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A RATIONALIST REVIEW.

[ESTABLISHED 1885.]

No. 7. (New Series.)

JANUARY i, 1897.

Monthly; T wopence.

1Rcw publications. Mr. E dward C lodd’s Pioneers o f Evolution will be issued immediately by Mr. Grant Richards. It will consist of four parts. Part I. will deal with the pioneers of Evolution from Thales to Lucretius— h.c . 600-A.D. 50 ; Part II. with the causes of the arrest of the movement; Part III. with the Renaissance of Science— a.d. 1600 onwards; and Part IV. with Modern Evolution— Darwin and Wallace, Herbert Spencer, and Thomas Henry Huxley. Mr. Clodd states in his preface that in indicating the parts severally played in the Renaissance of Evolution by a small group of illustrious men he has, through the courtesy of Mr. Spencer, been permitted to see the original documents, which show that the theory of Evolution as a whole— i.e ., as dealing with the non-living as well as the living contents of the universe— was formulated by Mr. Spencer in the year preceding the publication of The Origin o f Species.

K adamrarI, a Sanscrit romance by Banabhatta, has been translated, with occasional omissions, by M. C. M. Ridding, formerly of Girton College, Cambridge, and it is now published, under the auspices of the Oriental Translation Fund, together with a full abstract of the continuation of the romance by the author’s son.

I n the new volume of The Dictionary o f National Biography Professor Lloyd Morgan writes the notice of Professor George John Romanes.

T he Rev. G. Henslow has published a little work on Christian B e lie fs in the L ig h t o f Modern Criticism.

A. and H. Bradlaugh Bonner’s new monthly magazine, to be entitled The Reformer, will not be devoted exclusively to the advocacy of reforms in politics or of reforms in religion. Its scope will be the widest possible ; it will endeavour to deal, from an enlightened standpoint, with the various questions relating to Freethought and Religion, Politics, Social Science, Natural Science, Literature, etc. The first number will be issued on March 15th, and will contain articles by “ D.,” Mr. J. M. Robertson, Dr. Moncure D. Conway, Mrs. H. Bradlaugh Bonner, and others. Succeeding issues will be contributed to by Miss Colenso, “ Chilperic,” Mr. J. A. Hobson, M.A., Mr. H. S. Salt, Mr. F. J. Gould, Mr. Geoffrey Mortimer, and many other heterodox writers.

Mr. T homas M. Johnson is preparing for publication a book on the life and works of Thomas Taylor.

The True L ife o f Captain S ir R ichard F . Burton has been written by his niece, Miss Georgiana M. Stisted, with the authority and approval of the Burton family. The history of the great traveller’s career is told with wonderful fidelity, and a strong protest is made against the extraordinary conduct of his widow in burying his remains under the tegis of the Roman Catholic Church, notwithstanding the solemn pledge she had given on her marriage that, i f he predeceased her, no Roman priest should have access to his death-chamber. Sir Richard Burton was a robust Rationalist almost from his youth.

M e s s r s . C h a pm a n &: H a l l have issued a translation o f Alfred Binet’s Alterations o f Personality.

a Stupcnfcous TUnfccrtaUino. A System o f Synthetic Philosophy, vol. viii., being vol. iii. of The

Principles o f Sociology. By Herbert Spencer. (Williams and Norgate.) 635 pp.; 16s.. T he whole history of philosophy does not present another work of such magnitude as that commenced by Herbert Spencer six-and-thirty years ago. On looking back over that long period Mr. Spencer confesses that he is surprised at his own audacity in undertaking such a task, and is still more surprised at its completion. “ In i860,” he tells us in the Preface to this the concluding volume of the Synthetic Philosophy— “ in i860 my small resources had been nearly all frittered away in writing and publishing books which did not pay their expenses; and I was suffering under a chronic disorder, caused by over-tax of brain in 1855, which, wholly disabling me for eighteen months, thereafter limited my work to three hours a day, and usually to less. How insane my project must have seemed to onlookers may be judged from the fact that, before the first chapter of the first volume was finished, one of my nervous breakdowns obliged me to desist. But imprudent courses do not always fail. Sometimes a forlorn hope is justified by the event. Though, along with other deterrents, many relapses, now lasting for weeks, now for months, and once for years, often made me despair of reaching the end, yet at length the end is reached. Doubtless in early days some exultation would have resulted; but as age creeps on feelings weaken, and now my chief pleasure is in my emancipation. Still, there is satisfaction in the consciousness that losses, discouragements, and shattered health have not prevented me from fulfilling the purpose of my life.” Thus,

in words that will move others in a way their author does not suspect, the great apostle of Evolution lays down the pen which, guided by the most commanding intelligence the world has ever seen, has produced the grandest philosophic achievement of all time.

Briefly, what is the system of philosophy Mr. Spencer has given to the world ? To quote an admirable description of the System given in an Introductory notice to the American (1865) edition of Social Statics, its aim is to bring the vast resources of modern science to bear upon the construction of a complete philosophical scheme that embraces the great departments of Life, of Mind, and of Society. The system is in five divisions. It begins with an inquiry into First Principles, or the establishment of those universal laws which control all phenomena, and, therefore, underlie all branches of investigation. In this part Mr. Spencer’s method is developed, and the principles to be employed as guides and tests in the succeeding works are laid down. Next comes The Principles o f Biology, an exposition of the general laws and scheme of l i fe ; and this is followed by The Principles o f Psychology, or the science of mind in its broadest aspects. These works in logical order prepare for the consideration of The Principles o f Sociology, or the natural laws of society; and, lastly, the generalizations furnished by the comprehensive study of man in his bodily, mental, and social relations are used to throw light upon an inquiry into The Principles o f Ethics, or the true laws of the regulation of human conduct. In the prospectus published in i860 the concluding volume of The Principles o f Sociology was to have treated of Progress— Linguistic, Intellectual, Moral, .¡Esthetic. But, as Mr. Spencer explains, it is obviously impossible for an invalid of seventy-six to deal adequately with topics so extensive and complex. While, however, this portion of the original project remains unexecuted, considerable portions not projected have been