THE 
 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE. 
 
 BY 
 
 ALFEED HEJS T EY HUTH 
 
 'JTI7ERSI' 
 
 u I am dead ; 
 
 Thou livest; report me and my cause aright 
 To the unsatisfied." 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. 
 1880. 
 
k 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 DUTY and gratitude oblige me to acknowledge the 
 great and valuable assistance I have received from 
 nearly all of Buckles friends and acquaintances. 
 Two points, not valueless in^an estimate of Buckle's 
 character, have been brought out by this kindness to 
 me : The first, that, before he had published a line 
 of his work, those to whom he wrote invariably kept 
 even the most trivial of his notes ; and, secondly, 
 so great was the friendship which he inspired that 
 in nearly every case the mere mention of his name 
 after his death was sufficient introduction between 
 those of his friends who had not made each othW's 
 acquaintance during his lifetime. The alacrity and 
 kindness I have experienced, and the trouble many 
 I may say most of my correspondents have put 
 themselves to in the search for letters, is another in- 
 stance of friendship, which has lasted eighteen years 
 beyond the grave. I am particularly indebted to 
 Lord Kintore, Lord Kimberley, Lord Hatherley, and 
 Lady Keay ; to Mrs. Grey and Miss Shirreff ; to Ma- 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 jor and Mrs. Woodliead ; to Mr. John Buckle ; to 
 Buckle's heirs, Dr. and Mrs. Allatt, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Clarke, and Mr. Hutchinson ; to Mr. Alex. Hill Gray ; 
 to Major Evans Bell ; to Miss Kogers ; to Miss Wheat- 
 stone ; to the heirs of Mr. Parker ; to Mr. Henriquez ; 
 and to the late Mrs. Grote who have all given me 
 the utmost assistance in their power, in letters, oral 
 communications, and in notes. 
 
 The previous sketches of Henry Thomas Buckle's 
 life have been few in number, and but sketches. The 
 most important of them are, an article in " Eraser's 
 Magazine ' ' for September, 1862 ; one in the ' ' Chess- 
 Player' s Magazine" for February, 1864 ; one in the 
 " Atlantic Monthly" for April, 1863; a letter in the 
 "Athenseum," by the Kev. J. A. Longmore ; and a 
 biographical notice by Miss Helen Taylor, prefixed to 
 Buckle's " Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works," 
 of which an important part was contributed by Miss 
 Shirreff. To Miss Taylor all admirers of Buckle and 
 of learning owe a debt of gratitude. I have compared 
 the manuscript and print of Buckle's "Posthumous 
 Works" with some attention, and, though I have 
 been able to detect a few misprints, and doubt per- 
 haps the necessity of omitting some articles, I can 
 conscientiously say that the task is admirably done ; 
 the arrangement, short of entirely melting up sepa- 
 rate articles, could not have been better; while no 
 one who has not seen the MS. can fully appreciate 
 how great that labor was which she has so freely and 
 gratuitously bestowed, and by which she has accom- 
 plished so brilliant a success. 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 There was yet another to whom I am indebted, 
 who now is but a memory on earth. A linguist, a 
 scholar, acquainted with every branch of knowledge, 
 and unrivaled in his own, Henry Huth took a par- 
 ticular pleasure in the society and speculations of 
 Buckle, while common sympathies and mutual re- 
 gard soon cemented a warm friendship between them. 
 It was natural that he should take an interest in the 
 biography of so great a friend, and in the work of a 
 son ; but only those who knew him could appreciate 
 what delicate and generous a help it was his pleasure 
 to supply. A premature death, when these pages 
 were almost ready for the press, has spoiled the 
 reader of the benefit of his revision, me of any plea- 
 sure in its publication. 
 
 ALFKED H. HUTH. 
 
 December, 1879. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER 1 9 
 
 Apology Ancestry Kesidence 111 Health in Youth First Books 
 Sent to School Mathematical Prize Precocity and Backwardness 
 Sent to a Private Tutor Office Experience Calvinism of Mrs. Buc- 
 kleDeath of Mr. Thomas Buckle The First Idea of the "History" 
 Tour in Belgium, Germany, Italy, and France Acquaintance with 
 Hallam Chess in Paris Draughts in Paris Music distasteful Hie- 
 rarchy of the Arts Change in Keligious Views First Entry in his 
 Diary Course of Study Skill in Chess Book Purchases Tour in 
 Germany, Italy, and Holland Color and Form A Ghost-Story 
 Illness Choice of a Profession House and Library Method of 
 Study Languages learned Ambition Composition Smoking 
 Charity Economy Practicality Thoughts on Education Disap- 
 pointments in Love The First of " My Book "Tour in Brittany- 
 Chess Tournament of 1851. 
 
 CHAPTER II 61 
 
 Early Scheme of the " History "111 Health of Mrs. Buckle Tour 
 in Ireland The Dublin Chess Club Love of Society Brilliancy 
 of Conversation Eeady Memory Visit to the Crystal Palace Mrs. 
 Buckle's Conversation Letters to Mrs. Grey and Miss Shirreff Se- 
 rious Illness of Mrs. Buckle Completion of Vol. I. of the " His- 
 tory " Difficulties of Publication Illness Increasing "Weakness of 
 Mrs. Buckle The Dedication Publication of the " History "Criti- 
 cism. 
 
 CHAPTER III 139 
 
 Carelessness of Critics Free "Will Greater Laws including Less- 
 erInfluence of Circumstances Mental Laws the Key of History 
 in Europe Comparative Influence of Intellectual and Moral Prog- 
 ressThe Claims of Eeligion, Literature, and Government as Civil- 
 izers The History of the World too vast to be undertaken at pres- 
 ent by One Man Why England is chosen Plan of the Body of the 
 " History "The Qualities needed by the Historian Mournful Fore- 
 bodings. 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER IV , . 187 
 
 "-. . 
 
 Only Comparative Originality possible Cornte and Buckle Vito 
 Machiavelli Bodin Bossuet Montesquieu Kant Buckle His 
 place in History. 
 
 CHAPTER V 214 
 
 Election to the Athenaeum To the Political Economy Club 
 Lecture at the Eoyal Institution Success and Sorrow Letters 
 Volume II. Anticipation of Death Mill's "Liberty" The Eights 
 of Women Death of Mrs. Buckle Grief of her Son Pooley's Case 
 "Letter to a Gentleman "Illness Stay at Blackheath Kind- 
 ness to Children Utilitarianism and Morals Deatfi of his Nephew 
 Stay at Carshalton Further Illness. 
 
 CHAPTER VI * 299 
 
 Women and Knowledge What to read Fine Arts and Civiliza- 
 tion Immortality Suicide Stay at St. Leonards Dinner, 18th 
 April Volume II. approaching Conclusion Epochs in Literature 
 Further Illness Second Stay at Carshalton Conversation with Mrs. 
 Huth Tour in Wales In Scotland Successes of the "History" 
 Stay at Sutton Preparation for Egypt. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 354 
 
 Eesponsibility Kindness Alexandria C airo The Nile Educa- 
 tion Thebes Talk with Mr. Longmore Nubia Love of Antiquities 
 Preparations for the Desert Stay hi Cairo Suez Major Mac- 
 donald Sinai Petra Jerusalem Dead Sea Mill on Buckle Na- 
 bulus Nazareth The Fatal Illness Visit from Mr. Gray Tiberias 
 Akka Tyre Sidon The Last Letter Beyrout Damascus Ill- 
 ness increasing Death. 
 
 APPENDIX 459 
 
 SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY . . 483 
 
 INDEX . . . .497 
 

 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Apology Ancestry Eesidcnce 111 Health in Youth First Books Sent to 
 School Mathematical Prize Precocity and Backwardness Sent to a Pri- 
 vate Tutor Office Experience Calvinism of Mrs. Buckle Death of Mr. 
 Thomas Buckle The First Idea of the " History "Tour in Belgium, Ger- 
 many, Italy, and France Acquaintance with Hallam Chess in Paris 
 Draughts in Paris Music distasteful Hierarchy of the Arts Change in 
 Eeligious Views First Entry in his Diary Course of Study Skill in 
 Chess Book Purchases Tour in Germany, Italy, and Holland Color and 
 Form A Ghost-Story Illness Choice of a Profession House and Li- 
 brary Method of Study Languages learned Ambition Composition 
 Smoking Charity Economy Practicality Thoughts on Education Dis- 
 appointments in Love The First of "My Book" Tour in Brittany 
 Chess Tournament of 1851. 
 
 IF biography be a form of literature of any worth, 
 then surely the story of the life of Henry Thomas Buckle 
 needs no apology. His works have been translated into 
 French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Russian, and have, 
 in addition, been reprinted in America ; his first volume 
 went through three editions in a little over three years, 
 and yet before this he had never printed one line. There 
 is hardly another instance in history of so great a leap 
 from complete literary obscurity to the highest pinnacle 
 of literary fame. From the East and the "West poured 
 
10 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 inquiries as to the antecedents of the gifted author, his 
 fame was noised abroad, and in a few years there was 
 hardly an educated man in the world who did not know 
 his name, and what he had done. 
 
 Nor was this, as is so often the case with those who 
 start forth suddenly into the full blaze of popularity, a 
 mere fleeting honor, due to a happy chance, and doomed 
 to wane and die in the course of a few years ; it was 
 a reputation as surely as it was slowly founded, owing 
 nothing to circumstances of the day, and only recognized 
 on a sudden, because Buckle possessed so high and rare 
 a pride that he would rather postpone his work twenty 
 years than endanger an otherwise certain fame by prema- 
 ture publication. So far from being due to a happy con- 
 junction of chances, it was founded on but a part of what 
 he was ready to do, and would have done in a few years 
 more, had he not been prevented by an early death ; while 
 so far was it from being ephemeral, that not only has it be- 
 come impossible to write any large historical work without 
 a reference to the " History of Civilization in England," 
 but reviews and magazine articles on his works had not 
 ceased to appear fifteen years after he was in his grave, 
 while there is hardly a speech or newspaper article on 
 any large social subject which does not contain his name. 
 Nay, I have even seen it in the telegraphic news of the 
 " Times " more than once, and within the last few years. 
 
 Buckle's family had long resided in London. There 
 was an ancestor of his, a Sir Cuthbert Buckle, who was 
 Lord Mayor in 1593, and originally came from Bourgh, 
 in Westmoreland. His father was Mr. Thomas Henry 
 Buckle, a partner in the firm of Buckle, Bagster, and 
 
KESIDENCE ILL HEALTH IN YOUTH. H 
 
 Buckle, large ship-owning merchants, who traded more 
 especially with the East Indies. In 1811 Mr. Thomas 
 Buckle married Jane Middleton, of the Yorkshire Middle- 
 tons, by whom he had three children, two daughters and 
 a son, Henry Thomas Buckle, who was born 24th Novem- 
 ber, 1821, 1 at Lee, in Kent, while his parents were on a 
 visit to his father's only brother and partner, Mr. John 
 William Buckle. They soon afterward returned to their 
 residence, which was then, according to a common custom 
 of merchants at that time, not far removed from the place 
 of business, in Mark Lane, and situated in a quiet part 
 of the city, a fine, large corner house, "No. 2 Hamrnett 
 Street. Shortly afterward the family removed to 35 Meck- 
 lenburg Square, a corner house also ; and here they re- 
 mained up to the death of Buckle's father. 
 
 Young Buckle was an exceedingly delicate and feeble 
 infant ; and, as a child, theugh always full of fun, cared 
 little for children's games or children's books. Doted on 
 by his mother, he returned her love with all the wealth 
 and ardor of his warm and affectionate heart. " His great 
 delight," says his sister, " was to sit for hours by the side 
 of his mother to hear the Scriptures read." But, although 
 his mother bought him books without end, he felt no 
 interest in any of them but Shakespeare, Bunyan, the 
 
 1 Curiously enough, Buckle has himself made a mistake as to the date of 
 his birth. In a letter to Mr. Theodore Parker he says he was born in 1822. 
 (See Weiss's " Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker," vol. i., p. 468, 
 London, 1863.) In a letter to Mr. Henry Huth, from Jerusalem, in 1862, 
 he correctly states his age. A writer in the " Atlantic Monthly " says that 
 in conversation, in February, 1862, "he spoke of his age as thirty-eight. 
 (See the "Atlantic Monthly" for April, 1863, "Personal Keminiscences of 
 the late Henry Thomas Buckle," p. 495, note.) The entry of his baptism 
 may be seen at St. Botolph's, Aldgate, May IT, 1822. 
 
12 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " Arabian Nights," and " Don Quixote " " books," says 
 Buckle, 2 " on which I literally feasted." Up to the age 
 of eight, indeed, he hardly knew his letters. He then 
 took up the " Arabian Nights " ; and Shakespeare he be- 
 gan at fifteen, and used to pass hours reading and crying 
 over it. - In after-life he spoke of these as all works of 
 genius, and remarked that it was curious no others seemed 
 to move him. They constituted almost the whole of his 
 reading up to the age of eighteen. 
 
 Under the advice of Dr. Birkbeck "that good and 
 wise man," as Buckle calls him in grateful memory he 
 received no education likely to tax his brain. His parents 
 sent him to school, indeed, as a change from home, to Dr. 
 James Thomas Holloway, Gordon House, Kentish Town, 
 but with instructions that he should learn nothing unless 
 he chose, and should on no account be whipped. It is 
 needless to say that young Buckle did not choose. In the 
 class in which he was placed he learned nothing beyond 
 what fell, as it were, into his head ; but, either from hav- 
 ing nothing else to do, as I presume, or owing to the spirit 
 which animates all clever boys to learn whatever is not 
 taught to them, he watched the geometrical and algebrai- 
 cal demonstrations on the blackboard, and after a time got 
 so interested that he went up to the master after the class 
 was over, and surprised him by asking an explanation of 
 one or two points which he had not been able to follow. 
 Upon this, it appears that he was allowed to join the 
 class, for he returned home with a first prize for mathe- 
 matics. So unexpected a distinction pleased his father so 
 
 2 Weiss's " Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker," vol. i., p. 
 469. 
 
PKECOCITY AND BACKWARDNESS. 13 
 
 much that lie asked him what he would like best as a re- 
 ward. " To be taken away from school," was Buckle's 
 reply ; and his parents, probably as much frightened as 
 pleased at what he had done at school, granted his request. 
 
 He left school in his fourteenth year, with a very scan- 
 ty stock of knowledge, which he showed off at the request 
 of the servants in the kitchen. Standing on the table, he 
 recited in Latin the Lord's prayer, and creed, and then did 
 the same in French, translating afterward sentence by sen- 
 tence. He ran riot through the house, only two rooms, 
 occupied by his parents, being sacred from his assaults. 
 On one occasion, for instance, he turned every chair and 
 table in the kitchen over ; gave his nurse's daughter a pea- 
 shooter, and had shooting-matches with her; and on an- 
 other occasion, when he went to call on his old nurse, 
 turned everything there topsy-turvy, romped about, threw 
 the daughter's cat out of the window, and finally, walking 
 with them down the street, sang, and was generally up- 
 roarious, seizing fruit from the open shops, and behaving 
 so as to make them quite afraid that he would get into 
 trouble. 
 
 But though, physically, he was as naughty a boy as 
 ever a mother could wish, mentally he was kept as quiet 
 as was possible. His mother even taught him to knit, in 
 order that he might have some occupation which was not 
 mental, for, compared with other boys, Buckle was unable 
 to do anything with his hands. He never followed any of 
 those boyish hobbies, such as carpentering, boat-making, 
 etc., and cared nothing for boyish games. He even dis- 
 liked associating with boys ; but, on the other hand, talked 
 with grown-up people whenever he had a chance. His 
 
14 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 chief game at that period was " Parson and Clerk," which 
 he used to play with a cousin of his, a boy of about his 
 own age, in which Buckle would always preach, and, ac- 
 cording to his mother, with extraordinary eloquence for a 
 child. Perhaps he learned this art from his attendance at 
 Exeter Hall, a place he used to frequent from the age of 
 fourteen with his mother, who, at one time, had been sur- 
 rounded with persons holding strict Calvinistic opinions, 
 and had been brought over to their views. Her son natu- 
 rally took great interest in what interested his mother. 
 " The natural docility of children," he remarks, 8 " renders 
 them for the most part ready to believe all that they are 
 told ; and to youth, just bursting into manhood and! igno- 
 rant of the wiles of the world, there is something singu- 
 larly captivating in the idea that they are espousing the 
 weaker side." Religion and politics were the boy's chief 
 topics of conversation ; in the latter, of course, siding with 
 his father, who was a strong Tory, but he went beyond 
 mere theory, and took a strong interest in the elections. 
 "With his father too he loved to talk, for he was a well-read 
 man, had been educated at Cambridge, as his father before 
 him, and was fond of reciting from Shakespeare to his 
 family of an evening. 
 
 After young Buckle had been home for some time, his 
 family made another attempt to send him away for educa- 
 tion. He went to a private tutor's, and there, though he 
 never seemed to learn his lessons, he was always foremost. 
 His health, however, failed, and again he had to be taken 
 home. As he grew older, he began to read the newspa- 
 
 8 " Fragments on Elizabeth," " Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works," 
 vol. i., p. 417. 
 
OFFICE EXPERIENCE. 15 
 
 pers, and, notwithstanding his early Tory bias, " his earli- 
 est efforts," says Miss Shirreff, " took the shape of specu- 
 lation on free trade, the principle of which he seemed to 
 have seized as soon as it was presented to him, in the dis- 
 cussions then rife in all the newspapers. . . . On one occa- 
 sion, he even grew so excited on the subject as to sit up at 
 night to write a letter to Sir Robert Peel, which, however, 
 he had not the courage to send." 
 
 As his health was now again restored, and he was sev- 
 enteen years of age, his father thought it high time he 
 should begin a profession, and placed him in his own office. 
 " Mrs. Buckle," says Miss Shirreff, " more than once de- 
 scribed to me her dismay when she found it impossible to 
 move her husband from this resolution." It was indeed a 
 wise one ; and one that only a mother, convinced of her 
 son's great capabilities, who implicitly believed that his 
 was a mind above the ordinary, and longed for the day 
 when she should be congratulated by all the world on be- 
 ing the mother of such a son, would have opposed. To 
 see him buried alive in an office was too dreadful, and 
 young Buckle himself went there with the greatest repug- 
 nance. Years afterward he looked back with disgust to 
 the time he had passed in that place ; nor is it wonderful 
 that it should have had no attraction for a boy already 
 nearly eighteen, accustomed to do very much as he liked, 
 and with so active a mind, considering that the first six 
 months is a period of punctual idleness or of a kind of 
 work which is simply mechanical. Nevertheless, referring 
 to this period in after-life, he did not think the time he 
 had passed there wasted. It had given him a certain idea 
 of business, which is better acquired by even a few months' 
 
16 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 presence in an office than in any other way ; just as seeing 
 a few chemical experiments actually performed will teach 
 more than the most persistent reading without it can do. 
 
 His father was now sixty-one years old, and had been 
 suffering for some time from consumption. His disease, 
 his age, and, to a slight extent, the difference of views 
 held by himself and his wife on religious matters, made 
 him grow retired and absent-minded. There was no real 
 estrangement ; for the Calvinism of Mrs. Buckle, owing to 
 her charming and womanly nature, did not interfere with 
 her kindliness, gayety, and affection. She herself, indeed, 
 suffered much from her cold and rigid beliefs, so foreign 
 to her tender nature. " The intense suffering caused by 
 this, she could hardly look back upon with calmness, even 
 at the distance of half a lifetime. Yiews full of terror and 
 despair, with their wild visions of vengeance and condem- 
 nation, which have shattered the grace of many a noble 
 mind, wrought into hers a deep-seated misery which no 
 external circumstances could alleviate, and which only 
 passed away when she had conquered her own freedom 
 through years of thought and study." 4 He, on the other 
 hand, was a stanch Churchman. He would sit alone over 
 his port the whole evening, reading a good deal, but chiefly 
 theological works ; which, perhaps, helped Mrs. Buckle to 
 a juster appreciation of true Christianity. He used to 
 pass his nearest relations in the streets without noticing 
 them, so absent did he become. One day he slipped on 
 the curb outside his door and broke his arm. This acci- 
 dent, though not serious, took an extraordinary hold of his 
 
 4 Miss Shirreff, p. xxv. of Buckle's " Miscellaneous and Posthumous 
 Works," vol. i. 
 
DEATH OF MB. 
 
 morbid imagination. It gave a shock to his already totter- 
 ing health, and he firmly believed that he would never 
 recover. Four weeks afterward he died, on January 24, 
 1840, his last words being addressed to his son when he 
 called him to his bedside a few minutes before his death, 
 "Be a good boy to your mother." Young Buckle was 
 immediately seized with a fainting-fit, and taken out of 
 the room. For some months after he had to be attended 
 by his physicians, and had frequent attacks of fainting, 
 with great prostration, and only recovered his strength 
 after a long stay in Brighton, whither the family went on 
 the death of Mr. Buckle. Soon after, Mrs. Buckle was 
 advised, both for herself and her son, to try entire change 
 of scene and climate, and in July, 1840, she, her son, and 
 her unmarried daughter, left England and remained a year 
 abroad. 
 
 Left in independent circumstances by his father's death, 
 and with no one to urge him to continue in business, he of 
 course never returned to the office. It was a great event 
 in his life, but for him it was no other change than this : 
 had he had a taste for and remained in the business, he 
 would probably have become as famous as he afterward 
 became in a higher line. For a man of genius, the work 
 in any profession will demand his highest industry and 
 highest powers. For the man of mediocrity, the work of 
 a merchant or of a scientific man is equally open ; and, 
 whether he takes up the one or the other, in neither will 
 he attain celebrity ahd in neither will he fail. If he has 
 interest, if his father be a scientific man, with scientific 
 connections, or if his father be in business, with business 
 connections, success is tolerably certain in either, the only 
 2 
 
18 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 difference being that the merchant's is generally the most 
 paying profession. The description 
 
 " Hear him but reason in divinity, 
 And, all-admiring with an inward wish 
 You would desire the king were made a prelate : 
 Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs, 
 You would say it hath been all-in-all his study : 
 List his discourse of war, and you shall hear 
 A fearful battle rendered you in music : 
 Turn him to any course of policy, 
 The gordian knot of it he will unloose 
 Familiar as his garter ; that, when he speaks, 
 The air, a chartered libertine, is still, 
 And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, 
 To steal his sweet and honeyed sentences " 
 
 is a eulogy which, though of course not applicable at this 
 period, was very applicable in later life. Practical men, 
 physicians, merchants, lawyers, all testified that he could 
 certainly attain high distinction in their own professions ; 
 while his power of oratory, of logical arrangement, and 
 warm and fervid eloquence has been manifest before the 
 public. 
 
 The idea of his history was already conceived, " dimly, 
 indeed, but still the plan was there," as he says himself in 
 a letter to Theodore Parker ; B and he now set about its 
 execution by ardently devoting himself to the study of the 
 literature and languages of the countries through which he 
 passed with his mother and sister. They left London for 
 Antwerp, and thence went traveling about to Brussels, 
 Liege, Bruges, etc. ; spent the summer at Baden-Baden, 
 
 6 Weiss's " Life," etc., vol. i., p. 469. 
 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH HALLAM. 19 
 
 Wiesbaden, and other German towns. Then they went 
 on to Switzerland, and so down to Italy, visiting the lakes. 
 In November they spent a month at Florence, and thence 
 went on to Home, where they took lodgings and remained 
 up to the beginning of April, 1841. Wherever they 
 stopped Buckle engaged masters for the language ; but 
 soon found that he could teach himself the grammatical 
 part much more easily than he could learn from them, and 
 only required the services of his masters for practice in 
 conversation and for pronunciation. In this task, however, 
 he was never very successful, speaking foreign languages 
 with a strong English accent, though fluently and correct- 
 ly. Nor did he miss any opportunity of studying the 
 character and customs of the people in whose country he 
 traveled, and at the same time of improving himself in 
 conversation with them a habit which gained him the 
 valuable acquaintance of the historian Hallam, whom he 
 met while traveling on the Rhine. Mr. Hallam being in 
 some difficulty on account of his ignorance of the German 
 language, Buckle interpreted for him. They got into con- 
 versation, and the acquaintance soon ripened into an invi- 
 tation to the young man to call on his return to London. 
 At Rome, again, where he studied Italian with another 
 young Englishman, the latter was greatly astonished at his 
 powers; so much so that he wrote home an account of 
 him, and how, do what he could, it was impossible to keep 
 pace with him. 
 
 From Italy they posted back to France, and took up 
 their quarters for about six weeks in a flat in the Rue de 
 Rivoli. Here, besides studying, Buckle used frequently 
 to play at chess, a game in which he already showed very 
 
20 
 
 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 considerable power and depth of combination. He played 
 Kieseritzki at the Cafe de la Regence, and even the re- 
 doubted St. Amant himself. Each of these masters gave 
 him a pawn ; but each was beaten. Later, when he again 
 visited Paris in 1848, he again engaged Kieseritzki equal : 
 and, taking these games with former ones, beat him. Buc- 
 kle was proud of his skill in all games not dependent on 
 manual dexterity. It was in Paris that, while watching a 
 game of draughts outside a cafe, he told the players who 
 had just drawn it, that it might be won by white in three 
 moves. They, who knew nothing of him, would not be- 
 lieve him ; upon which Buckle made a bet, and won it. 
 The exact position I do not know, but it was something 
 of the same kind as given in the annexed woodcut." At 
 
 21 
 
 29 
 
 17 
 
 25 
 
 14 
 
 22 
 
 30 
 
 26 
 
 IB 
 
 23 
 
 31 
 
 19 
 
 27 
 
 IG 
 
 24 
 
 32 
 
 28 
 
 Boulogne they stopped again for a few weeks on their 
 way home ; and, not satisfied with the languages he was 
 already studying, here he began to learn Russian. 
 
 6 White 12 to 16 ; Black 20 to 11* ; White 9 to 14 ; Black 10 to 17*, or 
 18 to 9* ; when White wins. 
 
MUSIC DISTASTEFUL. 21 
 
 During these travels, his sister observed that he 
 seemed to care very little for the various galleries, and 
 not at all for music; indeed, he never accompanied his 
 mother and sister to the opera. Once only in his life 
 did he enjoy it, and that was when Franz Liszt played, a 
 performer of whose influence Heine gives some account, 
 and by whom he is put before all others with the single 
 exception of Chopin : " "With this single exception," says 
 Heine, "all other performers whom we have heard in 
 countless concerts this year are only performers brilliant 
 merely in their power of manipulation over the wood and 
 wire. But when Liszt plays the piano fades utterly from 
 our thoughts, we no longer think on difficulties overcome 
 our souls are bathed in music." 7 That Buckle should 
 have enjoyed music on this occasion may induce us to 
 pause a little before we put down a want of sensibility to 
 the influence of this art entirely to a deficiency of musi- 
 cal feeling. Is it not more probable that in such cases it 
 is due to the imperfection of interpretation ? A man of 
 fine feeling will always feel shocked at a coarse daub of 
 a picture, even if he had no artistic education. In the 
 same way, many a man will feel the beauty of a Raphael, 
 a Titian, or a Hubens, who utterly fails to interpret the 
 ill-drawn forms of an early master. There is, moreover, 
 no doubt that music is the most unnatural of all the arts. 
 Music, painting, sculpture, and poetry, are unnatural in 
 proportion as they are idealized ; and of this the first is 
 most, the last is least so. Hence it is that though in lit- 
 erature all the world is one, in poetry they are less united, 
 and so on in an increasing series until we get to music, 
 
 7 H. Heine, " Sammtliche Werke," Hamburg, 1862, vol. xi., p. 329. 
 
22 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 which is entirely different. "We can follow the philoso- 
 phy of the Chinese, but their music we would rather be 
 without ; we admire the poetry of the Arabs, but shrink 
 from what they most admire in music ; and they too read 
 our books as we read theirs, and fly from what we call 
 music, as we fly theirs. In our own society there are 
 twenty men who admire a picture to one who really en- 
 joys music ; more who admire fine sculpture than a pic- 
 ture, and more, again, who enjoy literature than any art ; 
 and, were any further proof necessary of this order of 
 development in the arts, we should find it in their his- 
 tory in the various nations. Who can tell but that Drew, 
 Watt, and Hunter, Scott, Niebuhr, and Arnold, Johnson 
 and Dryden, Burke, Pitt, Fox, Lord Holland, and many 
 others, who all disliked the music of their day, and, in- 
 deed, could hardly tell one note from another, might not 
 have enjoyed music if better interpreted ; or, at all events, 
 if they had lived in a later age when music Avill be fur- 
 ther advanced? As a rule, music was mere noise to 
 Buckle, and he could not tell one tune from another. 
 Once he thought he did recognize an air for " God save 
 the Queen " ; but it turned out to be " Rule Britannia." 
 There are several notes on the subject in his " Common- 
 place Book," e such as : " Some idiots will whistle tunes 
 correctly. Georget mentions an idiot seven years old who 
 had an extraordinary facility for learning the airs of songs. 
 . . . Luther tells us that the devil -can not bear music." 
 And again, in the note on the life of Arnold, he has 
 " Lord Brougham says of Fox and Lord Holland, ' Music 
 was positively disagreeable to them both; a remarkable 
 
 6 For example, Arts, 277, 2211. 
 
CHANGE IN KELIGIOUS VIEWS. 33 
 
 instance of Shakespeare's extravagant error in a well- 
 known passage of his plays.' ' : And when this passage 
 of Shakespeare was quoted against him. by Mrs. Wood- 
 head, he retorted, " Yes, but see in whose mouth Shake- 
 speare puts it, the mouth of a silly youth." 
 
 From this journey he returned very much altered. 
 From a somewhat narrow low-churchman and Tory, he 
 had become a freethinker and a radical the first change 
 probably produced in Germany ; and the latter, possibly, 
 by his reading, his view of foreign interference and des- 
 potism, and his residence in Paris. He had begun his 
 education thus by himself, and had full confidence in his 
 self-educating powers. He might have gone to the uni- 
 versity, but certainly an English university at that time 
 was the last place he would have thought of going to. In 
 his History 9 he observes : " What a war Locke would 
 wage against our great universities and public schools, 
 where innumerable things are still taught which no one 
 is concerned to understand, and which few will take the 
 trouble to remember ! . . . We often find what are called 
 highly educated men, the progress of whose knowledge 
 has been actually retarded by an education by which their 
 reading has deepened their prejudices instead of dissipat- 
 ing them." 
 
 We might have had a much fuller account of this most 
 important period of his life had he not destroyed the let- 
 ters he wrote to his mother. For in his diary is the entry 
 under January 23, 1855, " Eead and destroyed some old 
 letters of mine, written fifteen years ago." Captain Ken- 
 nedy, who made his acquaintance in Jun"e, 1841, says: U I 
 
 9 Vol. L, p. 246. See note 30, p. 44. 
 
24: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 remember, in that early time of our acquaintance, being 
 struck by the bold originality and grasp of thought, the 
 variety and extent of general knowledge possessed by the 
 pale, delicate-looking stripling, who might have passed for 
 a year or two younger than he really was. He was an 
 omnivorous reader, no book of any kind seeming to come 
 amiss to him ; and he had the power, accorded to few, of 
 plucking out, as it were, the heart of a book by doing 
 little more than turning over the pages, with here and 
 there an occasional halt. I remember his borrowing of 
 me Burder's " Oriental Literature," a two- volume octavo, 
 of anything but light reading. He brought it back next 
 day, whereon I remarked that I supposed it did not inter- 
 est him. He said he had read it, and began to expatiate 
 on its contents in a way which satisfied me that he, at any 
 rate, knew more about them than I did." 10 
 
 The first entry that we have in his diary is on the 15th 
 October, 1842, as follows : " Being this day settled in my 
 new lodgings, No. 1 Norfolk Street, I determined to keep 
 a journal of my actions principally, for the sake of being 
 able to review what I have read, and consequently to esti- 
 mate my own progress. My reading has, unfortunately, 
 been hitherto, though extensive, both desultory and ir- 
 regular. I am, however, determined from this day to 
 devote all the energies I may have, solely to the study 
 of the history and literature of the middle ages. I am 
 led to adopt this course, not so much on account of the 
 interest of the subject though that is a great inducement 
 but because there has been, comparatively speaking, so 
 
 10 " Mr. Buckle as a Chess-Player." In the " Westminster Papers," vol. 
 Ti., p. 24. No. 62, for 2d June, 1873. 
 
FIRST ENTRY IN HIS DIARY. 25 
 
 little known and published upon it. And Ambition whis- 
 pers to me the flattering hope that a prolonged series of 
 industrious efforts, aided by talents certainly above medioc- 
 rity, may at last meet with success. To return, however, 
 to my journal. I rose this morning at half -past seven, 
 and from eight till nine was occupied in unpacking and 
 arranging my books, clothes, etc. At nine I breakfasted, 
 and after that commenced this journal which, what with 
 writing a letter to Mr. S , and doing other little mat- 
 ters, occupied my time until half-past ten. From half- 
 past ten till half -past twelve I read f The History of the 
 Middle Ages,' published in Lardner's c Cyclopaedia,' two 
 volumes, first to thirteenth page referring at same time 
 to Hallam, as also to Hawkins's little work on Germany 
 for verification of dates. This brings me from the inva- 
 sion of Clovis in 496 to the murder of Sigebert by Frede- 
 gonde in 5T5. I have at the same time made copious 
 abstracts of the times alluded to. In Lardner's ' History ' 
 Clotaire is called the second son of Clovis (see p. 11, vol. 
 ii.) and Hallam says he was the youngest (p. 3, vol. i.). 
 Hallam is doubtless accurate, as, besides his high reputa- 
 tion, the ' History ' published by Lardner show signs of 
 great carelessness in such small things as a vowel cut off 
 from a name, as Fredegund, instead of Fredegonde, etc., 
 and another great blemish is that the authorities are rarely 
 or never given at the bottom of the page in support of an 
 alleged fact and, besides all this, his style is heavy and 
 apparently labored." 
 
