Clad in light by golden gates- To embrace me in the sky.' 6 We had marked, had our limits permitted, some extracts from a spirited Italian ballad, by the late Lady Northampton-a striking composition, by Miss Broadstreet, entitled, Julia's Dream'- -one or two sonnets by Mr Eagles and Mr Strong -and an address of Dido to Æneas in the Shades, by Mr Francis Hastings Doyle, which, though it suggests, somewhat unpleasantly, the recollection of the 'Laodamia' of Wordsworth, is yet forcible and harmonious. But we must be contented with expressing our strong approbation of these, as of many other contributions, which we cannot particularize; and with wishing to the Tribute' all that pecuniary success of which Lord Northampton speaks modestly and doubtfully, but which the benevolent motive to which it owes its origin, and the high respectability of the execution, will, we trust, soon place beyond a doubt. ART. VI. History of the Inductive Sciences, from the Earliest to the Present Times. By the REV. WILLIam Whewell, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge. 3 vols. 8vo. London : 1837. is no branch of knowledge which possesses so many sources of interest as that which records the history of the phenomena and laws of the physical world. It takes its origin from the earliest efforts of human reason, when man first seeks to supply his physical wants; it comprehends in its order of priesthood men of all nations and tongues; it embraces within its boundless circuit the infinitely distant star, which the most powerful telescope can scarcely recognise, and the infinitely minute atom, which the most powerful microscope cannot separate from its neighbour; it stands connected with the grandest purposes of domestic and social life; and, whilst it makes us acquainted with the vast domains of the material universe, it introduces us to their Sovereign Ruler, under whose perennial sway human reason finds its noblest exercise, and human affections their sweetest enjoyment. It has ever been an object of high ambition to contribute to the development of the philosophy of the universe, and men of the loftiest attainments have come forward as the historians of one or more of the sciences which it comprehends. In the execution of these limited and general surveys of physical science, various kinds of talents have been called into exercise. While one historian is distinguished by an accurate knowledge of the subjects which pass under his review, another stands preeeminent by the extent of his erudition and the patience of his research. In one we admire the purity of the judicial character displayed in the absence of all national and personal jealousies; in another we love the eloquent enthusiasm with which the achievements of genius are emblazoned, and the affectionate strains by which the ruffled spirit of controversy is soothed, and the inflexible integrity by which the humble and friendless competitor is placed on the same vantage ground on which wealth and power may have intrenched his rival. These various qualities have been exhibited in different degrees by the historians of science. In the elaborate work of Montucla,* though defective in arrangement and inelegant in style, we recognise the patient industry of the historian, without any of the higher attributes of the philosopher. In the Abbé Bossut's History of the Mathematical Sciences, the powers of an original mind give elevation to rapid and condensed details. In the fine historical Dissertation of Professor Playfair, prefixed to the seventh edition of the Encylopædia Britannica, we find all the best qualities of the historian of science. Here, patience of research is ennobled by philosophical precision; a chaste and manly eloquence gives ornament and effect to sagacious views and perspicuous commentary; and while the functions of the judge are discharged with candour, impartiality, and tenderness, they are elevated by a generous enthusiasm for the mighty names that are summoned before his tribunal. The general view of the progress of mathematical and physical science, chiefly during the eighteenth century, which Sir John Leslie contributed to the same work, is, properly speaking, a Supplement to the Dissertation of Professor Playfair. It is written with the vigorous eloquence of that original and inventive philosopher, and though the details of discovery are not always gleaned with care, and the decisions occasionally tinged with the prejudices which 'Histoire des Mathématiques. 4 tom. 4to. In referring to the works to which he owes peculiar obligations, Mr Whewell mentions that of Montucla with Delambre's continuation. He must surely mean, M. de la Lande's continuation, the only one with which we are acquainted. sometimes mingle themselves with the highest attainments, yet it presents a masterly sketch of one of the richest periods of scientific history, and is a noble monument to the genius and intellectual enthusiasm of its author.* In addition to these works of the general history of physics, there are several which treat of individual sciences, and which, generally speaking, are of a superior order to those which take a wider range. The philosopher who writes the history of the science which he cultivates, brings to his task the highest qualifications. He traces, with a keener eye and a loftier interest, the first dawnings of its early course; and with a thorough knowledge of its facts, and a nice appreciation of their relative value, he awards to each past labourer the honours which he has earned, and indicates to each future aspirant the laurels which he may seize. Thus is he enabled to display the unapproached as well as the accumulated treasures of his science,-to exhibit the progressive development of its principles, and to grasp the mighty generalizations which they embrace. Among the men who have thus distinguished themselves, we may enumerate the great names of Bailly, Delambre, and Laplace. The history of ancient and modern astronomy by the first is, as we have elsewhere remarked, one of the most interesting books that has ever been written upon a scientific subject. His ingenious speculations respecting the early history of astronomythe copious brilliancy of his descriptions-the eloquence with which he pleads the cause and paints the sufferings of neglected