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    354 THE LEAD EH. [Sa^u^^^

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    €l)t %xb.

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    THE OPERAS. The voracity of tho Uoyal It...

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    THE THEATRES IN EASTER WEEK. v The play-...

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    Comte's Positive Philosophy. By G. H. Le...

    binding together all men under one faith . As with religion , so with philosophy no one doctrine is universal : there are almost as many philosophies as philosophers . The dogmas of Germany are laughed at in England and Scotland ; the psychology of Scotland is scorned in Germany , and neglected in England . Besides these sectarian divisions , we see Religion and Flulosophy more ox ; less avowedly opposed to each other . . ^ This , then , is the . fact with respect to general doctrines . Religions are opposed to religions , philosophies are opposed to philosophies , while religion and philosophy are essentially opposed to each other . dissidencebut there is similar absence

    In positive Science there is less , a of any general doctrine . Each science rests on a broad firm basis of ascertained truth , and rapidly improves ; but a Philosophy of the Sciences is nowhere to be found , except in the pages of Auguste Comte . The speciality of most scientific men , and their seeming incapacity of either producing or apprehending general ideas , has long been a matter of just complaint ? As I often say , they are hodmen and fancy themselves architects . This incapacity is one of the reasons why nebulous metaphysics still waste the fine activity of noble minds , who see clearly enough that , however exact each separate science may be , these sciences do not of themselves constitute philosophy : bricks are not a house . In the early days of science general

    views were easily attained . As the materials became more complex , various divisions took place ; one man devoted himself to one science , another to another . Even then general ideas were not absent . But , as the tide swept on , discovery , like advancing waves , succeeded by discovery , new tracks of inquiry opening vast wildernesses of undiscovered truth , it became absolutely necessary for one man to devote the labour of a life to some small fraction of a science , leaving to others the task of ranging his discoveries under their general head * The result has been that most men of

    science regard only their speciality , and leave to metaphysicians the task of constructing a general doctrine . Hence we find at present abundance of ideas powerless , because they are not positive ; and the positive sciences powerless , because they are not general . The aim of Comte is to present a doctrine positive , because elaborated from positive science , and yet possessing all the desired generality of metaphysical schemes , without their vagueness , baselessness , and inapplicability . 1 will now quote some remarks from Comte ' s introductory lecture . *

    " It is not , I believe , to the readers of this work that I require to prove that ideas govern the world , maintain it in order , and throw it into anarchy ; or , in other words 1 , that the whole social mechanism is based ultimately upon opinions . They well know that the present great political and moral crisis in society really depends , at bottom , on our intellectual anarchy . Our greatest evil , indeed , consists in the profound divergence existing among all minds in relation to every fundamental maxim , fixity in which is the principal condition of all social order . So long as individual minds do not adhere together from a unanimous agreement upon a certain

    number of general ideas , capable of forming a common social doctrine , the state of the nations will of necessity remain essentially revolutionary , in spite of all the political palliatives that can be adopted ; and will not permit the establishing of any but provisional institutions . It is equally certain that , if this union of minds , from a community of principles , can once be obtained , institutions m harmony with it will necessarily arise , without giving room for any serious shock , —that single fact of itself clearing away the greatest disorder . It is , therefore , to this point that the attention of all those who perceive the importance of a truly normal state o

    things ought principally to be directed . Now from the point of view to which the different considerations noticed in this discourse have by degrees elevated us , it is easy at once to characterize the present state of society with precision and to its inmost centre , and at the same time to deduce the means by which we can effect an essential change upon it . Founding on the all important law enounced at the beginning of this discourse , I believe I can exactly sum up all the observations made upon the present condition of society , by simply saying that the present intellectual anarchy depends , at bottom , on the simultaneous employment of three philosophies radically incompatible .- the theological ,

    metaphysical , and jwsitive philosophies . It is in fact clear , that if any one of those three philosophies really obtained an universal and complete preponderance , there would be a determinate social order , whereas our especial evil consists in the absence of all true organization whatever . It is the co-cxistencc of the three antagonistic philosophies that absolutely prevents a mutual understanding upon any essential question . Now , if this view is correct , we have only to ascertain which of the three philosophies can , and , from the nature of things , must prevail ; every man of sense will then feel

    obliged to concur in its triumph , whatever his own peculiar opinions may have been before the question was thoroughly analyzed and settled . The inquiry being , at once , reduced to this simple footing , it plainly cannot remain for any length of time indeterminate ; because it is evident , from all sorts of reasons , the principal of which I have noticed in this discourses that the positive philosophy is alone destined to prevail , according to the ordinary course of things . It alone , for a long series of ages , has been making progress , while its antagonists have constantly been in a state of decadence ; rightly or wrongly , —it matters not : the gencrdl fact is incontestable , and that is enough . " * Two friends liavo most obligingly placed at ; my disposal tlioir translated extracts and Analyses of tho donm de PhilosojpMo Positive . 1 winy wot nurao thom ixovo , Uut 1 thank thorn hero , and profit by tboir nojjiatjvnco .