 This entry is very interesting, as it fixes the date of 
 the plan mentioned in a note in his chapter on Spain. 11 
 
 11 " History of Civilization in England," vol. ii., p. 137, note 337. 
 
26 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 " At one time I had purposed tracing the history of the 
 municipal and representative elements during the fif- 
 teenth century, and the materials which I then collected 
 convinced me that the spirit of freedom never really 
 existed in Spain." It is very possible, indeed, that we 
 may here trace the influence of Mr. Hallam (with whom 
 and his promising son Buckle became very intimate) in 
 fixing his wavering purpose on a particular point. But it 
 is very evident from the entry in the diary that this his- 
 tory would have had a strong smack of the " History of 
 Civilization," nay, that it included germs which must 
 inevitably grow until he saw with despair the horizon 
 receding as he advanced, and was compelled, unwillingly 
 and sick at heart, to restrict himself within limits which 
 could but feebly express his bold views and wide sweep of 
 generalization. Even now, however, he could not restrict 
 himself to the period upon which he had made up his 
 mind to write. Ten days after the above entry was made 
 he looks back on what he has done : " The sketch, then, 
 of the history of France during the middle ages has occu- 
 ' pied me just ten days but, then, on one of those days I 
 did not read at all [on account of a thick fog] and, be- 
 sides that, I am now in better train for reading than I 
 was at first. So that I think, on an average, I may say 
 eight days will suffice in future for each history. It is 
 my intention to go first in this hasty and superficial way 
 through European history of the middle ages, and then, 
 reading the more elaborate works, make myself as much a 
 master of the subject as is possible, considering the meager 
 information we at present possess." The works he had been 
 reading on the subject were, besides those already men- 
 
COURSE OF STUDY. 27 
 
 tioned, Gibbon and Lingard upon these times. The " more 
 elaborate works " were doubtlessly such books as state 
 papers, plays, privy-purse expenses, ballads, or, in a word, 
 the usual authorities used by such writers as Hallam and 
 Macaulay, and absolutely necessary to any one who intended 
 to write on the manners of the people, the state of science, 
 and the state of the country, so as to place a sort of living 
 picture before his readers of Europe during the middle ages. 
 As soon as he had finished with France, he went on to 
 Germany. Wednesday, 26th October, 1$42. Did not 
 breakfast till ten. From half -past ten to half-past eleven 
 finished my chronological abridgment of French history, 
 and from half -past eleven till a quarter to one looked super- 
 ficially through the histories of Italy and Germany during 
 the middle ages, to determine which would be the most 
 advisable to read first. I have determined upon Ger- 
 many." But two days afterward he began the study of 
 Italian history conjointly with that of Germany. On Oc- 
 tober 31st we find him taking up Kussian again, which 
 he had begun at Boulogne. "At present," he says, "I 
 know of the Russian language absolutely nothing." He 
 had a lesson on the Tuesday, " entirely confined to read- 
 ing. In pronunciation I find greater difficulties than I 
 could have believed possible to have existed in any lan- 
 guage I am, however, determined to conquer them." 
 He studied every day to November 12th, soon after which 
 date he went to Boulogne to stop with his mother, who 
 had taken a house there. Here he continued his Russian by 
 himself, and took lessons in German conversation ; bought, 
 besides, a Spanish and a Portuguese grammar, tried to get 
 a Dutch grammar, but in vain ; played whist nearly every 
 
28 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 evening, and returned to London at the beginning of De- 
 cember. During this absence he had apparently given up 
 his lodgings, for on his return he went to stay with his mar- 
 ried sister, Mrs. Hutchinson, in Albany Street, where he 
 had a room fitted up with book-shelves for his private use. 
 
 His chief relaxation was chess, to which he gave the 
 greater part of his afternoons, and he also played whiat 
 very frequently. Indeed, he was a first-rate player of all 
 games of mental skill. Captain Kennedy says that al- 
 ready, in 1841, his chess-play was exceedingly strong ; and 
 Buckle considered his whist-play even better than his 
 chess. The following extracts from his diary will give 
 some idea of what he did : " "Went then (four o'clock) to 
 the club, and played three games with Mr. Fonblanque, 
 of which I won two. Dined at a coffee-house, and after- 
 ward played a match game with Mr. Tuckett, giving him 
 the pawn and move, which was drawn. He is nine to my 
 seven." 12 And again : " Feeling unwell, went to club, 
 where I played five games with Mr. Thrupp, all of which I 
 won ; and one with Mr. Dennis, which I also won. Dined at 
 coffee-house, and went to divan, where I played two games 
 with Mr. Rogers," to whom he gave odds, and by whom he 
 was beaten. 13 It was here that he generally played, when 
 he was in town, going there nearly every evening. 
 
 Captain Kennedy, of all his friends the one most capa- 
 ble of giving an account of Buckle's play, says : " Nature 
 had gifted him with a superlative aptitude for the game 
 of chess, and he brought the powers of a rare intellect 
 clear, penetrating, and sagacious beyond that of most men 
 to bear upon it. His imagination was that of the poet, 
 
 12 "Diary," 16th December, 1842. 13 "Diary," 28th January, 1843. 
 
SKILL IN CHESS. 29 
 
 ' all compact/ but subservient to the dictates of a logical 
 judgment. His combinations accordingly, under such 
 guidance, seldom, if ever, exhibited a flaw, and were char- 
 acterized by exactitude of calculation and brilliant device. 
 He excelled in pawn-play, which he conducted with an 
 ingenuity and deadly accuracy worthy of the renowned 
 pawn general, Szen. He gave large odds, such as Rook 
 and Knight, with wonderful skill and success, appearing 
 to have a sort of intuitive knowledge of a strange oppo- 
 nent's chess idiosyncrasy, which enabled him precisely to 
 gauge the kind of risks he might venture to run. The 
 rendering of heavy odds, as every experienced chess-player 
 knows, necessitates hazardous and unsound play on the 
 part of the giver. These contests of his at odds were al- 
 ways full of interest and entertainment to lookers-on, and 
 a gallery two or three deep often surrounded his board in 
 the Strand Divan, where it was his ' custom in the after- 
 noon ' to recreate himself with his favorite game. I have 
 occasionally seen roars of laughter elicited from the spec- 
 tators by the crestfallen aspect of some poor, discomfited 
 Rook-player, who, with much care and solicitude, having 
 obtained, as he fondly believed, an impregnable position, 
 had suddenly found his defenses scattered like chaff, and 
 himself accommodated with a mate, after the sacrifice, by 
 his keen-witted opponent, of two or three pieces in succes- 
 sion. Whether winning or losing, Mr. Buckle was a cour- 
 teous and pleasant adversary, and sat quietly before the 
 board, smoking his cigar, and pursuing his game with in- 
 flexible steadiness." 
 
 It must be acknowledged, however, that, if Buckle's 
 temper in chess was so perfect, he avoided giving it too 
 
30 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WHITINGS. 
 
 severe a trial. " On one occasion," says Captain Kennedy, 
 " when lie was asked the ground for his refusal to play with 
 an extremely slow player, whose tediousness had obtained 
 him the cognomen of * the Telegraph,' Mr. Buckle, in his 
 own peculiar sententious manner, gave utterance to the 
 following reply : ' "Well, sir, the slowness of genius is dif- 
 ficult to bear, but the slowness of mediocrity is intolerable.' 
 It is said, but with how much truth we know not, that from 
 the time when this speech was reported to c the Telegraph ' 
 he was notable for fitful and hurried play." 14 
 
 Although there are about a hundred and fifty of his 
 games in print, it would be unfair to Buckle's powers 
 to judge them by these ; for, as Captain Kennedy justly 
 points out, " besides the fact that his best games did not 
 get into print, chess was only a recreation to him, and, un- 
 willing to occupy his valuable time with the study of new 
 variations in openings or printed games, he almost invaria- 
 bly opens in his later published games with the safe Giuoco 
 Piano, when he has the move, and irregularly as second 
 player." " At one time," continues the Captain, " I have 
 reason to think that he did not even possess a chess-board. 
 I had been dining with him at his house at Oxford Ter- 
 race, and asked him, after dinner, to look at a position in 
 some game which interested me. After searching awhile, 
 to my surprise and amusement he produced an ancient 
 little backgammon-board, on which we set up a tall, shaky 
 family of red and white bone chess-men, much too large 
 for the board." 10 
 
 14 " Westminster Papers," vol. vi., pp. 23, 24; No. 62, for July 2, 1873; 
 and vol. i., p. 10, No. 1, for April, 1868. 
 
 15 " Westminster Papers," vol. vi., pp. 23, 24. 
 
BOOK PURCHASES. 31 
 
 Much time was besides given to reading catalogues, 
 and in walking all over London, searching for and buying 
 books, which, though cheap, cost him a considerable part 
 of his income. As an instance I give the following: 
 "Bought Caird's 'Life of Charlemagne,' whole bound, 
 very neat, 1 vol., 2s. 6d. ; Crabb's { History of Common 
 Law,' 1 vol., 8vo, bds., As. ; ' Barrington on More's An- 
 cient Statutes,' 1 vol., 8vo 3 calf, 2s. Qd. ; Mills's ' Travels 
 of Theodore Ducas,' 2 vols., 8vo, in boards, only 2s. ; also 
 Johnson's c Memoirs of John Selden,' one vol., 8vo, new 
 bds., uncut, portrait, only 2s. These last two books were 
 bought at Stocklers', who, when he has anything to sell, 
 is extremely cheap." " Again : " Went to Bohn's, in 
 York Street, Covent Garden, where I purchased "Watts's 
 c Bibliotheca Britannica,' a rather scarce work, for which 
 I paid seven guineas." " " To Holywell Street, to look 
 among the bookstalls there, but only bought a copy of 
 6 [The] History of Helvetia,' two vols., 8vo, for which I 
 paid Is. 6d. ! ! ! " He was not content with going about 
 the bookstalls, but made comparative lists of the books 
 he wanted from booksellers' catalogues, with the prices, 19 
 and bought also at Sotheby's. 30 
 
 In this way he went on steadily reading on the history 
 of the middle ages, buying books, and playing chess. 
 
 On the 7th March, 1843, he writes : " Began my Life 
 of Charles I.," which he worked at daily up to 3d April 
 with but three days' intermission. It is probable that this 
 paper has been destroyed or incorporated with the " Frag- 
 
 16 " Diary," 16th January, 1842. 17 " Diary," 7th December, 1842. 
 
 18 "Diary," 17th December, 1842. 19 "Diary," llth January, 1843. 
 
 20 E. g., 26th January, 1843, ib. 
 
32 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 merits " ; for though there is an article on Charles I. 
 extant, for several reasons I can not think with Miss 
 Taylor that this may be the article in question. 21 
 
 He was thus engaged when his mother and sister came 
 up to town, the latter being about to be married, and on 
 April 4:th suddenly determined to accompany the former, 
 who was going on to Boulogne, and afterward travel on 
 through Holland. He first bought a Dutch grammar and 
 dictionary, and then informed his mother he would ac- 
 company her, "at which she was, of course, much sur- 
 prised." Though but a few years ago, the description 
 of their journey will give us some idea of the advance 
 we have made in locomotion since that day. They started 
 from London Bridge, and arrived at Ashford in two hours 
 and a half, from which place they posted to Dover, and 
 arrived at six, after another three hours and a half on the 
 
 81 Buckle's " Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works," p. xv. My reasons 
 are as follows : 
 
 1. The book in which the extant Life of Charles I. is written is dated 
 "Boulogne, July, 1849." 
 
 2. It consists of a series of disjointed notes from Edward VI. down to 
 Anne, in which there is no indication of any interpolation, or of the Life of 
 Charles having been written before the previous articles. 
 
 3. It refers back to " my Life of James I." But there is no indication 
 in his diary of 1842-1848 of this work. 
 
 4. It refers to Jacob's " Precious Metals," which he only read eight years 
 later. 
 
 6. It took twenty -four days to write ; but the extant article consists of 
 but three small folio pages. 
 
 6. The extant article is nothing in the nature of a narrative, and does 
 not mention Buckingham's death. But his diary has the entry, "Con- 
 tinued Charles I., which I have now finished down to the death of Bucking- 
 ham in 1628, the first epoch." 
 
 7. The fragment on the reign of Elizabeth is quite different from the 
 notes on the reign of Elizabeth which occur in this volume. Hence we may 
 infer that the Life of Charles I. was of the same kind. 
 
PRESENTED AT COURT. 33 
 
 road. They were there told that the steamer would leave 
 next morning at 11.30, but were woke up early and told that 
 the steamer having arrived earlier than was expected that 
 morning, it would start again at nine o'clock. Tne tide 
 being out, they had to put off in small boats, and only 
 arrived in Boulogne "after a stormy and miserable pas- 
 sage of five hours." "With characteristic energy, however, 
 Buckle found a Dutch master the very next day, though 
 he had not yet recovered from the effects of the voyage ; 
 but a day or two after he fell ill, and remained so for 
 some weeks. Here his journal unfortunately breaks off, 
 but we learn from other sources that he returned to Lon- 
 don soon after he recovered, as he had made up his mind 
 to travel on the Continent, and knew that it was almost 
 necessary, if he wished to be received in society, that he 
 should have been presented at court. 
 
 On 17th May, 1843, he was presented by Lord Eoden 
 at a levee held by Prince Albert at St. James's Palace ; 
 and the following June he landed at Hamburg with one 
 traveling companion. There he chanced to put up at 
 the same hotel as Lord Kimberley, who was journeying 
 through Hamburg at the time, and they soon became 
 acquainted. The latter's first opinion of Buckle was, 
 that he was terribly conceited ; but he soon began to see 
 that there was much justification for the unbounded 
 confidence he showed in his own powers. His old Tory 
 views had entirely disappeared, and he was a thorough 
 radical, which he long afterward remained, even going 
 so far as to dislike the Whigs. His old religious views 
 had also been thoroughly changed, and he was now read- 
 ing Strauss. And, finally, the plan of his "History of 
 
34: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Civilization " was already more than " dimly perceived," 
 it was fully sketched out. His habit was to sit up late at 
 night reading ; he used to smoke much, and was a great 
 talker, eager to discuss anything and everything. The 
 two parties joined and traveled on together. To Berlin 
 Buckle had brought a warm letter of introduction from 
 Staunton, whom he had beaten in a match of three games, 
 in which that great player had given him the odds of 
 pawn and move ; and there he engaged and beat Bessel, 
 Scherpe, Kossak, Hausler, Yon Carisien, and Hanstein. 
 The greatest players of Berlin, Bledow and Heydebrant, 
 only just succeeded in beating him, and they both ac- 
 knowledged his extraordinary powers. 22 From Berlin 
 they went on to Magdeburg and Dresden, at which place 
 Lord Kimberley left him after they had been there two 
 months. 
 
 Wherever Buckle traveled, he used to go about and 
 mix with the people as much as possible. At Dresden, 
 after watching some chess-players at a cafe, he was in- 
 vited by one of them to play. The man played carelessly 
 at first, but soon paid more and more attention to the 
 game. At last he was beaten. He got up, and made a 
 profound bow. " Whoever you are," he said, " you should 
 only play with our best players." Buckle did, and soon 
 won quite : a reputation there. He even created some 
 jealousy, and heard that one of the well-known players 
 had gone about saying that Buckle was too inferior a 
 player for him to engage with. Buckle immediately post- 
 ed up a large placard challenging that gentleman to a 
 
 22 See the " Schachzeitung," Berlin, 1846, pp. 87, 88 ; 1848, pp. 305, 306 ; 
 1862, pp. 194, 195. 
 
TOUR IN GERMANY 
 
 35 
 
 game for five hundred dollars. The man never appeared 
 in public again while Buckle was at Dresden. 
 
 He traveled thence through Austria on his way to 
 Italy, but met with an adventure on the frontier. The 
 cautious and enlightened customs oificer whose business it 
 was to examine his luggage paid special attention to his 
 books, among which they came upon Copernicus's "De 
 Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium." This dangerous work 
 was promptly confiscated, in spite of Buckle's protests and 
 explanations. They did not care where the revolution 
 was ; they had their orders, and their orders were to con- 
 fiscate all books of a revolutionary tendency, whether 
 political works or not. He much enjoyed telling this 
 story, and was amply repaid by it for the loss of his book. 
 
 Of his second stay in Italy we have no record beyond 
 an anecdote which shows how his name was already well 
 known to European chess-players. He was watching a 
 game outside a cafe at Rome, as was his wont, when one 
 of the players on the conclusion of the game asked him to 
 play. This man, seeing that he was an Englishman and 
 very young, proposed a scudo as the stake. Buckle as- 
 sented. " Or perhaps a couple of scudi ? " he added. 
 Buckle agreed. " Well, perhaps it would make a better 
 game if we were to play for five scudi ? " Upon this 
 Buckle began to get angry, and said, " I'll play you for a 
 hundred scudi if -you like." The man was quite taken 
 aback, and asked him his name. " Buckle." " How do 
 you spell it ? " He was told. " Ah, Booclay ! " he said, 
 "then I won't play with you." We know, also, that he 
 went as far south as Naples ; for he used to relate that, 
 when he went inside the Blue Grotto at Capri, the boat- 
 
36 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 men refused to take him out unless lie paid them more 
 than he had bargained for. He handed them his purse ; 
 but, when he got back to Naples, he took the trouble to 
 prosecute the men, and got them punished a result they 
 had hardly counted upon. 
 
 During the whole of his travels he diligently studied 
 the language and literature of the countries in which he 
 happened to be. At Munich, where he stopped longest 
 on his return from Italy, he besides studied Hebrew, with 
 a rabbi. The picture-gallery was one of his great resorts, 
 and here he used to take his luncheon and pass hours 
 gazing at the pictures and trying to think himself into the 
 whole idea of the master. "We may be sure that the gal- 
 leries of Italy had not been unvisited, for he owned that, 
 despite the beauty of coloring in the pictures, he preferred 
 form to color, and this opinion he never altered till he 
 traveled through Egypt and the desert. There, watching 
 the glorious tints of the distant mountains of Arabia, 
 across the Gulf of Akaba, the intense blue of the water, 
 the yellow sands, and perhaps the coral, and many beauti- 
 ful shelis strewed along the shore, the memories of the 
 treasures of sculpture in Italy were vanquished, and he 
 bowed to the superior power of color. It was his habit 
 to sit up late at night, reading, with a wet towel round his 
 head ; and on one of these occasions he was frightened for 
 the first and only time in his life. It was about two 
 o'clock in the morning, and he had been reading for sev- 
 eral hours wholly absorbed in his book. The room was 
 dark but for the two candles which burned on the table 
 before him. Suddenly he became aware of something on 
 the opposite side of the table, and, looking up in that 
 
ILLNESS CHOICE OF A PROFESSION". 37 
 
 hesitating, doubtful way one does when absorbed in some- 
 thing else, he saw a figure all robed in white gazing full 
 in his face. Before he had time to think he shrieked 
 aloud, and thus woke the landlady, whose somnambulic 
 figure it was that had just frightened him. 
 
 At last he fell ill of rheumatic fever and his mother 
 came out to nurse him, and on his recovery they traveled 
 home together by way of Holland. On the journey, 
 Buckle, who was always eager to improve himself and to 
 talk, entered into conversation with a Dutch fellow trav- 
 eler. The man at first explained that he did not know 
 English, but afterward found out that Buckle was speak- 
 ing Dutch, the pronunciation of which he had hardly yet 
 mastered, although he knew the language perfectly well. 
 He kindly explained to Buckle where his faults lay, and 
 they then got on better together. 
 
 The question of a profession naturally presented itself 
 to Buckle as soon as he arrived home ; the first considera- 
 tion being that it should not absorb the whole of his time, 
 but should give him sufficient opportunity to prosecute his 
 studies in history. This was not an easy thing to find, for 
 he well knew that, once thoroughly engaged in a profession, 
 very little time is ever left for studies on other subjects. 
 However, he at last decided in favor of the bar, for, even 
 in the full swing and hurry of practice, he hoped in the 
 long vacation to find time for further study ; and, more- 
 over, the preparation for the law would be a preparation 
 for his other work. He accordingly consulted his cousin, 
 Mr. John Buckle, in whose ability and judgment he had 
 throughout his life the greatest confidence ; but he strongly 
 dissuaded him from taking this step on the score of his 
 
38 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 delicate constitution ; pointing out to him that, with such 
 bad health, he would be certain to break down just when 
 he had achieved success in his profession ; and, so cogent 
 did his arguments seem to Buckle, that he gave up all idea 
 of it, and devoted himself entirely to his reading. He also 
 frequently played chess ; but, symptoms of overwork show- 
 ing themselves, his cousin again persuaded him to give 
 chess up, with the exception of occasional games for relax- 
 ation; and again Buckle followed his advice, though it 
 did not prevent him from taking this form of relaxation 
 almost every evening. 
 
 His second sister having married about this time, his 
 mother took a house in London, in order that she might 
 live with her son ; though London never agreed with her, 
 and, year after year, she was confined to her room the 
 greater part of the winter with bronchitis and asthma. 
 The house was No. 59 Oxford Terrace; not very large 
 indeed, but having a room built out at the back about 
 thirty feet square, which suited Buckle excellently well 
 for a library. This room was shut off from the rest of the 
 house by a small passage-room and four doors, and being 
 lighted only by one window, in addition to the skylight, 
 gave plenty of wall-space for bookcases. Little by little 
 every available space was covered ; the cases had a piece 
 added on all round, which made them reach from floor to 
 ceiling, even the space over the door was covered, and the 
 books overflowed until there was not a room in the house, 
 from the bedrooms to the butler's pantry, that had them 
 not. 
 
 He calculated that 22,000 volumes had been in his li- 
 brary ; but, as he used to sell those he did not want, there 
 
METHOD OF STUDY. 39 
 
 were only about 11,000 in his library when he died. His 
 table was fitted up with shelves all round, so that he could 
 have all the books he wanted around him when he was 
 adding references to his "History." Every book, more- 
 over, was numbered and catalogued, so that not only could 
 he find any work he wanted at once, but he could send his 
 servant for it. 
 
 For fourteen years he worked here unknown to the 
 literary world ; and, unfortunately, we have no record of 
 his life until the year 1850, when his " History " was al- 
 ready partly written, beyond the few chess-games which 
 have been printed. That they were no idle years, we may 
 infer from the " History " itself ; but, still more from the 
 fact that he read nearly all the books he had that is, 
 about three volumes daily besides writing in every im- 
 portant book an epitome of its contents, learning more 
 languages, and practicing style. He always read pencil in 
 hand, and, when he had finished the book, wrote out in 
 ink from his pencil-notes what he wished to remember. 
 These, again, when they were notes on a book that he 
 wished to "master," as he called it, he used to read fre- 
 quently. Sometimes he read and reread a book twice or 
 thrice, though his memory was so excellent and his in- 
 dustry in note-taking so great that he had not to do this 
 very often. His system in reading was not to follow the 
 book, but the subject. He would, for instance, in read- 
 ing the history of England, not read a single work right 
 through, but an important period like the age of the Re- 
 naissance in one work, say Hallam, then in Lingard, then 
 in another, then go on to read the dispatches of ambassa- 
 dors, then the lives of the great men of that age in various 
 
40 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 biographical dictionaries, until having viewed the subject 
 from every standpoint, and turned it over in his mind, 
 he was "saturated," as he called it, with that period, and 
 would go on to the next. At the same time he might 
 have another subject in hand, such as physiology, which 
 he would study in the same manner ; and, perhaps a couple 
 or so of languages. 
 
 By the year 1850 the total number of languages he 
 knew was nineteen ; namely 
 
 1. English, Y. Dutch, 14. Maorian, 
 
 2. French, 8. Danish, 15. Kussian, 
 
 3. German. 9. "Walloon, 16. Anglo-Saxon, 
 
 4. Italian, 10. Flemish, 1Y. Hebrew, 
 
 5. Spanish, 11. Swedish, 18. Greek, 
 
 6. Portuguese, 12. Icelandic, 19. Latin. 
 
 13. Frisiac, 
 
 All of them distinct languages, as he observed, though 
 some of them are similar to each other. The first seven 
 he knew well, and could converse in them or write them 
 with ease. With the rest he had a sufficient acquaintance 
 to be able to read them without trouble ; and, indeed, he 
 never cared for a knowledge of any language excepting as 
 a key to its literature. Their real value was this ; for, as 
 to talking them, one might travel through Europe with 
 only a knowledge of French. " The vanity of people is 
 so great that they will always talk to you in your own 
 language, if they have but a smattering of it," he said. 
 Of a man, who was pointed out to him at Cairo as very 
 learned, because he knew eight languages, Buckle asked, 
 " Has he done anything ? " " No." " Then he is only fit 
 
AMBITION. 41 
 
 to be a courier." 24 And this same carelessness of knowl- 
 edge of languages, excepting as a means of knowledge, 
 induced him to read foreign works, when possible, in trans- 
 lations ; because it could be done quicker, and, in the case 
 of German, with its horrible type, saved the eyes work, 
 while the original could easily be referred to when it was 
 necessary. 
 
 But, though he accumulated such vast stores of knowl- 
 edge during these few years, his ambition was too great 
 to allow him to write anything for immediate publication. 
 Ambition, burning ambition, was his chief characteristic ; 
 and no idle vanity would induce him to write anything his 
 maturer age might condemn, as so many great writers 
 have done and repented in vain. " I made up my mind 
 when I was a boy," he said, " that, whatever I took up, I 
 should be first in. I would rather be first as a shoe-black, 
 than second in anything else." Dr. Johnson said : " A 
 man should write soon ; for, if he waits till his judgment 
 is matured, his inability, through want of practice, to ex- 
 press his conceptions, will make the disproportion so great 
 between what he sees and what he can attain, that he 
 will probably be discouraged from writing at all." " 
 But Buckle guarded against this by his greater industry. 
 Though naturally gifted with a clear and logical style, he 
 would not trust to nature on so important a point. With- 
 out ^ good style he thought no book of any value, because 
 no book written in a bad style will find many readers, and 
 until new truths are popularized they are of no value. He 
 accordingly studied it daily for four hours a day during a 
 
 94 " Atlantic Monthly " for April, 1863, pp. 494, 495. 
 25 Boswell's " Life," Croker, London, 1848, p. 658. 
 
42 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 considerable part of this period ; reading a few pages of 
 Hallam, or Burke, or any other master, and then he would 
 sit down to write the same thing in his own words. He 
 would then compare the two, and find out " where it was 
 that I wrote worse than they." 26 He read besides the 
 best French authors for the same purpose ; and, so great 
 was his industry that, although the regular study occupied 
 him only a few years, he never considered that he had 
 attained perfection, but continually studied how to write 
 better. Even after the publication of his first volume we 
 find the following entries in his diary : " Read Burke for 
 the style " ; " made notes on style from Whately and H. 
 Spencer " ; " began to read Johnson's English dictionary 
 to enlarge my vocabulary " ; and " read Milton's prose 
 works for the style especially for the vocabulary." " " It 
 was a valuable lesson," says Miss Shirreff, who knew him 
 a few years later, " to hear him dissect an ill-constructed 
 sentence, and point out how the meaning could have been 
 brought out with full clearness by such and such changes." 
 And the result of all this was, that he formed a style so 
 perfectly clear and flowing that the reader is irresistibly 
 carried along with the writer. 
 
 He composed always in the forenoon, " walking about 
 the room, sometimes excitedly, his mind engrossed in the 
 subject, until he had composed an entire paragraph, when 
 he sat down and wrote it, never retouching, nor com- 
 posing sentence by sentence, which he considered had a 
 tendency to give an abrupt, jerky effect to what is writ- 
 
 26 "Atlantic Monthly " for April, 1863, p. 494. 
 
 27 " Diary," 1859, March 16th ; September 9th and 12th ; October 25th ; 
 November 22d. 
 
COMPOSITIOK 43 
 
 ten. Traces of this, lie thought, might be found in Ma- 
 caulay's style." 28 "When dissatisfied with what he had 
 done, he would rather rewrite it altogether than attempt 
 to alter the text as it stood ; and great parts of his history, 
 more especially the brilliant perorations to the various 
 chapters, were written more than once before they took 
 their final shape. Hence it is that in his writings there is 
 not a labored passage, and none of that mannerism which, 
 though it may charm, is apt to tire the reader. It pro- 
 duces the exact effect required and no more. Here and 
 there it rises, indeed, to fervid eloquence, seemingly with- 
 out effort, by contrast with its ordinary plain and unorna- 
 mented form, like a first-rate actor who reserves his voice 
 until required for the passion of the piece, and always 
 rather by the choice of apt words and suitable imagery, 
 than by the rhythm and cadence of long and foreign words. 
 Is there a finer passage in the English language than his 
 peroration to the chapter on Spain, where he contrasts her 
 torpor and self-satisfaction with the progress and compe- 
 tition in other states ? We are led up in a few words to a 
 view of the hurry and bustle, the dazzle of new discov- 
 eries, the restlessness and noise of the greater part of Eu- 
 rope, when he suddenly breaks off just at the summit of 
 our excitement to point at sleeping Spain. Could any- 
 thing, again, be more tender than his passages on Burke, 
 or (to turn to his essay) on death ? Anything more sad 
 than his apology to the reader at the end of Chapter IY. 
 of his second volume ? Anything more severe than his 
 denunciation of the Scotch clergy, and of Mr. Justice Cole- 
 ridge ? It was this that made his attacks so galling, and 
 
 28 " Atlantic Monthly" for April, 1863, p. 495. 
 
44 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 gave him the power to punish. What he said of Mr. 
 Coleridge, for instance, was not new ; it had all been said 
 before in Mr. Holyoake's pamphlet. 29 But the one having 
 ' fulfilled its office is forgotten, while the other will live for 
 ever, a monument to liberty and to his power of style. 
 
 Hard as he worked during all these years, they were 
 the happiest of his life. Then he could indulge the 
 "hopes that belong to that joyous and sanguine period 
 of life, when alone we are really happy ; when the emo- 
 tions are more active than the judgment; when expe- 
 rience has not yet hardened our nature ; when the affec- 
 tions are not yet blighted and nipped to the core; and 
 when, the bitterness of disappointment not having yet been 
 felt, difficulties are unheeded, obstacles are unseen, ambi- 
 tion is a pleasure instead of a pang, and, the blood cours- 
 ing swiftly through the veins, the pulse beats high, while 
 the heart throbs at the prospect of the future." 30 His 
 chief enjoyment in life was reading, although he did not 
 despise sensual enjoyments, which should never be left 
 out altogether, as he points out in his " History," 31 but 
 only subordinated to the general weal, and, if possible, to 
 intellectual enjoyment which is so much more exquisite 
 to those who can appreciate it, albeit they are few com- 
 pared to the immense number of those who can live hap- 
 pily with mere sensual enjoyments. "There are two 
 
 29 Though Buckle did not obtain his facts from that pamphlet, and in- 
 deed did not see it until some time after his essay was published. 
 
 30 "History of Civilization," etc., vol. ii., p. 328. London, 1861. 
 Throughout this work I shall quote from this edition of the second vol- 
 ume, as the only one its author revised ; and from the 1858 edition of vol. i. 
 as the last the author revised. 
 
 31 Vol. ii., p. 400. 
 
SMOKING. 45 
 
 things,' ' he said, "for which I never grudge money 
 books and cigars." And on the former he spent about 
 300 a year, only buying them for the subject, since he 
 did not care to spend money on mere luxury when there 
 were so many calls on his limited income necessitated by 
 his delicate state of health. On cigars he could not have 
 spent very much ; for in later life he used to smoke very 
 little, and when he was a young man he used to smoke 
 pipes as well as cigars. In Germany he smoked their 
 national pipe, of which he had a large collection ; and in 
 March, 1843, he notes in his diary that he went to a shop 
 in Cromer Street, " where I saw the process of pipe-mak- 
 ing and ordered a gross of clay pipes. 5 ' He afterward 
 found, however, that he could no longer smoke pipes ; and 
 it was only when he traveled in Egypt and tried the long 
 chibouk with mild latakieh, that he again took to them. 
 "Those who delight in the exquisite flavor of tobacco," 
 he writes in his " Commonplace-Book," sa " and above all 
 those who have experienced its soothing influence over an 
 irritated brain, may form some idea of the enthusiasm 
 with which it was welcomed by all classes." And this 
 "soothing influence" was so necessary to him that he 
 never would accept an invitation to any house where he 
 might not smoke. One cigar after breakfast, one before 
 dinner, and one in bed, when he used to read some light 
 book to compose his thoughts and prevent an exciting 
 train of speculation, was his usual allowance ; and he said 
 that he could neither read, write, nor talk, if forced to fore- 
 go his smoke ; or, Miss Shirreff adds, if he was forced to 
 overpass by much his usual hour for indulging in it. 
 
 32 " Posthumous Works," vol. iii., p. 529, Art. 64. 
 
