New-York tribune., 1874-11-07

he has penetrated We have the poets to give voice to
the dumb yearniugs which philosophy has yet taught
man the secret of appeasng, to interpret hs wistSul
longings for he knows not what, and his sadness no
knows not why; and to the poets that task might well
have been left. Mr. Mill had the reputation OF phios
opher and philosophers II they touch such subjects at
all. must do so in different mood and with different
hand.
This is hostile to Mr. Mill but well within the fair
limits of controversy, and the writer of the article
in The Pal Mall Gasette is known and not un-
worthy antagonist and speaks for q school of Mills
opponents with certain authority. Very different
in tone and substance is The Saturday Reeps treat
ment Of the book and of its authOr-very charac-
teristc also of that journal 1t begins with sneef
at "the sort of excitement got up by some newspa-
pers" about these posthumous Essays as II "the
whole nation had previously been waiting Win
breathless anxiety for the disclosure of this wonder
full bequest )" followed by jibe at the country
newspapers which "make desperate efforts TO get
an early copy of the precious work, and food ther
columns with antcipatory extracts from it," But
in fact, insists The Saturday. nobody cared
There will be little curiosity and not much
hope.' for at was foreseen that the apple
would be sour and cankered with worm nj lts
wasted core" 1t is simply the dulness OF the sea-
son which accounts for the " absurd Importance
attached to the publication of these Essays Ihe
Saturday has no difficulty in making up its NINA
al out them "1bey are marked by crudity, ana
even incoherencc, as well rs by hagrant faults oi
temper" The first Essay is 'vtuperative," ana 10
prove it it is caricatured in q summary which GER
tainly deserves the epthet AT the end we are tolu
Mr. Mill would have liked to hang nature II he
could. His first Essay is not merely a" TRADE, OuV
an old one-a "stale Indictment which VIII also DE
often heard again. OF the concluding Essay THIS
account is given:
In other words. existence is TO be divided into two
parts in one OF which man Is to be oppressed by the
desoaton of reason while in the other lie Is to console
himself with the tful satisactonvof the oplum-eater
Mr. Mills own writings illustrate the natural results vi
the experiment. On the whole. these Essays VIII DC
disappointing to those who expected much from them
but after reading the Autobiography the expectations
of most persons must have been exceedingly moderae'
II is hard to confne the expression OF ones feelings
obout attacks so wanton and so indecent as these
within conventional limits. will content myself
with ootinc moderate passage from The Daily Ne~S'
not written, however, with reference to this:
There is certain irony Of fate, at which Mr. MIL Mn
self would been the first to smile In the Judgments
passed by critics anxious to save the rost' on ie"
tracts from these Essays which summed up the lhh-
ing O, lifetime or even by the deliberate re-
viewers who have at least read the book with paper
knife and have gone through such an intellectual pro-
cess with it as corresponds rather with wingthan
with digestion.
The following, from the same source, is not less
Apostle:
In some quarters the OF old controversy per-
petuatng its anmosties beyond the grave, is painuN
apparent. It is hard to see how the value OF Mt
s Logic Of mis- Political Economy, and Of his Repre-
sentative Government dscredIted by the later move
mepts OF his mind toward theistc belief. ana his
indulgence at least, IN the hope OF future Ifo'
Apparently to some persons bis theology or the syllO
gism his doctrine of scientific method, his views OF In
ternational ira e his estimate OF second chamoer
arc seriously impaired by the discovery that Mr. Mill
was not as the phrase runs strict atheist ana
that his mind was open least the great possibilities
which the grave hides.
Other passages from this admirable article are
well worth quoting, but 1 must refer Mr MINIS
friends 10 The Daily Ne0s itself With the lapse OF
little time other comments will be heard, and the
iudement of intelligent minds on MI Mills re-
hgous views will be made up quite independently
of tho accidental disadvantages attending the ap-
Dearapce of these Essays. u. W. 5.