perior to a classical one. Accomplishments, the fine arts, belles-lettres, and all those things which, as we say, constitute the efflorescence of civilization, should be wholly subordinate to that knowledge and discipline in which civilization rests. "As they occupy the leisure part of life, so should they oc"cupy the leisure part of education." The remainder of his book is taken up with an examination of the subject of Education in its three great subdivisions,-Intellectual, Moral and Physical.

There are two classes of books from which culling is diffienlt. The one class is too poor to afford a single blossom; the other so rich, that the critic suffers of an embaras des richess. We are in the latter position in the case of SPENCER's work on Education.

SPENCER'S Education should be in the hands of every mother in the land. It should be conned and conned again by every person having in charge the education of the young; and should hold the place of honor in the family library. In one respect alone do we differ from SPENCER's opinions upon Education. We think that he underrates the value of a knowledge of modern languages. A knowledge of modern languages is necessary, and the time expended upon their acquirement must be deemed profitably employed for entirely different reasons, and upon different grounds than the acquisition of Latin or Greek. The present state of intellectual activity; the great progress made, contemporaneously, throughout the civilized world in every department of science, makes it a matter of necessity for almost all who desire to be up with their age, to be able to read the continental languages of Europe. It is idle to urge that good translations of every important work, in any language, will soon abound in every other. In the first place, this is not true. In the science of Political Economy alone, we know of a number of important works which have never been translated into English. Chas. Comte's Traité de Legislation, and Traité de la Propriété; Dunoyer's De la Liberté du Travail, are books which have exercised a very great influence upon the progress of Political Economy in France. Of these works Bastiat said, that if he were imprisoned for a number of years, and he could select but three works for meditation and reflection during his im

prisonment, he would select the three works above mentioned.

Why should a man of science, or any one who may be desirous to be au courant with the literature of the world, be compelled to wait until some third person translates the work for him? It is a well-known fact that translators are, as a general rule, not of the first order of minds; and booksellers, with but few exceptions, are composed of a very inferior class of beings; and a person unfamiliar with the modern languages would, perhaps, have to wait years before some translator takes the trouble, or believes that it will pay to translate, and some publisher believes that it will pay to publish, some important foreign work; whereas a slight knowledge of a foreign tongue might have enabled him to study, within a few months after their issue, the speculations of some kindred spirit. Some of the most important works in the German language, upon the same subject-such as the writings of Rau, Moser, Rosher, and Dankwart-are not yet to be found in an English dress; and how great a treat and opportunity for intellectual profit is lost to the French or German philosopher who is unable to read our language; for we are quite certain that there is no translation whatever of HERBERT SPENCER's works in either of these two languages. Therefore, a familiarity with the leading languages of modern Europe is necessary, aye, almost indispensable, to complete living. The constant tendency on the part of the nations of the world, is towards greater and greater freedom of commerce and mutual exchange. This necessitates us to study the wants, tastes, and aptitudes of other nations; and we can only thoroughly do so by studying their languages.

The Essays of SPENCER, published in this country, under the titles indicated at the head of our article, are contributions to the periodical literature of England, gathered together and published in book form, originally in England, and subsequently here. Had SPENCER written nothing but the Essays on Progress, its Law and Cause, Over-Legislation, Railway Morals and Railway Policy, and Representative Goverernments, he would have been entitled to be ranked among the most gifted men of the the age.

The talents required for a succesful essayist are of a higher

It is neces

order than those requisite to write a treatise. sary to condense and prune; to say the most in the fewest possible words; to give a resume of a subject within a certain number of pages of a Review; and yet leave no essential point unsaid or unargued. This quality is eminently displayed in SPENCER'S Essays. In his Essay on Representative Government, the secret of the bad working of all representative institutions is unfolded and laid bare. He shows that for all the non-essentials of Government, an absolute monarchy, by reason of its simplicity, is the best: that the bad working of representative institutions arises from the fact that we encumber them with the performance of non-essential functions: that they will be badly attended to, because of the peculiar fitness of this form of Government for its special functions, that of the administration of Justice between man and man, and of police duty: that every machine as it becomes more and more improved, its function becomes more specialized, it becomes less and less fit for any other purpose than its ordained one. "An instrument that is intended both "to shave and to carve, will not shave as well as a razor, nor "carve as well as a carving-knife." The peculiar fitness of Representative Government for its special duties, peculiarly unfit it for any other duties.