46 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 But though he never denied himself a book that he 
 wanted, or a good -cigar, he was exceedingly careful (some 
 charitable people say, miserly) with his money. He him- 
 self points out in his notes on Queen Elizabeth the differ- 
 ence between avariciousness and parsimony. " It has been 
 a common charge against Elizabeth that she was avaricious. 
 But those who bring that charge confound parsimony with 
 avarice. She was parsimonious, and in this she only did 
 her duty in saving the money of her subjects, a duty which 
 it would be well if sovereigns of the present day would 
 imitate, instead of squandering a large part of the re- 
 sources of the country in petty amusements not fit to 
 occupy the leisure of a girl who has just emerged from 
 the nursery. Camden truly says, c The truth is, she was 
 provident and frugal to a great degree, and scarce spent 
 anything but in the necessary support of her royal charac- 
 ter, the defense of her kingdom, or the relief of her neigh- 
 bors.' " 33 And we may say of him : the truth is, he was 
 provident and frugal to a great degree, and scarce spent 
 anything but in the necessary support of his literary char- 
 acter, the defense of his health, or the relief of his neigh- 
 bors. To accuse a man of not dealing properly with his 
 money, is not only an impertinence, because it is no busi- 
 ness of the accuser to decide how another man's money 
 should be spent ; but it is a blunder, since the accuser can 
 never know what the man's expenditures and charities are. 
 Hard indeed must be the heart that, seeing the miseries in 
 this world, will not attempt to relieve them ; and, though 
 most men of sense know that charity does harm except in 
 special cases, yet few men of ordinary sensibility can do 
 
 33 " Posthumous Works," vol. iii., p. 619. 
 
CHARITY ECONOMY. 47 
 
 such violence to their feelings as thoroughly to act up to 
 their knowledge. It was in talking on this subject that a 
 friend of his accidentally heard of some of his charities. 
 When he was accosted by a beggar in the streets, he said, 
 " I ask his name and address ; in nine cases out of ten it 
 was a false one; but though the slums and narrow streets 
 I had to visit were very disagreeable, yet the pleasure of 
 giving bread to a starving family in the tenth case repaid 
 me many times over for all my trouble." These charities 
 took nothing from his time, for he made it a rule to walk 
 seven miles in the course of the day, whatever the weather 
 might be, and therefore had plenty of opportunity for this 
 and for other business. 
 
 His income was not large, and perhaps never exceeded 
 1,500 a year. He was therefore obliged, if he wished to 
 live comfortably, to live economically. No one understood 
 the real value of wealth better than he ; it " is a real and 
 substantial thing, which ministers to our pleasures, in- 
 creases our comfort, multiplies our resources, and not un- 
 frequently alleviates our pains. . . . We constantly hear 
 of the sinfulness of loving money ; although it is certain 
 that, after the love of knowledge, there is no one passion 
 which has done so much good to mankind as the love of 
 money." : He was very accurate in his accounts ; and 
 not only invested his own money, but gave his friends 
 good and, as they found, valuable advice on the subject. 
 To one friend, for instance, who has kindly sent me some 
 reminiscences, he explained the necessity for persons with 
 fixed incomes to be saving. For the value of money is 
 constantly diminishing, while the cost of living as con- 
 
 34 "History of Civilization," etc., vol. ii., pp. 311, 404. 
 
48 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 stantly increases; and hence the necessary expenses in- 
 crease as the power to meet them decreases. Every pru- 
 dent person should, therefore, lay by so much of his 
 income as will suffice to maintain its purchasing power. 
 He himself paid cash for everything he bought, and was 
 careful to get discount. Once, indeed, when he had 
 bought a new carpet from a man who had promised him 
 discount for cash, and then asked for the whole sum, 
 Buckle quietly returned the unpaid bill to his pocket, and 
 told him to call for payment that day two years. At one 
 time he used to go to the butcher himself to select his 
 meat, and see his steaks cut. He said he had " cultivated" 
 an attention to cookery, and, certainly, was a first-rate 
 judge of good and bad, though a moderate eater. He 
 only ate toast on Mondays, because on that day the bread 
 was more than one day old ; but his servant had to bring 
 up the toasting-fork into the dining-room and make the 
 toast as required. No woman, he said, could make tea 
 until he had taught her ; the great thing was to have it 
 very hot ; the cups and even the spoons should be warmed. 
 The tea was to stand a little longer when the tea-caddy 
 was rather full, to allow time for the leaves to unroll ; but 
 at the bottom of the caddy there were more broken leaves, 
 and hence so much time need not be allowed. " It's the 
 only time my servants are afraid of me," he said, " when I 
 am at my meals." And he might have added, "before 
 my meals, when they are unpunctual." Indeed, he prided 
 himself on the cultivation of his senses as well as his in- 
 tellect ; and on his practicality as well as his speculative 
 powers; though he despised those "whose knowledge is 
 almost confined to what passes around them, and who, on 
 
PRACTICALITY. 49 
 
 account of their ignorance, are termed practical men." 36 
 Yet still more did he grieve that " genius " should always 
 be associated in the minds of men with a want of knowl- 
 edge of the world. " As yet," he says, in his " Review " 
 on Mill's " Liberty " " as yet, and in the present early and 
 unformed state of society, literary men are, notwithstand- 
 ing a few exceptions, more prone to improvidence than 
 the members of any other profession; and, being also 
 more deficient in practical knowledge, it too often hap- 
 pens that they are regarded as clever visionaries, fit to 
 amuse the world, but unfit to guide it." He looked upon 
 the profession of letters as so high, that it was disgraced 
 by this too common failing and lost the power that was 
 due to it, and good for the world, provided that failing 
 was amended. Hence his admiration for Mill, who not 
 only was a great thinker, but a practical man. Much 
 more does he say on this subject, both here and in the 
 " History of Civilization," but most of all does he inveigh 
 against the complacency with which men of genius, " the 
 salt of the earth," run into debt and accept pensions. The 
 very existence of Hterary pensions is an insult to literature. 
 " In a merchant, or a tradesman, such a confession of reck- 
 lessness [as Comte's] would have been considered disgrace- 
 ful ; and why are men of genius to have a lower code than 
 merchants or tradesmen? ... To break stones on the 
 highway is far more honorable than to receive such alms." 
 And he practiced what he preached. But, on the other 
 hand, no charge could be more untenable than avarice in 
 his case, when he might have made several thousand a 
 year by writing essays like Macaulay (he had actual offers 
 
 35 "History of Civilization," etc., vol. ii., p. 810. 
 4 
 
50 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 of five pounds a page for anything he chose to write), or 
 those ephemeral articles which are written by men whom 
 necessity or desire of gain compels to write regardless of 
 their reputation. 
 
 At a time when he taught his servant to bind his tat- 
 tered books for him in brown paper, he made repeated 
 offers of money to some friends, which, though never ac- 
 cepted, were none the less earnestly reiterated. "I do 
 most earnestly hope," he says, " that no inducement will 
 make your husband go home too soon, and would you and 
 he, my dear friends, pardon me if I remind you that the 
 offer which I made to him last summer still remains open, 
 and always will do so ? Your husband must be amused 
 and have all his home comforts in traveling, or else he 
 will not reap the full benefit of the change. I know, I 
 feel, that he will get quite well and strong, and that you 
 will be as happy as heretofore, but for this expense which 
 is inevitable, and you have no brothers or father to apply 
 to. Why, then, will you not let me do what will be not the 
 least inconvenience to me, and only cost me the signing of 
 the paper? Let me pay 100 to your bankers, and, to 
 show that it is a mere matter of business, and to prevent 
 your husband feeling under any obligation to me, I will 
 take his written promise to repay me in five years from 
 this date. I should have proposed this before, but I felt 
 a delicacy in repeating my former offer. But now that 
 
 Dr. has given this new and, I firmly believe, sound 
 
 opinion, I can not avoid suggesting what will add to your 
 comfort and not diminish mine. Even if you both deter- 
 mine again to refuse it for the moment, will you clearly 
 understand that, if it is likely to be useful, you are to write 
 
THOUGHTS OK EDUCATION. 51 
 
 to me, and you will give me a pleasure far greater than 
 any you have ever yet conferred on me ? " 
 
 One of the chief causes of his careful economy, in 
 later life at all events, was the resolve not to marry before 
 be had 3,000 a year. " I expect so much in my wife," 
 he once said, " that I can not look for money too " ; and 
 with his ideas on education he considered he would not be 
 justified in marrying on less. He would not have sent his 
 children to school except for the benefit of association with 
 their fellows ; he would have taught them himself by word 
 of mouth. In the words of Recha 
 
 " Mein Vater liebt 
 
 Die kalte Buchgelehrsamkeit, die sich 
 Mit todten Zeichen ins Gehirn mir driickt, 
 Zu wenig." 
 
 And thought as Sittah : 
 
 "So hangt 
 
 Sich freilich alles besser an. So lernt 
 Mit eins die ganze Seele." 36 
 
 As was exemplified in the case of the two boys whom he 
 took with him to the East. His sons should learn to swim 
 and to fence ; either might save their life. But, above all, t , , 
 they should travel. Traveling was the greatest educator, 
 as it was also the most expensive. 
 
 But, although he was right in this, as far as his future 
 sons were concerned, it was as regards himself the great 
 mistake of his life. Already, at the early age of seven- 
 teen, he had fallen in love with a cousin, but found that 
 she was unluckily engaged to another cousin. The for- 
 tunate rival was challenged to a personal combat, but, 
 
 36 Lessing, " Nathan der Weise," Act v., Sc. vi. 
 
52 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 however it resulted, the lady's destiny does not appear to 
 have been altered thereby. About this time he fell in love 
 with another cousin, a noble-hearted, generous girl, above 
 the common in understanding, with a very large fortune, 
 and with a liking for him. It is truly sad to think that 
 this marriage, BO suitable to both parties, and so impor- 
 tant for him, should have been prevented by the gross 
 folly and superstition of the world ; a superstition that he 
 also was probably imbued with at the time, or he would 
 never have submitted to it. The two cousins had been 
 thrown much together, but as soon as their respective 
 mothers noticed their growing affection, inspired by the 
 false and immoral idea that marriages between cousins 
 are harmful, everything was done to discourage it. It is 
 not my business here to point out what a world of mis- 
 chief such opposition, as every other opposition to the due 
 exercise of harmless personal liberty, has caused ; that I 
 have done elsewhere ; 37 but the result in this case was that 
 his mother's death left him alone, unaccustomed to lone- 
 liness, with no one by his side able to alleviate so terrible 
 a loss. 
 
 His diary only begins again with the 21st March, 
 1850. 88 His book was begun before this date, for we have 
 the entry, " From 9.30 to 12 wrote my BOOK " ; and he 
 
 37 " The Marriage of Near Kin," London, 1875. 
 
 38 But in such a manner that it is almost impossible to believe but that 
 some of it, at least, has been lost. It opens without a word of introduc- 
 tion, and just as subsequent volumes begin. If other volumes of the diary 
 existed, we have lost with them all account of the course of his reading, 
 and of his movements at a period concerning which there is no supple- 
 mentary information by letters, the only correspondent who has letters in 
 his possession written during this period, that I know of, having refused to 
 allow me to see them. 
 
TOUR IN BKITTASTY. 53 
 
 was hard at work studying physiology and botany. He 
 bought a microscope, and went to Kew with Dr. Lewis 
 (whose lectures he attended) " to botanize " ; and also at- 
 tended the lectures on the physiology of animals and vege- 
 tables, by Mr. Brande, at the Apothecaries' Hall. At this 
 time his mother appears already to have been a real invalid ; 
 for, during a tour in Brittany, he writes, " Walked from 
 2.45 to 3.45, Jenny and I together so that she can now 
 walk famously." They had gone on this tour alone ; and 
 a few extracts from his diary will show what chiefly inter- 
 ested him. He began, as he always did when about to 
 travel, by reading up on the subject a quantity of guide- 
 books, tourists' books, and historical and archaeological 
 works. They started from Paris to Orleans, where he 
 " walked about that curious old town," and saw the muse- 
 um, " which contains a very curious collection of anti- 
 quities found in Orleans among these things two very 
 singular forks." Thence they went to Blois, where he 
 saw the castle, " which is very interesting." Through 
 Tours to Saumur, whence he " walked about one and a half 
 mile and saw a Druidical dolmen. It is curious and sin- 
 gularly complete, being in this latter respect much supe- 
 rior to Stonehenge, though not so large. On our return 
 we went to see the museum in the Hotel de Ville, where 
 there are some flint knives (supposed to be Druidical), 
 found near the dolmens. They reminded me of the de- 
 scription given by Prescott of the knives with which the 
 Mexicans cut up their victims." To Angers, Nantes, Au- 
 ray, whence they drove to Carnac, " where we saw high 
 mass, and walked to the famous Druidical remains. The 
 stones are said to be twelve thousand, but none exceed 
 
54: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 eighteen feet in height, and the coup-$wil is very inferior 
 to that of Stonehenge." The next day they went " in a 
 sailing and rowing boat down the river Auray, and saw 
 the Druidical remains at Lemariakes. They are curious, 
 and one of them a menhir before it was broken, was 
 from eighty to ninety feet in height." There are no more 
 remarks till he came to St. Malo, where he went to Mount 
 Michel, "with which we were delighted." At Bayeux, 
 " Jenny and I went to see the tapestry which is at the 
 library," and they also visited the cathedral ; while in the 
 evening he went to a cafe, and played chess " with a very 
 bad player." 
 
 Short and dry as this journal is, it confirms, as far as 
 it goes, the little interest he took in scenery as compared 
 with man, and, as an illustration of the way in which he 
 worked, I give a list of books he read during this tour : 
 Montesquieu, " Esprit des Lois," " Lettres Persanes," and 
 " Temple de Gnide " ; Corneille's " Plays " ; Shakespeare ; 
 Cousin, " Litterature " and " Philosophic Moderne " ; Cape- 
 figue, " La Kef orme et la Ligue " ; Yoltaire's " Louis XI V." ; 
 Schiller, " Geschichte des Abfalls der vereinigten Nieder- 
 lande von der spanischen Regierung " ; Todd's " Life of 
 Cranmer " ; Blackstone's " Commentaries on the English 
 Law " ; Keeve's " History of English Law " ; Tremenville, 
 "Antiquites de la Bretagne"; Caumont, "Architecture 
 Eeligieuse au Moyen Age " ; Knight, " Architectural Tour 
 in Normandy " ; Dawson Turner, " Tour in Normandy " ; 
 and Murray's " Handbook." This was what he thought 
 necessary for a month's tour. At home, of course, he read 
 more ; his hours of work being about seven to eight hours 
 a day, and to gain more time he began to eat only bread 
 
GREAT CHESS TOURNAMENT. 55 
 
 and fruit for lunch, " to keep the digestion and the brains 
 clear," and often ate this as he walked. 
 
 For a man who valued his time so highly, it was a con- 
 siderable sacrifice to consent to act on the committee of 
 the Great Chess Tournament which was to be held in 
 conjunction with the Exhibition of 1851. The mem- 
 bers, as described by the " Illustrated London News," 39 
 were: 
 
 " His Grace the Duke of Marlborough, representing 
 the chess-players of Oxfordshire and the central coun- 
 ties. 
 
 " The Right Hon. Lord Cremorne, representing the 
 chess-players of Ireland. 
 
 " The Right Hon. Lord A. Hay, representing the chess- 
 players of Scotland. 
 
 " The Hon. H. T. Liddell, M. P., representing the 
 chess-players of Northumberland and the north of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 " J. M. Gaskell, Esq., M. P., and M. Wy vill, Esq., M. P., 
 representing the chess-players of Yorkshire and the York- 
 shire Chess Association. 
 
 " C. R. M. Talbot, Esq., M. P., representing the chess- 
 players of Wales. 
 
 " Captain Kennedy, M. P., representing the chess- 
 players of Brighton and the south of England. 
 
 " Sir Charles Marshall, B. Smith, Esq., A. Fonblanque, 
 Esq., and H. G. Catley, Esq., representing the chess-players 
 of the metropolis. 
 
 " H. T. Buckle, Esq., the winner of the Chess Tourna- 
 ment at the Strand Divan, in 1849. 
 
 39 Vol. xviii., No. 471, p. 163, February 22, 1851. 
 
56 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " W. Lewis, Esq., the' eminent chess-writer, the tutor 
 of McDonnell, and the rival of Deschapelles. 
 
 "H. Staunton, Esq., the present holder of the chess 
 scepter. 
 
 " The three last-named may be fairly taken to represent 
 chess-players generally, without reference to locality or 
 country, having won more than European fame." 
 
 This Chess Tournament, which was to be associated 
 with the Exhibition, and help to inaugurate an era of uni- 
 versal peace and goodwill, began, continued, and ended in 
 quarrel. First, the London Chess Club began a quarrel 
 with the St. George's Chess Club, a far more numerous 
 and powerful body and the founder of the movement, and 
 the chess papers were full of bitter personalities. After 
 the Chess Tournament, disappointed players charged each 
 other with every kind of treachery, and disputes resounded 
 from all parts of Europe. The Tournament began with 
 eight matches, the opponents in each chosen by lot, but 
 Buckle, though he paid his entrance fee, could not give 
 the necessary time, and did not play. This was perhaps 
 fortunate, since in these first eight matches each pair of 
 players played a rubber of only three games, by far too 
 little to exclude the element of chance, and, being paired 
 by lot, some of the best players were pitted against each 
 other, and hence superior men were thrown out of all 
 further competition, while inferior and quite second-rate 
 players were allowed to continue in the Tournament. The 
 eight winners then again drew lots for opponents, but, 
 wiser by experience, each pair was to play for the best out 
 of seven games, and after these the winners were again 
 paired, until the results were declared as follows : First, 
 
GKEAT CHESS TOURNAMENT. 57 
 
 Anderssen ; second, Wyvill ; third, Williams ; fourth, 
 Staunton ; fifth, Szen ; sixth, Captain Kennedy ; seventh, 
 Horwitz; eighth, Mucklow. This absurd result, partly 
 due to the causes already mentioned, and partly to the 
 fact that Mr. Staunton was suffering from illness at the 
 time, led to the more sensible arrangement of a series of 
 picked matches. " The arrival of the celebrated Russian 
 amateur, Major Jaenisch," says Mr. Staunton, " and the 
 unexpected appearance in the lists of Mr. Buckle, one of 
 our most accomplished players, gave increased importance 
 and interest to these contests. The first match on the 
 tapis was played between Mr. Buckle and Mr. Loewenthal. 
 It had been previously agreed by the committee that each 
 of these combats should be determined by one of the 
 players winning seven games, but, as Mr. Buckle's engage- 
 ments would not permit him to undertake so long a match, 
 an exception was made in this case, and victory was to be 
 his who first scored four games." 40 The first game was 
 played in the rooms of the St. George's Chess Club, Caven- 
 dish Square, on the 26th July, and Loewenthal beat him. 
 Buckle won the second, lost the third, and, at the fourth, 
 after playing from two o'clock to eight, Loewenthal de- 
 clared he could hold out no longer, and they adjourned. 
 " I have much the best position," says Buckle in his diary, 
 " and I think a won game." The next day he did win it, 
 and again won the following game after a five hours' con- 
 test. Loewenthal declined playing the two following days, 
 and on the third, Buckle, after waiting some time, received 
 a message that his adversary had " a bad headache and 
 could not come." But the next day they met, and after a 
 
 40 " Staunton's Chess Tournament," London, 1873, p. Ixxii., etc. 
 
58 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 game of nine hours' duration Buckle was beaten. They 
 were now three to three, and the next must decide the 
 victory, which was gained by Buckle in a six hours' game. 
 During these days he worked on as usual up to about one 
 o'clock, then played his match, and afterward, if there was 
 time, went on to the Divan. The only exception he made 
 was after the nine hours' game, when he writes, " In bed 
 at 11.30, but was too tired to read." 
 
 He afterward played a series of fifteen games with the 
 winner of the Chess Tournament, M. Anderssen, who was 
 then at the height of his strength, and won by a majority 
 of one. 41 And, of the remaining winners in the Chess 
 Tournament, Buckle had played in 1843 with Wyvill, 
 and this game, the only one recorded between these play- 
 ers, he lost. 43 Of the recorded games between Buckle 
 and the third winner, Williams, Buckle won three out of 
 six. 43 
 
 With Staunton, I understand, Buckle had a match by 
 telegraph between London and Dover, after the tourna- 
 ment, 44 and beat him ; but there do not seem to be any 
 recorded games since the year 1842, when Buckle took 
 the odds of pawn and move, and won two out of three 
 games. 45 
 
 41 " Encyclopaedia Britannica," ninth Edition, Article " Chess," by W. N. 
 P. One game only, so far as I know, has been published ; see the " Chess 
 Player," edited by Kling and Horwitz, p. 112, No. 14, for October 18, 
 1851, London. 
 
 42 " Chess Player's Chronicle," vol. xii., p. 6. London, 1851. 
 
 43 Williams, "Horae Divanianje," pp. 116-119, London, 1852; and the 
 " Chess Player's Chronicle," vol. x., 1.849, pp. 113, 115. 
 
 44 " Chess Player's Magazine," p. 40, February, 1864. 
 
 45 The "Chess Player's Chronicle," vol. iv., pp. 195, 198, 201. London, 
 1843. 
 
EXTRACT FROM "LA REGENCE." 59 
 
 Eleven games are recorded with. Captain Kennedy ; of 
 which. Buckle won four, lost three, and drew four. 48 
 
 "With Horwitz only one game is recorded, which 
 Buckle won. 47 
 
 "With Szen and Mucklow he never played. 
 
 Of the players in the first match who were beaten, 
 Buckle had played Kieseritzki, Loewenthal, and Bird; 
 and, on the whole, proved superior to each. 48 
 
 Two years before " La Kegence " had written : " II y a 
 deja quelques annees que nous avons fait la connaissance 
 de M. Buckle. Tout jeune encore alors, cet amateur an- 
 nongait deja par la severite de ces combinaisons une puis- 
 sance de calcul et d'imagination qui devait s'elever bien- 
 tot aux sommites de la science, et c'est peut-etre aujour- 
 d'hui le plus redoutable adversaire que Londres puisse 
 presenter a M. Staunton. Quelques efforts encore, et 
 cette jeune intelligence pourra revendiquer sa part de la 
 couronne." 49 And certainly Buckle was in 1851 entitled 
 to the championship not only of all England but of the 
 
 46 " Illustrated London News," vol. vi., p. 144, No. 148, for March 1, 
 1845; vol. vii., p. 267. No. 182, for October 25, 1845. The "Chess Play- 
 er's Chronicle," vol. vi., pp. 331-336, 360-363; vol. vii., pp. 46, 47; vol. 
 viii., p. 353. London, 1846 and 1847. 
 
 47 The " Chess Player's Chronicle," vol. ix., p. 46. London, 1849. 
 
 48 With Kieseritzki there are eleven recorded games, of which Buckle 
 won five, and drew two ; but in the first he took the odds of queen's bishop. 
 (See "Chess Player's Chronicle," vol. iv., 1843, p. 196; vol. ix., 1849, p. 
 260; "La Regence," No. 1 for January, 1849, p. 28; No. 2, for February, 
 pp. 60-53 ; No. 3, for March, pp. 80-84 ; No. 4, for April, pp. 109-111 ; No. 
 8, for August, 1851, pp. 241-246.) With Bird, Buckle won one out of four 
 recorded games, and drew one ; but in the two he lost gave the odds of 
 pawn and move. See the " Chess Player's Chronicle," vol. xi., 1850, pp. 76, 
 174 ; and the " Field," vol. i., p. 61, No. 4, for January 22, 1853 ; and p. 77, 
 No. 5, for January 29th. 
 
 49 " La Regence," pp. 44, 45, No. 2, for February, 1849. 
 
60 
 
 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 whole world. Such, a case has probably never occurred 
 before of an amateur who was so thoroughly an amateur 
 as only to play for his amusement, and devote no time to 
 the mere study of the game, obtaining so great a victory. 
 But these victories took more Out of him, as he said, than 
 he was willing to give to any such " frivolous triumph " 
 again ; and, much as he loved the game, he never played 
 in a public match in London again, although he visited 
 the Divan at least twice a week. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Early Scheme of the " History "Ill-health of Mrs. Buckle Tour in Ireland 
 The Dublin Chess Club Love of Society Brilliancy of Conversation 
 Ready Memory Visit to the Crystal Palace Mrs. Buckle's Conversation 
 Letters to Mrs. Grey and Miss Shirreff Serious Illness of Mrs. Buckle 
 Completion of Vol. I. of the " History "Difficulties of Publication Ill- 
 ness Increasing Weakness of Mrs. Buckle The Dedication Publication 
 of the " History "Criticism. 
 
 So early as the year 1852 Buckle hoped to be able to 
 publish the first volume of his " History " ; and even 
 talked to a publisher about it. But, as he went on, his 
 horizon enlarged, and he never seemed to be able to get 
 any nearer completion. And yet he had already restricted 
 himself to the history of English, civilization. The main 
 lines of the history as we have it were already laid down 
 in an account furnished to Lord Kintore l at his request in 
 February, 1853. 
 
 " You wish me to write a few words upon the object 
 and tendency of that ' History of English Civilization,' on 
 which I have been now for some years engaged. It is very 
 difficult to give in two or three lines a clear idea of so ex- 
 tensive a subject. But I may say generally that I have 
 been long convinced that the progress of every people is 
 regulated by principles or, as they are called, laws as 
 
 1 Of which Lord Kintore has very kindly given me a copy, and for which 
 I here take the opportunity of thanking him. 
 
62 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 regular and as certain as those which govern the physical 
 1 world. To discover those laws is the object of my work. 
 With a view to this, I propose to take a general survey of 
 the moral, intellectual, and legislative peculiarities of the 
 great countries of Europe ; and I hope to point out the 
 circumstances under which those peculiarities have arisen. 
 This will lead to a perception of certain relations between 
 the various stages through which each people have pro- 
 gressively passed. Of these general relations, I intend to 
 make a particular application ; and, by a careful analysis 
 of the history of England, show how they have regulated 
 our civilization, and how the successive and apparently the 
 arbitrary forms of our opinions, our literature, our laws, 
 and our manners, have naturally grown out of their ante- 
 cedents. 
 
 "This is the general scheme of my work; and its 
 merits, if it has any, will depend on the fidelity with 
 which I carry that scheme into execution, and on the suc- 
 cess of my attempt to rescue history from the hands of 
 annalists, chroniclers, and antiquaries." 
 
 But though the scheme was there, and we can detect 
 no alteration in it as published in the " History," there was 
 a vast increase in illustration and in proof. Again and 
 again he went back to subjects which had already been 
 carefully studied, as the course of his work brought them 
 forward in turn ; and, at the same time, he supplemented 
 and added to his old authorities a host of new ones. On 
 August 31, 1851, for instance, there is the entry in his 
 diary : " Read the remarks on inflammation in Carpenter's 
 {' Physiology,' and began to read the elaborate discussions 
 of the same subject in "Williams's ' Principles of Medi- 
 
ILL-HEALTH OF MRS. BUCKLE. 63 
 
 cine.' This is to prepare me for fully understanding the 
 views put forward by Hunter and Cullen." Yet he had 
 read both these works before. And again, on January 
 27, 1852, " Finished Combe's ' Cerebellum,' and read the 
 arguments against phrenology in Carpenter's ' Human 
 Physiology.' I intend now to begin the study of phre- 
 nology to determine its bearings upon the philosophy of 
 history"; and, on February 11: "Read Combe's ' Ele- 
 ments of Phrenology,' which I compared with a phreno- 
 logical bust I bought to-day." 2 
 
 But now the first warning frost of the winter of his 
 happiness was felt. In June, 1852, his mother was ill, 
 and he himself began to show signs of overwork. In 
 November she got worse, and even his sanguine nature 
 began to be alarmed: "December 11, 1852. . . . From 
 10.20 to 2, wrote my book, but could do 'little, being de- 
 tained by a long conversation with F , and thinking 
 
 about dearest Jenny, who, I fear, is very poorly." But 
 by January she was out of danger for the present ; the 
 doctors "said their former apprehensions had subsided, 
 and that Jenny would now certainly get well." : In the 
 summer of 1853, Mrs. Buckle was moved from Brighton, 
 where she had been so ill, to Tunbridge "Wells ; whence her 
 son writes, as follows (Tunbridge Wells, May 18) : " Since 
 I have been here, I have been extremely busy, and my 
 book goes on famously. Indeed, when one is in the coun- 
 try there is nothing to do but to look inward, for neither 
 
 2 It is interesting to note that, while Comte continually speaks of phre- 
 nology as an incontestable truth, Buckle patiently studies both sides of the 
 question, and finally discards its claims; for it is not mentioned in his 
 " History." 
 
 3 January 23, 1853. 
 
64 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 the brogue of the peasants nor the bleating of the sheep 
 is sufficiently suggestive to direct the mind without. I 
 read a good deal, and, what is more to the purpose, I have 
 thought much since I have been here. However, I won't 
 tell you of this, but what I am happy to say is that my 
 mother is certainly better. She sends her kind love to 
 you, and is sorry you did not make up your mind to come 
 down here. I shall not say Zam sorry, because you might 
 think me hypocritical, and I have a moral character to 
 keep up you say as much about yourself as you care for 
 yourself and that is nothing, so that I have no idea if 
 you are better, but suppose you are in this glorious weath- 
 er. If it remains as fine, I shall think less harshly of 
 nature than formerly. I am indeed glad that you have 
 been so industrious. You are laying up permanent pleas- 
 ure a pleasure that often survives all others for, if any- 
 thing is immortal, I am sure it is knowledge." 
 
 Though Mrs. Buckle considered her health so critical 
 that she made her will, her son seemed to think that she 
 had almost recovered, and made a tour in 'Ireland. He 
 had found a change necessary for his health, and, after 
 hesitating for a little whether he should go to Hanover or 
 to Ireland, he decided on the latter. The same character- 
 istics as before are observable in the remarks he makes in 
 his diary on this tour; there is hardly any nlention of 
 scenery excepting that he says he went in a boat " round 
 the magnificent cove and harbor " of Queenstown, while 
 he continually notices the doings of man : " Took a car to 
 the round tower at Clondalkin ; very perfect and curious ; 
 the first round tower I have seen." " Walked about four 
 miles on the road to Bray, and saw near Kithney Hill the 
 
THE DUBLIN CHESS CLUB. 65 
 
 ruins of an extremely curious church, about sixth century," 
 " saw the remarkable ruins on < the Rock of Cashel.' " At 
 Dublin he saw the exhibition, and poked about in the 
 book-shops. At one of these he entered into conversation 
 with the owner, who described the Dublin Chess Club, of 
 which he was a member, as consisting of wonderful play- 
 ers, " far superior to the Saxon " ; and added all sorts of 
 praise, making out that their best players could beat 
 Staunton. Finally he took Buckle to the club, and he sat 
 down with the best. The player gave him the odds of 
 pawn and move, and Buckle saw at once that the man was 
 no match for him. However, he would not beat him at 
 onse, but played with him as a cat with a mouse, doubling 
 him up into positions from which he could not move with- 
 out a wof ul amount of disaster. Buckle, of course, won ; 
 and his adversary, thinking that he must by some accident 
 have opened his game badly and blocked himself up, tried 
 again, and again he was beaten even more speedily than be- 
 fore. Buckle then suggested that perhaps they had better 
 play equal. But again his adversary was treated in the 
 same way. Finally he gave the odds of rook and pawn, 
 and beat him thoroughly again. As he left, the secretary 
 politely asked him who he was. They had never been 
 treated so before. And Buckle, who wished to take the 
 conceit out of his friend, explained that he was only 
 known as an amateur in London. 
 
 Although, as yet, entirely unknown to fame, Buckle 
 had already made many friends through his great conver- 
 sational talent, and began to be known in London society. 
 "Wherever he dined the guests were struck with his re- 
 markable powers, and were anxious to make his acquain- 
 
 5 
 

 66 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 tance. His nature was anything but that of a " recluse." 
 Though in later life he preferred his own impressions on 
 reading a play to any interpretation by an actor, he used at 
 one time to go to see Rachel, Kean, and Macready. He 
 himself acted occasionally in charades at his sister's house, 
 and had no aversion to fancy balls. To one of these, or 
 rather to a masked ball, he intended going in the character 
 of Mr. Mantalini, and then changing to that of Mrs. Mala- 
 prop ; and, like himself, read up for them. But he actu- 
 ally appeared in "the characters first of Mantalini in 
 Nickleby, and afterward of a canting Methodist." Mr. 
 Hallam had introduced him also to the Society of Anti- 
 quaries, and the Eoyal Literary Society, on the committee 
 of which latter he served in 1852 ; andj as we have seen, 
 he was well known to chess-players, and belonged to the 
 St. George's Club. While his mother was well enough, 
 he gave dinners during the season of from eight to eigh- 
 teen persons two or three times a week, and dined out 
 himself frequently. Indeed, he could not bear dining 
 alone, and, if without any special invitation, he would 
 drop in upon some of his relations or more intimate 
 friends to spend the evening. Of his talk, Miss Shirreff 
 truly observes : " The brilliancy of Mr. Buckle's conversa- 
 tion was too well known to need mention ; but what the 
 world did not know was how entirely it was the same 
 among a few intimates with whom he felt at home as it 
 was at a large party where success meant celebrity. His 
 talk was the outpouring of a full and earnest mind, it had 
 more matter than wit, more of book knowledge than of 
 personal observation. The favorite maxim of many dinner- 
 table talkers, ' Glissez, mais rta/ppuyez pasj was certainly 
 
MR. BUCKLE'S CONVERSATION. 67 
 
 not his. He loved to go to the bottom of a subject, unless 
 he found that his opponent and himself stood on ground 
 so different, or started from such opposite principles, as to 
 make ultimate agreement hopeless, and then he dropped or 
 turned the subject. His manner of doing this unfortu- 
 nately gave offense at times, while he not seldom wearied 
 others by keeping up the ball, and letting conversation 
 merge into discussion. He was simply bent on getting at 
 the truth, and, if he believed himself to hold it, he could 
 with difficulty be made to understand that others might 
 be impatient while he set it forth. On the other hand, it 
 is fair to mention that if too fond of argument, and some- 
 times too prone to self-assertion, his temper in discussion 
 was perfect ; he was a most candid opponent and a most 
 admirable listener." His memory was almost faultless, 
 and always ready to assist and illustrate his wonderful 
 powers of explanation. "Pages of our great prose wri- 
 ters," says Miss Shirreff, " were impressed on his memory. 
 He could quote passage after passage with the same ease 
 as others quote poetry ; while of poetry itself he was wont 
 to say, i it stamps itself on the brain.' Truly did it seem 
 that, without effort on his part, all that was grandest in 
 English poetry had become, so to speak, a part of his 
 mind. Shakespeare, ever first, then Massinger, and Beau- 
 mont and* Fletcher, were so familiar to him that he seemed 
 ever ready to recall a passage, and often to recite it with 
 an intense delight in its beauty which would have made 
 it felt by others naturally indifferent." It was the same 
 in all that was best in French literature : in Yoltaire, 
 Corneille, Racine, Boileau, and, above all, Moliere. Cap- 
 tain Kennedy recalls an instance of this ready memory on 
 
68 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 an occasion when they were in company together. The 
 conversation turned on telling points in the drama, and 
 one of the party cited that scene in " Horace " 4 which so 
 struck Boileau, where Horace is lamenting the disgrace 
 which he supposes has been brought upon him by the 
 flight of his son in the combat with the Curiaces. " Que 
 vouliez-vous qu'il fit contre trois?" asks Julie; and the 
 old man passionately exclaims, " Qu'il mourut ! " Buckle 
 agreed that it was very fine, and immediately recited the 
 whole scene from its commencement, giving the dialogue 
 with much spirit and effect. 
 
