards printing direct.</p> + +<p>There remains, however, one farther move, in itself +as defensible, and as much fraught with advantage as +the two others. The resolution and the amendments +being in the hands of the members of a body, together +with the speeches in support of each, any member +might be at liberty to send in, also for circulation in +print, whatever remarks would constitute his speech +in the debate, thereby making a still greater saving of +the time of the body. This would, no doubt, be felt +as the greatest innovation of all, being tantamount to +the extinction of oral debate; there being then nothing +left but the replies of the movers. We need not, however, +go the length of compulsion; while a certain +number would choose to print at once, the others could +still, if they chose, abide by the old plan of oral +address. One can easily surmise that these last +would need to justify their choice by conspicuous +merit; an assembly, having in print so many speeches +already, would not be in a mood to listen to others of +indifferent quality.</p> + +<p>[THE MAGIC OF ORATORY NOT DONE AWAY WITH.]</p> + +<p>Such a wholesale transfer of living speech to the +silent perusal of the printed page, if seriously proposed +in any assembly, would lead to a vehement defence of +the power of spoken oratory. We should be told of +the miraculous sway of the human voice, of the way +that Whitfield entranced Hume and emptied +Franklin's purse; while, most certainly, neither of +these two would ever have perused one of his printed +sermons. And, if the reply were that Whitfield was +not a legislator, we should be met by the speeches of +Wilberforce and Canning and Brougham upon slavery, +where the thrill of the living voice accelerated the +conviction of the audience. In speaking of the +Homeric Assembly, Mr. Gladstone remarks, in answer +to Grote's argument to prove it a political nullity, +that the speakers were repeatedly cheered, and that +the cheering of an audience contributes to the decision.</p> + +<p>Now, I am not insensible to the power of speech, +nor to the multitudinous waves of human feeling +aroused in the encounters of oratory before a large +assembly. Apart from this excitement, it would often +be difficult to get people to go through the drudgery +of public meetings. Any plan that would abolish +entirely the dramatic element of legislation would +have small chance of being adopted. It is only when +the painful side of debate comes into predominance, +that we willingly forego some of its pleasures: the +intolerable weariness, the close air, the late nights, +must be counted along with the occasional thrills of +delirious excitement. But as far as regards our great +legislative bodies, it will be easy to show that there +would still exist, in other forms, an ample scope for +living oratory to make up for the deadness that would +fall upon the chief assembly.</p> + +<p>A friend of mine once went to Roebuck to ask his +attention to some point coming up in the House of +Commons, and offered him a paper to read. Roebuck +said, "I will not read, but I will hear". This well +illustrates one of the favourable aspects of speech. +People with time on their hands prefer being +instructed by the living voice; the exertion is less, and +the enlivening tones of a speaker impart an extraneous +interest, to which we have to add the sympathy of the +surrounding multitude. The early stages of instruction +must be conducted <i>vivâ voce</i>; it is a late acquirement +to be able to extract information from a printed page. +Yet circumstances arise when the advantage of the +printed page predominates. The more frequent +experience in approaching public men is to be told, +that they will not listen but will read. An hour's +address can be read in ten minutes: it is not impossible, +therefore, to master a Parliamentary debate in +one-tenth of the time occupied in the delivery.</p> + +<p>A passing remark is enough to point out the +revolution that would take place in Parliamentary +reporting, and in the diffusion of political instruction +through the press, by the system of printing the +speeches direct. The full importance of this result +will be more apparent in a little. There has been +much talk of late about the desirability of a more +perfect system of reporting, with a view to the +preservation of the debates. Yet it may be very much +doubted, whether the House of Commons would ever +incur the expense of making up for the defects of +newspaper reporting, by providing short-hand writers +to take down every word, with a view to printing in +full.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[SECONDING EXTENDED TO A PLURALITY OF BACKERS.]</p> + +<p>[PROPORTIONING OF BACKERS.]</p> + +<p>Before completing the survey of possible improvements +in deliberative procedure, I propose to extend +the employment of another device already in use, but +scarcely more than a form; I mean the requiring of a +seconder before a proposal can be debated. The +signification of this must be, that in order to obtain +the judgment of an assembly on any proposal, the +mover must have the concurrence of one other member; +a most reasonable condition surely. What I +would urge farther in the same direction is that, instead +of demanding one person in addition to the mover, as +necessary in all cases, there should be a varying +number according to the number of the assembly. In +a copartnery of three or four, to demand a seconder to +a motion would be absurd; in a body of six or eight +it is scarcely admissible. I have known bodies of ten +and twelve, where motions could be discussed without +a seconder; but even with these, there would be a +manifest propriety in compelling a member to convince +at least one other person privately before putting the +body to the trouble of a discussion. If, however, we +should begin the practice of seconding with ten, is one +seconder enough for twenty, fifty, a hundred, or six +hundred? Ought there not to be a scale of steady +increase in the numbers whose opinions have been +gained beforehand? Let us say three or four for an +assembly of five-and-twenty, six for fifty, ten or fifteen +for a hundred, forty for six hundred. It is permissible, +no doubt, to bring before a public body resolutions +that there is no immediate chance of carrying; what +is termed "ventilating" an opinion is a recognized +usage, and is not to be prohibited. But when business +multiplies, and time is precious, a certain check should +be put upon the ventilating of views that have as yet +not got beyond one or two individuals; the process +of conversion by out-of-door agency should have made +some progress in order to justify an appeal to the +body in the regular course of business. That the +House of Commons should ever be occupied by a +debate, where the movers could not command more +than four or five votes, is apparently out of all reason. +The power of the individual is unduly exalted at the +expense of the collective body. There are plenty of +other opportunities of gaining adherents to any +proposal that has something to be said for it; and +these should be plied up to the point of securing a +certain minimum of concurrence, before the ear of +the House can be commanded. With a body of six +hundred and fifty, the number of previously obtained +adherents would not be extravagantly high, if it were +fixed at forty. Yet considering that the current +business, in large assemblies, is carried on by perhaps +one-third or one-fourth of the whole, and that the +quorum in the House of Commons is such as to make +it possible for twenty-one votes to carry a decision of +the House, there would be an inconsistency in +requiring more than twenty names to back every bill +and every resolution and amendment that churned to +be discussed. Now I can hardly imagine restriction +upon the liberty of individual members more +defensible than this. If it were impossible to find any +other access to the minds of individual members than +by speeches in the House, or if all other modes of +conversion to new views were difficult and inefficient +in comparison, then we should say that the time of +the House must be taxed for the ventilating process. +Nothing of the kind, however, can be maintained. +Moreover, although the House may be obliged to +listen to a speech for a proposal that has merely half +a dozen of known supporters, yet, whenever this is +understood to be the case, scarcely any one will be at +the trouble of counter-arguing it, and the question +really makes no way; the mover is looked upon as a +bore, and the House is impatient for the extinguisher +of a division. The securing of twenty names would +cost nothing to the Government, or to any of the +parties or sections that make up the House: an +individual standing alone should be made to work +privately, until he has secured his backing of nineteen +more names, and the exercise would be most wholesome +as a preparation for convincing a majority of the +House.