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640 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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x*i i s>^ .. al tn>l*lTTtT'ri^ ^L'iHVW+U**- *
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Critics are not the legislators, "bub th...
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The deplorable precipitation with which ...
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*• SIMON ON OUtt SANITARY CONDITION. Rep...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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640 The Leader. [Saturday,
640 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
X*I I S≫^ .. Al Tn≫L*Ltttt'ri^ ^L'Ihvw+U**- *
iCiterafm
Critics Are Not The Legislators, "Bub Th...
Critics are not the legislators , "bub the judges and police of literature . They do not m * ke Iaw 3—they interpret and try to enforce them . — Edinburgh Review .
The Deplorable Precipitation With Which ...
The deplorable precipitation with which even wise thinkers judge ideas adverse to their own philosophy is the great obstacle to intellectual progress . Opinions are the spectacles of the mind , through which wo look , believing their colour to be the colour of the objects seen . Of all intellectual acts , that of keeping our own ideas in abeyance while endeavouring to understand the ideas of another seems the most difficult . And thus it is that the greater part of polemics is skiamaehy—or shadow-fighting . ~ We catch a glimpse of another ' s meaning , we distort the image , and then destroy it . . In the current number of the British Quarterly there is an article by a profound thinker on the Genesis of Science , which may be referred to as a most remarkable contribution to philosophy—one which must "be read and reread with studious slowness . Yet even in this paper , obviously the
product of long / thought , there is an example of that precipitancy of judgment which a little attention might have escaped . The writer attacks Comte ' s classification of the sciences , and is often right in . the details ; but exhibits so singular a misconception of Comt : e * s principles that we must suppose him only to lave glanced at the Second Lecture of the Philosophic Positive ., and to have made up for himself a system which he fancies is to be found there . We cannot here enter on a discussion which would carry us beyond limits ; but the reviewer and his readers will do well to read the lecture referred to , especially pages 75 to 84 , in which they will find Comte fully alive to the necessary imperfections of every classification—to the arbitrary nature of a dogmatic exposition as distinguished from the historic , to the interdependence
of the sciences , one perfecting the other , progress in the earlier being also determined by discoveries in the later--in short , they will find that the reviewer ' s arguments portent a faux . After giving a flat denial to the charges he makes against Comxe ' s , principles , we nevertheless believe that his discussion of those principles will do service ; and , for the rest of his essay , it has our entire approbation , in spite of some reserves , which belong more to points omitted than , points discussed . He sets out witn destroying the old notion of there being any essential difference between ordinary knowledge and science . Science , he says , is not distinctively prevision since all knowledge is prevision ; but science differs from knowledge of an ordinary kind in being quantitative as well as qualitative—as foreseeing not only the hind of result , but the amount of result .
"In Jits earlier phases science attains only to certainty of foreknowledge : in its late phases it farther attains to completeness . "We Begin by discovering a relation ; we end by discovering the relation . Our first achievement is to foretel the kind of phenomenon which will occur under specific conditions : our last achievement is to foretel not only the kind but the amount . "Of j to reduce the proposition to its most definite form—undeveloped science is qualitative prevision : developed science is quantitative prevision . " This-willat once be perceived to express the remaining distinction between the lower and the higher stages of positive knowledge . The prediction that a piece of lead will take a greater force to lift it than a piece of wood of equal siae , exhibits certainty / but not completoness of foresight . The kind of effect in which the one bodj will exceed tho other is foreseen ; but not the amount by . wh . ich it will exceed . There is qualitative prevision only . On tlio other hand the predictions that at a stated time two particular planets will be in coniunction :
that bjr means of a lever having arms in a given ratio , n . known forco will raise just so many pounds ; that , to decompose a specified quantity of sulphate of iron by carbonate of soda will require so many grains—these predictions exhibit foreknowledge , not only of the nature of the effects to bo produced , but of the magnitude , cither of the effects themselves , of the agencies producing them , or of the distance in time or space at which they will bo produced . There b not only qualitative but quantitative prevision . And this is the unexpressed difference which , leads us to consider certidn orders of knowledge as especially scientific -when contrasted with knowledge in general . Are the phenomena measurable f is the j . ost which we unconsciously employ . Spaoo is measurable : nenco Geometry . Force and space are meaenraole ; hence Statics . Time , forco , and space are measurable : hence Dynamics . The invention of tho barometer enabled men to extend tho principles of mechanics to the atmosphere ; and -flSrostutics existed . When a thermometer wus devised
