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general information and some literary ability , but as Laving no claim whatever to be considered a philosopher at all ;' ¦ others allow that he has written ¦ shrewdly about Method , but in such a desultory , iiumethodlcal way , that he could only take a very humble rank amongst thinkers . JJut to the system-makers , Bacon ' s writings have always proved the greatest perplexity . A body of thought so vast and so vital , with something of the rich variety , 4 he fulness of life , the largeness and irregularity of nature herself , -was a phenomenon they could not understand , and it is amusing enough to see how 4 ; hey have attempted to deal with it . Of course , it must fit in somewhere , as their system -was assumed to be complete , but it was so difficult to discover exactly where the right place was . Even with the advantage of many Procrustean beds instead of one , which is the peculiarity of modern systems , it was found difficult to accommodate the English philosopher . Firston
, the strength of some kindly expressions towards natural magic , he was placed on the bed of the mystics , and though it proved a preposterously short one , it was determined , by stretching the passages in question ., that he had certainly made the bed , and must therefore lie in it . Then , as his ¦ writings abounded with references to nature , he was crushed into the narrow bed of the metaphysical naturalists , though it was an outrage on common sense to suppose that he could stay there . Finally , sifter other similar < jfibrts , the majority decided that he fitted the bed of the sensationalists best , and af ter lopping off what was superfluous , they laid the truncated remains of his thought there in peace . Dr . Fischer thus stands alone amongst his countrymen , in having , as the volume before us proves that he has , fairly studied Bacon ' s works , and fully appreciated their spirit and
purpose . ^ He patiently follows the development of Bacon ' s thought , interprets its special significance at every step , shows what a strict connexion there is between the parts , and what a large and vital unity it possesses as a whole . He does this , too , not like a German , but like an Englishman , in a simple and natural manner , without pedantry or affectation , and in language free from technicalities of every kind . The volume sketches in outline the whole course of Bacon ' s thought , and is thus a valuable introduction to the study of his works . To have such a volume -from Germany is certainly a good sign , one amongst many other recent ones that go to show that Bacon is now beginning to be not only read but studied , both in England ami on the Continent , and what is more important still , that the deeper spirit of his writings , his heroic confidence in nature , and intense love of reality , are growingly recognized and appreciated .
Dr . Fischer commences ' Ms outline of Bacon ' s philosophy by a short sketch of hk life and character , and he does this from the conviction that the one will necessarily throw light on the other , that a man ' s life furnishes to some extent a key to his writings , that in the history of every man , but especially of every distinguished rnan , there will be found a substantial harmony between his character and his works . Bacon ' s character has been a great difficulty to his biographers , and Macaulay , in his brilliant Essay , has rather increased the perplexity instead of helping to remove it . The antithesis between the moral and intellectual in the chai-acter of the hero— ' the
greatest , wisest , meanest of mankind' — was in fact too tempting to be resisted ; and yielding to the impulse of his nature , which prompts him io sacrifice ti uth and sobriety of statement to point and dramatic effect , Macaulay e xaggerated this superficial antithesis into an insoluble problem . Dr . Fischei attempts , and as it seems to us successfully , an explanation of the apparent anomaly . He happily seizes the moral features of Bacon ' s character , which made him at once practically weak and intellectually strong . The following is the passage in which he points out what he takes to be the moral key of his character : —
David Hume ; was right whea he missed in Bacon that firmness of character which we cull the moral power of resistance . We know of no philosopher more clastic than Bacon . He possessed to the highest degree the power and the impulse to expand himself beyond all bounds , but the power of resistance he lacked ; lie yielded to a pressure , and allowed himself to be driven into a corner by the ov « rwhelming force of circumstances . He could augment and diminish , with the sam « natural facility , without being affected , either in his higher or his lower position , by an excessive sensibility , which in the one case would have stimulated his pride , in the other would have too painfully depressed him . Hence it was that the man , who excelled all others in intellectual power , and imprinted a new form of mind upon hig age , at the same time presented a soft material capable of receiving the impression from any hand that happened to be powerful . This elastic power constitutes , as- it were , the type of his individuality , in which all his politics , his virtues as well as his foibles , harmonize with each other . Here we can perceive that his character is consistent with itself . From this point we explain the peculiar turns of his life , his vicissitudes , even his extremest aberrations .