</p> + +<p>If I might be allowed to assume such an extension +of the device of seconding motions, I could make a +much stronger case for the beneficial consequences of +the operation of printing speeches without delivery. +The House would never be moved by an individual +standing alone; every proposal would be from the +first a collective judgment, and the reasons given in +along with it, although composed by one, would be +revised and considered by the supporters collectively. +Members would put forth their strength in one +weighty statement to start with; no pains would be +spared to make the argument of the nominal mover +exhaustive and forcible. So with the amendment; +there would be more put into the chief statement, and +less left to the succeeding speakers, than at present. +And, although the mover of the resolution and the +mover of the amendment would each have a reply, +little would be left to detain the House, unless when +some great interests were at stake.</p> + +<p>Of course the preparation of the case in favour of +each measure would be entrusted to the best hands; +in Government business, it would be to some official +in the department, or some one engaged by the chief +in shaping the measure itself. The statement so +prepared would have the value of a carefully drawn-up +report, and nothing short of this should ever be submitted +to Parliament in the procuring of new enactments. +In like manner, the opponents and critics +could employ any one they pleased to assist them in +their compositions, A member's speech need not be in +any sense his own; if he borrows, or uses another +hand, it is likely to be some one wiser than himself, +and the public gets the benefit of the difference.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[OBJECTIONS TO DIRECT PRINTING OF SPEECHES.]</p> + +<p>I may now go back for a little upon the details of +the scheme of direct printing, with the view of pressing +some of its advantages a little farther, as well as of +considering objections. I must remark more particularly +upon the permission, accorded to the members +generally, to send in their speeches to be circulated +with the proceedings. This I regard as not the least +essential step in an effective reform of the debating +system. It is the only possible plan of giving free +scope to individuals, without wasting the time of the +assembly. There need be no limit to the printing of +speeches; the number may be unnecessarily great, and +the length sometimes excessive, but the abuse may be +left to the corrective of neglect. The only material +disadvantage attending the plan of sending in speeches +in writing, without delivery, is that the speakers +would have before them only the statements-in-chief +of the movers of motion and amendment. They +could not comment upon one another, as in the oral +debate. Not but this might not: be practicable, by +keeping the question open for a certain length of time, +and circulating every morning the speeches given in +the day previously; but the cumbrousness of such an +operation would not have enough to recommend it. +The chief speakers might be expected to present a +sufficiently broad point for criticism; while the +greater number are well content, if allowed to give +their own views and arguments without reference to +those of others. And not to mention that, in Parliament, +all questions of principle may be debated several +times over, it is rare that any measure comes up +without such an amount of previous discussion out of +doors as fully to bring out the points for attack and +defence. Moreover, the oral debate, as usually +conducted, contains little of the reality of effective +rejoinder by each successive speaker to the one preceding.</p> + +<p>The combined plan of printing speeches, and of +requiring twenty backers to every proposal, while +tolerable perhaps in the introduction of bills, and in +resolutions of great moment, will seem to stand self-condemned +in passing the bills through Committee, +clause by clause. That every amendment, however +trivial, should have to go through such a roundabout +course, may well appear ridiculous in the extreme. +To this I would say, in the first place, that the +exposing of every clause of every measure of importance +to the criticism of a large assembly, has long +been regarded as the weak point of the Parliamentary +system. It is thirty years since I heard the remark +that a Code would never get through the House of +Commons; so many people thinking themselves +qualified to cavil at its details. In Mill's "Representative +Government," there is a suggestion to the +effect, that Parliament should be assisted in passing +great measures by consultative commissions, who +would have the preparation of the details; and that +the House should not make alterations in the clauses, +but recommit the whole with some expression of +disapproval that would guide the commission in recasting +the measure.</p> + +<p>[DIFFICULTIES OF PRINTING IN COMMITTEES.]</p> + +<p>It must be self-evident that only a small body can +work advantageously in adjusting the details of a +measure, including the verbal expressions. If this +work is set before an assembly of two hundred, it is +only by the reticence of one hundred and ninety that +progress can be made. Amendments to the clauses +of a bill may come under two heads: those of +principle, where the force of parties expends itself; and +those of wording or expression, for clearing away +ambiguities or misconstruction. For the one class, all +the machinery that I have described is fully applicable. +To mature and present an amendment of principle, +there should be a concurrence of the same number as +is needed to move or oppose a second reading; there +should be the same giving in of reasons, and the same +unrestricted speech (in print) of individual members, +culminating in replies by the movers. If this had +to be done on all occasions, there would be much +greater concentration of force upon special points, and +the work of Committee would get on faster. As to +the second class of amendments, I do not think that +these are suitable for an open discussion. They +should rather be given as suggestions privately to the +promoter of the measure. But, be the matter small or +great, I contend that nothing should bring about a +vote in the House of Commons that has not already +acquired a proper minimum of support.</p> + +<p>I am very far from presuming to remodel the entire +procedure of the House of Commons. What I have +said applies only to the one branch, not the least +important, of the passing of bills. There are other +departments that might, or might not, be subjected to +the printing system, coupled with the twentyfold +backing; for example, the very large subject of +Supply, on which there is a vast expenditure of +debating. The demand for twenty names to every +amendment would extinguish a very considerable +amount of these discussions.</p> + +<p>There is a department of the business of the House +that has lately assumed alarming proportions—the +putting of questions to Ministers upon every conceivable +topic. I would here apply, without hesitation, +the printing direct and the plural backing, and sweep +away the practice entirely from the public proceedings +of the House. No single member unsupported should +have the power of trotting out a Minister at will. I +do not say that so large a number of backers should +be required in this case, but I would humbly suggest +that the concurrence of ten members should be +required even to put a public question. The leader +of the Opposition, in himself a host, would not be +encumbered with such a formality, but everyone else +would have to procure ten signatures to an interrogative: +the question would be sent in, and answered; +while question and answer would simply appear in +the printed proceedings of the House, and not occupy +a single moment of the legislative time. This is a +provision that would stand to be argued on its own +merits, everything else remaining as it is. The loss +would be purely in the dramatic interest attaching to +the deliberations.