thero came , to be a science of heat , which wns before impossible . Such of our sensations as wo havo not vet found modes of measuring do not origiuato sciences . Wo have no science of smells ; nor have wo one of tnstes . Wo liavo a scienco of tho relations of sounds differing in pitc . li , because wo have discovered ft way to measure thorn ; but wo have no science of sounds in respect to tlieir loudness or their timbre , because wo } mve got no measures of loudness and timbre . Obviously it is this reduction of tho sensible phenomena it presents , to rotations of magnitude , which gives to any division of knowledge its especially scientific character . Originally men ' s knowledgq of weights and forces was in the same condition us their knowledge of amclla and tastes is now—a knowledge not extending beyond that given by the unaided seneationB ; and it remained so until weighing instruments nnd dynuniomeio inve
ra woro- nted . Jjcloro there wore hour-glasses and clepsydras , tho greater proportion of phenomena could be ostimntcd aa to their durations and intervals , ¦ with no greater precision than dogroea of hardness can bo estimated by tho fingers . Until a thcrmomctric scalp was contrived , men ' s judgments aa to relative amounts of heat stood on tho same footing with thoir proaont judgments as to rolativo amounts of sound . And as in these initial stngos , with no aids to observation , only tho rouftlwflt comparisons of cases could bo mado ; and only th « mo 3 t marked differences perceived | it ia obvious that only tho most Bimplo laws of dependttneo could be Ascertained—only those lawa whioli being uncomplicated with others , nnd not disturbed in thoir manifestations , required no niceties of observsH ion to diaentunclo thorn . Whence it appears not only that in proportion as knowled ge boeomes quantitative do its provisions bucomo complete nu well 113 cortuin ; but tiint until its assumption of a quantitative character it ia necossurily confined to the most elumontnry relations . "
How far this luminous principle can bo carried into Biology mid Sociology tlio writer does not intimate ; but in the inorganic sciences , it certainly does seom to bo tlie capital point . Very striking both in ideas ami illustrations are tlio pagea in whioh tho writer truces tho evolution of science , through the ideas of liheness , equality , number , measure , & c . Ilia tracing up to suggestions of organic bodies all our measures of extension , force , and time is very curious . Hwo is a passage 1—" Thus , amongat linear mowmros , tho onbitof tho Hebrowo was tho length of tho forearm
from the elbow to the end of the middle ringer ; and the smaller scriptural dimensions are expressed in hand-breadths and spans . The Egyptian cubit , which was similarly derived , was divided into digits , which were fi nger-breadtfis ; and each finger-breadth was more definitely expressed as being equal to four grains of barley placed breadthwise . Amongst other ancient measures were the orgyia or stretch 0 / the arms , tho pace , and the palm . So persistent has been the use of these natural units of length in the East , that even now , some of the Arabs mete out cloth by the forearm . So , too , is it with European measures . The foot prevails as a dimension throughout Europe , and has done since the time of the Romans , by whom , also , it was used—its lengths in different places varying not much more than men ' s feet vary . The inch is the length of the terminal joint of the thumb , as is clearl y shown in France , where pouce means both thumb and inch . Then we have the inch divided into three barley-corns . So completely , indeed , have these organic dimensions served aa the substrata of all mensuration , that it is only by means of them that we can form any
estimate of some the ancient distances . For example , the length of a degree on the earth ' s surface , as determined by the Arabian astronomers shortly after the death of Haroun-al-Raschid , was fifty-six ot their miles . We know nothing or their mile further than that it was 4000 cubits ; and whether these were sacred cubits or common cubits , would remain doubtful , but that the length of the cubit is given as twenty-seven inches , and each inch defined as the thickness of six barley-grains . Thus one of the earliest measurements of a degree comes down to us in barley-grains . Not only did organic lengths furnish those approximate measures which satisfied men ' s needs in ruder ages , but they furnished also the standard measures required in later times . One instance occurs in our own history . To remedy the irregularities then prevailing , Henry 1 . commanded that the ulna , or ancient ell , which answers to the modern yard , should be made of the exact length of his own arm .