It is perfectly evident to us that such an intellectual power , fitted as it -was to strive towards a great end , and , at the same time , to penetrate into miniclkv , could not fail to produce extraordinary results in the Tegion of acieuco ; that it wsis especially made to awaken a now life in thb region , and that , above all , it corresponded to Bacon's own scientific tendency , namely , the progression from particular to general laws . If we imagine the same power placed in the midst of social intercourse , we find that this xich , versatile mind , affable to every person , accessible to every form of life , contains * rifhra itself all the talents that constitute the agreeable companion . Bacon possessed by nature all thoao qualities which have a tight to shino in society ; ho united tho weighty with the light , not by deliberate art , but by dint of natural grace . His command over words was perfect , both in public orations and in private converso . According to the testimony of Ben Jonaon , Bacon was au orator whom one nover grew weary of hearing . But this very power , which in science and social lifo finds
so brilliant and lofty an expression , acquires quite another aspect when its acta nro of a moral kind ; tho moral element is lor such a form of individuality the most uucongenial and tho most dangerous There is no elastic morality ; and B « co » i ' a moral nature was as elastic , as facile , as completely directed towards practical oiuls , and aa compliant with circumstances , as his intellect . It quite accorded with tho kcy-noto of hia individuality . Hero is tho purceptiblo harmony of hi . s character , -which ha » often escaped notice , or ( as ire the case of Mr . Macaulay ) liaa hoen rni . sscil altogether . We boo in Bacon ' s moral character , a » compared with hia intellect , not n diatinct bung , but only the shadow of lii . s individuality , which grow larger as its substance increased in power and importance . Elastic morality ia lax . Moral virtuedcmandH , above everything , a iirm , tough , obstinate power of resistance , for it consists in a victorious strugglo with tho alluremciitH and temptations of life . If this power of reaiatanco has its fulcrum in tho natural disposition of the individual , it ia a talent . N " ow thia moral talent waa wanting in Bucon ' a naturo ; nud the virtue that
corresponds to it was therefore wanting in his life . AH the moral blemishes that ~ fisf his lifo have their real foundation in this absence of virtue ; in this naturil waiif 1 f resisting power ; in that mental facility which gave such extraordinary animatio t Ms scientific , and so grievously crippled his moral energies . / ion to Erom Bacon's life he proceeds to his Method , the central point of whicl he lucidly characterizes as follows : — - en Every rigid course of thought is determined by two points , that from -which , " t proceeds , and that to which it tends ; the former is the starting-point , the la tter the goal . The question is , which of these two points is first giiien , lirs ' t apprehend *
thus : this is my goal which stands as something necessary , and to be attained at all events ; now such and such are the means which will bring me to that end and these means themselvas form a chain , the first link of which is my starting-point and in this sense my premiss . Thus I reason from the goal to the starting-point . ' If my conclusions are rightly drawn , tho course of my ideas is unquestionably logical ( consequent ' ) , but its order and its direction are diametrically opposite to those of the other course of ideas , which from the given starting-point proceeds to the not-given "o-il Both modes of thought are legitimate , but they diller both , in course and in tendency Each has its own point of view , and a method depending upon it . If the thought tends to a principle , its guiding-point is an axiom ; if it tends to a goal that is to " attained , its guiding-point is a problem . Axioms suggest deductions ; problems require solution . In the one case , I ask , what will follow from this principle ? In the other , how shall I solve this problem ? In both cases logical and methodical thought is required . The iirst method may be called that of deductions , tlie second that " solutions ; the former is the synthetic , the latter the analytic method . For every deduction is a synthesis ^ every solution is an analysis .