</p> + +<p>[ALTERNATIVE SCOPE FOR ORATORY.]</p> + +<p>The all but total extinction of oral debate by the +revolutionary sweep of two simple devices, would be +far from destroying the power of speech in other ways. +The influence exerted by conversation on the small +scale, and by oratory on the great, would still be +exercised. While the conferences in private society, +and the addresses at public meetings, would continue, +and perhaps be increased in importance, there would +be a much greater activity of sectional discussion, than +at present; in fact, the sectional deliberations, +preparatory to motions in the House, would become +an organized institution. A certain number of rooms +would be set aside for the use of the different +sections; and the meetings would rise into public +importance, and have their record in the public press. +The speaking that now protracts the sittings of the +House would be transferred to these; even the +highest oratory would not disdain to shine where the +reward of publicity would still be reaped. As no man +would be allowed to engage the attention of the +House without a following, it would be in the sections, +in addition to private society and the press, that new +opinions would have to be ventilated, and the first +converts gained.</p> + +<p>Among the innovations that are justified by the +principle of avoiding at all points hurried decisions, +there is nothing that would appear more defensible +than to give an interval between the close of a debate +and the taking of the vote. I apprehend that the +chief and only reason why this has never been thought +of is, that most bodies have to finish a mass of current +business at one sitting. In assemblies that meet day +after day, the votes on all concluded debates could be +postponed till next day; giving a deliberate interval +in private that might improve, and could not: deteriorate, +the chances of a good decision. Let us +imagine that, in the House of Commons, for example, +the first hour at each meeting should be occupied with +the divisions growing out of the previous day's +debates. The consequences would be enormous, but +would any of them be bad? The hollowness of the +oral debate as a means of persuasion would doubtless +receive a blasting exposure; many would come up to +vote, few would remain to listen to speeches. The +greater number of those that cared to know what was +said, would rest satisfied with the reports in the +morning papers.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>We need to take account of the fact that even +greater moderation in the length of speeches would +not entirely overcome the real difficulty—the quantity +of business thrown upon our legislative bodies. +Doubtless, if there were less talk upon burning questions +there would be more attention given to unobtrusive +matters at present neglected. The mere +quantity of work is too great for an assembly to do +well. If this amount cannot be lessened—and I do +not see how it can be—there are still the six competing +vehicles at old Temple Bar. The single +legislative rail is crowded, and the only device equal +to the occasion is to remove some of the traffic to +other rails. Let a large part of the speaking be got +rid of, or else be transferred to some different arena.</p> + +<p>[EVERY BODY ENTITLED TO CONTROL SPEECH-MAKING.]</p> + +<p>I regard as unassailable Lord Sherbrooke's position +that every deliberative body must possess the entire +control of its own procedure, even to the point of +saying how much speaking it will allow on each topic. +The rough-and-ready method of coughing down a +superfluous speaker is perfectly constitutional, because +absolutely necessary. If a more refined method of +curtailing debates could be devised, without bringing +in other evils, it should be welcomed. The forcible +shutting of anyone's mouth will always tend to irritate, +and it is impossible by any plan to prevent a minority +from clogging the wheels of business. The freedom +of print seems to me one good safety-valve for +incontinent speech-makers; it allows them an equal +privilege with their fellows, and yet does not waste +legislative time.</p> + +<p>I remember hearing, some time ago, that our +Chancellor of the Exchequer was induced, on the +suggestion of the <i>Times</i>, to put into print and circulate +to the House beforehand the figures and tables connected +with his financial statement. I could not help +remarking, why might the Chancellor not circulate, in +the same fashion, the whole statement, down to the +point of the declaration of the new taxes? It would +save the House at least an hour and a half, while not +a third of that time would be required to read the +printed statement. I believe the first thing that +would occur to anyone hearing this suggestion would +be—"so the Chancellor might, but the same reason +would apply to the movers of bills, and to all other +business as well ".</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Our English Parliamentary system having been +matured by centuries of experience, has become a +model for other countries just entering upon representative +government. But the imitation, if too +literal, will not be found to work. Our system +supposes a large gentry, staying half the year in +London for pure pleasure, to which we may add the +rich men of business resident there. A sufficient +number of these classes can at any time be got to +make up the House of Commons; and, the majority +being composed of such, the ways of the House are +regulated accordingly. Daily constant attendance, +when necessary, and readiness to respond to the whip +at short notice, are assumed as costing nothing. But +in other countries, the case is not the same. In the +Italian Chamber I found professors of the University +of Turin, who still kept up their class-work, and made +journeys to Rome at intervals of a week or two, on +the emergence of important business. Even the payment +of members is not enough to bring people away +from their homes, and break up their avocations, for +several months every year. The forms of procedure, +as familiar to us, do not fit under such circumstances. +The system of printed speeches, with division days at +two or three weeks' interval, might be found serviceable. +But, at all events, the entire arrangements of +public deliberation need to be revised on much broader +grounds than we have been accustomed to; and it is +in this view, more than with any hope of bringing +about immediate changes, that I have ventured to +propound the foregoing suggestions.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[OPINIONS FAVOURABLE TO PRINTING.]</p> + +<p>Since the foregoing paper was written, opinions +have been expressed favourable to the use of printing +as a means of shortening the debates in the +House of Commons. Among the most notable of +the authorities that have declared their views, we +may count Lord Derby and Lord Sherbrooke. Both +advocate the printing of the answers by ministers +to the daily string of questions addressed to them. +Lord Derby goes a step farther. He would have +everyone introducing a bill to prepare a statement +of his reasons, to be circulated among members +at the public expense. Even this small beginning +would be fruitful of important consequences; the +greatest being the inevitable extension of the system.</p> + +<p>I am not aware that my suggestion as to requiring +a plurality of members to back every bill and every +proposal, has gained any degree of support. It was +urged that, if the power were taken away from single +members to move in any case whatever, the few +that are accustomed to find themselves alone, would +form into a group to back each other. I do not hesitate +to say that the supposition is contrary to all experience. +Crotcheteers have this in common with the +insane, that they can seldom agree in any conjoined +action. Even in the very large body constituting our +House of Commons, it is not infrequent for motions +to be made without obtaining a seconder. The requirement +of even five concurring members would +put an extinguisher upon a number of propositions +that have at present to be entertained.