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    1Q7 J THE LEAD EH.

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    DEBIT AND CREDIT. Debit and Credit. A No...

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    Ttf| : ^Or Novembeb 7, 1857.1 ^ _

    general information and some literary ability , but as having no claim whatever to be considered a philosopher at all- others allow that he ha ^ vriUen h ^ cou S ^ t ^' 110151 bu V * £ ? * desultory , immethodicaWalvth ^ ?« t 2 ? nLv ^ ^ * ^ - ? Mnk am <> ngSt thinkers . But to the Tlrl ^ tfF' uf ° n S wntin f s have a ^« ys proved the greatest perplexity . Ae foln ^ f ° # + \ ° T * " ° Vitd i ™ th somethin S of the rich variety , ShlSSSS ? ° . k J th ^ Seness and irregularity of nature herself , was a felV V ^ f ; ^ erstand , and it is amusing enough to see how ? fe ^ Atte ^ ted _ ^ ^ - 9 ^ cours e , it must § t in somewhere , as 7 assumed to he

    ~ £ Snl T complete , but it was so difficult to discover SZ ^ - " ^/ f W ! XS - Even with the advantage of many Procrustean beds instead of one , which is the peculiarity of modern systems , it vas found difficult to accommodate the English philosopher . First , on the strength of some kindly expressions towards natural magic , he was placed on the bed of the mystics , and though it proved a preposterously snort 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 Tmtings abounded with references to nature , he was crushed into the narrow bed of the metaphysical naturalists , though it was an outrage on common S (

    £ t *« . PP ° se that he could stay there . Finally , after other similar -efforts , the majoritydecided that he fitted the bed of ^ the sensationalists best , and after lopping oif 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 , iairly 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 Germanbut like an Englishmanin a

    , , simple and natural manner , without pedantry or affectation , and iu language iree from . technicahties 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 ana on the Continent , and what is more important still , that the deeper spirit oi his writings , his heroic confidence in nature , and intense love of reahty , are growingly recognized and appreciated . Fischer

    ^ Dr . eomaiences his outline of Bacon ' s philosophy by a short sketch of Jua 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 man , there will be found a substantial harmony between his character and his works . Bacon ' s character hasbeen 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 character of the hero—' . greatest , wisest , meanest of mankind' — -was in fact too tempting to be resisted ; and yielding to the impulse of his nature , which prompts him to -sacrifice ti uth and sobriety of statement to point and dramatic effect , Macaalay c xaggerated this superficial antithesis into an insoluble problem . Dr . Fischei attempts , and as it seems to us successfully , an explanation . 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 when he missed in Bacon that firmness of character which we call 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 ; he yielded to a pressure , and allowed himself to be driven into a corner by the overwhelming force of circumstances . He could augment and dimmish , with the same 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 an intellectual power , and imprinted a new form of mind upon his age , at the same time presented a soft material capable of receiving the impression from any hand that happ « ned 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 id 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 minuluu , could not fail to produce extraordinary results in the region of science ; that it was especially made to awaken a new life hi this region , and that , above all , it corresponded to liacon ' 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 . rich , versatile mind , affable to every person , accessible to every form of life , contains within itaelf all the talents that constitute the agreeable companion . Bacon possessed by nature all those qualities which have aright to shine in society ; he united the weighty -with the light , not by deliberate art , but by dint of natural grace . His command ov « t ^ M « da tt «» perfect , both in public orations and in private converge . Aocoiding to the testimony of Ben" Jonaon , liacon was an orator whom one never gre-w weary of heariag . But tluavwy . povret , which , in science and social lifo finds and

    bo brilliant lofty an expression , acquires quite' another aBpect wl » an its acU are © f a moral kind ; the moral clement is for such a form of individuality the moat uncongenial and the moat dangerous . There is no elastic morality ; and Bacon ' s moral nature was as elastic , as facile , aa completely directed towards practical ends , and as compliant with circumstances , as his intellect . It quite accorded with the key-note of hia individuality . Hero is the perceptible harmony of his character , -which has often escaped notice , or ( as in the case of Mr . Macaulay ) ha 3 l ) cen missed altogether . "We see in Bacon ' s moral character , its compared with his intellect , not a distinct ba & ttg , but only the shadow of hi « individunlity , which grow larger an its substance increased in power and importance . Elastic morality is lax . Moral virtue deirmndH , above everything , a firm , tough , obstinate power of resistance , for it consists in a victorious struggle with the allurement * and temptations of life . If this power of resistance has ita fulcrum in the natural disposition of the individual , it is n talent . Now this moral talent was wanting iu Bucon ' u nature ; and the virtue that

