New-York tribune., 1903-05-27
.SPENCER'S YOUTH.
Impressions of the Philosopher from
the Diary Of a Friend,
Tba Pail Mall Gazette.

From The Pail Mall Gazette.
The eiphtv-thfrd birthday OF Mr.. Herbert Spen-
Ger occurs to-day and thousahos OF aQIL ] ~ -
unite in wishing the agei philosopher many many
happy returns Of the day. Mr. Spencer mas oeeI
so merged in his own philosophy that very re"
of the Incidents of his life are matters OF puohG
lxnowledge He has never sought publicity, ana
even at the present time, when ms IalIe IS wen
established, he prefers TO be IeIt seVeIeiy aIoe'
There has lately come into our hands, however
the manuscript diary of one who enjoyed the
intimate friendship Of Mr.. Spencer in ms carry
manhood who was also well acquainted Win
Mr.. Spencer's father, and VINO talthIuly re-
corded his impressions Of -he distinguished palI'
Mr. Spencer senior was tutor at Deroy.
On subjects Of political or social interest ne was
a thoroughly independent thinker, and he was
opposed even the dictation by corporate
bodies of systems of drainage. But IN two re-
spects he differed widely from his distinguished
son The diarist records that never observed
in him any tendency to generalize or 10 draw
any large deduction from his stores OF oetaleu @
knowledge" Moreover, we are told that on re-
ligious matters Mr.. Spencer senior was IN the
position of the learned among the clergy, VINO
are hampered by their theology and think II
their minds are imprisoned"
Herbert Spencer, on the other hand. was rig
idly heterodoX, aggressive in temperament ana
always ready to expose the "aosurdltles OF
theology; but tenderness toward his father
feelings prevented him from discussing religious
questions in his parents presence Looking at
il from the standpoint of orthodox Chris
tian' says the diarist, cit would be gross IN
Justice to the fathers memory to say that his
hSH~N--4A1oH -
in the mind Of his son. of those sweeping general
izations that have led him to denounce in his
ruthless logical fashion the pretensions OF all
leaders Of men who claim to be inspired .
At fourteen years Of age Herbert went TO MS
uncle, the Rev Thomas Spencer, Of hinton
Charterhouse, near Bath, 10 be educapeu. IAe
diarist writes that the reverend trainer found
that he had q very intractable colt to train one
that kicked and plunged pretty freely when any
mental pabulum offered to him that was
suited to his digestion. When his uncle uh.
dertook to initiate him into the mysteries OF
ii t. 1l1c of
day that it was property Of matter by when
II resisted motion, the young philosopher refused
TO accept the dictum, and pronounced II faI-
lacy. This attitude Of the seit-WiIec hepne"
did not suit the imperious uncle, so the nephew
solved the difficulty by taking FreTch leave
and steering due north, trudged on foot TO
Derby accomplishing the journey in three days
He was not much encountered by his caSh, as
I have reason for thinking that if ii was all IN
copper he would not have needed two pockets
TO carry IT in His spirit of protest was prop
ably inherited from that maternal ancestor who
stood by John wesley 5 Slde "len oae laoc9l " oS
suffering indignltes at the hands OF nop-
A university career was out Of the question,
owing TO Spencers violent dislike Of foreign
languages. and he adopted the profession OF
civil engineering, which gave him the oppor-
tunity OF preserving his much priced moe
pendence Of thought, From the star OF me ne
London and Birmingham Railway, where ne
had been under Mr.. Fox, the resident engineer,
he took service under Mr.. MoOrson, Of the BIZ
rningham and Gloucester line. Massive ana
far reaching in his views, stern and unoenolng
in his will. self-confdent and self-centred to
fault-Uhis was Herbert Spencer. Even at that
early age twenty, MS character was WoHutI
fully formed and strong" The result OF his
early training to make him feel superior IN
mental ability to his colleagues at worcester,
among whom was the writer of the present
diary. His stern and somewhat harsh charac-
ter stood forth in all its nakedness, as, at ms
then early age, he had neither tact nor knoWl-
edge of sufficient wherewith 10 clothe his
imperioUs temperament. He lived in an at
mosphere of antagenism7-a radical among
Tories, a democrat among aristocrats, an ao-
varced free thinker among sturdy supporters
of the mother Church. But young, thoughtless
and careless as We were, We soon realized that
q Young fellow Of keen and penetrating intel
lect had come among us, before whom we could
not hold own in argument either in meta
differ"
Argument failed and banter was tried for the
purpose of teasing the young philosopher, VINO
in his turn, sometimes repled with PIaCl!Cdl
Joke ingeriously conceived. The diaTist tells us
Of a trick of amusing kind which spencer
played upon Hensman, the mechanical draughts-
man. He inserted a piece of tracing paper
daily inside the leather lining of Hensh1an's hat
In a few days the hat was tight fit; remarks
We're made TO the victim on the palpable en-
iargement of his Uranium, which he verified by
stating that his hat gave evidence Of the truth
of the observation by the gradual ughtenlhg
Of the fit. Great sympathy was expressed on
the alarming symptom, and great fun was
caused by Hensrnan's CONSERVATION"
In his way Spencer was excessively combatlVe
differed from him. I'VE all came under the lash
Of his logic and hated him most cordially for
the moment In our encounters ne gave anu
received no quarter"
He held aIcof from the society of ladies. He
never in love, regarding women IN those
days Illogical and frivolous creatures. ms
keen, penetrating glance soon discovered faults
in any girl and quickly chilled his admiration
ana as he had no anna bflitv fund Of emo
tional tenderness which would plead her cause
Cupid soon packed up his arrows and bow and
fed away from so cold and stern a youth =.
The woman that he would court Is not often met
with for he has told me that it was sine qua
non that she must have beauty Of coUntenance
and grace Of movement; her heure must De
good and her manners attractive she must
be eneminate, Of high order OF intellect ana
yet not a bas beu.'
The diarist remarks that Mr. Spencers rather
frigid deportrnent has always done him an IN
Justice and led people TO thiak that he was
a cold proud unsympathizing man, who would
1Inhesitatinsly gibbet you as n ass while pass
ing the steam roller of his logic over your as
sertious" But TO those whom he thought
worthy he vas neither cold nor unsympathizing
his friendship was enduring and dtstnterested
'One episode in his life illustrates the fact that
deep down in his soul there is a fine vein Of
tenderness and good feeling. I allude TO his
devoted attendance upon his mother IN her last
Illness / was told by Of his friends who
knew all the circumstances that his constant
presence at her bedside was likely 70 injure his
health Nevertheless he persevered in 1t TO the
close Of her life. He has described 20 me bed
stead that he invented. the plane Of which
could be altered to any angle and could be
clamped to retain its position. so as to ease the
pressure upon any point that the patient was
lying upon. His object was TO prevent bed
sores when tie poor old lady was too weak TO
move. When there was further for his
ingenious bedstead he presented TO hos
pital He IS one of those men whose excellences
lie concealed, and who his faults upon
his sleeve for DAVIS 10 peck at"
Mr.. Herbert Spencer has always been sternly
independent. When his finances were at a low
ebb In 1865. some OF his American admirers
sent him f1.500, together with valuable gold
watch which had a complimentary inscription
engraved on the case. The watch he retained,
but he refused TO accept the gift of money. The
american friends, however. were cutter than the
philosopher They invested the SUM tn the mama