The administration of Justice, and the maintenance of Order, are simple functions, in which legislators, executive, and people, are alike interested. But the moment we delegate to Government duties outside of these simple ones, from that moment we create an antagonism of interests which secures to us evils, instead of benefits; curses, instead of blessings. If a Representative Government is to administer charity, and educate the young; carry mails, and protect home industry,frauds and corruptions will inevitably creep in, and every department will be maladministered.

The limits of a review article do not enable us closely to follow the author's reasoning. We can but state the conclusions at which he arrives.

The Essay on Over-Legislation is a sermon on the text, "Put not thy faith in Governments;" and he illustrates the soundness of the text by hundreds of examples.

The Essay on "Railway Morals, and Railway Policy," un

folds the secret workings of corporations, and reveals to us the mysteries of their management. We no longer, after the reading of this Essay, wonder at the unpopularity of this uncomfortable truth-teller. No wonder that many would like to see an author at the bottom of the Thames, who deals mercilessly with evils upon which they feed and prosper. Had SPENCER been the president of a railway board the greater part of his life, he could not have given us a better insight of the internal polity of large corporations; he could not have better or more happily illustrated the fact that all the evils of Government are represented in miniature in the workings of every incorporated body; and that the same blind faith which induces people to trust their representatives, under the delusive idea that their interests are identical with their own, induces shareholders to trust their directors, and with a like result-misapplications of moneys, usurpations of power, and regardlessness of the interests of shareholders.

The Essay on Progress, its Law and Cause, is the most scientific of SPENCER'S Essays on social subjects. In that Essay he shows how progress results, in the greater and greater differentiation of functions, and specialization of aptitudes: that the same rules which hold good in physical phenomena, hold true in the social organism: that "every active force produces more than one change; every cause produces more than one effect." Simple as this law appears, it is a comprehensive truth of the greatest magnitude, and one which is almost universally ignored.

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There are a number of other Essays in these volumes, all of which are suggestive and valuable contributions to the philosophy of science; but as they, as well as his works on Psychology, and First Principles, treat of subjects but remotely connected with the objects of this Journal, we cannot properly

examine them.

When we consider SPENCER'S few defects and many merits, we are compelled to acknowledge that he is one of the most influential thinkers of the world. He belongs to those men of the age who stand as much above the average of the old school of scientists and theologians, as their science is broader and their theological opinions loftier. His influence upon the science of Political Economy is, and will hereafter be, to a still

greater extent, a most powerful one. He is the first Political Economist who has that encyclopaedic knowledge which qualifies him to step beyond, far beyond, the limits of schools; and the loftiness of his stand-point enables him to see truths and perceive harmonies which are beyond the ken of mere doctrinaires.

We cannot commend Mr. Youmans too highly for introducing this philosopher and publicist to American readers; and, fitly to conclude this bird's-eye view of SPENCER'S works, we quote from Mr. Youmans' introduction to the last published volume of our author's Essays: "The nature of "our political institutions implies, and their success demands, "on the part of the people, an acquaintance with those funda"mental principles which determine the reason, the scope, and 'authority of all civil rule. Repudiating, as we did, at the "outset of our National career, the ancient and prevailing "forms of Government; casting loose, to a considerable ex"tent, from the traditions and precedents of the past, and "organizing a new system, professedly founded upon self"evident truths, and aiming at the establishment of natural "rights, it is obvious that our citizens have a vital and "peculiar interest in the clucidation of those foundation "truths which should guide the course of legislation, and con"trol the policy of Government. And now, when our politi"cal system is convulsed to its centre, and we are passing into "a new order of things, this duty is pressed upon us with "critical urgency, and we are summoned with solemn and "startling emphasis to the task of moulding our civil policy “into complete harmony with those principles which advanc"ing knowledge and a riper experience have combined to "establish.

"Mr. SPENCER has given these subjects profound and pro"tracted study, and the views he advances are entitled to "grave consideration. A devoted student of science in its

comprehensive bearings upon the welfare and improvement "of society, he has labored to unfold and illustrate those laws "of human nature and human action, of social organization "and social growth, which rest at the foundation of all intel"ligent administration of public affairs. Without, by any means, assuming that his views are final, it may be claimed,