 On another occasion, he happened to be dining at the 
 same house with Prior, and chanced to remark on the hap- 
 piness of Burke's simile of the claim of right to tax Amer- 
 ica to a claim of the right to shear a wolf. 8 Prior then 
 knew nothing of Buckle, and, forgetting his own quotation 
 in his " Life of Burke," or confusing it, in his mind, with 
 what he says just before of Sheridan, contradicted him, 
 and said the simile belonged to the latter. A neighbor 
 whispered to Buckle, " Take care what you say ; that is 
 Prior, who wrote Burke's life." Buckle was silent, but 
 only for a minute ; and then he come out with the whole 
 paragraph of that magnificent onslaught : " Are we yet to 
 be told of the rights for which we went to war ? Oh, ex- 
 cellent rights ! Oh, valuable rights ! Valuable you should 
 be, for we have paid dear at parting with you ! Oh, valu- 
 able rights ! that have cost Britain thirteen provinces, four 
 islands, a hundred thousand men, and more than seventy 
 millions of money ! Oh, wonderful rights ! that have lost 
 
 4 Corneille, " Horace," act iii., sc. vi. 
 
 6 "Westminster Papers," vol. vi., p. 24, No. 62, for June, 1873. 
 
READY MEMORY. 69 
 
 to Great Britain her empire on the ocean, her boasted, 
 grand, and substantial superiority, which made the world 
 bend before her ! Oh, inestimable rights ! that have takgn 
 from ITS our rank among nations, our importance abroad, 
 and our happiness at home ; that have taken from us our 
 trade, our manufactures, and our commerce ; that have 
 reduced us from the most nourishing empire in the world 
 to be one of the most compact, unenviable powers on the 
 face of the globe ! Oh, wonderful rights ! that are likely 
 to take from us all that yet remains ! What were these 
 rights ? Could any man describe them ; could any man 
 give them a body and a soul answerable to all these mighty 
 costs ? We did all this because we had a right to do it ; 
 that was exactly the fact. c And all this we dared to be- 
 cause we dared.' We had a right to tax America, says 
 the noble lord ; and, as we had a right, we must do it. 
 We must risk everything, we will forfeit everything, we 
 will think of no consequences, we will take no considera- 
 tion into our view but our right, we will consult no ability, 
 we will not measure our right with our power, but we will 
 have our right, we will have our bond. America, give us 
 our bond ; next your heart we will have it : the pound 
 of flesh is ours, and we will have it. This was their lan- 
 guage. Oh, miserable and infatuated men ! miserable and 
 undone country ! not to know that right signified nothing 
 without might ; that the claim without the power of en- 
 forcing it was nugatory and idle in the copyhold of rival 
 states, or of immense bodies ! Oh ! says a silly man, full 
 of his prerogative of dominion over a few beasts of the 
 field, there is excellent wool on the back of a wolf, and 
 therefore he must be sheared. What ! shear a wolf ? Yes. 
 
TO BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 But will lie comply ? have you considered the trouble ? 
 how will you get this wool ? Oh, I have considered 
 nothing, and I will consider nothing but my right : 
 a wolf is an animal that has wool; all animals that 
 have wool are to be shorn, and therefore I will shear the 
 wolf." 
 
 After this Buckle and Prior soon became acquainted ; 
 and the latter dined at Buckle's house in 1855. 
 
 Despite his wonderful memory, Buckle would never 
 allow himself to trust to it entirely. Every book he read 
 was full of notes, sometimes a regular abstract of the con- 
 tents ; and every quotation in his work, as it came from 
 the press, was carefully compared with the original. He 
 used to carry about a little note-book in his pocket, in 
 which he would write down such things as dates and long 
 quotations he wished to remember, and this he would con- 
 sult from time to time during his walks. For poetry this 
 was hardly necessary, but a page or two of prose he was 
 obliged to read over three or four times before he knew it 
 by heart. Yast, too, as was the extent of his reading, 
 everything was happily digested and always ready when 
 required, so that, unlike those whose " much reading " in- 
 terferes with and obstructs their thoughts, with him, the 
 more he read the more his powers increased. Another 
 gift, which greatly enhanced the pleasure of hearing his 
 apt quotations, was the beautiful modulation and flexibility 
 of his voice, which, though he cared nothing for music, 
 was extremely musical. Miss Shirreff describes his voice 
 and intonation as peculiar ; " his delivery was impassioned 
 as if another soul spoke through his usually calm exterior ; 
 and it seemed to me of many a familiar passage that I 
 
DESCRIPTION OF BUCKLE. ft 
 
 never had known its full power and beauty till I heard it 
 from his lips." 
 
 "With Miss Shirreff and her sister, Mrs. Grey, Buckle 
 became acquainted in 1854. " A valued friend of ours," 
 writes the former, "had known Mr. Buckle and his moth- 
 er for some time, and paid us the compliment of thinking 
 we should appreciate him." A dinner was accordingly 
 arranged, and that Buckle appreciated the introduction is 
 shown by the entry in his diary, that he met " a Mrs. Grey 
 and her sister, two remarkably accomplished women." 
 " It was a house," says Miss Shirreff, " in which good con- 
 versation was valued, and where, consequently, the guests 
 contributed their best. Talk flowed on, mostly on literary 
 or speculative subjects, and Mr. Buckle was brilliant and 
 original beyond even what we had been led to expect. 
 His appearance struck us as remarkable, though he had no 
 pretension to good looks. He had fine eyes, and a mas- 
 sive, well-shaped head ; but premature baldness made the 
 latter rather singular than attractive ; and beyond a look 
 of power, in the upper part of his face especially, there 
 was nothing to admire. He was tall, but his figure had no 
 elasticity ; it denoted the languor of the mere student, one 
 who has had no early habit of bodily exercise. The same 
 fact could be read in his hand, which was well-shaped, but 
 had that peculiar stamp that marks one trained to wield a 
 pen only. ... In society his manner was very simple and 
 quiet, though easily roused to excitement by conversation ; 
 and we found later that, in intimate intercourse, a boyish 
 playfulness often varied his habitually earnest conversation 
 on the great subjects which were never long absent from 
 his thoughts." " That first meeting led to many others, 
 
72 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 at our own house or among friends ; quiet evening or long 
 afternoon talks, in which he sometimes was led to forget 
 the rigid method of his hours. It was less easy to know 
 his mother, for she was even then an invalid ; but he was 
 very eager to bring us together, and succeeded ere very 
 long in doing so. The acquaintance thus begun rapidly 
 extended to all our familiar circle, grew into intimacy with 
 other members of our family, and ripened into one of 
 those friendships which are not reckoned by years, but are 
 felt early in their growth to be beyond the power of time 
 to alter. 
 
 " In the course of that spring we spent several weeks 
 in the neighborhood of London, and Mr. Buckle, like other 
 friends, was invited from time to time to spend a day with 
 us. ... Pleasant days they were ; and, like a boy out of 
 school, he seemed to enjoy strolling in the garden, ram- 
 bling in Richmond Park, roaming also in conversation 
 over every imaginable subject, and crowding into the few 
 hours of his visit food for thought, and recollections of 
 mere amusing talk, such as weeks of intercourse with 
 others can seldom furnish." ( 
 
 They took him to the " Crystal Palace, June 29th, then 
 lately opened, which he always said he never should have 
 seen but for our taking him, and which he never revisited. 
 It was a day more rich in many ways than mortal days are 
 often allowed to be. We were a large party, all intimates, 
 and all ready for enjoyment, and for the kind of enjoy- 
 ment which the Crystal Palace offered for the first time. 
 It was a lovely summer's day, and the mere drive some 
 miles out of London for there was no noisy, whistling 
 
 6 " Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works," vol. i., p. xxii. 
 
VISIT TO THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 73 
 
 railway then was a delight. The art collections were not 
 so full, the flowers not in such rich luxuriance as they 
 have been since ; but there was a charm about the fresh 
 beauty of the place, and in the new views of popular 
 enjoyment that it offered, which added to the pleasure 
 then something which more than loss of novelty has im- 
 paired. 
 
 " "We were not altogether disabused at that time of the 
 illusions of a -new era of peaceful progress which the first 
 Exhibition of 1851 had seemed to inaugurate. It is true 
 that we were even then in the first stage of the Crimean 
 War; but many still believed that the struggle would 
 quickly end ; the glorious days, the dark months of suffer- 
 ing yet to come, were little anticipated. . . . None shared 
 the illusions of the period more fondly than Mr. Buckle. 
 He thought he had reached philosophically, and could 
 prove as necessary corollaries of a certain condition of 
 knowledge and civilization, the conclusion which numbers 
 held, without knowing why; and it was this train of 
 thought which made the opening of ' The People's Palace ' 
 interesting to him. . . . "We had wandered through the 
 different courts, reproducing in a manner as new then as 
 it was striking, the memorials of the past. From Nineveh 
 to Egypt, Greece, Imperial Koine, Moslem Granada, and 
 Italy through her days of glory to her decline all had 
 been passed in review ; and he then turned, as he loved to 
 do, to the future, with its bright promise of reward to 
 man's genius, and of continued triumph over the blind 
 powers of Nature ; and it seemed but a natural transition 
 from his own speaking, as if still uttering his own 
 thoughts, when he took up Hamlet's words : ' "What a 
 
74 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 piece of work is man ! How noble in reason ! how infinite 
 in faculty!"' 
 
 In August, 1854, Miss Shirreff paid a visit to Mrs. 
 Buckle, who was stopping at Highgate for the summer. 
 Here, she says : " I made real acquaintance with Mrs. 
 Buckle ; and, apart from her being the mother of such a 
 son, she was a very interesting person to know. It is curi- 
 ous how many people there are on whom their own lives 
 seem to have produced no impression ; they may have seen 
 and felt much, but they have not reflected upon their ex- 
 perience, and they remain apparently unconscious of the 
 influences that have been at work around and upon them. 
 "With Mrs. Buckle it was exactly the reverse. The events, 
 the persons, the books that had affected her at particular 
 times or in a particular manner, whatever influenced her 
 actions or opinions, remained vividly impressed on her 
 mind, and she spoke freely of her own experience, and 
 eagerly of all that bore upon her son. He was the joy, 
 even more than the pride of her heart. Having saved 
 him from the early peril that threatened him, and saved 
 him, as she fondly believed, in a great measure by her 
 loving care, he seemed twice her own ; and that he was 
 saved for great things, to do true and permanent service 
 to mankind, was also an article of that proud mother's 
 creed, little dreaming how short a time he was to be al- 
 lowed even for sowing the seeds of usefulness. . . . "When 
 I said above that Mrs. Buckle spoke freely of her own ex- 
 perience, I should add that her conversation was the very 
 reverse of gossip. It was a psychological, rather than a 
 biographical experience that she detailed. I rarely re- 
 member any names being introduced, and never unless as- 
 
LETTER TO MRS. GREY. 75 
 
 sociated with good. Of all her husband's family, the one 
 she spoke of most often was his nephew, Mr. John Buckle, 
 for whom she had great respect and affection. Henry 
 Buckle (her son) also made frequent reference to his 
 cousin's opinions, and had the highest esteem for his abili- 
 ties and confidence in his friendship." 
 
 But besides the personal sympathy there was a literary 
 bond between the two families. Mrs. Grey and Miss Shir- 
 reff had just published their " Thoughts on Self -Culture," 
 and any literary occupation in his friends always aroused 
 his warmest interest. Of this work he remarks in his 
 diary, that it is " well written " which is considerable 
 praise from him, as he seldom takes the trouble to com- 
 mend books in his diary ; and he at once offered the au- 
 thors every assistance in his power in their future literary 
 undertakings, an assistance which was afterward returned 
 by useful criticism on his own work. In one letter he 
 writes : u But seriously, if you do anything while you are 
 away, you will want books ; and if you will, before I come, 
 think of what you require, should they be in my library, 
 you can take them with you. Who can work without 
 tools ? tell me that." But the correspondence will show, 
 better than anything I can say, his great interest in such 
 matters and constant kindness. He writes : 
 
 59 OXFORD TERKACE, 31st August, 1854. 
 
 * . 
 
 " DEAE MRS. GEEY : I feel that it was very ill-natured 
 on my part not to press ' Comte ' upon you last night when 
 you so considerately hesitated as to borrowing it. To 
 make the only amends in my power, I now send it you, 
 and beg that you will keep it as long as you like. For I 
 
76 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 promise you that, if I Lave at any time occasion to refer to 
 it, I will ask to have it back. So that you need have no 
 scruple on that head. The only thing I will beg of you 
 is, that when not reading it you would have it put in some 
 cupboard, as on several grounds I value it very much, and 
 I never leave it out at home. 
 
 " I recommend you to begin by reading the prelimi- 
 nary view, i Exposition,' in vol. i., then pass over the 
 physical sciences in vols. i., ii., iii., and begin at vol. iv., 
 the ' Physique Sociale.' Having read this to the end of 
 vol. vi., you can then, if you like, read the scientific parts, 
 which, however, are of somewhat inferior merit to the 
 4 Sociologie.' By this means you will economize time and 
 
 labor." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 9th May, 1854. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : After our conversation yes- 
 terday, touching the habits of acquisitiveness which litera- 
 ture is apt to encourage, it is, I think, no slight proof of 
 the simplicity and ingenuousness of my mind that I should 
 lend a book to a lover of books. But so it is. And I can 
 only hope that the subject of Middleton's work 7 will pro- 
 tect the work itself, and that, although in it modern mira- 
 cles are rejected, you may be induced by a miraculous in- 
 terposition eventually to return what I so confidingly offer. 
 
 " To speak, however, seriously, as one ought to do on 
 theological matters, it has occurred to me that sending you 
 the 'Letter' would save you some little trouble, as it is 
 not likely to be found in many circulating libraries, and it 
 
 7 Conyers Middleton, D. D., " A Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers 
 which are supposed to have subsisted in the Christian Church from the 
 earliest Ages through several successive centuries. To which is added the 
 Author's Letter from Rome." 
 
LETTERS. 77 
 
 is well worth being acquainted with from its own merit, 
 as well as from the great effect it produced at its first ap- 
 pearance. "Will you say to Mrs. Grey, with my kind re- 
 gards, that I hope she also will read it ; to any one unac- 
 quainted , with the subject it will open a new field of 
 thought and to beat up fresh ground is, I am well as- 
 sured, no slight pleasure both to Mrs. Grey and yourself." 
 
 11 SOUTH GKOVE, HIGHGATE, 18th September, 1854. 
 
 " DEAB MES. GKEY : You sent me the first three vols. 
 of i Comte,' as I happen to remember, for I put them away 
 directly they came. I am sorry you should have missed 
 taking them with you,' as in the country one particularly 
 needs some intellectual employment to prevent the mind 
 from falling into those vacant raptures which the beauties 
 of nature are apt to suggest. It is the old antagonism be- 
 tween the internal and the external between mind and 
 matter between science and art. That is a battle which 
 will never be ended. 
 
 " We intend remaining here till to-morrow fortnight, 
 or, should the weather be very fine, a week longer. I 
 am getting on rapidly with my work, but still I have 
 many regrets that I am not going to review your book 
 it would for many reasons have given me great pleasure 
 to do so. But I think you will acknowledge that I could 
 not with any sense of what was due to myself have taken 
 any further steps ; and I am sure you will feel that my 
 not having done so has arisen from anything but a di- 
 minished interest or a desire to withdraw from what I 
 had offered. I say thus much because in my hasty morn- 
 ing visit to you the other day I fear that I hardly ex- 
 
78 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 plained sufficiently what my views really were, and the 
 causes of them. 
 
 I am now completing my examination of the causes 
 of the French Revolution, which I think will interest 
 you and Miss Shirreff too, if she could hear them. Pray 
 remember me most kindly to her. I take great interest 
 in what she is doing, or about to do, on female education. 
 The grand thing would be to make women more ashamed 
 of ignorance; but that is perhaps too difficult a task to 
 undertake. The next best thing to seeing the ignominy 
 of ignorance is to feel the beauty of knowledge and 
 there I think something might be done. And in this 
 point of view I might caution Miss Shirreff against ad- 
 vising too muck to be learned. In knowledge, as well as 
 in morals, immense harm has been done by pitching the 
 standard too high ; the consequence of which has been 
 that people, feeling they can't come up to it, cease to try, 
 and, finding they can't get to the top of the tree, they 
 won't even climb up one of its branches. Would it not 
 be better to show them a shrub, and make them believe it 
 was a full-grown tree ? " 
 
 "49 SUSSEX SQUARE, BRIGHTON, 8th October, 1854. 
 " DEAR Miss SHIEREFF : . . . . We arrived in Brighton 
 yesterday, and in passing through town I called on Mrs. 
 
 . She expects to see Mr. in about a month, 
 
 and has promised to ask him to review i Self-Culture.' I 
 made the proposal that he should be asked, casually and 
 in the general course of conversation, and not at all as if I 
 had called for that purpose. Cunning me ! Why was I 
 not a diplomatist ? That's my vocation ! . . . 
 
LETTERS. 79 
 
 " And now in regard to what you are doing. I ob- 
 jected to your recommending too many subjects of study, 
 not so much because they weaken the mind, but rather 
 because they terrify it. When I said to you concentrate, 
 that was my counsel for your own intellect, quite irrespec- 
 tive of what you should recommend to others. Generally, 
 I think, there is too much concentration. But my fear is 
 lest you should place the standard of excellence too high, 
 and thus intimidate those you wish to allure. If you 
 were writing a scientific work on education, then, indeed, 
 it would be proper to raise an ideal ; but, as your object 
 is practical, the first point is, not what ought to be, but 
 what can be. I cordially agree with all you say about a 
 wide range of study being valuable for the sympathies as 
 well as for the intellect, but remember that you are address- 
 ing minds most of which either do not perceive this, or, at 
 all events, perceive it very faintly. The feeling of intel- 
 lectual sympathy is by no means a very early step even 
 in minds of some power, and in ordinary cases the step is 
 never taken at all. I doubt, therefore, whether in this 
 line of acquirement you can make proselytes. For those 
 who are capable of being convinced will already be con- 
 verted. Your mission is with the heathen; why, then, 
 preach to the regenerate and baptize the elect? If you 
 deal with average minds you must hold out average in- 
 ducements such, for example, as the value of knowledge, 
 as a discipline in the acquisition of it ; or, as a disgrace 
 not to have it. These are substantial grounds; but the 
 high ground of intellectual sympathy is too little under- 
 stood to be available for your purpose. In nearly all 
 minds the idea of sympathy is preoccupied by moral as- 
 
80 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 sociations which leave no room for the admittance of in- 
 tellectual ones. For fifty persons who confess the utility 
 of knowledge as a discipline, you will perhaps find one 
 who values it as a source of sympathy. Language has 
 much to do with this ; the meaning of sympathy being so 
 fixed and settled that to many ears the mere expression 
 6 intellectual sympathy ' would seem pedantic. What, 
 therefore, I mean is this : that if you recommend a large 
 range of reading, you will be compelled to admit that the 
 greater part of it must be superficial ; and you can only 
 justify this by the argument of intellectual sympathy an 
 argument quite decisive to those who understand it, but 
 falling pointless on the immense majority of those for 
 whom you write. 
 
 ""We shall remain in Sussex Square with my aunt 
 about three weeks ; and, if anything occurs to you in any 
 way as if any suggestion of mine could be of the slightest 
 use, pray write to me here, as I should feel indeed happy 
 could I aid your praiseworthy undertaking." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 8th December, 1854. 
 " DEAR Miss SHIREEFF : .... In reference to what 
 you were asking me, I advise you to dismiss the larger 
 subject from your mind until you have finished the 
 smaller and more practical one on which you are engaged. 
 I would suggest that it should be entirely practical, and 
 short, so as to be published at a low price ; and that, above 
 all, it should be unmistakably clear, so that the meaning 
 is at once obvious. In a work of that sort, parentheses 
 and inversions are to be carefully avoided; and so any 
 long sentence, unless broken up into distinct parts. . . . 
 
LETTERS. 81 
 
 The frequent use of the relative is a great aid to lucidity. 
 I make no excuse for offering these somewhat presump- 
 tuous suggestions, as I have thought a good deal about 
 language, and, above all, as I am sure you will look at the 
 intention of the advice and my real wish to do what I 
 can to further your pursuits. A short list of books given 
 under the different chapters would be useful, and I hope 
 when I return to town early in January to hear that it is 
 wellnigh finished. I need hardly say how much will 
 depend upon the arrangement of the topics, i. e., the order 
 in which they succeed each other. You possibly adopt 
 what is a good plan, of drawing up first a skeleton outline. 
 ... I send ( Cousin,' in five vols., but do not postpone 
 what you are doing to read it." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 15th April, 1855. 
 
 " DEAK Miss SHTREEFF : I am sorry to say that I can 
 
 give you no information about Dr. , never having 
 
 heard his name ; nor do I know at this moment whom to 
 apply to on such a subject, as his reputation is perhaps 
 rather practical than physiological, and I believe I am un- 
 acquainted personally with any oculist, and none but an 
 oculist would be a competent judge. Of course a man 
 may be a great physiological oculist, and yet an unsafe 
 person to trust as an operator ; and the Germans are, on 
 most surgical matters, considered very inferior manipula- 
 tors to the French. You do not say whom this informa- 
 tion is for; I trust not for Mr. . Alas! alas! when 
 
 it comes to a chance of losing one's sight and yet the 
 blind are contented ; why, I never could understand. 
 
 "I received all the books safely, and am very much 
 
 6 
 
82 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 obliged for the pains you have taken with Querard 8 . . . . 
 I am very busy and tolerably well, though I think some- 
 times that my work is beginning to tell upon me." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 12th May, 1855. 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : What I probably said was, 
 that you had better obtain a list of modern educational 
 works. But I could not have offered to show you one, as 
 I really know nothing of the subject except in its specula- 
 tive bearings, and am hardly acquainted with even the 
 titles of such works as you ought to recommend for female 
 education. Perhaps your best plan would be either to call 
 or write to some large educational publisher, such as Riv- 
 ingtons, for a list of elementary books ? In which case, 
 if you could procure them from the London library or 
 elsewhere, and if any of them are on subjects with which 
 you are not familiar and I chance to understand, I will 
 gladly read them and give you the best opinion I can form 
 of their merit. This, or anything else in my power, I 
 shall be truly happy to do ; but never again use me so ill 
 as to write me a note doubting whether or no I grudge 
 giving up time in order to help you. There is no particu- 
 lar reason why I should hurry in my own work, and there 
 is reason why I should assist you, if I can ; the reason be- 
 ing simply the selfish one of doing myself a pleasure. 
 However, as Hamlet says, ' Something too much of this.' 
 So, I will only add, write me your plans and views in de- 
 tail, and I will consider of them for a day or two, and 
 give you at all events an honest and matured opinion. 
 
 " Yours truly, HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE. 
 
 8 " La France Litte"raire," etc. 
 
LETTERS. 83 
 
 " i The Aspects of Nature ' are going on beautifully, 
 notwithstanding the unkindness of some people, who 
 promise to help some people, and then don't help them at 
 all." 
 
 "59 OXFOKD TERKACE, 19th May, 1855. 
 
 " DEAR, Miss SHIRREFF : I have carefully read the pa- 
 pers you sent me, and think your general scheme very 
 good indeed, so good that I can suggest no alteration. I 
 still think that you propose more than the great majority 
 of minds can finally retain ; but this is only my own opin- 
 ion, and it may well be that, on a subject on which you 
 have evidently thought so much, you are more likely to 
 be right than I. So on this I will say no more. 
 
 "As to the < Subjects of Lessons,' the following ad- 
 ditions occur to me, which I can recommend from personal 
 knowledge : 
 
 " Lavallee, ' Tlistoire des Francais.' (One of the best 
 abridgments ever written.) 
 
 " Koch, ' Tableau des Be volutions.' (An admirable 
 summary of general history of Europe in three volumes.) 
 
 " Keightley's Histories of England and of Greece, but 
 not his history of Rome, because there is a still better small 
 history of Eome by Schmitz, the friend and translator of 
 Niebuhr. 
 
 "For physical knowledge, Chambers's ' Educational 
 Course,' and Orr's * Circle of the Sciences.' (I have looked 
 into some of them, and those I have seen are good.) 
 
 " Yillemain, I think, is a one-sided book ; and I would 
 much prefer parts of Hallam's ' Literature of Europe'; 
 also Craik's 'History of Literature and Learning in Eng- 
 land.' These two would probably be enough. You men- 
 
84: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 tion '"Wharton.' I don't know if you mean Warton's 
 6 History of English Poetry ' ? If so, it is an extremely 
 prolix book, full of curious but irrelevant dissertations, and 
 does not come down lower than the sixteenth century. 
 
 " I entirely agree with you that it is better to read 
 translations of the classics than modern translations ; 9 and, 
 above all, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, Herodotus, and 
 Caesar. 
 
 " In political economy, not Marcet or Say, but Smith's 
 '"Wealth of Nations' must be read, and is more impor- 
 tant than the history of foreign countries. This one work 
 is quite enough, if made a text-book, and perhaps exercises 
 written on it, as it should be mastered thoroughly, which 
 I believe most intelligent girls of sixteen are quite capable 
 of doing. 
 
 " Whately's < Logic ' far too formal and repulsive 
 and the elements of geometry would answer every pur- 
 pose as a mental discipline. To Locke, I would add Eeid 
 ' On the Mind ' ; otherwise, by only reading one side, 
 you only make a partisan, and Eeid is really able, and in 
 a small compass opens views untouched by Locke. This 
 would be enough of metaphysics. Cousin is surely too 
 long. Perhaps you might recommend Morell, History of 
 Speculative Philosophy,' which, though not profound, I 
 find to be accurate as far as it goes. Recommend at the 
 same time the corresponding passages in Hallam's ' Litera- 
 ture,' and pray enforce the capital principle of passing 
 from one book to another according to the subject, and not 
 necessarily finishing the book first. 
 
 9 i. e. ? Better to learn modern languages than ancient, provided both 
 can not be learned ? 
 
LETTEES. 85 
 
 " Beckmann's c History of Inventions ' is the best book 
 of its kind. 
 
 " Maps of the Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowl- 
 edge are really good. 
 
 " Geology / would omit ; but, of course, you will use 
 your own discretion. Only remember that geology, with- 
 out animal physiology, comparative anatomy, and botany, 
 has no scientific existence ; and every good work of geol- 
 ogy presupposes a knowledge of those subjects. 
 
 " I think astronomy essential ; and fortunately Her- 
 schel's book is good, clear, and does not require much 
 
 mathematics to understand it. 
 
 o 
 
 " Bailey, on < Formation of Opinions,' is important in 
 many points of view. 
 
 "I would give a short specimen of the best way of 
 taking notes, and of keeping a commonplace book. 
 
 " This is all that occurs to me to say. If there is any- 
 thing else I can do or suggest, you are well assured how 
 willingly I will help you. 
 
 " Your papers I keep here, as, before I see you, I will 
 read them over again. 
 
 " Yours, etc., etc. 
 
 " I will go on Monday to some booksellers, and try to 
 procure a list of educational books. But, in writing your 
 book, don't measure other minds by your own. In all 
 practical matters it is dangerous to aim high." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 1st June, 1855. 
 "DEAR Miss SHIBKEFF: . . . And you, I hope, are 
 doing something touching which you will want advice; 
 or, at all events, suggestions. I am very busy, very sue- 
 
86 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 cessful, and therefore feel a little as I always do under 
 such circumstances, which are rather unfavorable to one's 
 Christian humility. Hence my idea of being able to help 
 you. But, seriously, do not hesitate to ask for whatever I 
 can do." 
 
 "59 OXFOED TERRACE, 8th June, 1855. 
 
 "DEAR Miss SHERKEFF: . . . My mother is certainly 
 better ; indeed, improving every day, I almost think, since 
 her house has become emptier. She would like very much 
 to see you, but / feel satisfied that, after two months of 
 seeing people every day, she can not be too quiet ; and 
 therefore, for the present, it would be better to defer call- 
 ing upon her. She has quite lost her power of walking ; 
 but it is evident that nothing is really the matter with 
 her, as she looks well, sleeps well, and has lost all her for- 
 midable symptoms. . . . 
 
 "I will try and pay you a visit on Sunday evening, 
 but don't think me neglectful if I omit doing so, as I am 
 working very hard, and sometimes feel so tired after din- 
 ner that I can not move." 
 
 "HENDON, 29th June, 1855. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIKEEFF : You asked me to write about 
 my mother; she is indeed altered, and I am becoming 
 very uneasy. Such complete weakness as hardly to be 
 able to move from one chair to another without holding 
 something, and a necessity of taking nourishment every 
 two or three hours. Mr. Rix says that, without active and 
 prolonged stimulus, she may lose her memory altogether. 
 She is to see no one, and keep very quiet. I see no im- 
 provement since we have been here -and you, who can 
 form some idea, and only some, of what my mother is to 
 
LETTERS MRS. BUCKLE'S ILLNESS. 87 
 
 me, may imagine how unhappy I am. It is hardly worth 
 while, with this hanging over me, to say anything about 
 myself; but I am not at all well sleeping badly, and 
 having painful, nervous feelings at night. 
 
 " My mother takes no medicine, and nothing is to be 
 done but to wait the result. Her spirits are admirable, 
 always smiling, and never does a complaint of any kind 
 come from her. Indeed, this is the really favorable fea- 
 ture ; and, as I am positively assured there is no organic 
 disease, everything depends on the power of rallying. 
 
 " This is a sad note, but it is the only sort of one I can 
 write. Still, I shall be glad, and indeed anxious to hear 
 about you, what you are doing, and if you are going 
 abroad ? And Mrs. Grey, too : it will, I am afraid, be 
 long before I see either of you. If I can give you any 
 advice about your book, do not let the tone of this note 
 prevent your asking me. I think, the more miserable one 
 is, the more willing one becomes to draw nearer to others." 
 
 , 5ih July, 1855. 
 
 Miss SHIRKEFF: My mother is better. How 
 much better, or whether or no permanently so, I can not 
 tell, but certainly better. On Tuesday [3d inst.] I first 
 saw a favorable change ; and to-day she has walked a few 
 yards in the little garden without help. She sends her 
 love, and says she is very sorry that your absence from 
 England will prevent her from seeing you for, character- 
 istically enough, she is now beginning to talk about seeing 
 all her friends again. I have had the fullest written par- 
 ticulars of Mr. Rix's observations on her. He says he never 
 saw such sudden and complete prostration, and he was 
 
88 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 very apprehensive of some failure in the vital powers. 
 While she was at Tunbridge "Wells all this was kept from 
 me, and she would not let my sister write to me the truth ; 
 but I learn that her weakness was so great that the few 
 stairs she had to mount she literally crawled up, holding, 
 not by the rails, but by the stairs themselves. But her 
 spirits never flagged, and she wrote to me so cheerfully 
 that I had not the least idea of her real state. I am not 
 naturally sanguine at least, not in the practice of life 
 but still I do hope now that the worst is over, and I feel 
 that every day which passes without the appearance of 
 mischief increases the probability that no mischief has 
 been done. 
 
 " Tour very kind and warm-hearted letter was indeed 
 welcome to me, and made me feel as if we were old friends 
 rather than recent acquaintances ; and so you will, I hope, 
 think, if at any time I can be of use to you in your special 
 pursuits, or in any more general affairs. At present no- 
 thing much occurs to me in regard to what you are doing, 
 as I do not know how far you have progressed; but I 
 would particularly recommend you, when abroad, to in- 
 form yourself as to the best elementary German and Italian 
 works on the history of literature. If you can mention 
 any really good short and clear , it would add much to the 
 value of your book ; and on this I can give you no in- 
 formation. Lavallee, f Histoire des Francais,' and Baran- 
 te, ' Litterature au xviii 6 Siecle,' are models in their own 
 line ; and I would ask to see some German and Italian 
 works as nearly as possible on their plan. The librarians 
 abroad I have always found very courteous and well-in- 
 formed ; and if you were to state your objects, and call 
 
LETTERS. 89 
 
 with Mr. at one or two good public libraries (Geneva 
 
 will probably be in your route), you would, I am sure, be 
 well repaid. Unless any book on education is specially 
 recommended to you, I would not lose time in reading it. 
 Far better it will be to consult the original authorities and 
 mature your own plan. 
 