</p> + +<p>The last session (1883) has opened the eyes of many +to the absurdity of allowing a single member to block +a bill. When it is considered that, in an assembly of +six hundred, there is probably at least one man, +like Fergus O'Conner, verging on insanity, and out of +the reach of all the common motives,—we may well +wonder that a deliberative body should so put itself +at the mercy of individuals. Surely the rule, for +stopping bills at half-past twelve, might have been +accompanied with the requirement of a seconder, +which would have saved many in the course of the +recent sessions. It is the gross abuse of this power +that is forcing upon reluctant minds the first advance +to plural backing, and there is now a demand for five +or six to unite in placing a block against a measure.</p> + +<p>It occurred to Mr. Gladstone, during the autumn +session of 1882, to take down the statistics of attendance +in the House for several days running. His +figures were detailed to the House, in one of his +speeches, and were exactly what we were prepared +for. They completely "pounded and pulverised" the +notion, that listening to the debates is the way that +members have their minds made up for giving their +votes.</p> + +<p>[EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSION INCREASING.]</p> + +<p>The recent parliamentary recess has witnessed an +unusual development in the out-of-door discussion of +burning questions. In addition to a full allowance +of vacation oratory, and the unremitted current of the +newspaper press, the monthlies have given forth a +number of reasoned articles by cabinet ministers and +by men of ministerial rank in the opposition. The +whole tendency of our time is, to supersede parliamentary +discussion by more direct appeals to the +mind of the public.</p> + +<p>To stop entirely the oral discussion of business in +Parliament would have some inconveniences; but the +want of adequate consideration of such measures as +possessed the smallest interest with any class, would +not be one of them.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18">[18]</a><div class="note"><p> <i>Contemporary Review</i>, November, 1880.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19">[19]</a><div class="note"><p> I have often thought that, the practice of circulating, with a motion, +the proposer's reasons, would, on many occasions, be worthy of being +voluntarily adopted.</p></div> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<a name='Notes'></a><h2><i>Notes and References in connection with Essay VIII., on +Subscription.</i></h2> +<br /> + +<p>It may be useful here to supply a few memoranda as to +the history and present practice of Subscription to Articles.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Quarterly Review</i>, No. 117, the following observations +are made respecting the first imposition of Tests after +the English Reformation:—-</p> + +<p>"Before the Reformation no subscription was required +from the body of the clergy, as none was necessary. The +bishops at their consecration took an oath of obedience to +the King, in which, besides promising subjection in matters +temporal, they 'utterly renounced and clearly forsook all +such clauses, words, sentences, and grants, which they had +or should have of the Pope's Holiness, that in any wise were +hurtful or prejudicial to His Highness or His Estate Royal'; +whilst to the Pope they bound themselves by oath to keep +the rules of the Holy Fathers, the decrees, ordinances, +sentences, dispositions, reservations, provisions, and commandments +Apostolic, and, to their powers, to cause them to +be kept by others. And, as their command over their clergy +was complete, and they could at once remove any who +violated the established rule of opinion, no additional +obligation or engagement from men under such strict discipline +was requisite. The statement, therefore (by Dean +Stanley), that 'the Roman Catholic clergy, and the clergy of +the Eastern Church, neither formerly, nor now, were bound +by any definite forms of subscription; and that the unity of +the Church is preserved there as the unity of the State is +preserved everywhere, not by preliminary promises or oaths, +but by the general laws of discipline and order'; though +true to the letter, is really wholly untrue in its application to +the argument concerning subscriptions. For it is to the +total absence of liberty, and to the severity of 'the general +laws of discipline and order,' and not to a liberty greater +than our own, that this absence of subscription is due.</p> + +<p>"In point of fact, the requirement of subscription from +the clergy was coeval with the upgrowth of liberty of opinion: +while the circumstances of the English Reformation of religion +made it essential to the success and the safety of that +great movement. It was essential to its success; for as it +was accomplished mainly by a numerical minority, both of +the clergy and laity of the land, there could be no other +guarantee of its maintenance than the assurance that its +doctrines would be honestly taught, and its ritual observed +by the whole body of the conforming clergy.</p> + +<p>"Thus the <i>Reformation subscriptions aimed at the prevention +of covert Popery</i>, a danger to which the Reforming +laity felt that they were exposed by the strong wishes of a +majority of their own class; by the undissembled bias of +many of the parochial clergy; and by the secret bias of +some even of the bi-hops; whilst the diminution of their +absolute control over the clergy lessened the power of enforcing +the new opinions when the bishop was sincerely +attached to them."</p> + +<p>The entire article is of value both for its historical information +as to the history of Tests in the English Church, +and for its mode of advocating the retention of subscription +to the Articles, as at present enforced.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[Subscription came with the English Reformation.]</p> + +<p>The Report of the Royal Commission of 1864, on Subscription +in the English Church, supplied a complete account +of all the changes in subscription from the Reformation +downwards. Reference may also be made to Stoughton's +"History of Religion in England," for the incidents in +greater detail.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most remarkable defence of Liberty, as against +the prevailing view in the English Church, is Dean Milman's +speech before the Clerical Subscription Commission, of which +he was a member. It is printed in <i>Fraser's Magazine</i>, March, +1865, and is included in the criticism of the <i>Quarterly +Review</i> article, already quoted.</p> + +<p>The Dean's Resolution submitted to the Commission was +as follows:—</p> + +<p>"Conformity to the Liturgy of the Church of England +being the best and the surest attainable security for 'the +declared agreement of the Clergy with the doctrines of the +Church'; with many the daily, with all the weekly public +reading of the services of the Church of England (containing, +as they do, the ancient creeds of the Church Catholic), and +the constant use of the Sacramental offices and other formularies +in the Book of Common Prayer, being a solemn +and reiterated pledge of their belief in those doctrines, the +Subscription to the thirty-nine Articles is unnecessary. Such +Subscription adds no further guarantee for the clergyman's +faithfulness to the doctrines of the Church; while the +peculiar form and controversial tone in which the Articles +were compiled is the cause of much perplexity, embarrassment, +and difficulty, especially to the younger clergy and to +those about to enter into Holy Orders."</p> + +<p>Much doubt was entertained, whether this motion came +within the terms of the Commission. It was not pressed by +the Dean.