# Popular Science Monthly/Volume 21/May 1882/Professor Goldwin Smith as a Critic

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* PROFESSOR GOLDWIN SMITH AS A CRITIC.
By HERBERT SPENCER.
I
IN the preface to the "Data of Ethics" there occurs the following sentence:
When I wrote this sentence, I little dreamed that Professor. Goldwin Smith would be the man to verify my expectation more fully than I expected it to be verified by the bitterest bigot among those classed as orthodox.
I do not propose here to enter upon a controversy. I propose simply to warn readers that, before accepting Professor Goldwin Smith's versions of my views, it will be well to take the precaution of referring to the views as expressed by myself, to see whether the two correspond. And, by way of showing that this warning is called for, I will give them the opportunity of comparing representation with reality in a single instance.
In his article in the last number of this "Review," and on page 340, he characterizes the doctrine I have set forth in these words:
Before going further, let the reader dwell a moment on this statement, and consider the full implication of its words. Let him ask himself what kind of conclusions he would look for in a system of ethics which does not recognize "an authoritative conscience"; what ideas of right and wrong are likely to be found in a treatise on conduct which excludes "duty" and "virtue"; what he thinks must be the general traits of a moral doctrine in which "principle" has no place. Then, when he has fully impressed himself with the meaning of Professor Smith's words, and imagined the kind of teaching indicated by them, let him observe the teaching he actually finds. The following passage, from chapter ix of the "Data of Ethics," will prepare the way for more specific passages:
And then, having in various ways explained and enforced the need for these "regulative principles," and the peremptory authority of these "modes of thinking and feeling" known as conscience, I have closed the chapter by saying that "conflicting ethical theories. . . severally embody portions of the truth, and simply require combining in proper order to embody the whole truth" (p. 171).
Nor is this all. Having asserted that the moral sentiments "are indispensable as incentives and deterrents," and that "the intuitions corresponding to these sentiments" have "a general authority to be reverently recognized," I have ended by saying:
Experience does not lead me to suppose that Professor Goldwin Smith will admit his description of my views to be unjustified. Contrariwise, many instances have proved to me that, when the statements, first made are not distinguished by great scrupulousness, no great scrupulousness is shown in the defense of them. The reader will be able, however, to decide beforehand whether any reply which may be made can be adequate. He has simply to ask himself whether, having read the sentence I have quoted from Professor Goldwin Smith, he could have expected to find in the "Data of Ethics" the passages I have quoted from it. If he says "No," as he must do, then, whatever explanation or defense may be offered, will leave outstanding the charge of grave misrepresentation.
Perhaps it will be assumed that this is simply a mistake, an inadvertence, an oversight on the part of Professor Goldwin Smith—an exceptional error he has fallen into. Well, even were this true, it could hardly be held to excuse him, considering that his statement involves a condemnatory characterization of the work as a whole. But it is not true. So far from being exceptional, the instance I have given is typical of his entire criticism. I have noted eight other statements of his concerning views of mine, which are quite at variance with the facts—most of them as widely at variance as the one I have instanced. I do not wish to occupy either my own time or the pages of the "Contemporary Review" in setting forth these at length, but I am quite prepared to do it if need be.—Contemporary Review.