New-York daily tribune., 1861-07-07

Seseef. InereIOre,
philosophers to cultivate the imagination II Is duty
they to their own pursuits, which would be en-
cbed and nvigorated by such enlargement of their
reeources IL is also duty which they owe to society
In general; since they, whose intellectual nfiuence
eady greater than that of any other css and whose
authority il perceptbly the increase might have
power enough to correct the most serious deency OF
the present age, and to make us some amends for our
inability to produce such splendid imaginative itera-
ture as that which forefatbers created, and In
which the choicest spirits Of the seventeenth century
did, if may say, dwell and have their being.
The design OF Mr.. Buckle to investigate the
orderly and harmonious laws which govern the
progress Of civilization, and are no less certain
and exact than those which mark the phenome-
na of the material universe, is one of the bodest
and most comprehensive enterprises 10 modern
science. Whether he shall succeed in the accom-
plishment of his immense plan, or find the sub.
iect too vast for the labors of an individual, his
researches cannot fail to interest the best think
ers of his age, and to challenge antagonism and
controversy, as well as approval and sympathy.
He brings to his work the fruits of profound
and extensive investigation; bis studies embrace
the widest range of learning and o wonderful
variety of branches; without tincture of pc
dantry, he seems equally at home among the
ere atoms of literature and the discoveries OF
science; he eyinces no passion for intellectual
DISPLAY. and if his love Of truth sometimes "a
vors of O spice of petulance, it always bears the
marks CT sincerity; he is evidently in earnest in
his own convictions, and though free from the
petty zeal of the partisan, cherishes deep sense
of their value and importance to the welfare
of mankind. We fnd no proof, however, that
Mr.. Buckle possesses the genius of phioSophic
| the establishment of new ideas in the
domain Of abstract speculation. He hai
neither the intuitive faculty Of Plato, thu
analytic stringency Of Aristotle and Kant, ol
the healthy reflective potency Of Locke; but h'
has rare gift Of comprehensioni his mind ar
ranges its treasures in just proportions and he ha
10 wonderful degree the art, 80 necessary t
the historian Of thought, OF seizing at the rIgb
moment the precise fact which serves to Illus
trate his position. Nr. Buckle can scarcel
claim the crowniug merit Of originality; hence b
must remain without the laurel which is worl
BY the worlds creative thinkers; but he occu
pies a high place in the second order of grea
minds; he is always Independent, never bows t.
custom, precedent, or authority; never ceases +
think persstently for HIMSELF his intellect il
acute, rather than profound, less remarkable 70
depth Of penetration, than for clearness Of vision
his taste has grown sensitive aud refined unde
most generous culture; but his peculiar func
ton il that Of criticism on the largest scale
criticism Of speculative ideas, of phIosophic sys
tens, Of social institutions, of the application o
universal laws, rather than of the predictions o
literature ard art. Certainly no recent work il
the English language can compare with th'
History Of Civilization for comprehensiyenes
of purpose, richness and variety of erudItion
subtle and ingenious augmentation, boldness o
thought, aud grave and impressive eloquonce
style.