    corresponds to it -was therefore wanting in his life All tho ,,, ftT ., MT , ""— = his life have their real foundation *^ thta absence o ^* £ ^ ~ ^\^ S » re resisting power ; in that mental facility which gave suTck ^ ao ^ L ^ T ^ Want of his scientific , and so grievously crippled his moral enemies ^ "mnatioa to 1 row Bacon ' s life he proceeds to his Method ; the ' central p oint nf , i , he lucidly characterizes as follows : — p 11 L ol which Every rigid course of thought is determined by twto nointa , that fm ™' , lA proceeds , and tLat to which it tends ; the former is the starting-ohithe . w ? " the goal . The question is , whieh of these two points is first mfen first ™ i I 1 S a the mind ; whether the thought first settles its startin g- ^ n ' t , £ nd > Ei k logical progress seeks its goal , or whether it first takes a clear view o ? L Si Lf then considers which road it must pursue , and from what point it miS ; * S \ S Logical thought is possible in both cases ; but iu the former case theLode o 1 ? , is different from that in the latter . There , my first thought is the ^ . nls a d S further course of ideas consists solely of legitimate conclusions . Mere ' mv fll 5 thought is the goal , and with respect to that my premiss is framed . Here I « , «„ thus : this is my goal which stands as something necessary , and to be attainedTS events ; now such and such are the means which will bring me to that eud nndtw ^ J ^™* ™ ° «*«!* ? link ? «* « - » 7 starting-point tndt

    . ^™ - ^ ^ . . , this sense my premiss . Thus I reason from the goal to the startin-point I ' rZ conclusions arc rightly drawn , the course of my ideas is unquestionably logical ( col sequent ) ,. hut its order and its direction are diametrically opposite to those of the other course ot ideas which from the given starting-point proceeds to the not-given l al Both modes of thought are legitimate , but they differ both in course and intendeW Each has its own point of view , and a anethpd depending upon it If the thouX tends to a principle , its guiding-point is an axiom ; if it teiids to a goal that is to be attained its guiding-point is a problem . Axioms suggest deductions : problem 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 lo-ical and methodical thought is required The hrst method may . be called that of deductions , the second-that of solution ; the former is the synthetic , the latter the analytic method . For every deduc tion is a synthesis , every solution is . an analysis .

    ^ Now I . maintain that a mind whose first thought is not a principle , but a problem to besolyed , and which begins by proposing to itself a goal that is to be reached , — 1 maintain , I say , that such a mind must think analytically ; and in this its natural course of ideas must be followed and represented by us . First it apprehends the problem—the goal that hovers before it in . the distance—then the means of Solution in a regular sequence down to the fust link , which offers the scientific starting-point for the solution itself . l Such a mind was the mind of Bacon . ISTot a principle , but a problem constitutes the first thought and guiding-point of his whole philosophy . He first clearly 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 goal , but alwayskeeps it steadily in view . This setting up of goals belonged to the nature of his thought , which was therefore thoroughly analytical iu its method . Bacon himself thought a he wished science in general to thiuk ; that is to say , he analysed things . . . .

    Why , then , did he choose this one particular road , and this one particular end ? Here what has just ' uow appealed a necessary thougbt Uocauies a mere 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 IJacon set out from experience . We may just as well say that Columbus was a navigator , -while the principal point is that he discovered America . Mere navigation was as little the leading thought of Columbus as mere experience was the leading thought of Bacon .

    1 he 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 his 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 English work .

    1q7 J The Lead Eh.

    1 Q 7 J THE LEAD EH .

    ¦ - ;¦ [ o- 398 , November V , 1557 .

    Debit And Credit. Debit And Credit. A No...

    DEBIT AND CREDIT . Debit and Credit . A Novel . Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag , by L . O . C . With a 1 ' refiiee by C- C . J . Jiunsen . 2 vols . Edinburgh : Constable and Co . DcJ / U and Credit . A Novel . By Gustav Freytag . From the Original , witli the sanction of the Author , I > y Mrs . Malcolm . Bentley . The Chevalier Bunsen states that , upon the publication of this novelin Germany , it attained an innnediate success , and went through six expensive editions in less . than two years . He is profuse in his praise of tlio work , which is undoubtedly one of the most popular of the German school that has appeared within the century . There is room , consequently , for the versions produced at Edinburgh and in London . Mr . Constable has

    presented the translation of L .. C . O . 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 Bunsen . For Mr ^ Heutley , however , Mrs . Malcolm has interpreted the story from the _ original , with apparently equal accuracy—at all events in almost identical language , except where the original is more elaborately followed—and it forms one neat volume appropriate for current and casual reading . Probably , both the translations will receive a largo and . immediate acceptation . The novel contains all tho eloincnts of popularity . It is fresh , rich in incident , vital with character , thought , and fancy , and in all respects an uncommon , genuine , interesting book- The humour is not broad , but

    quiet ; the irony glaucea out in sudden , mild , lmidmtians , imd the narrative ia one of unbroken strength and consistency . Gustav Preyta ^ na tho preface informs us , is not a iendeitci / writer ; ho has not been seduced by the hack notion assiduously propounded in defence of didactic mediocrity , that a novel has a purpose beyond and above artistic excellence , ami that if it oduciites the conscience the literary purist objects in vain : as if the moral did not suflcr when awkwardly or weakly enforced . Soil and llaben has a moral , but the author does not disdain being an artist . Without suggesting that this work is tho expression of a formula , its object may be doscribed to be the development of a view , insisLing upon tlie weceHiity of a more Christian i ' usion uiuong the diiTerent classes of society , nnd prophesying , for the middle orders , a future supremo preponderance in thu world .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 7, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07111857/page/18/