genius-and the glowing imagery with which his lively fancy every where embellishes the general narrative, throw an air of enchantment round the most common details. Even amid the driest enumerations of facts, the attention is perpetually arrested and kept alive by the most delicate touches of nature, and the nicest discrimination of character. The loose and scattered materials which the history of astronomy often presents, are chained together in one connected narrative; and one astronomer follows another, and new discoveries spring from those which precede them, as if the progress of knowledge had been under the control of causes less accidental than those which nature has prescribed. But it is in those great and general views which constitute the peculiar province of philosophy that Bailly shines above all praise. In tracing the effects of moral causes and political institutions on the advancement of astronomy, and on Mr Whewell has made no reference either to the work of Bossut, or to the Dissertations of Playfair and Leslie. the general progress of our species; in painting the baneful effects of an unholy superstition upon the happiness and improvement of mankind; in describing those alternate periods of languor and renovation which accompany the mighty convulsions of nations, which follow the tyranny or munificence of princes, or in which the human mind sinks without a cause into torpid inactivity, or soars without any apparent reason beyond its wonted flight; in marking the connexion between the various sciences, and estimating the mutual aid which they impart; and in anticipating the conquests which human genius has yet to achieve over vice and error throughout every region of nature, Bailly rises to a sublimity of eloquence which could be inspired only by the powerful interest which he felt in the progress of science, and for the happiness of his fellow-creatures. With a production like this, the profound and elaborate work of Delambre, in six quarto volumes, forms, in many respects, a striking contrast. Its deep learning and extended research; its chaste and classical style; its sober and cautious views; its delicate tenderness for the reputation of great men; the minute accuracy of its details, and the sagacity of its generalizations, place Delambre at the head of the historians of science. The beautiful specimen of astronomical history* with which Laplace concludes his Système du Monde, deserves to be specially mentioned. Uniting, in a remarkable degree, the majestic eloquence of Bailly with the profound sagacity of Delambre, and distinguished by the lofty tone of its philosophy, and by its glowing anticipations of the future progress of astronomy, it may be justly esteemed one of the finest productions of ancient or of modern genius. In the work of Mr Whewell, to which we now propose to direct the attention of our readers, we are not entitled to expect that profound research, and that copiousness and minuteness of detail which characterise the histories to which we have referred. His aim was to produce a work which, though independent and comprehensive, should be subservient to the higher objects of laying before the world a view of the Philosophy of Inductive Science; of deducing lessons from the past history of human 'knowledge,'-of 'forming a platform on which we might stand and look forward into the future, and of providing for every 'kind of truth methods of research as effective as those to which 'we owe the clearest and the purest portions of our knowledge.' But in the same proportion as these ulterior objects exonerate * Précis de l'Histoire de l'Astronomie. VOL. LXVI. NO. CXXXIII. H our author for the omission of many names and branches of enquiry which may not immediately bear on his 'Reform of the Methods ' and Philosophy of Science,' yet they lay upon him the new responsibility of marshalling in just array all the prominent discoveries in physics; of tracing with cautious step their mutual connexion and dependency; and, with much tenderness for the dead, and much fearlessness of the living, of assigning to each distinguished name its due locality in the temple of science. We could have wished to have seen the history of ancient and modern science executed without any reference to ulterior speculations, and by some learned individual who should regard it as the principal occupation of his life, and who was willing to rest his monument on its character and success. Equally desirous should we have been to find a historian, from whose mind all contemporary impressions were erased, and whose judicial spirit was unclouded with personal partialities, and with national and institutional prejudices. Along with these essential qualifications, we should have asked that reverent and cautious temper, which, while it treads lightly on the consecrated relics of the patriarchs and martyrs of science, should enter timidly those sensitive precincts, where genius and life and feeling still suffer and tremble together. And even if all these requisites had been combined, we should have made the final demand of that lofty enthusiasm which regards the intellectual condition of man as the first object of national anxiety; and which, in place of winding up the vast tablet of human reason with some equivocal and perhaps fallacious rules for its guidance, should invoke the generosity of nations in behalf of the devoted combatants in that intellectual struggle, in which the strongholds of the universe are to be forced, and the mysteries of creation and of life disclosed.—He that would acquit himself aright as the historian and champion of science, must add to his peroration the emphatic prayer, that nations may no longer confine their bounty and their laurels to him that sheddeth human blood, and whose patent of nobility has no other emblazonry but widows' and orphans' tears. Although Mr Whewell does not, in our opinion, possess many of these qualifications, and probably does not hold them in the same estimation as we do, yet, with the exception of a member of his own College,* there is, perhaps, no English philosopher so well qualified for writing the History of the Inductive Sciences. In a special knowledge of their leading branches, and in a general acquaintance with the rest, he is not surpassed by any The Rev. Mr. Peacock. |