 " I do not know what provision you intend making 
 when abroad for your own improvement. Books are cum- 
 bersome in traveling, and one or two good, tough, solid 
 works you will probably think enough to take. I should 
 advise Mill's ' Political Economy ' ; if you have read it, 
 never mind, read it again. We have had some talk on the 
 laws of the distribution of wealth, and you will, perhaps, 
 come to it in some degree with a fresh mind. Besides, 
 we must remember that political economy is the only 
 branch of political knowledge which is not empirical the 
 only one raised to a science. This alone is sufficient reason 
 for carefully studying it; and Mill's book is upon the 
 whole the best since Adam Smith though, for pure po- 
 litical economy , hardly equal to Bicardo's. But Mill has 
 larger social views than Bicardo, and is less difficult. In- 
 deed, if you were to read Bicardo now, you would not do 
 yourself justice, as no one can study him with advantage 
 without preliminary training on his own subject. You 
 spoke to me of Mill's c Logic.' I almost doubt if it would 
 repay you the great labor of mastering, and, without mas- 
 tering it, would do you little good. Suppose, for your 
 other work, you were to take with you Ly ell's ' Principles 
 of Geology ' (the last edition in one volume royal 8vo), 
 and really digest it and make an abstract of it. It is a 
 great book, and would be very serviceable. 
 
90 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " And now, dear Miss Shirreff, I think I have no more 
 to say, except to wish yon every happiness while you are 
 away, and to remind you that an imagination inflamed by 
 the beauties of Swiss scenery may require the counterpoise 
 of a severer train of thought than is necessary in a me- 
 tropolis." 
 
 "HENDON, nth July, 1855. 
 
 " DEAK Mus. GEEY : By all means keep ' Hallam ' as 
 long as you like, and take it into the country with you ; 
 and I sincerely hope that the change of air and quiet will 
 do you good. I am truly sorry to receive so indifferent 
 an account of your health. To hear such things is enough 
 to prevent one from being an optimist how much more 
 so to you who feel them! I have often speculated on 
 what you and Miss Shirreff could accomplish if you were 
 made capable of real wear and tear ; but this is a specula- 
 tion I could never bring to maturity, because of the strong 
 suspicion I have that with a given mind there must and 
 will be a certain physical structure of which we may 
 modify the effects, but never change the nature. Look at 
 Miss Martin eau ! Give her delicacy as well as power, and 
 I believe that she never could have gone through the work 
 she has. However, one can't talk about this in a note the 
 subject is too big. I do not perceive that my mother is 
 better since I last wrote, but she holds her ground, and, if 
 there is any alteration, it is an improvement, which is all 
 that can be expected, as her treatment, which seems judi- 
 cious, is intended to produce slow results. She is unques- 
 tionably stronger than when she first came here. I shall 
 make a point (if all goes well with her) of coming to see 
 you when you return to town so you will, I hope, when 
 
LETTERS. 91 
 
 your plans are settled, let me know how long you intend 
 remaining in London after you come back to it early in 
 August." 
 
 "HENDON, 23d Atigust, 1855. 
 
 " DEAK Miss SHIEEEFF : About ten days ago I heard 
 from Mrs. Grey that you were quite well and enjoying 
 yourself greatly, and that you would remain at Interlachen 
 till the beginning of September. I therefore address to 
 you there, as this agrees with the plan of your movements 
 which you sent me a rare instance, I should think, of 
 travelers knowing beforehand what they are going to do ! 
 First of all, I will say that my mother is decidedly better, 
 though her progress is slower than I ever remember to 
 have seen it, and she is unable to walk a quarter of the 
 distance she could four months since. Last week she had 
 a very slight attack of gout, which is now passing off fa- 
 vorably, and there seems reason to hope that she will be 
 better in consequence. She sends her love to you, and 
 says she is much disappointed at not having seen you this 
 summer. In her feeling of regret I share not a little, as 
 I had hoped that we might have had some comfortable 
 talk about what you are doing, and which, for many 
 reasons, I am anxious should be done as well as possible. 
 A really good book on education will be invaluable, and to- 
 ward writing one nothing can avail so much as my favorite 
 maxim patient thought, turning the subject round in one's 
 mind, and looking at it in every direction. This I should 
 rely much more on than any amount of reading. Have 
 you taken the opportunity of making inquiries of practical 
 persons as to the working of education in Switzerland? 
 Germany, Switzerland, and Scotland are the three coun- 
 
92 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 tries where most attention has been paid to this subject ; 
 and I make no doubt but that valuable hints might be col- 
 lected. The fact that your book must be in some measure 
 speculative makes it the more necessary to collect testi- 
 mony ; for all, even the best of us, are full of prejudices, 
 and, by comparing the standard of different countries, this 
 evil may be somewhat remedied. I would make particular 
 inquiries as to the amount of time that young people can 
 give to study with advantage. My own impression is, that 
 the time given at school is generally too long for health, 
 and there are strong physical reasons against lessons 
 before breakfast for average children. In England the 
 plan is, I know, very general ; how is it in Switzerland ? 
 This is one of the things well worth ascertaining. Anoth- 
 er thing is, how do they cultivate the memory ? Whether 
 by association, or by insisting on an effort of the will? 
 You will see how important this question is, in regard to 
 learning dates, teaching poetry, etc. ; and it would be use- 
 ful for you to know the plan ordinarily adopted at Geneva 
 or other chief places in Switzerland. Perhaps you have 
 done all'this, and half laugh at my supernumerary advice ; 
 but I'll take my chance, and when I do write I like to say 
 at once what comes uppermost. 
 
 "We leave here on llth September for Tun bridge 
 Wells, thence to Brighton, where we shall remain till late 
 in November. My mother then goes to Boulogne, and, if 
 she continues to improve, I shall not accompany her, as I 
 wish, if possible, to have my first volume ready for the 
 press by Christmas, which will be impossible if I am so 
 long away from London. When shall you be in town? 
 As my movements are not quite certain, please address to 
 
LETTERS. 93 
 
 me at Oxford Terrace. The last few weeks I have been 
 remarkably well, and am working zealously, and, on the 
 whole, satisfactorily; but the arrangement and classifica- 
 tion of the notes is laborious beyond anything I could have 
 conceived, owing chiefly to absence from my library. Still, 
 I do hope that I am doing something which, so far as mere 
 industry is concerned, will neither disgrace me nor disap- 
 point my friends. 
 
 " "When I recommended Mill's ' Political Economy ' I 
 meant John Mill, and not his ' Essays on Unsettled Ques- 
 tions in Political Economy ' (though they are very interest- 
 ing), but his large work in two vols. called ' Treatise on Po- 
 litical Economy,' and published about nine years ago, and 
 which I am certain would interest you much. Very re- 
 cently I saw a copy second-hand of his * Logic' in a catalogue 
 sent to me, and I wrote for it for you, but was too late ; it 
 had been sold. The booksellers tell me that the demand for 
 his works is increasing ; and, considering what the works 
 are, this, if true, is an honorable testimony to the present 
 age. His ' Logic ' has gone through three editions in a few 
 years, and a fourth is now preparing. I hope you like 
 Ly ell's ' Geology.' It is a grand book, though I think his 
 arguments on the transmutation of species very unsatisfac- 
 tory. Still, that is only a small part, and if you compare 
 it, for instance, with our best books on botany, mineralogy, 
 chemistry, or zoology, you will at once see how much Lyell 
 has made of his subject, compared to what other men have 
 done on other subjects." 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 9th November, 1855. 
 
 "DEAK Miss SHIREEFF: I heard yesterday that you 
 called last week upon my sister at Boulogne, and, as I take 
 
94: BUCKLE'S 'LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 for granted that was en route for England, I write a few 
 lines to you, which, indeed, I should have done before had 
 I felt sure about your movements. Uncertainty in this 
 respect and (to say the truth) hurry and fatigue about my 
 work kept me silent, but I heard of you from Mrs. Shirreff 
 when I was in town. 
 
 " You will, I know, be glad to hear that my mother 
 continues to improve. Still, she is far weaker that when 
 you last saw her. My book goes on miserably slow, and 
 at times I am daunted by the work still before me. The 
 text itself is ready for the press, but the notes ! oh, the 
 notes ! How unhandsome it is of mankind to expect 
 authors to give proof of what they assert, and how silly it 
 is of authors to give it! We shall remain here, I think, 
 till the middle of December. Pray remember me most 
 kindly to Mrs. Grey when you see her. What have you 
 been doing abroad? Don't take my short notes as the 
 measure of your answer. I would write at greater length, 
 but am really overworked, and feel as if I could think of 
 nothing but the ' History of Civilization.' When vol. i. 
 is out I will become more punctual, less selfish, and more 
 virtuous." 
 
 1 'BRIGHTON, 21st November, 1855. 
 
 " DEAK MES. GREY : . . . . My mother is really better, 
 but still very weak in walking. She is, however, less 
 nervous, and has lost those alarming sinking feelings which 
 used to come on every afternoon. I am particularly well, 
 but, miserable wretch that I am, I have no right to be 
 well, because iny book creeps on like a snail, and I ought 
 to be affected by its slowness. Still it 'is moving. But I 
 love not the drudgery needed to put it into motion." 
 
 
"5$ OXFORD TERRACE, 15th January, 1856. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRKEFF : I really hardly know how to 
 answer your question, because everything depends on the 
 ability, and, above all, on the industry of the person seek- 
 ing the information. Schlosser's ' History of the Eigh- 
 teenth Century,' though somewhat tedious, is, on the 
 whole, one of the best books for general accuracy I mean 
 for the accuracy of the impression it leaves on the mind 
 after reading it. The last edition of Koch, ' Tableau des 
 Revolutions,' contains common facts of the eighteenth 
 century, well put together; so do the later volumes of 
 Sismondi, ' Histoire des Frangais,' and, above all, the ad- 
 mirable work of Flassan, < Histoire de la Diplomatic 
 Franchise.' These, with Mahon's < History of England,' 
 would be enough to recommend; because, in the notes, 
 there are references to the other and original sources. If 
 a more special list is required, I will furnish it, as I can 
 never be too busy to help a friend of yours. 
 
 " If you have the means of reading any foreign books 
 on the philosophy of statistics except Quetelet, which I 
 know I should be glad to have additional proof for my 
 Chapter I. of the regularity with which, under the same 
 circumstances, the same human actions repeat themselves." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 19th January, 1856. 
 " DEAR MRS. GREY : I did not return home last night 
 till very late, when I found your note, and was not a little 
 vexed at having missed your dinner. The truth is, that 
 being somewhat deranged, if not altogether mad, at find- 
 ing I had time to spare, I went out in the afternoon to 
 enjoy myself, which I accomplished by playing chess for 
 
96 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 seven hours, and difficult games too. I have not been so 
 luxurious for four or five years, and feel all the better for 
 it to-day. 
 
 " I am a Christian, and I am virtuous, and therefore 
 would have come to you yesterday if I could ; but, when 
 I went out, the chance had not occurred to me of your 
 sending so prompt and so kind an answer to my note. I 
 have had a long interview with the two Parkers ; they 
 were very obliging and willing to meet me in everything, 
 and handsomely. It is impossible to tell you all about it 
 in a note. To-morrow I go to Whitehall to see Mr. Fors- 
 ter. 10 . . . My mother is a little better. She sends her 
 love, or at least would if she knew I was writing to you." 
 
 " 59 OXFOKD TERRACE, 9th March, 1856. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIEREFF : I do not think you need allow 
 any weight to your objection against [writing] novels. 
 You have not, and, I am sure, will not, attempt to pro- 
 scribe them. What harm, then, can there be in attempt- 
 ing to raise their character by setting a good model ? Look 
 at Miss Edgeworth equally successful with her tales and 
 with her works for educational purposes. Every branch 
 of literature is good ; improve what you will, but prohibit 
 nothing. Two very different and yet very eminent men 
 Warburton and Mackintosh have testified to the bene- 
 fit they have derived from novels ; and, although I now 
 never read them, I can give evidence to their having aided 
 my intellectual education. 
 
 " Mrs. Austen may, no doubt, if she likes, continue to 
 
 10 " I called at Whitehall Place by appointment on Mr. Forster to talk 
 about my book. He says I must not consent to Parker showing the MS. to 
 a man unknown to me ; but only to a common friend." Diary. 
 
LETTERS. 97 
 
 translate she has never proved that she can do anything 
 better ; but Miss Martineau does not translate (except with 
 the view, as in her ' Comte,' of diffusing philosophical 
 knowledge) ; nor does Mrs. Somerville ; nor does any wo- 
 man who reaches far and aims high, unless she is forced to 
 do so. The more I think of it, the more I see it in this 
 light. Remember that a given reputation represents a 
 given income, and, even in this point of view, a name is 
 the first thing to be desired. If, however, on mature de- 
 liberation, you think differently, I will make every effort 
 to meet your wishes, be they what they may. 
 
 "I think that the construction of a plot is not the 
 chief point in a good novel or tale. The language, and 
 particularly the dramatic power telling conversation and 
 the like go for more. See, for instance, Sir W. Scott, 
 as compared with James." 
 
 "59 OXFOED TEEEACE, 25th May, 1856. 
 " DEAR Miss SHIEEEFF : I am deeply sensible of the 
 kindness of your note, but I really am not working too 
 hard ; and if I were to go away for a few days, it would 
 do me no good, because my mind would be in my work, 
 and there would be no recreation. The day I called on 
 you I was slightly depressed, but these are only little shad- 
 ows which pass over me and leave me as before. I am 
 very careful no night work no worry of any kind and 
 now never exceeding nine hours a day, and very often 
 eight, and even less. Thank you for all your kindness 
 about me ; but yet a little while and I shall be free for 
 some time, and will recruit, though, indeed, I have no- 
 thing to recruit, because by no means unwell." 
 7 
 
98 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 20th June, 1856. 
 
 " DEAE Miss SHIEEEFF : It will give me real pleasure 
 if I can be of any use in regard to your work ; " but, I 
 need hardly say, it is a matter requiring a great deal of 
 deliberation. I will make a point of seeing Mrs. Grey 
 about it ; and, as your return to town is doubtful, I wish 
 that in the mean time you would write me a full and pre- 
 cise account of how you stand i. e., how many copies you 
 printed, how many remain unsold, whether they are all in 
 quires or bound up, and what percentage Hope was to re- 
 ceive for distributing them ; also, if his percentage was cal- 
 culated on the published price, or on the trade price ; like- 
 wise, what allowance he made to the trade on your behalf. 
 
 " Whatever his terms were, you must be prepared to 
 submit to others more unfavorable, because whoever takes 
 your book will not have the advantage of printing it, and 
 therefore must get more profit in the distribution. I should 
 say that the object to which all others should be subordi- 
 nate is to get the public to buy the remaining copies, how- 
 ever small your profit may be. I wish I had an opportu- 
 nity of talking it over with you ; but shall not leave town 
 till the 10th July, so there is time yet. 
 
 " My present idea is to test the effect of some adver- 
 tisements in the ' Times ' ; but, when I hear from you, I 
 shall be better able to judge." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 24th June, 1856. 
 " DEAE MES. GEEY: I am putting en train a little plot 
 of my own about the ' Self -Culture.' In the mean time I 
 must have a copy of the last edition, for a purpose which 
 
 11 Second edition of " Thoughts on Self-Culture." 
 
LETTERS. 99 
 
 I intend to make a mystery of until I bring it to bear. So 
 don't be inquisitive. My copy I have lent ; and, as Miss 
 Shirreff has obtained the others from Hope, I can only get 
 one from her or you and, as the matter presses, I wish to 
 have it at once : so, if possible, please send it by the bearer. 
 " I shall add no more, except that I am sure you will 
 be satisfied with what I am doing." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 30th June, 1856. 
 
 " A thousand thanks, dear kind Mrs. Grey, for your 
 most welcome letter, which I have this moment received. 
 It is a greater pleasure than I can tell you to see how those 
 I value care for me, for, with your letter, I also received 
 one from Miss Shirreff, equally considerate. I will not be 
 so affected as to conceal from you that I am a little 
 alarmed, and at times very depressed, to think that with 
 such large hopes I have such little powers. My head is at 
 times weak and slightly confused ; but it goes off (the 
 feeling, not the head I will have my joke) again directly. 
 They tell me that I have nothing to fear, and I am not 
 apprehensive except of my future. 
 
 " To break down in the midst of what, according to 
 my measure of greatness, is a great career and to pass 
 away, and make no sign this, I own, is a prospect which 
 I now for the first time see is possible ; and the thought 
 of which seems to chill my life as it creeps over me. Per- 
 haps I have aspired too high ; but I have at times such a 
 sense of power, such a feeling of reach and grasp, and, if 
 I may so say, such a command over the realm of thought, 
 that it was no idle vanity to believe that I could do more 
 than I shall now ever be able to effect. I must contract 
 
100 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 the field maybe, I shall then survey the ground the bet- 
 terand others will not miss what, to me, will be an irre- 
 trievable loss, since I forfeit my confidence in myself." 
 
 But at least he had something to show for it ; for his 
 first volume was now potentially finished. The first in- 
 dication that he was again nearly ready is the entry on 
 30th January, 1855, " Began to arrange the books which 
 I quote in notes to vol. i. of Introduction " ; and on 22d 
 July, 1855, "Began at length the great task of copying 
 my work for the press " ; and again in the same year, 
 " Began to despair of ever finishing " ; for even while he 
 was thus copying for the press he " wrote account of Bota- 
 
 Kny in France under Louis XIY. as completely as possible 
 till I get History of Botany ' by Pulteney. Wrote ac- 
 S count of bad Emperors favoring Christianity and the good 
 V Emperors persecuting it." " Began and finished notes of 
 \ f\ ' Spain ' and ' Inquisition ' to prove that morals have not 
 ^V diminished persecution." However, on the 1st of January, 
 V 1856, he "began at length to copy notes" for his MS., 
 ^ and entered into negotiations with Mr. Parker for its pub- 
 ^ lication. " I have had a long interview," he writes, "with 
 \j the two Parkers. They were very obliging, and willing 
 to meet me in everything, and handsomely." 
 
 As we have seen by his letters, Mr. Forster strongly 
 advised him not to intrust his MS. to the hands of any 
 one unknown to him; and he therefore wrote to Mr. 
 Parker as follows : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TEKBACE, 19th January, 1856. 
 " DEAK SIR : As Mr. J. Parker, your son, will, I sup- 
 pose, have left England before you can receive this, I 
 
LETTERS. 101 
 
 write to you in reference to our conversation on Thurs- 
 day, which I have now had time to think over. 
 
 " I quite agree in your opinion that the season is too 
 advanced to bring out my work at present, and I am 
 willing to defer going to press till July, which, I believe, 
 you mentioned as about the month when it would be ad- 
 visable to begin to print it. 
 
 " In ten days or a fortnight I shall have the MS. in 
 such a state that the most important parts of it can be 
 examined by any one you select to act on your behalf. 
 But, as I mentioned to you, I feel nervous about intrust- 
 ing it in the hands of a person of whom I have no knowl- 
 edge, and that, too, for an indefinite period ; and, having 
 no copy, the risk I should run would make me very un- 
 comfortable. I fully admit the propriety of your having 
 an opinion on it in regard to the style of composition, and, 
 therefore, probable popularity ; but this might be obtained 
 from some one with whom we are both acquainted, and 
 to whom I could send the MS. direct at the time he would 
 appoint, and when I knew he would be at leisure to read 
 it at once, and return it without delay. The two most 
 competent men I know are Mr. Forster and Mr. Baden 
 Powell, with both of whom you are probably personally 
 acquainted, and as to whose ability there can be no ques- 
 tion. "Would it suit you to ask either of these gentlemen 
 to act as referees ? In them I should have complete con- 
 fidence ; and, if you consulted either of them, it would be 
 understood that, being appointed by you, he would act on 
 your side rather than on mine. After all, the main ques- 
 tion is, have I written the book clearly and popularly? 
 for, as I have been engaged incessantly on it for fourteen 
 
102 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 years, I shall not be presumptuous in saying that the 
 amount of reading it will display will be such as to do no 
 discredit to its publishers. 
 
 " I trust that you will not consider my proposition un- 
 reasonable ; but? I really feel an insuperable repugnance to 
 intrusting to a person, of whose very name I am ignorant, 
 a MS. which has cost me many years of continued thought. 
 
 " Believe me, etc. 
 
 " I may mention that, though I have the pleasure of 
 knowing Mr. Forster and Mr. Powell, neither of them 
 has heard or seen a line of my work, so that they would 
 come to it unprejudiced. Mr. Forster, as editor of the 
 ' Examiner,' has, of course, peculiar facilities for judging 
 if a book is likely to be popular." 
 
 a 59 OXFOKD TERRACE, 22d February, 1856. 
 
 " DEAR SIR : I am very sensible of your handsome pro- 
 posal, of declining having a preliminary examination made 
 of my MS. But I think myself bound to meet you in a 
 similar spirit, and I would therefore suggest another plan 
 as it is my desire if possible to establish a permanent 
 connection with your house in a manner satisfactory to 
 both of us ; and this I could hardly expect to do by seek- 
 ing to induce you to undertake a work of such length, of 
 which neither yourself, nor any person in whom you con- 
 fide, ever heard a line. 
 
 " My suggestion, then, is this : that inasmuch as you 
 appear satisfied with the general character of the work, 
 and the industry employed on it, the point on which alone 
 you will require information is as to the clearness and at- 
 tractiveness of the style, which, as a matter of business, 
 
LETTERS. 103 
 
 will be your principal consideration. For, if the style is 
 judged to be good, as well as the facts curious, a tolerable 
 success is certain : since every book which has failed has 
 owed its failure either to want of industry in collecting 
 evidence, or else to want of lucidity in arranging it. In 
 this view there are other gentlemen besides those I named, 
 with whose judgment you might perhaps be satisfied. Dr. 
 Mayo and Mr. Eobert Bell are both able, clear-headed 
 men ; and to either of them I could give an outline of my 
 scheme in half an hour's conversation, and let them see 
 any part of the MS. which they wished. It seems to me 
 that, in justice to yourself, something of this sort should 
 be done ; for I do not like the idea of my having refused 
 your first proposal of having the MS. examined by a friend 
 of yours, and eventually no examination taking place at 
 all. In such an arrangement there is no reciprocity, and 
 you would be placing a confidence in my abilities, which a 
 man still unknown as an author can not reasonably expect. 
 " In regard to the terms of publication, this much I 
 believe was arranged with your son as a preliminary to the 
 negotiation : namely, that you should pay me a fixed sum 
 for the copyright of the first edition of the first volume, 
 which, as far as I can judge, will be about 600 8vo pages ; 
 though, until the notes are more advanced, I can only make 
 a rough estimate of the size. As to what the sum ought 
 to be, and as to how many copies ought to be printed, you 
 are a better judge than I am ; and there can, I think, be 
 no difficulty between us on that head. Bat even this part 
 of the business would be easier adjusted if you knew more 
 of the probable popularity of the work ; and on this, as 
 on other grounds I have mentioned, I wish you to have an 
 
104 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 opinion in which you could place confidence. If, however, 
 you are really satisfied with the matter as it stands, and 
 desire no examination of the MS., I will add on my own 
 behalf that I am deeply impressed with the importance of 
 a clear and popular style, and that I have made great and 
 constant efforts to attain it. 
 
 " I now leave the matter entirely in your hands. I 
 have done what I think just, in proposing that you should 
 have the opinion of a third party ; but, if you deem this 
 unnecessary, then my suggestion is that an edition of 1,500 
 copies should be printed, and that you should state the sum 
 you will pay for the copyright of that edition." 
 
 " 59 OXFOKD TERRACE, llth July, 1856. 
 
 " DEAK Sm : By your letter of yesterday, I understand 
 that you offer to print an edition of my first volume at 
 your own cost and risk ; and that you propose, as soon as 
 it is ready for publication, to pay me a sum equal to one 
 half the profits upon that edition. 
 
 " This proposal, as far as I can judge, seems fair and 
 liberal, and I am willing to accept it but not exactly in 
 this form. You will perhaps remember that from the be- 
 ginning I stated that I disliked uncertain arrangements, 
 and that my wish was to receive a fixed and definite sum 
 for the copyright of the first edition. To this you agreed, 
 and the only question now between us is to name the sum. 
 I am quite willing to take, as a basis of the arrangement, 
 half the estimated profits ; and, with your experience of 
 books, it will be easy for you to form an idea of what that 
 will be. The volume will be rather more than 600 pages 
 8vo, about the size of Macaulay (i. e., calculating the same 
 
LETTERS. 105 
 
 number of words on the page as in one of his volumes), 
 and, as the notes will be numerous, you would probably 
 think sixteen shillings a fair price at which to publish it. 
 Supposing, then, a thousand copies are printed, you will 
 be able to estimate the half profits ; because I have taken 
 the greatest possible care in preparing the MS. so that the 
 corrections of the press will be very trifling. 
 
 " Whatever sum you agree to pay me will, of course, 
 include such corrections as even a careful copy may be 
 supposed to require (that is to say, I am not to be charged 
 with them) ; but if I make any alterations of extent, such 
 as interpolating or omitting sentences, I shall be willing 
 and desirous to pay for them myself. 
 
 " I should wish to have twelve copies delivered to me 
 free of charge for presentation to my friends. As to send- 
 ing any copies to the reviews and newspapers, that I take 
 for granted is your concern. 
 
 " In regard to any future edition, it will naturally be 
 my wish to remain in your hands ; but I can not formally 
 bind myself down to any such engagement, because, to do 
 so would in fact be surrendering the control of my own 
 property ; it would be equivalent to selling the copyright 
 without reaping the advantages of the sale, since it would 
 be a compact which would bind me without binding you. 
 
 "If what I have said meets your views, it only remains 
 for you to fix a specified sum, as that was the condition 
 mentioned at our first interview. 
 
 " I hope that you will consider what I have written as 
 satisfactory. You have acted very frankly with me, and 
 I wish to do the same with you. 
 
 " Believe me, etc." 
 
106 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " I leave town early on Wednesday, 16th. If you wish 
 to see me, I am always at home in the morning ; but I hope 
 there will be no further difficulty to give you the trouble 
 of calling, and that a letter will be sufficient." 
 
 "TUNBRIDGE WELLS, MOUNT EDGECUMBE COTTAGE, 
 
 "20tJiJuly, 1856. 
 
 " DEAK SIR : Judging from your letter, the obstacles to 
 further negotiation appear insuperable. It will therefore 
 be better that the matter should end here. 
 
 " I am sorry that you should have had so much un- 
 necessary trouble." 
 
 "TimBKiDGE WELLS, 27th July, 1856. 
 
 " DEAK MKS. GREY : . . . . The air here is really so 
 fine, and my mother is so much improving in it, that I am 
 almost beginning to like the country. A frightful and 
 alarming degeneracy ! Pray God that my mind may be 
 preserved to me, and that the degradation of taste does 
 not become permanent. 
 
 " I am as well as ever, and I think as busy as ever : 
 deeply immersed in comparative anatomy, the dryness of 
 which I enliven by excursions into free will and predesti- 
 nation. I find that physiology and theology correct each 
 other very well ; and, between the two, reason holds her 
 own. My mother writes to-day to Miss Shirreff to try 
 and coax her to come and stay with us. She sends her 
 love, and hopes that, if you and Mr. Grey can not come 
 here for the summer, you will at all events take a run 
 down when Miss Shirreff is with us : and, if you get rooms 
 at the Ephraim hotel, we can all breakfast and dine to- 
 gether ; as our cottage is large enough for that, though it 
 has but few bedrooms. 
 
LETTERS. 107 
 
 " The negotiation with Mr. Parker is off : he wanted 
 to bind me down respecting subsequent editions, and I did 
 not choose to be bound. It is not very important, and I 
 am glad that something is settled. 
 
 " Do you keep a look-out as to the i Examiner.' If 
 there is a review of * Self -Culture,' and you buy the 
 paper, please to send it to me. I shall be very anx- 
 ious to know about it." 
 
 " TUNBRIDGE WELLS, 28th August, 1856. 
 " DEAK Miss SHIEEEFF : You do both me and your- 
 self great injustice by calling your criticism 'unsought? 
 So far from this, I find your suggestions too valuable not 
 to ask for them ; and I have adopted at least five out of 
 six of every emendation you proposed. In regard to the 
 more general objections contained in your letter, I see 
 considerable force in them : but, as they do not strike at 
 any great principle, or even at the accuracy of any par- 
 ticular fact, it seems hardly worth while to undergo the 
 labor of rewriting and rearranging so large a part of the 
 MSS. Such alteration in any chapter would also com- 
 pel me to alter the notes belonging to that chapter, as 
 they are consecutively numbered, and could not be altered 
 without defacing the text. Unless, therefore, there is any- 
 thing fundamentally vicious in the arrangement and pro- 
 portion of the different parts, I would not change them 
 now. Besides this, I may fairly say that I have bestowed 
 considerable thought on the general scheme, and I think 
 that I could bring forward arguments (too long for a let- 
 ter) to justify the apparently disproportionate length of 
 the notice of Burke and Bichat. As to the French Protes- 
 
108 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 tants, I am more inclined to agree with you : though, even 
 here, it is to be observed that general historians represent 
 the struggle between Protestants and Catholics as always 
 a struggle between toleration and intolerance ; and, as I 
 assert that the triumph of the Catholic party in France 
 has increased toleration, I thought myself bound to sup- 
 port with full evidence what many will deem a paradoxi- 
 cal assertion. Eead,.for instance, Smedley's * History of 
 the Keformed Church of France,' which is constantly 
 appealed to as an authority, and is the most elaborate 
 work in English on the subject, and in it you will see how 
 completely the author has misrepresented the contest of 
 the two parties under Louis XIII. Even Sismondi, lib- 
 eral as he is, does not treat the Catholics fairly. I have 
 also worked this part of the subject at the greater length, 
 because I thought it confirmed one of the leading propo- 
 sitions in my fifth chapter, to the effect that religious 
 tenets do not so much affect society as they are affected by 
 it. I wished to show how much more depends on circum- 
 stance than on dogma: it was therefore useful to prove 
 that, though the Catholics are theoretically more intolerant 
 than the Protestants, they were in France practically more 
 tolerant ; and that this arose from the pressure of general 
 events." 
 
 " TUNBBIDGE WELLS, 8th October, 1856. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIEEEFF : My mother is as well as when 
 you were here. Her loss of speech, which lasted for a 
 few minutes, has left no mischief behind so far as one can 
 perceive ; only it is disheartening to see that with the ut- 
 most care so little has been done toward preventing such 
 attacks. But Mr. Eix, in whom I place some confidence, 
 
LETTERS. 109 
 
 assures me most positively that she is upon the whole 
 steadily improving ; and he makes little account of her 
 late temporary seizure. On the 29th we separate : she to 
 Boulogne, I to London. 
 
 " In regard to your publishing translations, I thought, 
 and still think, that, looking at your remote interests, the 
 step is not advisable. But I had then hoped that before 
 this time you would be fit for real work ; and, as I fear 
 that, though better, you are still hardly in a state to go on 
 with what you projected, it remains for you to consider 
 how far it is worth while to sacrifice the present to the fu- 
 ture. The main point, I think, is, what prospect you have 
 of a speedy recovery of strength. I am most unwilling to 
 believe that you will be for any length of time unfit for 
 work ; but, if there were reason to apprehend this, cer- 
 tainly my objections against your appearing as a translator 
 would be weakened. Wait till I come to town, and we 
 will talk it over for I do most sincerely trust that the 
 mountain air will have done so much to reestablish you 
 that when we meet you will have gained your strength 
 and lost your fears. If not, you know well that I will do 
 whatever lies in my power either in the way of advice or 
 of any description of active help which you may require. 
 Meanwhile, don't try too much at present, and be a firm 
 believer in time and patience. You say that you are bet- 
 ter than you were. This is a clear gain, and shows the 
 direction in which things are tending. 
 
 " Your letter raises several questions of interest which, 
 if I had you here, I would answer categorically and dis- 
 cursively ; but when I tell you that it is now ten o'clock 
 at night, and that I have had a hard day's work, I know 
 
110 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 you will excuse my not entering into them now. I am, 
 in truth, so tired as hardly to know what I am writing ; 
 but I would not delay, as I wished this letter to meet you 
 on your arrival at Manchester. Only one thing I will say 
 in regard to ' Diversions of Purley ' : that Home Tooke 
 was a nominalist and sensationalist, and that Donaldson 
 and Bunsen were idealists hence the opposition. Tooke's 
 book is a fine sample of deductive reasoning in philology ; 
 indeed, he says, if I rightly remember, that he arrived at 
 his conclusions before knowing a word of Anglo-Saxon ; 
 so that his facts are illustrations, not proofs. 
 
 " I am sorry, but not surprised to hear of Hope ; but I 
 am glad that you have escaped from him with so little loss. 
 As soon as I go to town I shall see what is doing with 
 6 Self-Culture.' 
 
 " This is a sad scrawl, but I am really oppressed with 
 work." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 28th October, 1856. 
 