" Measures of weight again had a like derivation . Seeds seem commonly to have supplied the unit . The original of the carat used for weighing in India is a small bean . Our own systems , both troy and avoirdupois , are derived primarily from wheat-corns . Our smallest weight , the grain , is a grain of wlteaL This is not a speculation ; it is ail historically regis ^ tered fact . Henry III . enacted that an ounce should be the weight of 640 dry grains of wheat from tlie middle of the ear . And as all the other weights are multiples , or submultiples of this , it follows that tlie grain of wheat is the basis of our scale . So natural is it to use organic bodies as weights , before artificial weights have been established , or where they are not to le had , that in some of the remoter parts of . Ireland the people are said to be in the habit , even now , of putting a man into the scales to serve as a measure for heavy commodities . " .
Besides this masterly essay , the British Quarterly presents us with an unusually attractive selection of articles . Among them may be named one on Dryden , and one on Prose Writing , for lovers of Belles Lettrcs ; one on the Plurality o Worlds * for theologians and men of science ; and one on Christianity , for theologians . On each of these topics we might enlarge , hut dare
not . Our space is claimed by the new number of the Westminster , which has no crack" article sure to get talked about , and which the victims of society willbe obliged to read ; but is nevertheless a number ¦ of average merit , and to say this is no slight praise . There are two historico-biographical articles : one on Cardinal Woteey , by a writer who has few rivals in the graceful ease of his narrative , and the vivid , unpedantic sympathy with which he throws himself into the life of the past ; another on Wycliffe and his Times—an . able sketch , which brings into just prominence the superior breadth and profundity of "WYcmffe ' s . views , . compared with those of the more successful reformers in the sixteenth century . Perhaps the most important article in the number is that 011 the Civil Service , which discusses , with far-seeing and practical wisdom , the means by which this immensely
important part of Government machinery may cease to be a sort of pensionlist for unpromising younger sons of the aristocracy , or an indirect instrument of bribery in the hands of public men , and may be laid open to a competition of merit . A writer on the Russo-Europmn Embroilment adopts , and forcibly exhibits , Kossctu ' s view of the dilemma in which the Western allies are placed by their acceptance of Austrian co-operation ; and , as a practical issue , dwells on the forfeitures -which must be exacted from Russia before we can lay down our arms in the confidence that we have won peace for Europe . There is a good article on Comte , though of rather slight texture , and a well-written , well-informed review of Mimvian ' s History of
Latin Christianity , placed in the " Independent Section , " though on what ground it is condemned to that fever-ward , we confess ourselves unable to see , since its views arc not essentially different from those of several other articles on kindred subjects which have been admitted into the editorial part of the Review . Much of the distinctive value of the Westminster arises from its being the organ of men who are too original and independent to submit to tiio paring process which must bo inflicted on them in a party or sectarian periodical . The public wants to know what such men have to say , and will prefer the genuine inconsistency which the " liberty of prophesying " given to theni may entail on successive numbers of the Westminster y to any factitious agreement with an editorial standard .
Idle readers must turn to tho articles on the Beard and on Parody , which are the only faro provided for them . Two or three sections of tho Contemporary Literature—those on Theology auxd History especially—arcs well done : they give real information about the works noticed , and are agreeably written .
*• Simon On Outt Sanitary Condition. Rep...
*• SIMON ON OUtt SANITARY CONDITION . Reports rdatiny to the Sanitary Condki < f \ i of the City of London .. Uy John Simon , 1 <\ R . S Surgeon to St . Thomas's UoH / iiCal , and Ojfioor oflleah / t to the City . J . W . Turkor . The most casual reader of tho Times will not forgot the grave and masterly Reports wliich for five successivo yoai \ - » Imvo boon signed by Mr . Simon ; although none but tho vury unoccupied reader , or tlio roador seriously occupied with Himitary mnttcrw , will havo found time and patience to go carefully through those compact columns of print , awry paragraph of which calls for careful attention . Therefore , not only 011 U 10 ground of their own grout value , but also on the separate ground of their having been up to thia dulo virtually u / tpubliHhcu [ for ns Martial says , No ' n Bcribit cujun oimnina nunio li ^ lt , tho unread is unwritten ] , mi regard thia volume an one of unusual importance . Those who read ( ha ltoporta as they appeared will bo glad to have them gathered into a volume convenient for reference ; those who merely
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 8, 1854, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08071854/page/16/
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