Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-03-22
REVIEW OF NEW BOOKS

SIDE By Alfred Sidgwick, B. A (oxon). New
York; D. Appleton S Co. San Francisco J.
I. White Co. vol, svo.
This is one of the International Scientific
Series. We could wish for much greater
space in which to amplify concerning this
work. But this is out of the question.
Logic, as rule, is considered by the masses
as the dullest and dryest of studies. Il
has no lack of enemies indeed among the
scholarly, some OF whom hold to the dec.
trine that it is impractical and overload
of casuistical refinements. But the great
objection raised to it by those who know
least of it. is that com non sense can well
take its place, and therefore it is needless
study. But 1t is to be observed that there
is precisely az deep well to fathom under
that head What is common sense? What
is the standard for its testing? How many
kinds of common sense are there Is COM
mon sense infsllible, or is it likely to be
any less involved than the philosophy Of
logic The truth is that the latter is
scienga sud the former is often vagueness
and uncertainty, with multiplicity of
standards, numbered by the number of in
dividuals employing it, and oftenest
altogether dogmatic and unreasoniug.
Whenever common sense has force, and
accomplishes conviction, it is done through
logical methods of proof One kind of
common sense is that which dogmatic and
nesr.sighted ignorance applies to reason,
reasons from evidence, and concludes on
the basis OF justice, and this kind always
enters the realm of logic, though STUN
blingly. Logic does not lead, nor does it
originate. 1t simply furnishes methods.
While it does not run in advance, it moves
by the side OF reason, and furnishes it the
vehicle of expression. In this volume,
Professor Sidgwick has sought to avoid
side issues, and has aimed to write in the
cooperative spirit, as he puts it. He
aims to disabuse the mind of the false i'm
preston that the study of "fallacy tends
30 make US tricky" or at least
to incline men to wordiness and
mere ingenuity of repartee. On the
contrary, says Mr.. Sidgwick, "the
result of such study has a depressing and
disarming effect on the power OF being sue.
cessfully sophistic. even when the will to
discern is present.. For really effective
sophistry, nothing is so vitality requisite as
semi-innocence. Just so far as the cpl
gram holds true that the unconscious hypo.
critics are the greatest hypocrites of all, so
may we say the self-deceiver is the most
successful sophist." The truth is, most
people are logicisns but it is also true
that very few realizs it. In one of Molieres
plays character is made to express sur.
no, told hot fnr ha hoe
been talking prose. So, probably, six out
of seven are surprised when told that they
have been logicisns all their lives. Why,
then, as Professor Jevons asks, do we need
books on logic at all Because we need
aids to correct methods. Most men speak,
but all do not read but as all may
read, so all may learn easily and
always read well, or incorrectly, and al
ways read painfully. One may exercise to
the development OF muscular power, but
he will do it better, and achieve higher re-
suits if. as Jevons again puts it, he trains
as does the athlete. We all need to know
how to reason well, and hence the value
of such works as that under notice, and
which to those inclined to study and good
reading will prove not at all tedious.
There should be no fear in any well bal
anced mind of dropping into narrow ruts
or OF running in grooves as a consequence
of studying the abstract rules of logic.
Logical exercise need not limit our breadth
of comprehension, shorten the lines of
mental vision, or check activity In reach
ing right conclusions. There is practical
and everyday side to logic quite discon-
nected from its merely traditional and
theoretic side, and it is of this practicslism
in logic of which the book in hand treats.
OF this, whoever reads the chap
tiers on the process of proof and the
relation between Thesis and Reason,
will be convinced as also the
pages devoted to "the employment of
gaesswork." Professor Sidgwick has not
given US that which is new, for the
methods of reason cannot be new, but has
made clear and simplified for the general
reader that logic is machine for combat
ing fallacy, and like all machinery is cap
able Of much improvement in "the cer-
tainty, the face and the fineness with
which it performs its work. However,
logic is rather a living organism than
purely mechanical, and it is full of rudi.
mentary organs which have historical and
explanatory interest, but not all of which
are now any longer useful for performing
work or preserving the life of the science.
The one objection to the work is its
length. We believe Professor Sidgwick
might have presented it in one-third less Of
space. Over-anxiety to impress the read
er's mind, to illustrate and demonstrate
truths. to establish beyond question the
soundness of logical methods of proof, etc
1t will hardly meet with favor among gen.
eral readers, though intended for them.
Trained minds, those given to close reading
and reasoning, will receive this most
readily, and not esteem it Improbable.
THs CONQUEST OF ENGLAND BY John Richard
Green, al. A, LID Win portrait and maps. l
vol. Royal Svo. New York Harper & Bros.
San Francisco A. L. Bancroft Co.
No man in modern times has contributed
more delightfully."- and benefcially to histori-
cal writing than John Richard Green. In his
death the world met with a great loss. He
was historian whose writing OF people,
rather than the acts" of history, popu-
larized historical reading and brought to
study thousands who heretofore had
avoided it. He was man of remarkable
far sightedness, great rapidity of thought
and striking lueidity of expression. His
analy teal powers were precisely suited to
the vein of literary labor in which he took
pleasure. His several histories of The
English People" have taken place in the
reading world not so well occupied by any
others. More exhaustive histories, more
elaborate, scholarly and thorough histories,
are to be numbered by the dozen but no
historical writer is to be named who has
so clearly and popularity treated of the
English-speaking people. His genius was
original and stood alone, distinct from all
others. Il is said that he pronounced his
own epitaph when he remarked, not Ion
before he ceased from labor, q" l know
what people will say of me he died
learning g." This was literally true. He
was constantly learning, and even the
more superficial of readers discovered be-
tween mis- lines the fact that he was study
ing with them-all the while learning,
snaly zing, studying characters and civiliza-
tions and the causes therefor. The work
before US was the closing one of his useful
life. Neither it nor the volumes that pre-
coded it will rank with those of Mscaulsy
or Hallam or Froude, bat they occupy
plane of a wholly different character, and
fully as valuable to the men of his day, if
not SO lofty cor so scholarly. OF Green's
perfect Justice there has arisen no critic to
-,ost;on Added IN tho porar 70 aDalvz,