</p> + +<p>I give the following quotation from the speech:—</p> + +<p>... "And if I venture to question the expediency, +the wisdom, I will say the righteousness of retaining subscription +to the thirty-nine Articles as obligatory on all +clergymen, I do so, not from any difficulty in reconciling +with my own conscience what, during my life, I have done +more than once, but from the deep and deliberate conviction +that such subscription is altogether unnecessary as a safeguard +for the essential doctrines of Christianity, which are +more safely and fully protected by other means. It never +has been, is not, and never will be a solid security for its +professed object, the reconciling or removing religious differences, +which it tends rather to create and keep alive; is +embarrassing to many men who might be of the most valuable +service in the ministry of the Church; is objectionable +as concentrating and enforcing the attention of the youngest +clergy on questions, some abstruse, some antiquated, and in +themselves at once so minute and comprehensive as to +harass less instructed and profound thinkers, to perplex and +tax the sagacity of the most able lawyers and the most +learned divines....</p> + +<p>"One of my chief objections to subscription to the thirty-nine +Articles as a perpetual test of English Churchmanship +is that they are throughout controversial, and speak, as of +necessity they must speak, the controversial language of their +day; they cannot, therefore, in my opinion, be fully, clearly, +and distinctly understood without a careful study and a very +wide knowledge of the disputes and opinions of those times, +a calm yet deep examination of their meaning, objects, limitations, +which cannot be expected from young theological +students, from men fresh from their academical pursuits. +I venture to add, indeed to argue, that their true bearing +and interpretation seems to me to have escaped some of our +most eminent judges from want of that full study and perfect +knowledge; and I must say that, in these laborious and +practical day, it may be questioned whether this study of +controversies, many of them bygone, will be so useful, so +profitable, as entire devotion to the plainer and simpler +duties of the clergyman.</p> + +<p>"Their immense range, too, the infinite questions into +which they branch out (it has been said, I know not how +truly, that five hundred questions may be raised upon them), +is a further objection to their maintenance as a preliminary +and indispensable requirement before the young man is +admitted to Holy Orders. On the whole I stand, without +hesitation, to my proposition, that the doctrines of the +English Church are not only more simply, but more fully, +assuredly, more winningly, taught in our Liturgy and our +Formularies than in our Articles."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The very elaborate work of Mr. Taylor Innes, entitled +the "Law of Creeds," is exhaustive for Scotland; including +both the Established Church and the various sects of Protestant +Dissenters. It also incidentally takes notice of some +of the more critical decisions on heresy cases in the English +Church. Mr. Innes properly points out, that the abolition +of Subscription is compatible with compulsory adherence to +Articles. The relaxation of the forms of Subscription in +the English Church, by the Act of 1865, gave a certain +amount of relief to the consciences of the clergy, but left +them as much exposed as ever to suits for heresy.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[Report of Presbyterian Alliance.]</p> + +<p>For the usages of the Reformed Churches, on the Continent, +and in America, a mass of valuable information has +been furnished in the Report of the Second General Council +of the Presbyterian Alliance, convened at Philadelphia, +September, 1880. At the previous meeting of the Council, +held at Edinburgh, July, 1877, a Committee was appointed +to Report on the Creeds and Subscriptions in use among the +various bodies forming the Alliance. It is unnecessary to +refer to the answers given in to the Committee's Queries, +from Great Britain and Ireland, except to complete the +history of the Presbyterian Church of England, so long +distinguished for the abeyance of clerical subscription.</p> + +<p>It was in 1755, that the Presbytery of Newcastle made a +movement towards disclaiming the Arian, Socinian and +other heresies, but without proposing a Confession. In +1784, the same Presbytery adopted a Formula accepting the +Westminster Confession; in 1802, however, subscription to +the Formula was rescinded. Through Scottish influence, +the return to the Westminster Confession was gradually +brought about in the early part of the century. That Confession +was formally adopted by the Presbytery of Newcastle +in 1824; and since 1836, all the ministers of the body have +been required to accept it in the most unqualified manner.</p> + +<p>The Calvinistic Methodists of Wales drew up, in 1823, +a Confession consisting of forty-four articles, agreeing substantially +with the Westminster Confession. Subscription +is not required: but the clergy, prior to ordination, make a +statement of their doctrinal views, which amounts to nearly +the same thing. Like the Roman Catholic Church, the +Methodists depend upon discipline rather than upon Subscription.</p> + +<p>The Congregational Churches take up almost the same +attitude towards their clergy. There is no subscription; but +any great deviation from the prevailing views of the body +leads to forfeiture of the position of brotherhood, and +possibly also to severance from the charge of a congregation. +Still, the absence of a binding and penal test is +favourable to freedom, from the present tendency of men's +minds in that direction.</p> + +<p>As regards the Presbyterian Church in the United States +of America, we find that the first Presbytery was constituted +in 1705. No formal statement of doctrine was considered +necessary till the lapse of about a quarter of a century, when +the spread of Arianism in England urged the Synod of +Philadelphia to pass what was called the "Adopting Act" in +1729, by which they hoped to exclude from American +churches British ministers tainted with Arian views. They +agreed that all the ministers of this Synod, or that shall +hereafter be admitted into this Synod, shall declare their +agreement in and approbation of the Confession of Faith, +with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of +Divines at Westminster, as being, in all the essential and +necessary articles, good forms of sound words and systems +of Christian doctrine, "and we do also adopt the said +confession and the catechisms as the Confession of our +faith ".</p> + +<p>The formula subscribed by ministers at their ordination +is, however, less stringent than that in use in the Churches +of Scotland.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[French Protestant Churches.]</p> + +<p>Turning next to the Continent we may refer, first, to the +French Protestant Church, now consisting of two divisions +—(1) The Reformed Church united to the State, and (2) +The Union of the Evangelical Churches.</p> + +<p>The Gallic Confession, styled "La Rochelle," the joint +work of Calvin and Chaudien, was adopted as the doctrinal +standard of the Reformed French Churches in their first +national synod, which met at Paris in May, 1559, and was +revised and confirmed by the seventh synod, which assembled +at La Rochelle under the presidency of Theodore +Beza in 1571. It is composed of forty articles, which reproduce +faithfully the Calvinistic doctrine. But it is not +accepted as infallible; the final authority, in the light of +which successive synods may reform it, is the Bible.</p> + +<p>"The reformed doctrine, as sanctioned by the Confession +of La Rochelle, was, in its essential features, recognised and +professed by all Protestant France; and, notwithstanding +its sufferings and internal dissensions, the Church during the +first quarter of the 17th century held its own course and +remained faithful to itself. A consistory, that of Caen, had, +even as late as 1840, restored in the churches of its jurisdiction +the Confession of La Rochelle in its full vigour. +Little by little, however, under the influence of the naturalistic +philosophy of the 18th century, the negative criticism +of Germany, and above all the religious indifference which +followed the repose which the Church was enjoying after +two centuries of persecution, the Confession of Faith as +well as the discipline fell into disuse. It was never really +abrogated.... However, it is a practical fact that the +partisans of one of the two sections which to-day divide +the Reformed Church of France, not only do not consider +themselves bound by the Confession of La Rochelle, but, +tending more and more towards Rationalism, and seeing in +Protestantism only the religion of free thought, have come +to reject the great miracles of the gospel, and to demand +for their pastors, in the bosom of the Church, unlimited +freedom in teaching. While on the one hand the sovereignty +of the Holy Scriptures is claimed, on the other is held the +rule of individual conscience."