The Press. — London, England, 1858-12-11 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 11, 1858. of life and profound views of its philosophy, sure to be hailed with gratitude by thousands as a guide and companion in rambling through Greece —whether over hill and dale under its own happy s ky, or through the splendidly illustrated pages of this volume, in which its beauties are so faith fully reflected. For our own part we thankfully acknowledge the pleasure which we have derived from once more making in such good company the tour of that classic land. To the original work of Dr. Wordsworth has been prefixed, in this, and, if we remember right, in the next preceding edition, a highly instructive dissertation on the development and character istics of Grecian art, from the pen of Mr. George Scharf, the able illustrator of Dean Milman's Horace and other classical publications. This essay forms a most appropriate introduction to the account given in the body of the work of the art treasures still to be met with in every part of ancient Hellas,notwithstanding the ravages of time, the devastations committed by savage conquerors, and the depredations of antiquarians and connois seurs. The history of art in Greece is divided by Mr. Scharf into six periods, the first of which traces its progress from the first rudiments of civilization to the time of Pisistratus ; the second, from that date to the Persian invasion, illustrates its gradual emancipation from the original imperfection of form and rigidity of outline, through a more accurate perception of nature, and greater freedom in imitating life and action ; the third, from the battle of Marathon to the defeat of the Persians, is marked by various important improve ments in the execution of figures, and, specially noted among them, in that most difficult parti cular, the representation of human hair ; the fourth, down to the death of Pericles, exhibits the effects produced upon art by the powerful impulse which the vindication of their liberties had given to the national spirit of the Greeks, and the efforts made to repair the injuries which the monuments of former ages had received from the ruthless hands of the invaders; the fifth, to the accession of Alexander the Great, displays art, now brought to its perfection by Phidias and other master-spirits, in its culmina ting aspect, diffusing more and more widely its humanizing influences ; whilst the last period, from Alexander the Great to Constantine the Great, presents the first indications of departure from the pure standard of its golden age, and its subsequent decline to that state of utter bar barism which, after a long interval, was suc ceeded by the rise of Christian art in the west of Europe. Of Dr. Wordsworth's itinerary through the several provinces of Greece, with its copious clas sical reminiscences and highly interesting com ments, it would be wholly impossible within our limits to present even the most meagre outline; nor is it necessary to make the attempt, seeing for how many years the work has been before the public, and how firmly it has established its position as a standard work of Ilellenic lore. We shall, therefore, content ourselves with ten dering to the learned Canon, on behalf of the public, the thanks to which he has afresh en titled himself by the pains he has bestowed on the revision and partial rearrangement of one of the earlier, and certainly not the least brilliant, among the productions of his erudite pen. A like tribute of gratitude is due to the nu merous artists, both designers and engravers, who by their pictorial illustrations have not only given a highly ornamental character to the vo lume, but have contributed most materially to the elucidation of its contents; and we can fully enter into the feeling of just pride with which the publisher, looking at the joint result of all the labours, literary, artistic, and typographical, expended upon its production, rejoices at his having been "enabled to erect a Pcecile and " Lyceum in remembrance of Greece such as Hadrian "—in his magnificent Grecian villa at Tivoli—" would, with all the Imperial power of " Rome, have attempted in vain." There is one thought which, amidst so much that is pleasing and elevating, painfully intrudes upon the mind in turning over the pages of this volume—the thought that the descendants of that noble race whose long-departed glories it records not only fail to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, but seem scarcely capable of appre ciating those monuments of their nation's former greatness which are the admiration of the rest of the world. This sad thought was, if we mistake not, present to the mind, and at any rate it is admirably conveyed by the pencil, of the limner of the vignette inserted—we know not Ns hether fbr the first time in the present edition—at the head of the volume, representing in quiet but expressive contrast " ancient and modern Greeks." Novum Organon Renovatum. By William IVhewell, D.D., &c. Being the Second Part of the Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences. Third Edition, with Large Additions. London : John W. Parker and Son. THE somewhat ambitious-looking title under which the Master of Trinity has issued the con cluding portion of his Philosophy is not, of course, intended to apply to the whole of the field which is comprehended by the great work of Bacon himself. The first book of the "Novum Organon " is one of those few monuments of human genius which, while they completely accomplish the object which they propose to themselves, are still as far as possible from being superseded by the writings of subsequent in quirers. In pointing out, as his primary purpose. the true path to the Great Instauration of Science, —the obstacles which encumbered it, the grounds of encouragement on which its followers might reckon, and the unbounded prospects of improve ment to which it must necessarily lead,—Bacon explored so widely, investigated so deeply, and wrote so brilliantly, that not only science in particular, but every sort of human knowledge and improvement, must always be indebted to his labours for the preliminary clearance of its prospects and the general facilities of its journey. His philosophy is, in some respects, like a great military road, which, after it has served its original purpose of transporting an army, with its cannon and baggage, is found a pioneer of civilization and a medium of more social and peaceful traffic. The subtle description of the false appearances which lead men away from the pursuit of truth, the demonstration of the immense advantages that have accrued from but ever so slight an adoption of the real method of knowledge, and the splendid picture of the probable results of its increased prosecution,—are