    Surely no one will question this fact of scienti fic progress , concurrent with the decadence of Religious and Metaphysical systems ? If he do question it , I refer him to the ample proofs furnished by Comte ; and—as regards Metaphysics- —refer him to the Biographical History of Philosoph y . This unequivocal proclamation of history must not be disregarded that which Humanity has persisted in through the long course of centuries let no man shut his eyes to ! ' ¦ " I cannot better conclude these general considerations than by givin g Comte ' s views of education .

    tf The establishment of the Positive Philosophy will be the presiding and influencing agent in the general reconstruction of our system of education . Already , indeed , all enlightened minds unanimously recognise the necessity of discarding our European system of education , which is still essentially theological , metaphysical , and literary , and substituting for it a . positive education in harmony with the spirit of the age , and suited to the wants of modern civilization . The spontaneous conviction of this necessity has been everywhere extending itself , as we see from the varied and ever increasing attempts , for a century , and particularly of late , to diffuse positive instruction , and to augment it without limit . The different governments of Europe have always zealously joined in these

    efforts , when they did not happen to originate them . But while we further these useful undertakings , as far as possible , we must not conceal the fact , that in the present state of our ideas , they are utterly powerless to effect their chief object , —namely , the radical regeneration of general education . For , the exclusive speciality , and too marked absence of any bond of connexion which continue to characterize our mode of regarding and cultivating the sciences , must of necessity greatly affect the manner of expounding them in our course of education . If an intelligent person at the present day studies the principal branches of natural philosophy , in order to form a general system of positive ideas , he is obliged to study each of them detai if his ob

    separately , after the same method , and in the same L as ject specially were to become an astronomer , or a chemist , & c . Hence such an education is almost impossible , and necessarily imperfect , even where the intellect of the student is of the highest order , and his position , otherwise , the most favourable ; and it would be altogether a chimerical proceeding , for people going through a general course of' ^ dncation to attempt studying the sciences in this detailed way . And yet a general education absolutely requires an ensemble of positive conceptions upon all the great elements of natural phenomena . It is an ensemble of this sort , on a scale more or less extensive , that must henceforth become , even among the popular masses , the permanent basis of all human combinations , that must , in a word , give the

    general tone to the minds of our posterity . In order that natural philosophy may complete the regeneration of our intellectual system , already so far in progress , it is indispensable that its different constituent sciences ( exhibited to every mind as the diverse branches of a single trunk ) be , in the first place , reduced to that in which their general features consist , namely ., to their principal methods , and to their most important results . It is only in this way that instruction in the sciences can become among ,. o ?! , „ , i , r . c , ; o rwf « nf > w nrwl trnlv vAt . innn . 1 general education . And there can us the basis of a new and trulrational general education . And tliere can

    y evidently be no doubt , that , to this fundamental course of instruction , there will be added the different special scientific studies , answering to the different special courses of education which have to succeed the general course . But the essential consideration which I wished to point out here , lies in this , that all these specialities , the accumulation of great l abour , would necessarily be insufficient for thoroughly renovating our system ot education if they did not rest on the preliminary basis of this general

    , course of instruction , itself the direct result of the positive philosophy as defined in this discourse . "

    354 The Lead Eh. [Sa^U^^^

    354 THE LEAD EH . [ Sa ^ u ^^^

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    The Operas. The Voracity Of Tho Uoyal It...

    THE OPERAS . The voracity of tho Uoyal Italian Opera is something incrodiblo . One after another , it swallows up all tlio celebrities , vocal and instrument - of Europe Nogrini , announced in tho bills of tho other house , turns out be " exclusively ' secured" to Covcnt Garden : and so does Joanna VV ay" .- , tho Jenny Lind of Germany . On Tuesday , Les ^ f t ^ % w / Si zotti ( sLylod in tho bills , by a singular compromise , JMartjM . in spectticlc . Tho only difficulty of tho Eoyal Italian this yo u w » cmbarras de richessc , for what is to bo done with tonors ana pi » ^ donnas , already more than can bo numbered P The " old house ,, which it is impossible not to foci a certain affection , a sort oi «« » T- , locorum , announces Mademoiselle d'Angri in . that over en £ L'ltalianainAlqieri . Is tho de prefix a recent creation of M . J 4 "; g an 0 parte P Solid Cruvolli returns fresh from tho ovations ot inj- « f Ventadour , Guy Stophan , tho dMices pf Madrid , remains T . Jf . the ? Ballot until Ilpsati arrives to dispute the throne . * - ^'

    The Theatres In Easter Week. V The Play-...

    THE THEATRES IN EASTER WEEK . v The play-bills are budding promisingly for tho Easter holiday * - 8 ido . dramas , extravaganzas , burlesques , diableries , apnng up oni ry ¦ j ^ . ^ The Princess's ro-opens , aftor tho very serious illness of Charles ¦»¦« j ^ tho orijrinal Corsica * Brothers ( there aro at least six coup « j ^ , om sicanfl in different localities ) , and a now Fairy E * trava 9 a ^** it of a Taylor - Tho Lyceum has amazed tho town l > y tho a ™ ouncoinuJ

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 10, 1852, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10041852/page/22/