</p> + +<p>The majority of the official synod which met at Paris +in September, 1848, refused to put an end to the doctrinal +disorder in the Church by establishing in the Church a +clear and positive law of faith. The minority, regarding +the adverse vote as an official sufferance of indifference +on doctrinal matters, separated themselves from their +brethren, and founded the "Union of the Evangelical +Churches of France".</p> + +<p>[General Synod of Paris in 1872.]</p> + +<p>In 1872, "in the face of attacks directly aimed, in the +bosom of the Church, at the unity of her doctrine," the +thirtieth general synod, assembled at Paris, drew up, not a +complete Confession of Faith, but a declaration determining +the doctrinal limits of the Church, and proclaiming "the +sovereign authority of the Holy Scriptures with regard to +belief, and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the only +begotten Son of God, who died for our sins and rose again +for our justification".<a name="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20"><sup>[20]</sup></a></p> + +<p>Down to 1824, new pastors indicated their adherence to +the Confession of Faith by signature. In 1824, however, +signature was replaced by a solemn promise. "Since that +time different formulas have been used at the will of the +pastors performing the ordination, without any one of them +having the sanction of a synod, and without the manner of +adherence having been expressly stipulated."</p> + +<p>"Since the Synod of 1872, in ordinations over which +pastors attached to the Synodal Church have presided, candidates +are required to conform formally, in the presence of +the congregation, to the declaration of faith adopted by the +Synod. Article 2, of the complete law, declares: 'Every +candidate for holy orders must, before receiving ordination, +affirm that he adheres to the faith of the Church as stated +by the general synod'."</p> + +<p>Theological professors were sometimes appointed without +conditions. Still they were not permitted to teach doctrines +in glaring contradiction to the general belief of the Churches. +For example, in 1812, M. Gasc, professor of theology at +Montauban, attacked in his lectures the doctrine of the +Trinity, whereupon several consistories required him either +to retract his opinions or to resign his post. M. Gasc +retracted his opinions.</p> + +<p>"The Evangelical Churches of France, composed of +members who have made an explicit and individual profession +of faith, and who recognise in religious matters no +other authority than that of Jesus Christ, the only and +sovereign head of the Church," accept the Old and New +Testaments as directly inspired by God and so constituting +the only and infallible rule of faith and life.</p> + +<p>[Churches of Switzerland.]</p> + +<p>The Churches of Switzerland have the pre-eminence in +the relaxation or disuse of Tests. The following is a summary +of their practice:—</p> + +<p><i>The Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud</i>.</p> + +<p>According to the ecclesiastical law of May 19, 1863 +(slightly modified by a decree of December 2, 1874), the +<i>National Church</i> of the Canton of Vaud "desires chiefly +that its members should lead a Christian life," and "admits +no other rule of instruction than the Word of God contained +in the Holy Scriptures". Every candidate for the ministry +is required by the ecclesiastical law of December 14, 1839, +to "swear that he will discharge conscientiously the duties +which the National Reformed Evangelical Church imposes +upon its ministers, and that he will preach the Word of God +in its purity and integrity as it is contained in the Holy +Scriptures". "When accusation is brought against any +minister on the ground of doctrine, the proceedings are distinctly +marked; but in reality it is simply required that 'the +jurymen give a conscientious verdict'."</p> + +<p>The <i>Free Evangelical Church</i> of the Canton of Vaud +requires that candidates for the ministry be examined as to +their religious life, their calling to the ministry, their doctrine +and their ecclesiastical principles by a committee of the +synodical commission, with pastors and elders. After +examination the candidate must "declare his cordial adhesion +to the doctrines and institutions of the Free Church". +This pledge is verbal.</p> +<br /> + +<p><i>Independent Evangelical Church of Neuchatel.</i></p> + +<p>The ancient Reformed Church of Neuchatel never put +forth any special Confession of Faith. The assembly of +Pastors, the governing body of the Church, down to 1848, +accepted the Holy Scriptures, the forms used in baptism +and the communion, and the Apostles' Creed as fully adequate +to express the faith of the Church. The Synod, who +took over the government of the Church in 1848, maintained +the same position, refusing in 1857 to sanction an abridged +Confession.</p> + +<p>On May 20, 1873, the Grand Council of the Republic +and Canton of Neuchatel passed a new law regulating the +relation of Church and State. Article 12 says: "Liberty +of conscience in matters of religion is inviolable; it may +neither be fettered by regulations, vows, or promises, by +disciplinary penalties, by formulas or a creed, nor by any +measures whatsoever".</p> + +<p>Hence resulted the separation of those that formed the +Independent Evangelical Church of Neuchatel, which, in +1874, adopted a Confession "acknowledging as the only +source and rule of its faith the Old and New Testaments, +and proclaiming the great truths of salvation contained in +the Apostles' Creed". The ministers, on ordination, take +an oath to advance the honour and glory of God above all +things; to maintain his word at the risk of life, body, and +property; to be in unity with the brethren in the doctrines +of religion and in the holy ministry; and to avoid all sectarianism +and schism in the Church.</p> +<br /> + +<p><i>National Protestant Church of Geneva</i>.</p> + +<p>[Historical Changes in the Church of Geneva.]</p> + +<p>During the 16th century, from 1536 onwards, the National +Protestant Church of Geneva was in constant turmoil through +the insistence on, and the opposition to, the doctrines laid +down by Calvin in his Confession of Faith and System of +Ecclesiastical Ordinances. The 17th century is marked by the +conflicts of Calvinism and Arminianism. After numerous +variations, the oath of consecration was, in June 1725, +changed hack to the form provided by the Ecclesiastical +Ordinance of 1576: "You swear to hold the doctrine of +the holy prophets and apostles, as it is contained in the +books of the Old and New Testaments, of which doctrine +our Catechism is a summary ". This oath remained in force +for nearly a century, till 1806. "It was asserted in the +discussion (in the Assembly) that no one should be forced +to follow entirely Calvin's Catechism. It is further expected +that the candidates for the ministry should be +requested not to discuss in the pulpit any striking or useless +matter which might tend to disturb the peace. At this +time, the Confession of Faith of the 17th century was +abolished to return to that of the 16th century, interpreting +the latter with much freedom. The Lower Council ratified +this decision, but ordered the Assembly to keep the most +absolute silence upon this subject, especially in the presence +of strangers." In 1788, the Assembly adopted a new Catechism, +containing numerous points of divergence from the +orthodox Catechism of Calvin, which it superseded with the +sanction of the Lower Council. In 1806, the new formula +of consecration threw out the Catechism; it ran thus— +"You promise to teach divine truth as it is contained in +the books of the Old and New Testaments, of which we +have an abridgment in the Apostles' Creed". In 1810, +after long deliberation, there was published a revision in +the latitudinarian and utilitarian sense of the Larger Catechism. +In the same year, the Apostles' Creed was thrown +out of the pledge of the ministers, which now read thus: +"You promise ... to preach, in its purity, the gospel +of our Lord Jesus Christ, to recognise as the only infallible +rule