Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1896-03-06
REWARDS OF PHILOSOPHY.
Herbert Spencer Has Not Found Them
Very Great.

Herbert Spencer Has Not Found Them
Very Great.
Herbert Spencer's first Important work,
"SOoial States, was published in 1850,
when he was just 30. The great work Of
his life-the System of Synthetic Phi
losophy taken up In earnest ten
years later The sacrifices involved in tho
preparation and production of the gigantic
work thus herAlded TO the world were lit
tie short Of heroic. Those who know Mr.
Spencer by his books alono may have
thought OF him merely as devoting himself
to philosophy out of the abundance Of his
material wealth and comfort The truth
is far otherwise No man ever lived a
more asoetic life or denied himself more
for the sake of the task he had undertaken
for humanity. In his evidence given be-
fore the commission on copyright he tells
us in plain words, though in the most Sc
verely impersonal and abstract manner,
the story of his hard and noble fight dur
ing the unrooognized days of his early
manhood. Not fight for bread, not a
fight for fame, remember, but fight for
truth. For his first book, "Social States, /"
in 1850, he could not find publisher will
ing to take any risk; so he was Obliged to
print it at his own cost and sell it on COM
mission. The edition consisted of only
$50 copies and it took no less than IA
years to sell.
Such are the rewards of serious thought
in our generationl Five years later he
printed the original form of the "Prinoi-
pies of Psychology" Again no publisher
would undertake the risk, and he publish
ed on commission. Once more 700 copies
were printed, and tho sale was very slow.
Il gave away a considerable number"
says Mr. Spencer pathetically, land the
remainder sold in 1917 years. " During all
that time We may conclude from the So
quel he not only made nothing out Of those
two important and valuable books, but
was actually kept out Of pocket for his
capital sunk in them.
uBefore the initial volume First Prin-
ciples' was finished, - he observes, Il found
myself still losing. During the issue of
the second volume, the Principles Of Biol
Ogy' was still losing. In the middle Of
the third volume 1 was losing so much
that l found l was frittaFing away all l
possessed, Went back upon my accounts
and discovered that In the course Of Is
years had lost nearly 81 ,200-adding in
terest, moro than 81, 200. As was evil
IDENTIFY going on running myself l issued
to the subscribers a notice Of cessation
He had been living meanwhile in 1.-THE
most economical way possible, " in spite Of
which he found he had trenched to that
large extent on his very small capital
Spartan fare had not sulliced to make his
experiment successful. Nevertheless, he
continued to publish. as he himself brave
" phrases it, II may say, by accident
Twice before in the course of those 10
weary years he had been able to persovere,
in spite OF losses, by requests Of money.
On this third occasion, just as ne was on
the very point of disseminating tho produo
ton of his great work, property which ho
inherited came to him in tho nick Of time
to prevent such catastrophe,
ANY other man in the world would have
invested his money and fought shy in the
future of the siren Of philosophy. Not so
Mr.. Spencer. TO him life is thought. He
went couragcously on with his forlorn
hope in publishing, and it is some conso-
lation to know that he was repaid in the
end, though late and III, for his single
minded devotion. In "a years after no be-
gan to publish he had retrieved his posi-
tion and was abreast of his losses. Think |
of that, you men Of business. Twenty-four
years Of hard mental work for no pay at
all, and at the end Of it TO find yourself |
just where you started Since that time,
it is true, Mr.. Spenoer's works have |
brought him in, by degrees, satisfactory |
revenue, Dht consider the pluck and deter |
mination Of tho man who could fight so |
long, in spite Of poverty, against such ter |
rible experiences OF Reviews.