 " DEAK Miss SHIRREFF : . . . . To-morrow I shall go 
 to Petheram, to show him the notice, or rather, short 
 review, of your book; and consult with him if it is 
 worth while to extract anything to put in his catalogue. 
 I should have liked to have known Mr. Puff. I always 
 was a charlatan, and, the older I grow, the more the pro- 
 pensity waxes. 
 
 " My mother goes from Tunbridge Wells to Boulogne, 
 avoiding London. She is, I think, better than when you 
 were with us. I am just like a child come home for the 
 holidays, in the midst of my toys. "What lovely things 
 books are ! I suppose some time or other I too shall pub- 
 lish a book, but I don't know much about it." 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 18th November, 1856. 
 " DEAE MES. GEEY : I am doubly glad to hear of the 
 article in the ' Church of England Review ' ; glad for the 
 sake of your book, and glad too, as it proves that the 
 orthodox are losing their power of distinguishing friends 
 from enemies ; and this I take to be a mark of their com- 
 ing fall, for is it not written that they whom the gods seek 
 to overthrow^ they first dement ? 
 
 " On Friday next, 21st, at seven I shall wait upon you 
 with the feeling of respect that your note naturally in- 
 spires." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 15th December, 1856. 
 
 " DEAE Miss SHIEEEFF :....! am certainly better, 
 and fully intend returning from the sea 12 vigorous and (if 
 anybody contradicts me) dangerous. At present I am 
 safe, cowardly, and taciturn. 
 
 " I have very good accounts from my mother." 
 
 " BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, %2d December, 1856. 
 
 " DEAE Miss SHIEEEFF : You asked me to let you know 
 how I was going on, and although I can not give a favorable 
 account, I will not be so insensible to your kindness as to 
 delay writing any longer. 
 
 " Dr. Allatt precisely confirms what Mr. Morgan said 
 in London that I am weak, with low fever hanging about 
 me. I am to live well, and take quinine both of which 
 I have done since coming here, but without much effect. 
 Fortunately, I only feel weak physically, and am as fit for 
 head work as I ever was. This is a great comfort to me, 
 and I am only sorry not to get on with my first volume ; 
 
 12 Boulogne. 
 
112 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 though, if I were in town, I should probably feel the 
 fatigue too much of moving and opening books for verify- 
 ing my notes. Dr. Allatt suspects that the brain has been 
 overworked, but says he will not speak positively at present; 
 at all events, he thinks there is nothing which I shall not 
 soon get over ; but he strongly urges my putting aside my 
 first volume for the present. To lose another season would 
 be a great vexation to me ; and then, too, these early checks 
 make me think mournfully of the future. If I am to be 
 struck down in the vestibule, how shall I enter the temple ? 
 " I shall certainly stay here till the end of this month ; 
 and, then if I am not better, there is nothing for it but 
 traveling, as while I am stationary I must work." 
 
 It was indeed no wonder that at last his health began 
 to feel the strain. No doubt personal experience origi- 
 nated his " strong suspicion " that, " with a given mind, 
 there must and will be a certain physical structure, of 
 which we may modify the effects, but never change the 
 nature." 13 We may modify the effects, indeed ; but he 
 aggravated, rather than mitigated them. The "while I 
 am stationary, I must work," was true enough ; but not 
 in the implication. It was simply impossible for him not 
 to work, and he worked hard, though not so hard as when 
 at home, while traveling. He read even in the train. 
 While, too, he accomplished his minimum of seven hours 
 a day, his only relaxation was playing at chess ; and when 
 we take into consideration that his weakness was not so 
 much bodily in its origin as nervous, and the great anxi- 
 ety he suffered on account of his mother's health, it is by 
 
 ""Letter," July 17, 1855. 
 
INCKEASING WEAKNESS OF MRS. BUCKLE. H3 
 
 no means astonishing that the tension at last proved too 
 great, and his health broke down. 14 Miss Shirreff writes : 
 " His mother knew too well that she could not afford to 
 wait. During the spring and summer of 1SS6 she was 
 more ill, and had a more general sense of failing than she 
 would allow him to know. She kept up her courage and 
 her spirits for his sake, lest he should be diverted from 
 his work. I was staying with them for a short time at 
 Tunbridge "Wells, and daily she betrayed to me her 
 knowledge that her days were numbered, and her anxi- 
 ety to see her son take his right place in the world. She 
 had been content that he should hide his bright gifts in 
 their quiet home so long as the serious purpose of his 
 life required it ; but now that it was partly attained, that 
 a portion of his work was ready, she grew eager to see 
 those gifts acknowledged before she herself went forth, to 
 be no more seen on earth. Chapter by chapter, almost 
 page by page, had that first volume been planned with 
 her, commented on by her, every speculation as it arose 
 talked over with her ; and now her mind was oppressed 
 with the fear that she might never know how those pages, 
 so unutterably precious to her, would be welcomed by 
 those whose welcome would crown her beloved with fame. 
 Yet, to spare him, she never would betray in his presence 
 the real secret of her growing impatience ; only when we 
 were alone she would say to me : Surely" God will let me 
 
 14 There are several indications in his diary of great weakness. " June 
 24, 1856 : Went to Divan. Coming home through Hyde Park, I suddenly 
 felt ill, and fell down insensible." He does not say how he got home ; and 
 the next day appears to have been in his usual health. Again, October 31, 
 1856, he writes : " I sent for Dr. Morgan, who says that I am low, and 
 the system generally out of order." 
 8 
 
114: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 live to see Henry's book ' ; and she did live to see it, and 
 to read the dedication to herself, the only words she was 
 unprepared to meet. Mr. Buckle told me he bitterly re- 
 pented the rash act of laying the volume before her, to 
 enjoy her surprise and pleasure, for he was alarmed at her 
 agitation. Even the next day, when showing it to me, she 
 could not speak ; but pointed with tears to the few words 
 that summed up to her the full expression of his love and 
 gratitude. She thus saw her ardent wish gratified, and 
 her impatience was but too well justified. The second 
 volume was dedicated to her memory alone ! " 
 
 He had at the end of the year decided to print the 
 volume himself, as he could not come to a satisfactory 
 arrangement with Messrs. Parker. "February 7th, Mr. 
 Levy came to show me a specimen page of my work 
 printed, and gave me an estimate. I settled everything 
 with him, and on Monday they (Levy & Robson) will 
 begin to print and finish the volume by the end of 
 April." He then wrote to Messrs. Parker to ask them 
 whether they would undertake to publish it on com- 
 mission : 
 
 "59 OXFOKD TERRACE, 17th February, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : As you were unwilling and perhaps 
 reasonably so to run the risk of printing my work ex- 
 cept on conditions which I was equally unwilling to 
 accept, I have determined to print it at my own expense, 
 and I received last Saturday a proof of the first sheet 
 from Levy & Robson's, who were strongly recommended 
 to me by Mr. Forster, and with whose care and attention 
 I have, thus far, every reason to be satisfied. 
 
 " My object in writing to you at present is to ask if 
 
LETTERS. 115 
 
 you would be disposed to publish on commission the fif- 
 teen hundred copies which I am printing. In this way 
 you would avoid the risk of loss, and, should the work 
 prove tolerably successful, you will have a criterion by 
 which to estimate any proposal you might like to make 
 for the subsequent volumes, or for subsequent editions 
 of the first volume. Should the book fail, you will, of 
 course, not be bound to continue your connection with 
 me after the first edition ; and if, on the other hand, it 
 should succeed, it will be for your interest and for mine 
 that the connection should be a permanent one. "We 
 should in this way be united by the bond of self-interest, 
 which seems more satisfactory than the one formerly pro- 
 posed. I feel that, looking at the character of the works 
 you publish, you are the best publisher I could select, and 
 if you exerted yourself (as I am sure you would do) to 
 push the work, there is no reason to think that there 
 would be any difficulty about subsequent arrangements. 
 At all events you will, I hope, look on my proposition as a 
 proof that our negotiation was not broken off by the small- 
 est want of confidence on my part, but simply by an im- 
 pression that it was not for my interest to accept your 
 terms though I must cheerfully acknowledge that I do 
 not believe any publisher ever offered terms so favorable 
 for the first work of an unknown author. 
 
 " On Saturday morning I leave town for a few days ; 
 but, if you should be willing to reopen the negotiation, I 
 will either send for a specimen of the paper and of the 
 printing, or I will remain at home to see you any morn- 
 ing between 10.30 and 1.30 that you may appoint, if you 
 will favor me by calling before Saturday.' 7 
 
116 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 2d April, 1857. 
 
 "Mr DEAB SIR: The volume will not be completed 
 before the middle of May, as the notes are even longer 
 than I anticipated, and require very great care in printing. 
 If, however, you think that it is advisable to announce it 
 at once, I have no objection. 
 
 The title is : 
 
 < HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION m ENGLAND, 
 
 4 By Henry Thomas Buckle. 
 
 * Yolume I. Being the first part of a General 
 
 Introduction. 15 
 
 " I believe it is understood between us that the issue 
 of this edition (of 1,500 copies) is a sort of experiment to 
 enable an opinion to be formed of the probable success of 
 the book ; and that, in the event of the whole impression 
 selling satisfactorily, we may then (i. e., if you think 
 proper) recur to the plan of your paying a certain sum 
 for each subsequent edition. 
 
 "As in matters of business much unpleasantness is 
 avoided by being explicit at first, you will, I am sure, 
 excuse my recapitulating this, and suggesting that a 
 memorandum should be drawn up stating that our actual 
 engagement is confined to the first edition of the first 
 volume, and that you agree to publish it on commission 
 for me according to the terms contained in your printed 
 paper. If this is contrary to the usual course, it will be 
 quite sufficient that you should write me a note to the 
 same effect, as I trust that you feel as much confidence in 
 my word as I do in yours, and my only object is to pre- 
 
 15 It will be observed that this last was omitted. 
 
LETTERS. 117 
 
 vent the possibility of misunderstanding subsequently 
 
 arising." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 3d April, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIB : Your note is quite sufficient, and the 
 advertisement is correct. 
 
 "In regard to boarding the volume, Mr. Bell sug- 
 gested to me the other day that it would be better only to 
 have 500 bound, and the remainder in sheets ; as that, in 
 case of the sale being slow, they would keep better in 
 sheets, and be less liable to lose their color. Is this the 
 case ? and what do you think the best plan ? If there is 
 no fear of injury, I should prefer having the whole im- 
 pression boarded at once. 
 
 " I shall be able to meet your wishes in regard to the 
 point you mentioned the last time you called ; and I can 
 appropriate a dry room to receive 1,000 copies until you 
 require them, leaving you only 500 at first. 
 
 " Believe me, etc. 
 
 " I am much obliged by the good wishes you express 
 for my success, and I fully agree with you that we shall 
 get on well together. Indeed, even at the time that I 
 thought it advisable to break off our former negotiations, 
 I always did justice to the open way in which you met 
 me, and to the liberal character of your offer." 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 1st March, 1857. 
 
 "DEAR Miss SHIEEEFF: It is very cheering to hear 
 you at length say that you are quite well and able to work 
 once more regularly; but pray take example from your 
 former state, and also from mine, and proceed gradually. 
 I should never have been as I am now but for an eager 
 
118 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 desire to save this season. Indeed, I was getting half 
 ashamed at constantly putting off what I was perhaps too 
 ready to talk about. However, all this is past, and com- 
 paring one month with another I certainly am not losing 
 ground, so that I have every right to suppose that dimin- 
 ished labor will be rewarded by increased strength. 
 
 " In a week or two I shall ask you to revise Chapters 
 XII. and XIY., the only two not quite completed. My 
 mother, I really think, is better ; but Dr. Bright says the 
 greatest caution is needed, and allows her to see literally 
 no one except my sister not even her own niece." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 30th March, 1857. 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRREFF :....! shall take my mother 
 to Brighton the day before Good Friday if the wind is 
 not too cold for her. She will stay there, but I must 
 return to town early in the week. I am gaining strength 
 slowly, but steadily, which I take to be the safest way." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 1st April, 1857. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : I have not yet received your 
 note by post, but shall be very happy to dine with Mrs. 
 Shirreff to-morrow (Thursday) at seven. "When you show 
 me your Philos. Transac. I shall be better able to advise 
 you about them. 
 
 " I will not delay a post in writing, and therefore have 
 had no time yet to look at your notes, but am half inclined 
 to be vexed at your thinking it necessary to apologize 
 for their freedom. Let them be as free and hostile as 
 they may, I well know the spirit in which they are 
 dictated." 
 
LETTER TO MRS. GREY. 119 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 18th April, 1857. 
 
 " DEAR MRS. GREY : I shall return to town on Mon- 
 day, and am vexed to think that you are to leave London 
 just as I enter it. Thanks much for the offer of Miss 
 ShirrefFs aid. Perhaps, as you have Descartes, she will 
 take the trouble of verifying the references from his 
 work, if you will send them to Chester Street. 
 
 " I forget whether or not I asked you some time ago 
 
 (as I intended to do) to write to Mrs. (I don't know 
 
 if I spell rightly the name of your friend in Stockholm), 
 for information respecting Swedish and other books on 
 the 'Life of Christina.' Captain Woodhead is engaged 
 by my advice on this subject, and is busy learning Swe- 
 dish ; and I have promised to collect information for him 
 in regard either to MSS. or printed books. He meditates 
 a journey to Stockholm in the summer, but it will save 
 time to go there furnished with preliminary knowledge as 
 to the best sources. 
 
 " Please, dear Mrs. Grey, why do you put to me such 
 puzzling questions ? That a man should be so unfortu- 
 nate as to be asked to give an account of the transcenden- 
 tal process in a note ! That he should have a friend who 
 can make such a request! And then, perhaps, blamed 
 for not complying with it ! Such a man is greatly to be 
 pitied particularly when the poor creature intends en- 
 tering into details respecting German transcendentalism 
 in a second volume which he meditates writing, and which 
 he hopes will convey comfort to those orthodox minds 
 which his first volume may have embarrassed. 
 
 " Seriously, however, I do not think anything can be 
 better on this most interesting subject than the passages 
 
120 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 I have collected from Kant (at end of Chapter I.), in 
 which he vindicates transcendentally the freedom which 
 he destroys logically. The logical deals with the universal 
 understanding; the transcendental with the individual 
 reason. The first explains without feeling; the second 
 feels without explaining. The first being performed by 
 one mind may be repeated and imitated by another. The 
 second is by its nature incapable of being copied because 
 it concerns an eminently individual, and, as it were, an 
 isolated process. Therefore it is that logical truths are 
 dependent upon the age in which they are found. That 
 is to say, the state of surrounding knowledge supplies the 
 major premise. On the other hand, in the transcendental 
 process, the mind itself supplies the major premise. From 
 this it appears that, if two minds are exactly of the same 
 nature, they will arrive at the same transcendental con- 
 clusions, whatever be the difference of country or age in 
 which they live. In regard, however, to their logical con- 
 clusions, they will arrive at different results in proportion 
 as the varieties of their surroundings. Knowledge sup- 
 plies them with different ideas. Or, to give another illus- 
 tration, the transcendental is statical ; the logical is dyna- 
 mical. 
 
 " There are extremely few persons (indeed, only two 
 besides yourself) to whom I would have written all this : 
 because, setting a high value on clearness, I dislike the 
 appearance of mysticism. But I know you well enough 
 to feel sure that you will not accuse me of affecting ob- 
 scurity in a matter which is rather dark than difficult. 
 Still, I am fearful that you will not quite catch my mean- 
 ing. Do not keep this letter, but make a memorandum 
 
LETTER TO MRS. BOWYEAR. 121 
 
 of the heads, and when we meet I will try and explain 
 what I have said. But oblige me by putting the letter 
 itself in the fire ; as I do not care about having my opin- 
 ions on these most sacred subjects discussed. 18 
 
 " I should like to have a line or two from you (to Ox- 
 ford Terrace) to say how far our minds have met on com- 
 mon ground in this field of thought. One thing, at least, 
 I know that we both respect each other's convictions. 
 
 " I am, etc. 
 
 "My mother is really better. She sends her kind 
 love. I wish you and she could see more of each other. 
 She has gone through the process of which we have been 
 speaking." 
 
 He writes to Mrs. Bowyear on the same subject as 
 follows : 
 
 " You remind me that I have not answered your for- 
 mer questions respecting transcendental convictions, and 
 the relation between them and religious belief ; the reason 
 of my silence is the impossibility of treating such subjects 
 in a letter. In conversation you would raise difficulties 
 and ask for further information on what seemed obscure, 
 but you can not cross-examine a letter, and on subjects of 
 such immense difficulty I fear to be misunderstood ; and 
 I shrink from saying anything that might give a painful 
 direction to your speculations. In regard to books, on 
 this there is nothing in English, and what perhaps I should 
 most recommend are the minor works of Fichte, which I 
 could lend you if you find yourself strong enough in Ger- 
 
 16 This letter was kept by permission given afterward. 
 
122 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 man to master them. The difference between the tran- 
 scendental operations of the reason and the empirical 
 operations of the understanding is also worked out by 
 Kant, and at the end of my first chapter you will find all 
 the passages collected in which that wonderful thinker 
 applies this difference to solve the problem of free will 
 and necessity. Coleridge saw the difficulty, but dared not 
 investigate it. Miserable creatures that we are, to think 
 that we offend God by using with freedom the faculties 
 that God has given us ! There is only one safe maxim on 
 these questions, viz., that, if we strive honestly after the 
 truth, we satisfy our conscience, and, having done all that 
 lies in our power, may wash our hands of the result. If 
 this maxim be neglected, then investigations will only lead 
 to a life of misery, and had far better be left alone." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 30th April, 1857. 
 "DEAB Mus. GKET: I inclose pp. 481 to 512, the 
 only two sheets which you have missed. What you say 
 about Descartes absenting himself from France is quite 
 true, but there is no evidence that he did so for liberty's 
 sake, though, if I remember rightly, the very imperfect 
 account of him in the ' Biographic Universelle ' 17 asserts 
 that such was his motive. But in his correspondence he 
 says that his object in going to Holland was to separate 
 himself from his friends that he might meditate uninter- 
 
 17 " Revenu des ses voyages, il jeta un coup-d'oeil sur les diverges occu- 
 pations des hommes ; il sentit que la seule qui lui convint 6 tait la culture de 
 sa raison ; mais comme tout 6tait extreme dans cette ame ardente, il crut 
 que s'il restait en France il ne serait ni assez seul ni assez libre ; il vendit 
 une partie de son bien, et se retira en Hollande (1629), comme dans un 
 sejour tranquille, particulierement propre a la paix et a la liberte de ses 
 meditations." 
 
PUBLICATION OF THE HISTORY. 123 
 
 ruptedly ; and certainly there was at that time less free 
 discussion in Holland than in France. In regard to his 
 subsequent visit to Sweden, it was partly to procure a 
 settlement (his pecuniary affairs being deranged), and 
 partly from real admiration for that most remarkable and 
 cruelly maligned woman, Christine. 
 
 " In regard to the note on the crystalline lens, I confess 
 that I think you are right, and therefore I am wrong. My 
 mind, and hence my reading, is too discursive, and, what 
 is worse, the discursiveness is too ostentatiously displayed, 
 as I clearly perceive now that the volume is printed. This 
 is fortunately rather a blemish than an error, as the argu- 
 ments and facts which form the framework of the book 
 remain intact. 
 
 "My mother is a little better, and writes very san- 
 guinely about herself. I do not get up my strength as I 
 ought, and don't expect much improvement till I am 
 through the press. . . . 
 
 " Observe that Descartes' works were not prohibited 
 in France during his lifetime, and therefore a fortiori 
 why should his person have been attacked ? 
 
 " I shall insert a note at the end of Chapter YIII. to 
 say that Descartes died in Sweden. Thanks, very much, 
 dear Mrs. Grey, for your criticisms. They are useful to 
 me, and I am also glad to have them as showing the inter- 
 est you take in what I am doing." 
 
 The long-delayed work, which at last had to be printed 
 at the author's expense, at length appeared, and met with 
 an almost instantaneous success. In London it became 
 the talk of the season, and its author the lion of the sea- 
 
124: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 son. There was so nrncli originality, such power, such 
 industry, and such fearlessness, that public curiosity was 
 piqued to meet the obscure author. Courted, feasted, and 
 caressed in private, he was attacked in public by the mass 
 of reviews. But, as he once said at Cairo, " the people of 
 England have such an admiration of any kind of intellec- 
 tual splendor that they will forgive for its sake the most 
 objectionable doctrines," and his brilliant conversation was 
 an additional incentive to all who met him to make his 
 acquaintance ; while, as he writes to Mr. Capel, 18 " If I 
 had written more obscurely, I should have excited less 
 anger," it had the effect of selling his book the quicker. 
 "If men are not struck down by hostility, they always 
 thrive by it," he writes, 19 and he had sold 675 copies of 
 the edition at the end of the year of its publication. Mr. 
 Parker agreed to buy a new edition of 2,000 copies for 
 500. It found its way all over the Continent. The Amer- 
 icans began reprinting it the same year that it was pub- 
 lished, and, in May, he had a visit from a Russian gentle- 
 man, who told him of its success at Moscow. 
 
 It was, of course, impossible for Buckle to answer the 
 very numerous attacks that were made upon him from all 
 quarters. Had he done so, he would never have written 
 anything more. But he collected and read them. In Oc- 
 tober, 1858, he writes to Miss Shirreff: "As I collect 
 every criticism on my work, I wish you would let me 
 know the date of the .... Such things in after years will 
 be very interesting. Besides this, I want my book to get 
 among the mechanics' institutes and the people; and, to 
 tell you the honest truth, I would rather be praised in 
 
 18 24th October, 1857. 19 September, 1861. 
 
CRITICISM. 125 
 
 popular and, as you rightly call them, vulgar papers, than 
 
 in scholarly publications. The and are no 
 
 judges of the critical value of what I have doije ; but they 
 are admirable judges of its social consequences among 
 their own class of readers. And these are they whom I 
 am now beginning to touch, and whom I wish to move." 
 
 The greater number of the objections brought against 
 his arguments by the various reviewers would, taken to- 
 gether, almost answer each other ; and any one who might 
 feel inclined to try will find a list of them at the end of 
 this work. Buckle publicly answered only one, 20 which 
 he selects because of the " marvelous ignorance " it dis- 
 plays, and which he uses as a vehicle to warn the public 
 against lending too much weight to such ephemeral pro- 
 ductions. But to his friends and privately he justified 
 himself against attack. Thus, he wrote " a long letter to 
 Dr. Lyon Playfair 21 in answer to one just received respect- 
 ing my chemical views of cheap food " ; wrote 2a " a long 
 letter to Vice-Chancellor "Wood in answer to a long letter 
 from him objecting to my superiority of intellectual 
 laws"; and again, "to Professor "Wheatstone, justifying 
 my assertion that Malus discovered the polarization of 
 light." 
 
 u 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 31st October, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAK VICE-CHANCELLOR : 23 1 can not sufficiently 
 thank you for your interesting letter interesting inasmuch 
 as it deals with a most important subject which has cost 
 me some years of anxious reflection ; and, interesting in a 
 
 20 " History of Civilization," vol. ii., p. 5, note 6. 
 
 21 October 18th, 1857. M November 1st, 1857. 
 
 23 Lord Hatherley. 
 
126 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 narrower and personal point of view, because it shows the 
 kindly feeling with which you regard my inquiries, even 
 where you differ with their result. I have been for some 
 time,- partly from severe mental suffering, and partly from 
 overwork, so reduced in strength as to be incapable of sus- 
 tained application ; and, although I am now steadily gain- 
 ing ground, quite unequal to enter into so elaborate an 
 argument as your objections require. 
 
 " Indeed, it would under any circumstances be impos- 
 sible for me, within the limits of a letter, to make any re- 
 ply worth your listening to. I can only hope that at some 
 future day we may have an opportunity of talking the 
 subject over, when I flatter myself that I should convince 
 you not that I am right (for our methods of investigation 
 are too different to admit of unanimity of result) but that 
 I am not altogether and thoroughly wrong in ascribing the 
 progress of society to intellectual laws rather than moral 
 ones. 
 
 "In reference to the individual, I have always ad- 
 mitted the superiority of the moral elements, which I as 
 strenuously deny in reference to the organization of soci- 
 ety. I have not made the admission in my book, simply 
 because my inquiry has nothing to do with the individual, 
 but is solely concerned with the dynamics of masses. Thus, 
 for instance, when I say that the marriages annually con- 
 tracted by a nation are uninfluenced by personal considera- 
 tions, I am surely justified in a scientific point of view in 
 making this statement ; because, although each individual 
 is moved by such considerations, we find that they are in- 
 visible in the mass, and that the laws of food govern the 
 phenomenon in its totality. 
 
CRITICISM. 127 
 
 i 
 
 " This way of putting it is, I am afraid, very unsatis- 
 factory as must be the case in all attempts to defend a 
 complicated paradox (for paradox it is) in %. few words, 
 and at a short notice, and, moreover, with diminished 
 powers for I have not energy left to reopen the great 
 question. Still, I would not delay a post in answering 
 your very kind letter and thanking you heartily for it. 
 
 " The mass of national marriages is no doubt immedi- 
 ately determined by the mass of personal consideration. 
 But this, which in the individual is the supreme cause, is 
 in the mass only the proximate cause. 
 
 " Scientifically, we always look at the most remote 
 cause, or the highest generalization, which in this case 
 resolves itself into the physical laws of food. Here, as in 
 many other things, there is an antagonism between prac- 
 tice (which deals with the most proximate causes) and sci- 
 ence (which deals with the most remote ones)." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 2d November, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAK VICE-CHANCELLOR : Since I wrote to you 
 on Saturday night, it has occurred to me to make two 
 remarks : The first is, that in from (I should suppose) 
 fifteen to twenty different reviews which I have seen of 
 my work, I do not remember that a single attack is made 
 upon my assertion respecting the superiority of intellectual 
 laws. The other remark I wish to make is, that in what 
 I am told are generally considered to be the two ablest 
 articles my theory is distinctly admitted. 
 
 " The < Saturday Keview,' July 11, p. 39, says : < We 
 think that Mr. Buckle makes good his point. The primary 
 cause of progress is in the intellect, but the subordinate 
 
128 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 cause that is, moral motives modifying the primary 
 cause indefinitely.' And the writer adds, what I fully 
 admit, that such modifications are enormous, and until they 
 are ascertained the science is incomplete. 
 
 " The ' "Westminster Review ' for October says, p. 396, 
 1 We may then very seriously regret, as Mr. Buckle does, 
 the common notions of the influence of moral principle on 
 the progress of civilization.' 
 
 " "Who wrote the article in the { Saturday Review ' I 
 do not know ; a4 but the article in the ' "Westminster ' was 
 written by an Oxford clergyman of considerable reputa- 
 tion, and, as such, not likely to be prejudiced in my favor. 
 
 " These facts show that among thinking men the bal- 
 ance of opinion is not so entirely against me as you sup- 
 pose ; and you will perhaps forgive me if I add that they 
 may possibly induce you to reconsider some expressions in 
 your letter which, on second reading of it, struck me more 
 than they did at first. You object against me the con- 
 fidence of my language, and yet you do not scruple your- 
 self to pronounce conclusions, which I have arrived at 
 honestly and with great labor, to be glaring fallacies. I 
 have said, and I deliberately repeatj that my inferences 
 are from my point of view (that is, an investigation of the 
 remote and PRIMARY causes of civilization) impregnable. 
 Unless the ordinary and received methods of argument are 
 erroneous, I am satisfied that the superiority of the intel- 
 lectual laws is proved both a priori and a posteriori ; and 
 I am equally satisfied that this is only applicable to the 
 progress of society, but that in regard to the individual the 
 superiority of the moral laws may be proved as decisively. 
 
 84 It was Mr. Sandars, whom he soon after met at Mr. Parker's. 
 
CRITICISM. 129 
 
 " Yon will, I trust, accept this second letter as an evi- 
 dence of the value which I attach to your opinion. If I 
 cared less for your judgment, I should write Igss earnestly ; 
 but I can not sit down quietly under the conviction that 
 able and upright men believe me to have asserted doctrines 
 which are erroneous, and which nothing but their palpable 
 absurdity prevents from being pernicious. 
 
 "You say that printing diffused moral truths, and 
 hence caused progress. This is quite true ; but, if the in- 
 tellect invented the printing, it follows that the result is 
 due to the original mover. If I push a man against you 
 and kill you, who is the cause of the death ? The proxi- 
 mate cause is the man pushed, but the real cause is the man 
 who pushes. The object of all science is to rise from 
 proximate causes to more remote ones, while in practice 
 (which concerns the individual, and deals, not with the 
 science, but with the art of life) the safest course is to look 
 at what is proximate. Therefore I hold that in the former 
 case the intellectual laws are supreme : in the latter case 
 the moral laws. To return to my illustration : in practice 
 you would save your life by avoiding the man who was 
 pushed against you; but in criminal law (which is, or 
 rather ought to be, a science) you would direct your at- 
 tention to the more remote cause, and prosecute the man 
 who pushed. Here is the antagonism between science and 
 art which lies at the root of many of my speculations." 25 
 
 25 Of the reviews I have seen, Buckle's view on the superiority of intel- 
 lectual laws is attacked in the following : 
 
 EEVIEW. PUBLISHED. MONTH. YEAB. 
 
 " Edinburgh Review " .... Edinburgh, April, 1858 
 
 " Blackwood's Magazine " November, 1858 
 
 " Fraser's Magazine " September, 1859 
 
 9 
 
130 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 5fh May, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : 2<t In our conversation last night you 
 remarked that, in speaking of Malus as the discoverer of 
 the c polarization of light,' I had used a mode of expres- 
 sion which was not used by any writer of authority, and, 
 on my suggesting that Biot had so expressed himself, you 
 said that he was careful to qualify the statement as 'polari- 
 zation of light ~by reflection? 
 
 " Of course I admitted at once, what indeed is known to 
 every one interested in these subjects, that Malus's dis- 
 covery was as you stated it ; but I still venture to think 
 that there was nothing unusual in my way of putting it. 
 I now find on referring to Biot's ' Life of Malus ' (' Bio- 
 graphie Universelle,' vol. xxvi., p. 410) that M. Biot uses 
 the very words which I have employed, without the word 
 reflection. He says : Malus ' auteur d'une des plus impor- 
 tantes decouvertes de la physique, celle de la polarisation 
 de la lumiere, naquit a Paris,' etc. 
 
 " Besides this, M. Pouillet, in his f Elemens de Phy- 
 sique ' (vol. ii., part ii., p. 484, Paris, 1832) says that Malus 
 ' decouvrit en 1810 la polarisation de la lumiere.' 
 
 " Neither of these eminent authorities thinks it neces- 
 sary to qualify his statement ; and I do not see how any 
 
 EBVIEW. PUBLISHED. MONTH. YBAB. 
 
 " Dublin University Magazine " January, 1858 
 
 " National Review " January, 1858 
 
 " North American Review ". . . Boston, . October, 1858 
 
 Ibid October, 1861 
 
 "The Christian Examiner ". . . Boston, . March, 1858 
 
 Ibid January, 1863 
 
 " The Bradford Keview " March, 1860 
 
 The letter to Lord Hatherley was written 2d November, 1857. 
 
 26 Sir Charles Wheatstone. 
 
LETTER TO ME. PAEKEE. 131 
 
 one can be fairly accused of inaccuracy in following their 
 example. 
 
 " I would not have troubled you with this- letter except 
 that your kindness in suggesting what you thought a neces- 
 sary alteration in my work makes me wish to testify the 
 respect I feel for any opinion of yours, and makes me also 
 desire to prevent your supposing that I retain what I have 
 written out of mere obstinacy. I confess, too, that I should 
 be sorry if able and accomplished men were to believe that 
 I would write on the history of physical science without 
 having properly qualified myself to do so. 
 
 " Sincerely thanking you for the interest you take in 
 what I have done, 
 
 " I am, dear sir, with much regard, 
 " Yery truly yours, 
 
 "HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE." 
 
 , 18th July, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : " Your two letters of the 7th and 
 llth did not reach me till some ten days after they were 
 written, as I have been exploring out-of-the-way parts of 
 Cornwall, and could not calculate my movements precisely, 
 so had to wait for my letters at Penzance. 
 
 " I have now read the articles in the * Athenaeum ' and 
 ' Saturday Review.' Of the former I say nothing, be- 
 cause it is an attack upon my book, and no man is a fair 
 judge in his own cause. In regard to the < Saturday Ke- 
 view,' the writer has shown considerable skill in grasping 
 the salient points, and, I think, has exercised remarkable 
 discretion in giving no extracts. Whoever he may be, he 
 
 87 Mr. Parker. 
 
132 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 is unquestionably a man of very considerable ability and 
 power of analysis. 
 
 " I do not know if any other notices have appeared. 
 On the 23d and 24th I shall be in Bristol, where I have 
 . directed my next batch of letters to be sent." 
 
 1 'BRIGHTON, 10th October, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAK CAPEL : I return Mrs. Huth's note, which 
 I am much pleased to read. You rightly judge that I as- 
 sign considerable weight to any opinion expressed by 
 thinking women, and in this instance I have, of course, 
 special reasons for doing so, as to praise her opinion is to 
 praise my own work and thus do we delude ourselves ! 
 
 " I agree with you about ' Eraser.' Indeed, the only 
 real judgment of my book is that in the ' Saturday Ee- 
 
 view ' ; 38 and even there the writer has not stated the 
 
 ' 
 
 fundamental principles of my method viz., that political 
 economy and statistics form the only means of bridging 
 | over the chasm that separates the study of nature from the 
 study of mind. I wish, too, that I could get a well-written 
 article in a scientific journal not one reviewer having 
 grappled (either by way of attack or defense) with my 
 more strictly physical views." 
 