of faith and conduct the word of God, as it is contained +in the sacred books of the Old and New Testaments". +Presently, however, in 1813, a religious revival led to dangerous +discussions, and the ministers were bound "to abstain +from all sectarian spirit, to avoid all that would create +any schism and break the union of the Church"—an addition +suppressed towards 1850; and in 1817, they were +required to pledge themselves to abstain from discussing +four points in particular—the manner of the union of the +divine and human nature in the person of Jesus Christ; +original sin; the manner in which grace operates, or saving +grace; and predestination; and, if led to utter their thoughts +on any one of these subjects, they were "to do so without +too much positiveness, to avoid expressions foreign to the +Holy Scriptures, and to use, as much as possible, the terms +which they employ". In 1847, the organisation of the +Protestant worship was set forth in a special law, and in +1849, the Consistory called in accordance with this, adopted +an organic rule for the Church. According to Article 74, +the functionaries of the Church may be subjected to discipline +"in case of teaching, preaching, or publicly professing +any doctrine that may bring scandal upon the Church". +Various modifications followed. In 1874 (April 26), Article +123 was made to declare that "each pastor teaches and +preaches freely on his own responsibility, and no restraint +can be put upon this liberty either by the Confession of +Faith or by the liturgic formulas". In the end of the same +year, however (Oct. 3), the State Council promulgated a +new organic law, "in virtue of which a pastor can either be +suspended or dismissed by the Consistory or by the Council +of State for dogmatic motives". In 1875, the pastor obtained +the right to use in his religious teaching any catechetical +manual he preferred, provided he informed the Consistory +of his choice. The use of the <i>liturgical prayers</i>, published +by the Consistory, became optional. The pastors were now +required merely to declare before God that "they will teach +and preach conscientiously, according to their lights and +faith the Christian truth contained in our holy hooks". The +<i>liturgical collection</i>, published by the Consistory in 1875, +contains two series of formulas, expressed in a dogmatic +sense on the one hand, and in a liberal sense on the other. +The Apostles' Creed is optional.</p> +<br /> + +<p><i>Free Evangelical Church of Geneva</i>.</p> + +<p>The Free Evangelical Church of Geneva demands only a +formal adherence to its Profession of Faith from the elders +(including the ministers) and the deacons. "Some of these +officers have even been permitted to hold certain reserves +on such or such article."</p> +<br /> + +<p><i>Germanic Switzerland</i>.</p> + +<p>Pastor Bernard of Berne, having enumerated the symbolical +writings of Germanic Switzerland, says: "For centuries +the pastors were obliged to sign them, although it is +true that the Second Confession of Helvetic Faith was +alone recognised as the general rule imposed upon pastors. +The signing of the Formula Consensus was exacted only +temporarily (being discarded about 1720). It has been +only from the beginning of this century that, under the +influence of rationalism, pastors have been required to +preach the Gospel merely according to the <i>principles</i> of the +Helvetic Confession. To-day we find all confession of +faith abolished in our Germanic Swiss Churches. Pastors +preach what pleases them. Chosen by the parishes, they +owe to them solely an avowal of their doctrines."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The Hungarian Reformed Church has a singular history, +in respect of Creeds. The Report of the Council goes very +minutely into the detail of eleven confessions held successively +by that church. Of these, there survive two—the +Helvetic Confession and the Catechism of Heidelberg, by +which ministers and office—bearers are still bound.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>[German Churches.]</p> + +<p>Next as to Germany. As the several states have their +separate ecclesiastical usages, the same rule does not apply +everywhere. For an extreme case of absence of toleration, +we may refer to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg. +Lutheranism is the established religion; and the Duchy is +the stronghold of mediaeval conservatism both in politics +and in religion. The, removal of Baumgarten from the +University of Rostock is an example in point; and the +decree is so characteristic, and illustrative that it deserves to +be given at length.</p> + +<p>"We have to our sincere regret been given to understand +that, in your writings published in and since the year 1854, +you have advanced doctrines and principles that are in the +most important points at variance with the doctrines and +principles of the symbolic books of our Evangelical-Lutheran +Church and of our rules of Church Discipline, to such an +extent as to amount to an attempt to shake to the very +foundation the basis whereon these doctrines and principles +and our church rest. In order to reach more exact certainty +on these things, we have assembled our Consistory to +consider this matter, and from them we have received the +annexed opinion, by which the above-mentioned view has +been fully confirmed.</p> + +<p>"Whereas, then, it is required by our Church Ordinances +of 1552 and 1602 (1650) that the Christian doctrine shall +be taught 'pure and unchanged,' as it is contained in Holy +Writ, the general symbols of the Christian Church, in Dr. +Luther's Catechism and Confession, and in the Augsburg +Confession of 1530, and that, if an academical teacher fall +away from these, he shall be proceeded against; whereas, +further, in Articles II. to IV. of the Reversals of 1621, the +sovereigns gave the States the assurance that in the University +of Rostock there should be neither appointed nor +tolerated any other teachers but such as should be attached +to the Augsburg Confession and the Lutheran religion: the +establishment of the University of Rostock on the pure +doctrine of the Christian symbols and of the Augsburg +Confession has been repeated in § 4 of the Regulations +upon the relations of the town of Rostock to the State +University of 1827, and once again in § 1 of the Statutes +of the University of 1837; no less do the statutes of the +Theological Faculty of Rostock of 1564, and the later +Regulation as to this Faculty of 1791, bind the members +of the Faculty to expound the writings of the Prophets and +the Apostles in the sense laid down in the general Christian +symbols, in the Augsburg Confession, the Smalkald Articles, +and the writings of Dr. Luther; your appointment of 31st +August, 1850, referred you to the Statutes of the University +and of the Theological Faculty, and also directed you to comport +yourself in accordance with the rule and line of the +revealed word of God, the unchanged Augsburg Confession, +the <i>formula concordia</i>, and all the other symbolic books +received in our (lands) country, as well as with the Mecklenburg +Church Ordinances relating to these, without any +innovation; you also on your induction on the 19th of +Oct., 1850, bound yourself by oath to the duties contained +in your appointment and to the Statutes of the University +and of the Theological Faculty."</p> + +<p>[Removal of Baumgarten from Rostock.]</p> + +<p>"We can the shorter time entrust you with the vocation of +an academic teacher of the Evangelical-Lutheran Theology +as you have united with your backslidings in theological +doctrine at the same time political doctrines of the most +delicate kind, deduced relatively from those; and we will, +therefore—after hearing of our High Consistory, and after +the foregoing resolution of our ministry according to § 10, +Lit. H. of the Ordinance of 4th April, 1853, relating to the +organisation of the Ministers—hereby remove you from the +office, hitherto filled by you, of an ordinary Professor of +Theology in our State University of Rostock."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>In Prussia, the Clergy, and especially the University +Professors of Theology, enjoy more liberty than in Mecklenburg; +but they are not wholly secure from the attempts +of the Church Courts to enforce discipline against heretical +teaching. The following are recent cases.