Isow I maintain that a mind whose iirst thought is not a principle , but a problem to be solved , and which begins by proposing - to itself a goal that is to be reached , — I-. maintain , I say , that such a mind must think analytical ?}/; and hi this its natural course of ideas must be followed and represented by us . First it apprehends the problem- —the goal that hovers before it hi . the distance—theu the means of solution in a . regular sequence down to the first link , which offers the scientific starting-point for the solution itself . ' .-Such , a mind was the mind of Bacon . Xot a principle , but -a ¦ ¦ p roblem constitutes the first thought and guiding-point of his whole philosophy . He Iirst . clearlv apprehends his goal , then he reflects on the right means for infallibly attaining it . Through the whole course of his ideas he never turns his eyes from this goaV but . always keeps it steadily in view . This setting up of goals belonged to the nature of his thought , which Vas therefore thoroughly analytical in its method . Bacon him self- thought a he wished science in general to think ; that is to say , he analyzed things . . . .
"Why , then , did he choose this one particular road , and this one particular end ' f Here what has just now appealed a necessary thought becomes a inert : arbitrary caprice ; and it is as a necessary sequence of thought that the Baconian philosophy is to be comprehended and exhibited . This is impossible , so long as it is- ' synthetically treated ; and that-which to Bacon himself was an inference or an intermediate proposition is laid down as a fundamental principle . It is useless to repeat over and-over again that Bacon set out from experience . We may just as well say thai Columbus was a navigator , while the principal point is that he discovered America . Mure navigation was as little the leading thought of Columbus as mere experience was the leading thought of Bacon . The remainder of the volume is occupied with the working out of Bacon ' s plan as seen in . his works , and with a sketch of the relation in which he stands to the philosophers of the same school -who succeeded , him , and who have since brilliantly developed and systematized bis thought .
We have only to add that Mr . Oxenford has translated the volume with his well-known ability , so that throughout it reads like an original Kiiglish work .
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DEBIT AND CREDIT . Debit and Credit . A > fovel . Translated from the German of Gustav l ' roytag , by L . C . C "With a Preface by ( J . ( J . J . Uuusen . 2 vols . Edinburgh : Constable ; llltl C ° - Debit and Credit . A . Novel . By Gustav Freytag . JL'Vom the Urigi ' . ml , with the sanction of the Author , l > y Mrs . Malcolm . . Bentloy . The Chevalier Bun sen states that , upon the publication of this novel in Germany , it attained an immediate success , and went through six expensive editions in less than two years . lie is profuse in his praise oi the work , which is undoubtedly one of tho most popular of the Gorman school that has appeared within the century . There is room , consequently , lor the versions produced at Edinburgh and in London . Mr . Constable h-u
presented the translation of L . C . C . in the most attractive form , the book being printed clearly , on good paper , in two light volumes , prefaced by an elaborate criticism from the pen of the Chevalier Bunson . For Mr . lientley , however , ' Mrs . Malcolm has interpreted the story from the _ original , witli apparently equal accuracy—at adl events in almost identical language , except where the original is more elaborately followed—and it , lonns one neat volume appropriate for current and casual rending . Probably , both the translations will receive a large and immediate iiocepution The novel contains all the eloments of popularity . It is fresh , ru : h in incident , vital with diameter , thought , and fancy , and in all respects im uncommon , genuine , interesting book . The humour id not broad , but narrative
quiet ; the irony glances out in sudden , mild , irradiations , and tin ; is one of unbroken strength and consistency . Gustav Fivytag , as tliu preface informs u . s , is not a tendency writer ; he has not been seducod by tno hack notion assiduously propounded in defence of didactic mediocrity , that a novel has a purpose beyond and above artistic excellence , nud that » it educates the conscience the literary purist objects in vain : as it the moral did not suffor when awkwardly or weakly enforced . Soil- tiud thi ' '" lias a moral , but tlie author does not disdain being an artist . Without suggesting that this work is the expression of n formula , its object may In * inscribed to be the development of a view , insisting upon tho nir-twdLy ol si more Christian fusion among the diU ' urent classes of soekLy , and prop hesy ing , for the middle orders , a future supremo preponderance in tin' world .
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¦ 107 * T H E ¦ .-X . E _ A _ g jE H . ^ Nq . 398 , ISTovember 7 , 1857 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 7, 1857, page 1074, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2216/page/18/
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