 "The 'Westminster' reviewer 80 brings two special 
 charges against me. He says, first, That in the latter part 
 
 28 July llth, 1857, and "Eraser" for October, 1857. They were both, 
 however, by the same hand Mr. Bandars. 
 
 89 A little before his death one such review appeared, not in a scientific 
 journal, but in "Blackwood's Magazine " (November, 1861, vol. xc., No. 553, 
 pp. 582-596), entitled " Mr. Buckle's Scientific Errors "but which is itself, 
 apart from other matter, full of errors of mere statement. 
 
 30 For October, 1857, vol. xii., new series, Art. No. iv., pp. 375-899. 
 
LETTER TO MR. CAPEL. 133 
 
 of my volume I violate my own method, and write deduc- 
 tively instead of inductively ; and, second, That, while I 
 deny the importance of individuals, I ascribe the greatest 
 effects to Louis XIY. 
 
 " I answer : First, That in the first five chapters I es- 
 tablish certain principles by induction, and in the next 
 nine chapters verify these by a deductive application ; and 
 that this is not an infringement of my method, but a 
 necessary change of it, inasmuch as the alteration of aim 
 requires an alteration of treatment. The ' Principia ' are 
 partly inductive and partly deductive, but who on that 
 account ever charged Newton with inconsistencies ? They 
 alone are inconsistent who do not change their scheme if 
 the change of plan demand it. 
 
 " To the second objection I say that I only ascribe a 
 transient influence to Louis XIY., since his work was un- 
 done by the reaction of the eighteenth century. So that 
 my general proposition still holds good viz., that in the 
 long run (or on the great average of affairs) individuals 
 count for nothing. Besides this, I distinctly state, in 
 Chapter xi., that the way was prepared by the Protective 
 Spirit for Louis XIY. ; so that even his transient influence 
 was partly due to the action of those general causes which 
 governed the march of the French mind. 
 
 " I shall remain here probably till the last week in 
 October, and then return to Oxford Terrace. I am cer- 
 tainly better, and am able to write a little of my second 
 volume. I am now engaged on the first chapter, which 
 contains an analysis of Spanish civilization, and of the 
 causes and consequences of the influence of the Church in 
 Spain." 
 
134 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " TUNBEIDGE WELLS, 13th August, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : I am afraid I can't help you about 
 the quotations. It is se long since I paid attention to 
 these matters, and, to say the truth, it is the last point 
 upon which I had expected to be attacked. You were 
 shrewd enough about the authorship of the article in the 
 c Quarterly ' you know your own trade-mark. 81 I wish 
 you had told me how you enjoyed your trip. I am quite 
 well, and working very hard at Scotland a tough morsel. 
 
 " I am almost sure you will find something in * Wet- 
 stein.' " 
 
 "59 OXFOED TEEEACE, 5th August, 1857. 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : Thanks for your note, but I don't 
 feel inclined to supply the American gentlemen with the 
 information about myself in this indirect manner. They 
 have both the power and the right to reprint my book in 
 any way they choose, but the notes are so voluminous that, 
 unless they appoint some competent editor, the volume will 
 swarm with blunders, and in such case I shall, for my own 
 reputation, disavow it by public advertisement. In works 
 of this character the usual course has been with the most 
 respectable American publishers to communicate directly 
 with the author or with his publishers. I mean this has 
 been the course if they required any aid or information ; 
 but it is quite unusual for them to get their information 
 by applying indirectly, and obtaining what they want 
 through the author's friends. If the American publishers 
 have any proposal to make, and will write to me, I shall 
 be anxious to meet them in a fair and liberal spirit, so far 
 
 31 Mr. Capel was a clergyman. 
 
r?; 
 
 fcTdtftfrMinrf 
 
 LETTER TO THEODOl 
 
 as is consistent with the interest of my publishers, to 
 whom, of course, I shall refer the matter. . . . 
 
 "Parker's account of my book.is very satisfactory, and 
 additional copies have been recently taken by Mudie, 
 making twelve in all. About a week ago twenty-five 
 copies were sent out to America on speculation." 
 
 Messrs. Appleton reprinted his first volume without 
 giving him anything ; afterward, when the second volume 
 was published, they sent him perhaps <50. 3a He after- 
 ward wrote to Mr. Theodore Parker as follows : 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 9th July, 1858. 
 
 "Mr DEAR SIR: Absence from town prevented me 
 from receiving till yesterday your very kind and friendly 
 letter. I certainly shall not venture to write upon the 
 civilization of your noble country until I have visited it, 
 and satisfied myself in regard to many matters respecting 
 which books (as you truly say) supply no adequate informa- 
 tion. Indeed, in the national character of every really 
 great people there is a certain shape and color which can 
 not be recognized at a distance. But, at present, I am 
 exclusively occupied with an analysis of the civilization of 
 Spain and Scotland, which I hope to publish early next 
 year ; and, should I fulfill that expectation, I shall hope to 
 visit America in the summer of 1859. 
 
 " In regard to Scotland, the leading facts are its reli- 
 gious intolerance and the absence of municipal spirit dur- 
 ing the middle ages. The causes of these phenomena I 
 have attempted to generalize. 
 
 " Spain I have almost finished, but I find a difficulty 
 
 32 "Atlantic Monthly," p. 495. 
 
136 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 in collecting evidence respecting the rapid decline of that 
 country during the reigns of Philip III., Philip IV., and 
 Charles II. In investigating the causes of the decline 
 (both remote and proximate) I trust that I have not been 
 wholly unsuccessful. In Mr. Ticknor's singularly valuable 
 6 History of Spanish Literature ' there is more real infor- 
 mation than can be found in any of the many Spanish his- 
 tories that I have had occasion to read. 
 
 " You mention a book on America by a Pole as being 
 important, but I can not quite decipher his name. I 
 should be very glad to buy it, and if you would take the 
 trouble to send its title either to me or to your London 
 bookseller, with a request that he should forward it to me, 
 you would render me a service. 
 
 u I do not like reading at public libraries, and I pur- 
 chase nearly all the books which I use. I have at present 
 about 20,000 volumes. 
 
 " I believe you correspond with Mr. Chapman ; if so, 
 would you kindly beg him to send me any criticisms which 
 appear in America on my book ? You ought to know of 
 some which he would not be aware of. 
 
 "Some time ago I received from an American pub- 
 lisher a request that I would write my life. At that time 
 I was very unwell, worn from overwork, and harassed by 
 domestic anxiety. I also thought the form of the request 
 rather blunt, and from all these causes I was induced to 
 return a somewhat curt answer, and one very foreign to 
 my usual habits. But you and I are no longer strangers to 
 each other, and I willingly send you the particulars which 
 you desire for your friend. 
 
 " I was born at Lee, in Kent, on the 24rth of Novem- 
 
LETTER TO THEODORE PARKER. 137 
 
 her, 1822. My father was a merchant. His name was 
 Thomas Henry Buckle, and he was descended from a 
 family one of whom was well known as Lozd Mayor of 
 London in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He died in 
 1840. My mother, who still lives, was a Miss Middleton, 
 of the Yorkshire Middletons. 
 
 " As a boy my health was extremely delicate, and my 
 parents were fortunately guided by that good and wise 
 man Dr. Birkbeck (whose name I believe is not unknown 
 in America), who forbad my receiving any education that 
 would tax the brain. 
 
 " This prevented me from being, in the common sense 
 of the word, educated, and also prevented my going to 
 college. When I was in my eighteenth year iny father 
 died (January, 1840), and left me in independent circum- 
 stances, in a pecuniary point of view. 
 
 " My health steadily improved, and to this moment I 
 had read little except ' Shakespeare,' ' The Arabian Nights,' 
 and Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Progress,' three books on which 
 I literally feasted. 
 
 "Between the ages of eighteen and nineteen I con- 
 ceived the plan of my book dimly indeed but still the 
 plan was there, and I set about its execution. From the 
 age of nineteen I have worked on an average nine to ten 
 hours daily. My method was this : In the morning I usu- 
 ally studied physical science, in the forenoon languages 
 (of which till the age of nineteen I was deplorably igno- 
 rant), and the rest of the day history and jurisprudence ; 
 in the evening general literature. I have always steadily 
 refused to write in reviews, being determined to give up 
 my life to a larger purpose. 
 
138 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 " I have, therefore, produced nothing except the first 
 volume of my ' History,' and the ' Lecture on the Influ- 
 ence of Women.' 
 
 " This, I think, is all you requested me to communi- 
 cate. Any further information which your friend may re- 
 quire will be much at his service. I should always feel it 
 a pleasure and a privilege to hear from you." 33 
 
 It is time, however, that we should pause a little to 
 consider the history which was emphatically Buckle's Life. 
 
 33 Weiss's " Life of Theodore Parker," pp. 468, 469, L 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Carelessness of Critics Free Will Greater Laws including Lesser Influence 
 of Circumstances Mental Laws the Key of History in Europe Compara- 
 tive Influence of Intellectual and Moral Progress The Claims of Eeligion, 
 Literature, and Government as Civilizers The History of the World too 
 vast to be undertaken at present by One Man Why England is chosen 
 Plan of the Body of the " History "The Qualities needed by the Historian 
 Mournful Forebodings. 
 
 ENOUGH has been said of the reception of the "His- 
 tory of Civilization," but a few words will be of use on its 
 conception. No fragment indeed, before or since, has ever 
 made so deep an impression. The boldness of its generali- 
 zations, the vast learning, the singularly clear and simple 
 style, together with the intimation that the reader had be- 
 fore him in that weighty volume but a part of an introduc- 
 tion to a work, must inevitably excite a world-wide curi- 
 osity. The way in which Buckle said what he thought, de- 
 spite ancient prejudices and traditions, greatly captivated 
 the mass and equally excited the anger of the dull and me- 
 chanic plodder, who is at once ignorant enough to consider 
 himself the salt of the earth, and torpid enough to be posi- 
 tively hurt by any jog to the even run of his ideas in their 
 accustomed groove. But the very beauty and perfection of 
 this fragment exposed it to the attack of disingenuous foes, 
 as well as to that class of careless readers, who, misled by the 
 beauty of the outline, considered and criticised it as though 
 
140 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 it were a finished drawing. " Mr. Buckle has not proved 
 this, and not proved that," they say ; " He has omitted to 
 mention this, and forgotten to give due effect to the 
 other " ; as though, forsooth, the work were finished and 
 the proof were done. As well might we blame Fielding 
 for the preference Mrs. Blyfil shows for Tom Jones to her 
 own son. It is only necessary to consider that we know the 
 author's plan better than he does himself, and omit to read 
 the finish of his novel. Moreover, since these critics are 
 unaccustomed to look at history in a scientific spirit, and 
 are smarting under the free use of Buckle's surgical knife 
 to their social and literary excrescences, they are, perhaps, 
 and not unnaturally, very anxious to find fault. Despite 
 many worthy exceptions, we too often see death preferred 
 to an honorable surrender, and the pitiful spectacle is pre- 
 sented to us of minds, capable enough, reduced by their 
 narrow education to carping criticism. Men who under- 
 take the office of critic should at least take the trouble to 
 understand their author, and not blame Buckle, as, for 
 instance, M. von Oettingen does, when really he is himself 
 to blame. M. von Oettingen has only failed to under- 
 stand Buckle, and hence I choose this instance in prefer- 
 ence to others, in which I might be led into saying harsh 
 things upon certain authors who wander out of their 
 course to gratify their appetite of revenge, and indulge 
 in this happiness unhurt, only because such criticisms are 
 ephemeral, and must fall from very rottenness before the 
 advance of knowledge. The instance I take from M. von 
 Oettingen is a very typical one. He talks of Buckle's 
 " dilletante manner," and then blames him for his asser- 
 tion that, " In round numbers . .. . for every twenty girls, 
 
CARELESSNESS OF CEITICS. 
 
 there are twenty-one boys born. . . . Does he not know," 
 says Yon Oettingen, " that, if the still-born are included, 
 the proportion should be expressed as twenty-two and 
 twenty-two hundredths of a boy ? " * It is a pity that M. 
 von Oettingen, who is an able and laborious man, should 
 not have taken a little more care in first ascertaining what 
 point Buckle wished to illustrate in mentioning these num- 
 bers. Supposing he had been utterly wrong about the 
 births, and said that more girls were born than boys, what 
 on earth would it have mattered ? All he wishes to show 
 is that a law was discovered by the method of statistical 
 inquiry, or observation of the mass, which could not be 
 discovered by observation on the individual; and how 
 would the mistake we have supposed have affected this ? 
 Again, how often have I seen, not only in contemporary 
 reviews, but in the current literature of the day, an utter 
 confusion as to the sense in which Buckle uses the word 
 skepticism f And yet he has himself defined it more than 
 once a as the spirit of doubt which makes us question our- 
 selves as to our knowledge ; and not merely religious skep- 
 ticism, which is but a part of it. "Without this no one 
 can advance, for every one is satisfied with what he knows. 
 The same applies to Sir H. S. Maine's terrible warning 
 concerning Buckle's imprudence in ascribing the low state 
 of Indian civilization to the fact that their principal food 
 is rice, which, he says, is not the case. If Sir H. Maine 
 had read his author more carefully he would have seen 
 that Buckle was not mistaken, that he did not depend 
 solely on old travelers for his information, but that, among 
 
 1 " Moralstatistik," p. 49, 1874. 
 
 a " History of Civilization," e. g., vol. L, p. 308. 
 
142 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 many other authorities, the frequent mention of rice as 
 the chief article of diet in their ancient codes of law 
 shows its great and general importance. However, let us 
 suppose for the moment that Sir H. Maine is right on this 
 point ; again Buckle's argument would stand. For, in the 
 first place, whatever the food, there is no doubt it was 
 cheap ; in the second, this is only one among many 
 causes; and, thirdly, India is only one instance among 
 many countries of the same chain of causes producing the 
 same effect. 
 
 This prevalence of misconception, which is chiefly 
 due, as I have already said, to the fragmentary state of 
 the work on the one hand, which supplies only one side 
 of the proof, and on the other to the want of reiteration 
 of proof and example which would have been supplied in 
 the body of the work, has induced me to give a condensed 
 account of Buckle's work, with a sketch of the general 
 plan. One thing, however, the reader should bear in 
 mind : it is hardly to be expected that I, with inferior 
 powers, should be able to write in a few pages what 
 Buckle, with his vastly superior powers and great com- 
 mand of language, required two volumes, and more, 
 adequately to state. What I have done is merely to show 
 what the plan of his history was as nearly as can be ascer- 
 tained. In some cases, indeed, I have attempted to sup- 
 ply additional illustrations on those points which have 
 been most criticised ; but nowhere have I attempted to 
 strengthen his authorities, for which the reader must turn 
 to what is extant of the " History of Civilization." 
 
 Buckle begins his inquiry into the laws of civilization 
 with an investigation into the possibility of the actions of 
 
FREE WILL. 143 
 
 man being determined by natural laws. If they are not 
 the result of fixed laws, then they must be due to chance 
 or to supernatural interference, and thus, bejug by their 
 nature capricious, can never be predicted, and the actions 
 of mankind can therefore never be raised to a science. 
 If, for instance, on dissecting animals we found that dif- 
 ferent individuals had a great variety of organs, arranged 
 in no particular order, and sometimes one set present and 
 sometimes another, anatomy could never have been raised 
 to a science. If, again, the chemist found that under the 
 same conditions the same reactions did not take place, or 
 that, in other words, the elements possessed a will of their 
 own to combine how they liked, chemistry could never 
 have been raised to a science. In the same way, if man- 
 kind are wholly uninfluenced by their general constitution 
 and the circumstances in which they are placed, their 
 actions can never be predicted, and can therefore never be 
 raised to a science. 
 
 Now, this preliminary question resolves itself simply 
 into this : Are our actions the result of free will ; or are 
 they all preordained ; or are they neither the one nor the 
 other, but simply the result of what has gone before ? If 
 I take up my hat and go for a walk, is my will the cause ; 
 or has it been preordained that so many thousand years 
 after the creation of the world an individual should exist, 
 who at a certain period of his life should take that par- 
 ticular walk ? or is it not rather the result of my consti- 
 tution and the influence of external matters, such as the 
 physiological want of air and exercise, the condition of 
 leisure, my power of walking, my education, the fact that 
 I have an overcoat, or perhaps that it is a fine day, or that 
 
144 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 I have a friend to visit, and a thousand and one causes 
 that no person can possibly fully weigh ? Even should I 
 toss up whether I shall go out, is not that action again 
 determined by a similar series of causes ? Even if there 
 be such a power as free will, it is most certain that it is 
 closely hedged about and subordinated to the action of its 
 circumstances. It may be visible in the individual, but in 
 the mass is nowhere to be seen. The progress of man- 
 kind is like that of a ship full of passengers, ever moving 
 onward in the same direction, sometimes retarded, and 
 sometimes assisted by the weather, while the individual 
 passengers may walk a little forward or a little backward, 
 or sit, or sleep, and still progress. This is what we see in 
 the statistical mirror of our actions : under the same cir- 
 cumstances, the same results ; given the antecedents, the 
 result can be predicted an impossible consequence were 
 our actions undetermined by their antecedents. "While, 
 therefore, the theory of predestination can only be ad- 
 vanced under the admission that God is bad, and while 
 free will can only be advanced under the supposition that 
 one particular state of consciousness is always true 3 while 
 others are not, the theory that our actions are caused by 
 what has happened to us before by which, of course, 
 is meant our inherited internal machinery, the circum- 
 stances which have influenced our education, and the act- 
 ual circumstances amid which we are placed is not only 
 highly probable in itself, but is borne out by the only 
 method we have at present for showing it statistics and 
 history. For in such matters the observation of one in- 
 
 3 See, for a fuller explanation, the " History of Civilization," vol. i., pp. 
 12-16. 
 
FREE WILL. 145 
 
 dividual upon himself is so liable to individual perturba- 
 tions that observations conducted in this way can never be 
 relied upon to do more than confirm conclusions arrived 
 at by a larger method. Conclusions arrived at from the 
 fact that they explain history and statistics are not di- 
 rectly proved, indeed, but they are proved in the same 
 way as Newton proved the theory of gravity, and rest on 
 as assured a ground as the theory of biological evolution. 
 
 Surely, if free will exists, and mankind are uninflu- 
 enced by their antecedents, it is a marvelous thing that 
 we can predict what, under given circumstances, men will 
 do; that we can predict the numbers of persons who 
 will marry in a given year as easily as the number that 
 will be born ; that we can predict, not only the number 
 of people who, driven to desperation, or in a moment of 
 madness, will put an end to their own lives, but that most 
 of them will do so in June, on a Monday, at about mid- 
 night, and how many will cut their throats, or hang, or 
 shoot, or drown themselves ; that year after year a crime 
 like murder, so often committed in a mere fit of passion, 
 and so often again long premeditated and carefully 
 planned, should year after year occur with a regularity 
 which is simply inexplicable on the theory that such 
 deeds are uninfluenced by external laws ; that year after 
 year the same number of octogenarians will marry; and 
 that even the same number of persons yearly forget to 
 address their letters before posting them. 
 
 It is not that, should the man, whom circumstances 
 force to suicide, not kill himself, some one else is doomed, 
 but that the man can not escape so long as the circum- 
 stances are unchanged. We can picture to ourselves such 
 
 10 
 
14:6 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 things in this way : If a crowd is closely encircled by a 
 wall, the number of people next the wall is only regulated 
 by the circumference ; but the individuals next it are de- 
 termined by their relative strength, the position they held 
 to begin with, and their like or dislike of their position. 
 " But," it is objected by those who argue for free will, " in 
 every class of affairs only a certain number of actions are 
 possible, and hence we must always find certain of them 
 occurring with regularity, provided that we take a suffi- 
 ciently large number or a long enough time." Mr. Drum- 
 mond, who advocates this view, instances the throws of 
 dice, " which when narrowly viewed seem utterly capri- 
 cious, are found, when our observations are allowed a suffi- 
 ciently wide sweep, to pass under the dominion of fixed 
 rules." 4 In the first place we may object that, did we 
 know all the antecedents of the individual throw, such as 
 the original position of the dice in the box, their weight, 
 the number of times they are turned over, the friction, the 
 angle at which they are thrown out, the height and the 
 length of the box, we might predict the throw, and that, 
 therefore, if we take the word " chance " in the strictest 
 sense, no cast of dice can be said to be due to chance. 
 And, as concerns the application of this illustration to 
 mankind, we are not at present interested to show that 
 their actions can be predicted, but that they do not origi- 
 nate from bare free will, and that they are due to various 
 motives. However, we can afford to waive this objection 
 because a direct connection has been fully shown between 
 circumstances and the actions of mankind. If Mr. Drum- 
 mond's theory were true, and the actions of mankind were 
 
 4 "Free Will in Relation to Statistics," p. 16. 
 
FREE WILL. 147 
 
 no more subject to their antecedents than impossible dice 
 from an impossible box, then, despite such calamities as 
 famine and war, among the same number of people in a 
 good length of time, the same actions should occur with 
 their wonted regularity. But how stands the fact ? Mar- 
 riage, which being a legal act is more certainly registered 
 than any other class of human deeds, is found to be affect- 
 ed in a way that can not be gainsaid : when the prosperity 
 of a country decreases, from whatever cause, marriages 
 become fewer between young people, and old people ob- 
 tain for their money young husbands or wives. 
 
 It is needless to give more such instances of a direct 
 connection of antecedents with human actions, for they 
 have been patent to all who seek them for the last twenty 
 years. But those who admit a causal connection between 
 circumstances and actions still stand up for a certain 
 amount of free will. Yon Oettingen, and even Drummond 
 in another place, admits this causal connection, but seeks 
 to explain its compatibility with the exercise of choice. 6 
 Yon Oettingen seeks to explain the regularity of man's 
 
 5 Thus, Yon Oettingen says : " Gerade well der freie Wille keine acciden- 
 telle, sondern ein constante und nach gewissen Gesetzen der Motivation 
 wirkende Ursache ist, miissen auch die dieser Ursache proportionalen Wir- 
 kungen eine bei richtiger Analyse und Gruppirung unverkennbare gesetz- 
 massige Constanz hervortreten lassen." " Moralstatistik," p. 126. And so 
 Drummond : " The most zealous advocate of the doctrine of free will must 
 admit that man's freedom moves within very narrow limits. . . . Nor does 
 the doctrine of free will teach that we can act without motives. . . . Upon 
 this point, then, the Necessarian and the Free-Wilier are at one : both allow 
 that man always acts from a motive. The former, however, asserts that he 
 must always obey the stronger ; the latter accords to him a choice involving 
 moral responsibility, between the better and the worse. . . . The mind, in 
 short, is a living force ; by its own act it throws its weight into the scale, 
 and by joining itself to any one motive gives this the preponderance over 
 all the rest." "Free Will," etc., pp. 8, 9. 
 
148 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 actions by the supposition that man is so made that he 
 wills to act according to laws, and which he calls the law 
 of God's providence. 6 He does not seem to see that this 
 is a mere sophism, and really means absolute absence of 
 true free will. Mr. Drummond, again, does not seem to 
 see that if the man obeys the apparently weaker of two 
 impulses by throwing the weight of his mind into the 
 scale, that this is nothing more than saying that a man's 
 actions are determined by a variety of antecedents, among 
 which are his constitution and education. To return to 
 our former illustration : these writers see that by the nature 
 of things a certain number of people must be next the in- 
 closing wall, but they will not admit but that it is a free 
 matter of choice to each whether he will be next the wall 
 or no. 
 
 This is not fatalism, though it has been frequently mis- 
 taken for it. When the length of the wall is altered, the 
 number next it is different. When the course of the ship 
 is altered, the course of the passengers is also changed. 
 But no one man can effect a change of this sort. The 
 mass is too weighty to be moved by his puny strength. 
 Free will there is, in the sense that each one seeks to satisfy 
 his individual wants ; wants which are incompatible with 
 the wants of others clash and are annihilated, while wants 
 which do not clash are a part of the general progress. If 
 all are agreed to alter the course of the ship for Australia, 
 it can not be done if no one knows where Australia is, nor 
 if the provisions will not hold out, nor if the ship is a sail- 
 
 6 " Moralstatistik," p. 747, among others. " Welches wir das Gesetz 
 gottlicher Providers oder vaterlich heiliger Liebe nennen konnen," or a modi- 
 fication of Leibnitz's philosophy. 
 
GREATER LAWS INCLUDING LESSER. 149 
 
 ing-vessel and the wind is strongly against it. No change 
 in the number of murderers will take place so long as the 
 causes which produce murder are unaltered. But they 
 ccm be altered, and are always changing, not indeed 
 merely by alteration of the laws, but by alteration in the 
 general constitution of society. We are wandering, how- 
 ever, beyond what it is necessary to show. It is quite 
 sufficient for Buckle's purpose if it be admitted that there 
 is a causal connection between men's actions and their 
 antecedents. It may be called free will if we like, so long 
 as we admit that, given precisely the same antecedents, 
 the same act will be performed ; and, given similar ante- 
 cedents, similar acts will be performed. This being ad- 
 mitted, we admit the possibility of the science of history, 
 because we admit that men are not different in their action 
 from other parts of our universe, and, consequently, could 
 we obtain a knowledge of their behavior after certain ante- 
 cedents, we may predict their behavior at a future period 
 under similar antecedents. 
 
 Before proceeding further into an inquiry as to how 
 these antecedents relatively affect men's actions, it will be 
 necessary to draw attention to Buckle's method of proced- 
 ure. If we look at the ascertained laws of other sciences, 
 it will be found that there are some laws which it is con- 
 venient to call greater, and others, less ; that is, some laws 
 which include others, as gravitation includes molecular 
 attraction, or those which describe the normal case and 
 leave the minor variations out of account. If, for instance, 
 it were said that all vertebrates have a circulation, that 
 would be perfectly true as a general description, yet the 
 vertebrates have very different kinds of circulation. If, 
 
150 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 again, we were to say that one difference between mankind 
 and the lower animals is that the former can communicate 
 their thoughts to one another in articulate speech, that too 
 would be perfectly true in the main, though some people 
 have not the power of speech. If, again, we say that a 
 stone dropped from a given point will always strike the 
 same spot, this is also true in the main, but the wind may 
 in some cases alter its direction. In these cases we have 
 a perfect right to talk in generalities, just as we have a 
 perfect right to manipulate figures by means of algebrai- 
 cal signs. They are perfectly true, with the understanding 
 that we are talking in generalities. If, then, we wish to 
 describe a general law, it is needless and confusing to set 
 down all its minor details. If we wish to arrive at the 
 acting cause of our motion in space, we take the ultimate 
 cause as high as we can reach it, and leave out of account 
 such minor disturbing causes as the action of the planets. 
 The results thus obtained may not be absolutely true, but 
 it is unquestionable that scientific truths are obtained by 
 these artifices which could not be obtained by endeavoring 
 to include all the factors at once. If a mathematician 
 were to try to work with a line that had breadth, his con- 
 clusions would soon become hopelessly confused. 
 
 There is, in short, even in our present state of knowl- 
 edge, a possibility of determining the grand laws of human 
 progress ; and, as we progress in knowledge, there is no 
 doubt that we shall be able to determine nearer and nearer 
 the conduct of individuals. The mass of beings are gov- 
 erned by laws which we can even now follow. The indi- 
 vidual is influenced by minor laws which we can not -yet 
 determine. It is as if we had discovered the planetary 
 
INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 151 
 
 system, but had not yet discovered that each revolves 
 round its own axis, or was attended by minor satellites 
 governed by their own laws. Given the prosperity of a 
 country and the number of its inhabitants, we can predict 
 the number of marriages which will take place in a year ; 
 but without further knowledge we can not predict which 
 individuals will marry. 
 
 It is the business, then, of a historian to show the causal 
 relation between historical actions and their antecedents. 
 And, since men's antecedents are both internal, or mental, 
 and external, or physical, the earlier qualifications of a his- 
 torian sound nowadays rather ridiculous : " He understood 
 ancient and modern history so exactly as to be master of 
 all the principal names and dates ! " 7 He must, indeed, 
 understand every science, besides the chronicle of men's 
 actions, or how can he do this? No one previously to 
 Buckle did so. Comte had no knowledge of political 
 economy. 8 Mill did not write on history, and our most 
 brilliant historian of modern times knew nothing of natu- 
 ral science and hardly anything of mathematics. 9 For 
 most of the so-called historians, indeed, a disputed pedigree 
 is of far greater importance than the system of thought of 
 the country they are describing. 
 
 Buckle set to work in a different way. He begins by 
 a process of elimination in order to arrive at the highest or 
 most general laws which govern the progress of mankind. 
 Man's progress is influenced by his antecedents. These 
 antecedents are some of them within him, as we have said, 
 
 7 Chalmers's " Biographical Dictionary," Art. Abouzit. 
 
 8 "Philos. Posit," e. g., vol. vi., p. 123. 
 
 9 Trevelyan's " Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay," vol. i., 87, 372, 410. 
 
152 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 and some without ; which of the two has the most influ- 
 ence on his conduct ? Which of the two is the most gen- 
 eral and includes the other ? 10 
 
 Now, there are four classes of physical agents which 
 affect mankind, namely : climate, food, soil, and the gen- 
 eral aspect of nature, all of which are found to exercise 
 a most important influence on civilization, 11 and a prepon- 
 derating influence in tropical countries. In these, such as 
 India, Egypt, and Mexico, the means of supporting life 
 are cheap, on account of the fertility of the soil and the 
 suitability of the climate to the growth of food plants, 
 and the little need of clothing ; with the result that popu- 
 lation increases far beyond the demand for labor, and the 
 price of labor is consequently small. Capital is therefore 
 accumulated in the hands of the few, and a despotism nec- 
 essarily ensues. Moreover, the fierce heat of the sun, the 
 vastness of the oceans, the mighty height of the moun- 
 tains, together with monsoons, tropical storms, the annual 
 
 rise of the Nile, volcanoes, and pther manifestations of the 
 Vx*of a. ^^Jy^^f ^. #+*<v++s*- . 
 
 power of nature, oppess--4ftftttkmd/ w5*b a sense of his - 
 
 insignificance, and-^excite his imagination. A powerful 
 priest]ioed-4s called into being, and the chains of slavery 
 are more firmly riveted. To- thio olacc all the earlier civi- 
 
 10 This division is of course merely arbitrary, for the convenience of 
 classification and elimination ; for a man's constitution is as much due to 
 antecedents lying outside him as are his present circumstances. 
 
 11 Buckle has been much blamed in some quarters for not naming Race 
 among these causes. Such authors forget that race is not a primary cause, 
 but a consequence itself of the causes mentioned. And, though it persists 
 for some time after these causes are changed, it does not do so for as long 
 as is generally supposed ; and, even if it did, the racial characteristics are 
 still not the primary cause, but climate, etc., together with those physical 
 causes which lead to emigration. 
 
INFLUENCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. . 153 
 
 /^^u^o^t^ -ctax* 4C*5t ^ tt-*&tt***' 
 
 lizations Moag, because in such countries a large popula- 
 tion can exist with plenty of leisure, even though the ails 
 of commerce and agriculture be in their infancy. This 
 leisure they can employ in mighty buildings or laborious 
 carvings, or poetry, but science is almost neglected, because 
 the imagination predominates, and it occurs to no one that 
 nature may be led captive. |/vt*^w^ ^AA*/^ 
 
 In Europe, onAe-etkerMnd, greater 'labor is required 
 for the production of f ojod, clothing is necessary, and the 
 cost of living greater. ' Seas, again, are small ; earthquakes 
 are generally light and occur rarely; volcanoes are few, 
 mountains are low, and the sun of comparatively little 
 power. Hence men are not so subject to despotisms, and, 
 losing their awe of nature, they begin to examine her and 
 cultivate science. 
 
 " Hence it is that, looking at the history of the world 
 as a whole, the tendency has been in Europe to subordinate 
 nature to man; out of Europe, to subordinate man to 
 nature. To this there are, in barbarous countries, several 
 exceptions; but in civilized countries the rule has been 
 universal. The great division, therefore, between Euro- 
 pean and non-European civilization is the basis of the phi- 
 losophy of history, since it suggests the important con- 
 sideration that if we would understand, for instance, the 
 history of India, we must make the external world our 
 first study, because it has influenced man more than man 
 has influenced it. If, on the other hand, we would under- 
 stand the history of a country like England or France, we 
 must make man our principal study, because, nature being 
 comparatively weak,' every step in the great progress has 
 increased the dominion of the human mind over the agen- 
 
154 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITDTOS. 
 
 cies of the external world. Even in those countries where 
 the power of man has reached the highest point, the pres- 
 sure of nature is still immense, but it diminishes in each 
 succeeding generation, because our increasing knowledge 
 enables us not so much to control nature as to foretell her 
 movements, and thus obviate many of the evils she would 
 otherwise occasion. ... If, therefore, we take the largest 
 possible view of' the history of Europe, and confine our- 
 selves entirely to the primary cause of its superiority over 
 other parts of the world, we must resolve it into the en- 
 croachment of the mind of man upon the organic and in- 
 organic forces of nature." 
 
 For European civilization, then^ the study of mental 
 laws is necessary; and the effect of nature on mankind 
 is, comparatively, subordinate. How shall these laws be 
 studied ? By the study of individual minds, as the meta- 
 physicians have attempted ? This method Buckle rejected, 
 because he found that the ablest metaphysicians had been 
 led to opposite conclusions according as they adopted the 
 deductive or inductive method of investigation. Those 
 who follow the first say that all men have " the same 
 notion of the good, the true, and the beautiful " ; those 
 who follow the second say " there is no such standard, be- 
 cause ideas depend upon sensations," and sensations upon 
 circumstances. 
 