</p> + +<p>1. The St. Jacobi Gemeinde (parish) in Berlin, belonging, +as is the rule in Prussia, to the "Unirte Kirche"—a fusion +of the Lutheran and the Reformed Churches—in 1877, +chose, as its pastor, Lic. Horzbach. The Consistory of +Brandenburg, within whose jurisdiction Berlin lies, refused +to admit him on account of his heterodox views. By the +ecclesiastical law, a pastor translated from one consistory to +another, has to be approved of by the one he enters; which +gives an opportunity of exercising a disciplinary power, not +beyond what is possessed by the consistory where he has +once been admitted, but more opportunely and conveniently +brought into play. St. Jacobi parish, having apparently a +taste for advanced views, next chose a Dr. Schramm; but +he too was rejected on the same grounds. The third selection +fell on Pastor Werner (Guben); this was confirmed by +the Consistory, but was quashed by the "Oberkirchenrath," +or supreme ecclesiastical authority of the country, located in +Berlin. The parish was now considered to have forfeited +its right of election; and a pastor was chosen for it by the +Oberkirchenrath. Happily his views were not too strict for +the congregation, and peace was restored. In all the three +instances, the rejection took place on the complaint of a +small orthodox minority in the parish.</p> + +<p>2. Rev. Lühr, pastor at Eckenforda, in the Prussian Province +of Schleswig-Holstein, was accused of heresy, and +deprived by the Provincial Consistory of Kiel in December, +1881. Pastor Lühr appealed to the Berlin Oberkirchenrath, +who reversed the sentence, and let him off with a reproof for +the use of incautious language.</p> + +<p>There have been two still more notorious heresy hunts: +one, the case of Dr. Sydow in Berlin; the other, Pastor +Kalzhoff, who was ultimately deposed, and is now minister +of an independent congregation in Berlin.</p> + +<p>Both the central ecclesiastical authority and the provincial +consistories, being nominated by the Government, reflect +the religious tendencies of the Emperor and his Ministers +for the time being. At present, these are probably behind +the country at large in point of liberality.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Next to Switzerland, Holland is most distinguished for +advanced views as to the remission of Tests, and the liberty +of the clergy. A very complete account of the history and +present position of the Dutch sects is given in a pamphlet, +entitled "The Ecclesiastical Institutions of Holland, by +Philip H. Wicksteed, M.A. (Williams & Norgate)".</p> + +<p>[Subscription in the Dutch Church.]</p> + +<p>It is pretty well known that in doctrinal views the majority +in the Dutch Church is Calvinist; while a minority forms +the "Modern School," a school partaking of the rationalism +of our century in matters of faith. The battle of the Confessions +began in 1842, and is not yet finished. In this +year an attempt was made to revive the binding authority +of the old confessions. The General Synod in that and the +following years successfully resisted the movement. In +1854, a new formula of subscription applicable to candidates +for the ministry was introduced, less stringent and more +liberal than the old one. The orthodoxy party endeavoured +to make it more stringent, the liberals proposed to make it +still less so. In 1874, a majority of the General Synod +passed the following declaration:—</p> + +<p>"The doctrine contained in the Netherland Confession, +the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of the Synod +of Dort, forms the historical foundation of the Reformed +Church of the Netherlands.</p> + +<p>"Inasmuch as this doctrine is not confessed with sufficient +unanimity by the community, there can, under the +existing circumstances, be no possibility of 'maintaining the +doctrine' in the ecclesiastical sense. The community, +building on the principles of the Church, as manifested in +her origin and development, continues to confess her Christian +faith, and thereby to form the expression which may +in course of time once more become the adequate and +unanimous Confession of the Church.</p> + +<p>"Meantime, care for the interests of the Christian Church +in general and the Reformed in particular, quickening of +Christian religion and morality, increase of religious knowledge, +preservation of order and unity, and furtherance of +love for King and Fatherland—are ever the main object of +all to whom any ecclesiastical office is entrusted, and no one +can be rejected as a member or a teacher who, complying +with all other requirements, declares himself to be convinced +in his own conscience that in compliance with the above-named +principles, he may belong to the Reformed Church +of the Netherlands."<a name="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21"><sup>[21]</sup></a></p> + +<p>This declaration, however, did not pass the Provincial +Church Courts, which possess the right of veto; and the +law therefore remained as it was. But, in 1881, a new +proposal for altering the formula of subscription passed the +General Synod. Next year, it was definitely approved, and +is now the law of the church. According to it, licentiates +to the Ministry, on being admitted by the Provincial Church +Courts, are made to promise that they will labour in the +Ministry according to their vocation with zeal and faithfulness; +that they will further with all their power the interests +of the kingdom of God, and, so far as consistent therewith, +the interests of the Dutch Reformed Church, and give +obedience to the regulations of that Church.</p> + +<p>There is, however, both in orthodox and in semi-orthodox +circles, a wide-spread dissatisfaction with this amount of +latitude, and fears are entertained for its continuance.</p> + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20">[20]</a><div class="note"><p> The debates in this Synod were conducted with the highest ability on both +sides. Guizot took a part on the side of orthodoxy. The published report will be +found abstracted in the <i>British Quarterly</i>, No. CXIV.</p></div> + +<a name="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21">[21]</a><div class="note"><p> Mr. Wicksteed makes the following curious remark:—"I am often asked +whether the 'Moderns' are Unitarians. The question is rather startling. It is as if +one were asked whether the majority of English astronomers had ceased to uphold +the Ptolemaic system yet. The best answer I can give is a reference to the chapter on +'God' in a popular work by Dr. Matthes which has run through four editions. In +this chapter there is not a word about the Trinity, but at the close occurs this footnote: +On the antiquated doctrine of the <i>Trinity</i>, see the fourteenth note at the end +of the book,—where, accordingly, the doctrine is expounded and its confusions +pointed out rather with the calm interest of the antiquarian than the eagerness of the +controversialist.'"</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<br /> + +<p>WORKS BY PROFESSOR BAIN.</p> +<br /> + +<p>A FIRST ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 90th Thousand.</p> + +<p>A KEY, with additional Exercises.</p> + +<p>A HIGHER ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 80th Thousand of</p> + +<p>Revised Edition.</p> + +<p>A COMPANION TO THE HIGHER GRAMMAR.</p> + +<p>ENGLISH COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC.</p> + +<p>LOGIC, in Two Parts—</p> + +<p>DEDUCTION.</p> + +<p>INDUCTION.</p> + +<p>MENTAL AND MORAL SCIENCE.</p> + +<p><i>The same, in Two Parts</i>,</p> + +<p>MENTAL SCIENCE—PSYCHOLOGY AND HISTORY +OF PHILOSOPHY.</p> + +<p>MORAL SCIENCE—ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY +AND ETHICAL SYSTEMS.</p> + +<p>THE SENSES AND THE INTELLECT, 3rd Edition.</p> + +<p>THE EMOTIONS AND THE WILL, 3rd Edition.</p> + +<p>JOHN STUART MILL, a Criticism: with Personal Recollections.</p> + +<p>JAMES MILL, a Biography.</p> + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Practical Essays, by Alexander Bain + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL ESSAYS *** + +***** This file should be named 17522-h.htm or 17522-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/5/2/17522/ + +Produced by Marc D'Hooghe, marcdh@pandora.be. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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