all applicable, not only to the cultivation of merely physical science, but to all departments of human activity or spe culation. Thus, although the ancient philoso phers no longer occupy the throne from which Bacon assisted to depose them,—though patient and cautious investigation has taken the place of verbal argument,—though Bacon's " grounds of hope" have become matters of certainty, and realms of which he never dreamed have been opened to the tread of science,—yet the First Book of the "Novum Organon" still keeps its place in the circle of a liberal education ; its cau tions and stimulants are never obsolete ; and, by "showing how fields were won" in one section of our knowledge, will probably long contribute to rouse the energies of its readers to gain further victories in more varied regions of the intellec tual globe. With the Second Book the case is widely dif ferent. Here, instead of being presented with views which are capable of indefinite extension to all subjects, we travel in a much narrower track, and are introduced to a method of inves tigation which is thoroughly special and peculiar. Though Bacon seems, from certain expressions which occur, to have intended his instructions to apply to other matters besides physical science, it is evident that the latter was the thing he had most at heart, and it is probable that any attempt to give his system as wide a sphere of application as has sometimes been claimed for it must have led to extensive modifications of it in practice. When he comes to apply it, the physical world is the one which figures in his view to the exclu sion of every other. his just possible that some of our readers may be unaware that, though Bacon is commonly called the father of natural philosophy, and the like, yet that natural philo sophers of the present day do not work with the tools he left them ; nor, indeed, to speak gene rally, have any former ones done so. What the special peculiarity of Bacon's method was— strange as the assertion may sound—is a yet un solved problem, and one on which even the learning and thought of his latest editors have even now been unable to arrive at a tho roughly satisfactory conclusion. Whether tins peculiarity consisted in absolute cer- 1217 tainty, as one thinks; in the systematic com prehensiveness of its experimental foundation, as another thinks,—or in some third point which does not a.; yet appear, is a matter which it is not our present business to discuss ; suffice it to say that whatever it is which distinguished Bacon's method, philosophers have not, as a matter of fact, put it into practice. The force and breadth of his general directions have done more for philo sophy than the minute ingenuity of his details. The cause of this may either be that the true exercise of the inductive faculty is a matter of nous, or genius, and that no rules can be given for it ; or it may be that there had been so few suc cessful examples of inductive inquiry before Bacon's time that he was, in some sort, in the position of an Aristotle who should attempt to lay down canons of poetry before the existence of a Homer or a Sophocles. " Principles of evidence "and theories of method," as Mr. Mill says, " are "not to be constructed n priori." And this seems to be pretty much the opinion of Dr. Whewell, though he would also think that the former of our two exp lanations had also a good deal to do with the matter. But he points out that we have now, which was not the case in Bacon's day, a large body of well-ascertained truth to look back upon; and by the instances given in the course of his work he shows that we actually know the process by which many of these truths were discovered, and that a fresh attempt to find some general formula for their discovery is likely to meet with better success. And, while admit ting that an " art of discovery " cannot be ex pected to do anything in the way of tangible po sitive results, it is yet not altogether barren, since a formal statement of its process, by showing the stage at which any given science has arrived, must be useful in pointing out the quarter from which increment to its stores ought next to be looked for. The present edition of Dr. Whewell's work, though it has undergone various alterations, does not differ in its main features from the " Philo sophy of the Inductive Sciences, based upon their History," in the two octavos with which we have long been acquainted. These two volumes have now become three, of smaller size, and with a somewhat different arrangement. The first two (published, we think, about a year ago) are called " The History of Scientific Ideas," and trace the gradual elucidation from age to age, and inquirer to inquirer, of the fundamental notions—such as those of space, time, cause, polarity, affinity, &c.— which lie at the bases of the different sciences. The two volumes in question correspond in general to the first volume of the old edition, but (besides a good deal of new matter) include also a division which formerly belonged to the second volume—viz., b. xii., " Review of Opinions on the Nature of Knowledge and the Method of Seeking It," and which, being evidently more of a historical than of a philosophical cha racter, certainly required the transposition. The volume now before us, corresponding to the rest of Vol. 11., contains four books. Book I. consists of " Aphorisms Concerning Ideas," derived from the two previous volumes. Book 11., "Of Knowledge," treats of the con struction of science and the logic of induction. Book 111. describes the " Methods Employed in the Formation of Science," such as methods of observation, of acquiring clear scientific ideas ; and various "methods of induction." And Book IV. is devoted to the " Language of Science," including the subjects of nomenclature, termin ology, the application of old and the construction of new terms in science. What is it, it may now be asked, which entitles Dr. Whewell to call his book a renovated " Novara Organon" ? We have seen that the first book of Bacon's treatise does not want any renewing ; as far as the then existing state of science was concerned it was rather destructive than con structive ' • and its value is rather general than special. It is the second book of the Novuni Organon" that the volume before us is intended to modify, complete, and perhaps—though its author does not say so—to supersede. Bacon's " Great Instauration" was to have consisted of six parts, of which the De Augnientis was the first, the Novum Organon the second, the Parasceve the third; the other three were not carried out. The second book of the Nonfat Organon, after proposing for its subject the vestigation of Forms, and for their discovery method of " exclusion," enumerates nine " help, the in- very the " help • • .1~"~~