 An eclectic school is impossible, because no one can 
 mediate between them without being a metaphysician, and 
 no one can be a metaphysician without being either a 
 sensationalist or an idealist; in other words, without be- 
 longing to one of those very parties whose claim he pro- 
 fesses to judge. So long as deductive and inductive rea- 
 
MENTAL LAWS THE KEY OF HISTOEY IN EUROPE. 155 
 
 soning can not be reconciled, so long the subject requires 
 some preliminary difficulties to be removed, or it is not 
 capable of scientific treatment. Moreover, siich a method 
 is unscientific, because it presumes that the peculiarities 
 of the individual are common to all. As well might we 
 expect to discover from the anatomical construction and 
 physiological functions of one man those which are uni- 
 versal, or from the investigation of the course of a par- 
 ticular disease in one individual learn its usual course. 
 There is no reason why we should study the science of man 
 after a different fashion to every other science, and there- 
 fore Buckle, rejecting the individual, studies the mass of 
 mental actions in the only possible way : that is, histori- 
 cally. " It now remains for us to ascertain the manner 
 in which, by the application of this method, the laws of 
 mental progress may be most easilv discovered. If, in the 
 first place, we ask what this progress is, the answer seems 
 very simple that it is a twofold progress, moral and intel- 
 lectual, the first having more immediate relation to our 
 duties, the second to our knowledge. . . . There can be 
 no doubt that a people are not really advancing if, on the 
 one hand, their increasing ability is accompanied by in- 
 creasing vice ; or if, on thfe, other hand, while they are be- 
 coming more virtuous, they/likewise become more ignorant. 
 This double movement, moral and intellectual, is essential 
 to the very idea of civilization, and includes the entire 
 theory of mental progress. ... A question now arises of 
 great moment, namely, "Which of these two parts or ele- 
 ments of mental progress is the more important ? For, the 
 progress itself being the result of their united action, it 
 becomes necessary to ascertain which of them works more 
 
156 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 powerfully, in order that we may subordinate the inferior 
 element to the laws of the superior one." 
 
 This mental progress, moral and intellectual, can not be 
 said to owe anything to inheritance. Such a thing is in- 
 deed possible, but we have no proof whatever of it ; " 
 while, on the other hand, as far as history extends, and in 
 all countries, we have records of men possessing an intel- 
 lectual power which, taken as a whole, has never since 
 been exceeded. Be this as it may, it is indisputable that 
 human progress advances with strides out of all proportion 
 to any possible advance of intellectual power by means 
 of inheritance, and we must therefore look to the causes 
 
 12 Mr. Galton has, indeed, attempted a proof in his " Hereditary Genius." 
 But the attempt, valuable as it is as far as it goes, has failed from the in- 
 herent difficulty of such an investigation, and partly, as it seems to me, on 
 account of the method he adopts. The number of individuals whose history 
 he investigates is small compared to what it should be ; and the biographi- 
 cal material at disposal is lamentably imperfect. It is quite possible that a 
 person may have great intellectual powers and not leave any record of it. 
 It is quite possible, again, that a father who occupies a high position may 
 bring on a commonplace son by superior education and opportunity. Buckle 
 himself had a strong suspicion that superior intellectual power was inherita- 
 ble (" Posthumous Works," vol. i., pp. 326, 593 ; and " Lecture on the In- 
 fluence of Women "). He points out that we must not only inquire " how 
 many instances there are of hereditary talents, etc., but how many instances 
 there are of such qualities not being hereditary " (" History of Civilization," 
 vol. i., p. 161, note 12). The largest view of the question is perhaps that 
 taken by Mr. Herbert Spencer, who points out that negro children educated 
 with whites can only keep up with them up to a certain point, and then fall 
 behind. Mr. Wilson again (" Prehistoric Man," 1876, vol. ii., p. 325) con- 
 siders such evidence not reliable, and due solely to caste prejudice. Lady 
 Duff Gordon, however, who saw with her own eyes, and can not be accused 
 of prejudice, says of a mixed Herrenhut school at Cape Colony of blacks 
 and Bastaards : there " three jet-black niggerlings . . . grinned, and didn't 
 care a straw for spelling ; while the dingy yellow little Bastaards were strain- 
 ing their black eyes out with eagerness to answer the master's questions." 
 (" Last Letters from Egypt, to which are added Letters from the Cape." 
 London, 1875, p. 276.) 
 
INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL PROGRESS. 157 
 
 of tliis advance, not to any possible inheritance, but 
 to the circumstances which surround the infant after 
 birth. .* 
 
 " On this account it is evident that, if we look at man- 
 kind in the aggregate, their moral and intellectual conduct 
 is regulated by the moral and intellectual notions preva- 
 lent in their own time," and " it requires but a superficial 
 acquaintance with history to be aware that this standard is 
 constantly changing, and that it is never precisely the 
 same even in the most similar countries, or in two succes- 
 sive generations of the same country. . . . This extreme 
 mutability in the ordinary standard of human actions 
 shows that the conditions on which the standard depends 
 must themselves be very mutable ; and those conditions, 
 whatever they may be, are evidently the originators of 
 the moral and intellectual conduct of the great average 
 of mankind." When, however, we look at our present 
 knowledge of moral truths, and compare it with the past, 
 there is not a single one of any moment that was not pro- 
 pounded at least two thousand years before Christ. The 
 grand precepts of self-sacrifice, honor your parents, for- 
 give your enemies, restrain your passions, are still unim- 
 proved upon and stationary. " But, if we contrast this sta- 
 tionary aspect of moral truths with the progressive aspects 
 of intellectual truth, the change is indeed startling. All 
 the great moral systems which have exercised much influ- 
 ence have been fundamentally the same; all the great 
 intellectual systems have been fundamentally different." 
 Not only have the moderns made most important addi- 
 tions to every department of knowledge that the ancients 
 ever attempted to study, but they have created sciences, 
 
158 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 the faintest idea of which never entered the mind of the 
 boldest thinker that antiquity ever produced. 
 
 "When, therefore, we know that progress depends upon 
 the advance of moral and intellectual truths, and we find 
 that moral truths are stationary, while intellectual truths 
 are highly progressive, the only conclusion it is possible 
 to draw is, that human progress depends on the advance 
 of intellectual knowledge, and that this advance is inde- 
 pendent of moral knowledge. 
 
 It may be well to notice here a very common objection 
 to Buckle's views, which appears to rest on an imperfect 
 conception of the action of morals. It is urged by Sola- 
 vev and several other reviewers that it is not only new 
 advances in intellectual knowledge that work. Suppose, 
 for instance, that mankind discover a new food say the 
 potato ; that discovery will last for all time in nourishing 
 mankind. So a moral truth is ever new, like the law of 
 gravitation. Moreover, scientific truths exist, and exert 
 an influence over us though we know them not. Gravita- 
 tion existed, and worked the same as now, before we knew 
 it ; and so moral laws may work upon us and increase our 
 civilization, although we may have no distinct perception 
 of their existence. 
 
 This last objection involves a misconception as to 
 what constitutes progress. Putting aside the theological 
 view, there can be but one answer, namely, the attain- 
 ment by mankind of greater happiness on earth. " This 
 
 13 This, of course, does not mean that individuals may not occasionally 
 be made even more unhappy than heretofore ; but it is the greatest happi- 
 ness for the greatest possible number. The abolition of the Corn Laws 
 may have made a certain number of people less comfortable than before, 
 but a far greater number were made more comfortable. The imprisonment 
 
INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL PROGRESS. 159 
 
 can only be done by increasing knowledge of the natural 
 laws, or, in other words, by increasing knowledge of the 
 invariable sequence of forces. As long as we are ignorant 
 of any one, so long are we unable to turn it to our benefit 
 either directly, as in the case of electricity, which we 
 turn to use, or indirectly, as in the case of our knowledge 
 of disease germs, which we ward off. As long as con- 
 ditions remain the same, consequences must remain the 
 same ; electricity has always existed, as far as we know, 
 but it exerted no influence on progress until we knew its 
 laws. 
 
 The other half of the argument is, in short, the asser- 
 tion that a constant force will work an inconstant effect. 
 In reality, moral truths, as compared with intellectual 
 truths, are sterile. Let us compare the two, as we compare 
 the richness of two languages, by taking the highest speci- 
 men of each. The prodigy of intellectual genius makes 
 discoveries and popularizes them. These "acquisitions 
 made by the intellect are in every civilized country care- 
 fully preserved, registered in certain well-understood for- 
 mulas, and protected by the use of technical and scientific 
 language ; they are easily handed down from one genera- 
 tion to another, and, thus assuming an accessible or, as it 
 were, a tangible form, they often influence the most dis- 
 tant posterity ; they become the heirlooms of mankind, the 
 immortal bequest of the genius to which they owe their 
 birth. But the good deeds effected by our moral faculties 
 are less capable of transmission ; they are of a more private 
 and retiring character ; while, as the motives to which they 
 
 of a burglar may make him less happy than before, but his intended vic- 
 tims are saved pain. 
 
160 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 owe their origin are generally the result of self-discipline 
 and of self-sacrifice, they have to be worked out by every 
 man for himself ; and, thus begun by each anew, they de- 
 rive little benefit from the maxims of preceding experience, 
 nor can they well be stored up for the use of future mor- 
 alists. . . . Indeed, if we examine the effects of the most 
 active philanthropy, and of the largest and most disinter- 
 ested kindness, we shall find that those effects are, com- 
 paratively speaking, short-lived ; that there is only a small 
 number of individuals that they come in contact with and 
 benefit ; that they rarely survive the generation which 
 witnessed their commencement ; and that, when they take 
 the more durable form of founding great public charities, 
 such institutions invariably fall, first into abuse, then into 
 decay, and after a time are either destroyed or perverted 
 from their original intention, mocking the effort by which 
 it is vainly attempted to perpetuate the memory even of 
 the purest and most energetic benevolence." 
 
 A moral maxim unknown, therefore, can have no effect. 
 No moral maxims have much effect on individuals, because 
 to work them out requires an individual effort^ which is 
 little capable of being lightened by the experience of 
 others, and is comparatively incapable of transmission. 
 The only remaining argument is that symbolized by our 
 potato. This will only nourish the man who has it ; or, in 
 other words, only the man who knows a moral truth can 
 be benefited by it. To get a more general benefit from 
 the discovery of the potato as a food, it must be widely 
 grown ; and so, to get an increasing effect from the same 
 moral truth, it must be more widely diffused. It may be 
 urged that, though moral truths are unprogressive, their 
 
CHANGES WORKED BY CHRISTIANITY. 161 
 
 effects may be increasing. A greater proportion of people 
 may now be made acquainted with them than formerly, 
 and hence a greater proportion may live fnorally, and 
 hence, again, civilization may be advanced. This may be 
 true, only the increased diffusion of moral truths is also 
 due to the advance of knowledge, which has improved the 
 means of intercommunication of thought by steam and by 
 printing. Then, it may be urged, there is really no sepa- 
 rate advance, but a reciprocal progress ; knowledge ad- 
 vancing morality, morality advancing civilization. This is 
 very frequently urged ; but, if moral progress is not sub- 
 ordinate to intellectual progress, and entirely dependent on 
 it, then it must be shown that the diffusion of moral truths 
 among people who had them not before has civilized them. 
 Have they done so? It is admitted by the missionaries 
 themselves that the attempt to convert without first intro- 
 ducing some little intellectual improvement is useless. 
 "When Christianity was introduced, so far .from civilizing 
 the people, it was itself dragged down to their own level. 
 Its only effect was to satisfy the aspirations of those already 
 cultivated enough to receive it ; for the mass it was a mere 
 substitution of names. Yenus and Ashtaroth became the 
 Virgin Mary ; Apollo and Horus became Christ ; Jupiter 
 and Osiris, God. The mystic trinity of the Assyrians and 
 Egyptians was introduced into Christianity, while the 
 horde of lesser gods, displaced by the saints, were rele- 
 gated in the minds of the ignorant multitude to the depths 
 of hell. 
 
 That this is the invariable effect of the introduction of 
 any system of morals superior to the state of knowledge 
 
 of the people on whom it is imposed, we may prove by a 
 11 
 
162 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 cursory review of the fate of other great systems of re- 
 ligion. Look at India. There is a country which has had 
 great religious teachers, who inculcated most of the moral 
 truths which we are accustomed to think were first intro- 
 duced by Christianity. Indeed, one of them taught a re- 
 ligion which so singularly resembles Christianity as to 
 afford an instructing example of the constant effect of the 
 same causes. Buddhism was a religion for the poor and 
 degraded : " My law is a law of grace for all"; " My doc- 
 trine is like the sky ; there is room for all without excep- 
 tion." There are reverence for parents, forgiving of ene- 
 mies, absence of revenge, and a universal charity, which 
 extends not only to all mankind but to the whole animal 
 kind as well. The object was, indeed, a selfish one, the 
 salvation of the individual from further penance on earth ; 
 but this object is one common to all religions, and among 
 the early Christians assumed a form which well-nigh ex- 
 tinguished the virtue of charity altogether. 14 This religion 
 was imposed upon a people in much the same state of 
 civilization as the early Christians were, and with a result 
 that was strikingly similar. Neither in Christianity nor 
 in Buddhism was there any authorization of a priesthood, 
 and, indeed, both the New Testament and Buddha speak 
 against such institutions. But now, in both religions, 
 every temple is full of graven images ; there is a regular 
 hierarchy, culminating in a Pope, as well as all the abuses 
 of asceticism in monasteries and nunneries. 
 
 This parallel, indeed, only existed up to the Kef orma- 
 tion, in Europe taken as a whole, though it still exists in 
 
 14 I allude to the inhuman treatment by some of the most celebrated 
 saints of their nearest relatives. 
 
MORAL TRUTHS STATIONARY. 163 
 
 those parts, such as Russia and certain South European 
 countries, where the people remain almost untouched by 
 the progress of knowledge. "Why does this parallel no 
 longer hold good ? "Wherein has the development of East- 
 ern Asia and Western Europe differed? It can surely 
 not be asserted that a greater proportion of Buddhists 
 than of Christians are ignorant of moral truths. If any- 
 thing, the fact is the other way. But, owing to causes 
 which have already been described, knowledge has stead- 
 ily advanced in Europe, while in Asia it has remained 
 comparatively stationary. 
 
 Let us turn from the comparative effects of the knowl- 
 edge of moral and intellectual truths upon the practice 
 of religions, to mark what each has done for the ameliora- 
 tion of the great scourges of humanity. "We see, in the 
 past, a succession of men most conscientious, upright, and 
 zealous, fully acquainted with all the great maxims of 
 morality hang, burn, torture, and destroy thousands upon 
 thousands of their fellow creatures, merely because they 
 and their victims were not agreed as to the exact constitu- 
 tion of the Holy Trinity. In the present age we see men, 
 their equals in every respect, equally earnest and upright 
 and intelligent, condemn their predecessors' actions as 
 barbarous and wicked, and inconsistent with morality. 
 "What is the cause of this difference? The advance of 
 moral and intellectual truth? This can not be, for the 
 religious persecutors well knew that they should do good 
 to them that hate them, and love their enemies as them- 
 selves. Nor has anything been added to moral truth since 
 their time. "We are then forced to adopt the view that 
 this progress is caused by the progress of knowledge, and 
 
164 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 not by a progress of moral knowledge. In this particular 
 case, indeed, we may show directly that intolerance is re- 
 moved by knowledge. Who has not been moved in his 
 childhood with the story of the Crucifixion ? "Who has not 
 hoped against knowledge in the choice of the people be- 
 fore Pilate ? and whose heart has not sunk before the cry, 
 " Give us Barabbas," and risen in indignation against the 
 mob and them that wrought this wrong, even to a desire 
 of revenge, and a feeling that every Jew should be tor- 
 tured to death to make amends? Again, if a man is 
 firmly convinced that only those who think as he does 
 will be saved from an eternal torture, will he not be right, 
 in his own light, in attempting to scotch the pestiferous 
 germs of heresy, and thus save the many from torture by 
 the torture of a few ? Can any moral knowledge what- 
 ever eradicate such a belief ? No, assuredly not. The 
 advance of knowledge alone, which shows a man he is not 
 infallible, that there have been other views in the world 
 besides his own, and shakes the faith in his heart of hearts 
 that the dogmas of religion are all necessary and authen- 
 ticated truths this alone can work an alteration in a good 
 man, while a bad is too indifferent either to persecute or 
 to show charity. 
 
 And this is the reason why bad men have often made 
 the best rulers, and good men have frequently, indeed 
 generally, done harm in proportion to their power. For 
 bad men, being solely devoted to their own pleasure, care 
 nothing for the salvation of others, or to constrain men to 
 think as they do. For a selfish gratification they will cur- 
 tail the power of their successors and thus increase the 
 liberties of the people. In this way the best Roman 
 
THE MOVING FOKCE. 165 
 
 emperors were the worst persecutors ; our most immoral 
 kings were those under whom the liberties of England 
 most increased : and the same phenomena are everywhere 
 to be seen. 
 
 For the aggregate, then, moral knowledge is of hardly 
 any importance as compared with intellectual. For the 
 individual it is far more important than intellectual knowl- 
 edge. The foundation of morality is the will to do good ; 
 and this is so necessary a feeling to the well-being of indi- 
 viduals, that the man who is without it is without half the 
 pleasure of life. It is dangerous, however, in direct pro- 
 portion to the power and ignorance of the person who 
 practices it ; because the will to do good without a knowl- 
 of the way to do so must necessarily be harmful. But the 
 science of morality is so little understood that it may be 
 taken as an axiom that the best men do the most harm. 
 Their hearts are tender, and they can not resist the ap- 
 peals of the needy; they are unwilling to suspect ill of 
 any one, and become the tools of knaves; they will not 
 take advantage of their opportunity to get rid of a crim- 
 inal, and the community suffer in consequence. 
 
 While, therefore, moral laws are naught but disturbing 
 factors in the steady march of civilization, the progress of 
 intellectual knowledge is the great moving force the gen- 
 eral of the army under whose orders the inferior leader, 
 moral law, performs his evolutions. From this it follows 
 that, if the analysis thus far is true, it only remains to 
 investigate the laws of intellectual progress to arrive at a 
 knowledge of the laws of civilization, which are ultimate 
 laws for us. 
 
 Before attempting to do so, however, it will be well to 
 
166 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 I/consider the claims of religion, literature, and govern- 
 ] ment to be the chief factors in the march of civilization, 
 y Such an examination were indeed unnecessary, had not so 
 much stress been laid upon these as factors by former 
 writers on human progress ; for it follows as a necessary 
 corollary, from what has been said on the subjection of 
 moral practice to intellectual knowledge, that the others 
 are subjected in the same way. If the morality of a given 
 age is determined by its knowledge, we can hardly say 
 that religion is independent. Literature must by its con- 
 stitution be dependent ; and legislators can, no more than 
 other people, be far in advance of the age in which they 
 live. If, for instance, a man appears who propounds a 
 religion far in advance of the present state of the people, 
 it will either be dragged down to their own level or neg- 
 lected until such time as the people have advanced to it. 
 The Jews had a religion in advance of their civilization, 
 and they were practically idolaters. The same happened 
 on the introduction of the Christian religion, the religions 
 of Buddha and of Mohammed. In every case the reli- 
 gion was corrupted until the people were civilized enough 
 to receive it. In the same way, when a nation grows too 
 civilized for the religion it holds, like the French, it is 
 quietly neglected. 
 
 It is the same with literature. During the earlier 
 middle ages Latin was a living language ; but the people 
 who might have read the best authors of antiquity pre- 
 ferred the legends and fables which satisfied their grade 
 of civilization, and raised a class of literature which rather 
 retarded than advanced their progress. Here was a litera- 
 ture above them, and it could not touch them; neither 
 
LEGISLATORS NOT LEADERS. 167 
 
 could Luther touch those who were unprepared. The ex- 
 ponent of the stage of thought of one part of Europe, he 
 was heard and followed there ; while for the,rest his voice 
 was as one crying in the wilderness. For the same reason 
 the Greeks failed to retain that civilization which at one 
 time they had acquired, because their first men spoke to 
 each other and not to the people. The horses went on 
 without the carriage. It was the same with the philoso- 
 phers of Germany, who wrote in a style far above the 
 heads of the people, in a language which only those who 
 had made a special study of it could understand ; with the 
 result that they advanced, but the people did not follow. 
 
 Nor can a " wise law " by a " far-seeing legislator " in 
 any way hasten the march of civilization. In the first 
 place, no legislator ever invented a law that he has enact- 
 ed and that has not soon after been repealed. In the 
 quality of a thinker he may certainly see what should be 
 done, but he can not do it until he has persuaded the 
 people also that it is desirable. If we examine those 
 enactments which are said to have benefited the people, 
 it will invariably be found that the people demanded them 
 first, and the laws were made afterward. So far from the 
 legislators being the leaders of civilization, they are as a 
 rule behind the civilization of their age ; because, being 
 accustomed to look at questions from their practical side, 
 they are in most cases unable to look at them from a 
 speculative point of view at all. And this is borne out 
 by their private correspondence, in which they express 
 their fears of the result of those very measures which the 
 pressure of outside opinion obliges them to advocate in 
 public. But the legislator is best judged of where he is 
 
168 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 least dependent on the demands of the people. Here if 
 anywhere he should aid their civilization ; and what has 
 he done ? Crippled trade, made laws against usury, med- 
 dled with every step of the individual, and tied his tongue ; 
 these are the benefits for which we are to be grateful- 
 and again be grateful for their abolition. " To maintain 
 order, to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak, 
 and to adopt certain precautions respecting the public 
 health, are the only services which any government can 
 render to the interests of civilization. That these are ser- 
 vices of immense value no one will deny ; but it can not 
 be said that by them civilization is advanced or the prog- 
 ress of man accelerated. All that is done is to afford the 
 opportunity of progress ; the progress itself must depend 
 on other matters." 
 
 " By applying to the history of man those methods of 
 investigation which have been found successful in other 
 branches of knowledge, and by rejecting all preconceived 
 notions which would not bear the test of those methods, 
 we have arrived at certain results, the heads of which it 
 may now be convenient to recapitulate. We have seen 
 that our actions, being solely the result of internal and 
 external agencies, must be explicable by the laws of those 
 agencies ; that is to say, by mental laws and by physical laws. 
 "We have also seen that mental laws are, in Europe, more 
 powerful than physical laws, and that, in the progress of 
 civilization, their superiority is constantly increasing, be- 
 cause advancing knowledge multiplies the resources of 
 the mind, but leaves the old resources of nature stationary. 
 On this account we have treated the mental laws as being 
 the great regulators of progress ; and we have looked at 
 
GENERALIZATION'S UNRELIABLE. 169 
 
 the physical laws as occupying a subordinate place, and as 
 merely displaying themselves in occasional, disturbances, 
 the force and frequency of which have been long declin- 
 ing, and are now, on a large average, almost inoperative. 
 Having, by this means, resolved the study of what may 
 be called the dynamics of society into the study of the 
 laws of the mind, we have subjected this last to a similar 
 analysis, and we have found that they consist of two parts, 
 namely, moral laws and intellectual laws. By comparing 
 these two parts, we have clearly ascertained the vast su- 
 mriority of the intellectual laws ; and we have seen that, 
 as the progress of civilization is marked by the triumph of 
 the mental laws over the physical, just so is it marked by 
 the triumph of intellectual laws over the moral ones. . . . 
 From all this it evidently follows that, if we wish to as- 
 certain the conditions which regulate the progress of mod- 
 ern civilization, we must seek them in the history of the 
 amount and diffusion of intellectual knowledge; and we 
 must consider physical phenomena and moral principles 
 as causing, no doubt, great aberrations in short periods, but 
 in long periods correcting and balancing themselves, and 
 thus leaving the intellectual laws to act uncontrolled by 
 these inferior and subordinate agents." 
 
 " The totality of human actions being thus, from the 
 highest point of view, governed by the totality of human 
 knowledge, it might seem a simple matter to collect the 
 evidence of the knowledge, and, by subjecting it to succes- 
 sive generalizations, ascertain the whole of the laws which 
 regulate the progress of civilization." Since, however, so- 
 called historians have not hitherto recognized this fact, 
 and, instead of giving information respecting the progress 
 
170 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 of knowledge, have almost confined themselves to petty bio- 
 graphical details, there is nothing ready to the historian's 
 hands. Several generations of workers are requisite to col- 
 lect such evidence as is still to be had, for no single man is 
 equal to such a task ; and hence Buckle had to abandon 
 his original plan of writing the history of civilization, and 
 confine himself to the history of civilization in England. 
 
 England he chooses to illustrate the laws of civiliza- 
 tion, not on account of its being the most civilized coun- 
 try, though that may be the case, but because it is the 
 country which has developed with least interference f 
 outside. In every science laws are most successfully dis- 
 covered by means of experiments ; and experiment means 
 simply isolation of phenomena, or freedom from complica- 
 tions whereby the phenomena are obscured. That coun- 
 try which has worked out its civilization most freely by 
 itself, which had most escaped foreign influence, and had 
 been least interfered with by the personal peculiarities of 
 its rulers, would most fulfill the conditions of an experi- 
 ment. England, during the last three centuries at least, 
 answers this requirement better than any other country, 
 and hence England is chosen as the best representative 
 obtainable of the development of civilization : the country 
 whose history Buckle chooses particularly to study in order 
 that he may discover, from successive generalizations on 
 the progress of knowledge there, the laws which govern 
 the general progress of knowledge, and hence the laws 
 which govern the progress of civilization of mankind. 
 
 But, in limiting his sources of investigation, his deduc- 
 tions must, to a proportionate extent, be uncertain, be- 
 cause it may be that an inferior law is more prominent in 
 
 
AN ILLUSTRATION. 171 
 
 that one country than it would appear on a survey of the 
 whole globe. As an illustration, let us say that in Han- 
 over the sexes are born as 1 to 1*07 ; we should conclude, 
 therefore, that it was the common case in all Europe 
 that children are born, 1 girl to every TOT boys, unless 
 we extended our observations to other countries, and saw 
 that there male births were in excess. From this we should 
 see that there was a superior law governing the proportion 
 of the sexes, which we should never detect if we confined 
 our observations to Hanover, which law seems, as far as 
 we are yet able to say, to be that the sex of a child de- 
 pends on the relative vigor of the parents taken in its lar- 
 gest sense, and including the inherited tendency to pro- 
 duce a particular sex, which is itself possibly a form of 
 vigor, or its absence. This law would, therefore, in its turn 
 be governed by that which determines the relative age at 
 which the two sexes marry ; which is, in the main, the 
 general prosperity of the country. Thus, since women do 
 not earn their own living as a rule, the, age at which they 
 marry is determined chiefly by the age at which their 
 beauty is most captivating to the opposite sex, which is 
 much the same for all Europe. The age at which the 
 bread-winners marry depends upon the prosperity of the 
 country : the greater the prosperity, the earlier the men 
 marry. If all this be true, we should say, then, that the 
 equality of the sexes born in Hanover showed that most 
 people had insufficient to live upon a law at which we 
 could not have arrived had our statistical information been 
 restricted to Hanover alone." 
 
 15 1 would guard here against the supposition that I advance the above 
 as a scientific truth. It is merely intended for an illustration. Though not 
 
172 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 There are certain intellectual peculiarities, again, which 
 have had very important effects on civilization, considered 
 as a whole, but which were comparatively rare in England. 
 The results of these peculiarities must, therefore, be stud- 
 ied in the history of those countries where they were most 
 marked and strongly developed ; just as an anatomist who 
 wishes to study certain obscure muscles in the human back 
 dissects the tiger or porpoise, in which they are more fully 
 developed. Until a secure groundwork of the compara- 
 tive effects of the different forms of thought is obtained, 
 it is difficult to form a conclusion as to which is the most 
 important, which advances civilization, or which is mere 
 perturbation. The remaining part of the introduction was 
 therefore designed in some measure to fill the void caused 
 by the impossibility .of writing a history of general civili- 
 zation ; that is, England was chosen as the country whose 
 civilization has followed a course more orderly and less 
 disturbed than any other, and therefore the laws of normal 
 development could best be traced ; while, when it is neces- 
 sary to investigate the effects of social developments which 
 have been injurious to progress, their effects will be best 
 seen where they have been strongest. 
 
 Thus, in England, the effect of the spirit of protection, 
 or interference with individual freedom of thought and 
 action, has been felt, but in so slight a degree that it is 
 difficult to estimate its true effect until we turn to the his- 
 tory of some country where it has existed in a much greater 
 degree. This is not difficult, because France, Germany, 
 
 improbable in itself, it must certainly be more complicated, since what one 
 country, such as Ireland, considers living in comfort, another, such as 
 France, would by no means consider so. 
 
CONTRASTS BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS. 173 
 
 Spain, Italy, and Russia have been strongly protective. 
 If, however, we wish to estimate the effect of a disturbing 
 cause in other scientific investigations, wet- compare two 
 things identical in all respects but in that disturbing cause 
 the effects of which we want to investigate, and by these 
 means we isolate it. To investigate the effect of the shape 
 of the head of a projectile on its speed we fire projectiles 
 with variously shaped heads, with the same charge of pow- 
 der, on the same day, from the same gun, on the same 
 range ; and know that any difference shown is due to no- 
 thing but the shape of the projectile's head and resistance 
 it affords to the air. "We must, therefore, choose a country 
 for comparison with England as similar as possible in all 
 other respects but that of protection. Germany and Italy 
 have been split up into small states. Germany and Russia 
 have been long behindhand in civilization. Spain has 
 been, and is, exceedingly loyal and superstitious. All but 
 France have been exceedingly backward in the spread of 
 knowledge. In short, without mentioning other reasons, 
 France is the country whose circumstances and state have 
 been most similar to those of England, with the one ex- 
 ception that the spirit of protection has been strongly 
 prevalent in the one country and not in the other. For 
 this reason France and England are historically compared, 
 in order to bring out clearly the effects of this interference 
 with progress and estimate its value in order that its per- 
 turbations may be recognized where present in the history 
 of England. " But the French, as a people, have, since 
 the beginning or middle of the seventeenth century, been 
 remarkably free from superstition ; and, notwithstanding 
 the efforts of their government, they are very adverse to 
 
174 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 ecclesiastical power; so that, although their history dis- 
 plays the protective principle in its political form, it sup- 
 plies little evidence respecting its religious form ; while, in 
 our own country, the evidence is also scanty." Hence it 
 was necessary " to give a view of Spanish history, because 
 in it we may trace the full results of that protection against 
 error which the spiritual classes are always eager to afford. 
 In Spain the Church has, from a very early period, pos- 
 sessed more authority, and the clergy have been more in- 
 fluential, both with the people and the government, than 
 in any other country " ; it is " therefore convenient to 
 study in Spain the law of ecclesiastical development, and 
 the manner in which the development affects the national 
 interests." Another circumstance which operates on the 
 intellectual progress of a nation is the method of investi- 
 gation which its ablest men habitually employ. This 
 method can only be one of two kinds : it must be either 
 inductive or deductive. Each of these belongs to a differ- 
 ent form of civilization, and is always accompanied by a 
 different style of thought, particularly in regard to religion 
 and science. These differences are of such immense im- 
 portance that, until their laws are known, we can not be 
 said to understand the real history of past events. Now 
 the two extremes of difference are, undoubtedly, Germany 
 and the United States ; the Germans being preeminently 
 deductive, the Americans inductive. But Germany and 
 America are in so many other respects diametrically op- 
 posed to each other, that " it is expedient to study the 
 operations of the deductive and inductive spirit in coun- 
 tries between which a closer analogy exists. . . . Such an 
 opportunity occurs in the history of Scotland, as compared 
 
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION. 175 
 
 with that of England. Here we have two countries bor- 
 dering on each other, speaking the same language, reading 
 the same literature, and knit together by the same inter- 
 ests. And yet it is a truth . . . that until the last thirty or 
 forty years the Scotch intellect has been even more entirely 
 deductive than the English intellect has been inductive." 
 Again, in Germany, for instance, "the accumulation of 
 knowledge has been far more rapid than in England ; 
 the laws of the accumulation of knowledge may on that 
 account be most conveniently studied in German history, 
 and then applied deductively to the history of England. 
 In the same way, the Americans have diffused their knowl- 
 edge much more completely than we have done." In that 
 country, therefore, the laws of diffusion may most con- 
 veniently be studied, and thence applied to the phenomena 
 of English civilization. 
 
 In the course of these historical comparisons Buckle 
 did not omit to point out the effects in each country of 
 the protective spirit, the method of scientific investigation, 
 the credulous habit of thought, and how all these acted 
 and reacted on each other. The causes of the different 
 directions thus pursued by these countries having been 
 pointed out, he would close the "Introduction" with a 
 generalization of the causes themselves ; " and, having 
 thus referred them to certain principles common to all, 
 we shall be possessed of what may be called the funda- 
 mental laws of European thought, the divergence of the 
 different countries being regulated either by the direction 
 those laws take, or else by their comparative energy." 
 Their demonstration in the two volumes only was neces- 
 sarily incomplete, and Buckle therefore warns his reader 
 
176 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 "to suspend his final judgment until the close" of the 
 " Introduction," when the " subject in all its bearings " 
 would be laid before him./ 
 
 In the " Introduction " Buckle's method was on the 
 whole inductive ; that is, he studied the effects in order to 
 learn the causes. And though he altered his method in 
 parts of his historical comparisons to confirm the results 
 he had already inductively obtained, yet in the main the 
 " Introduction " was inductive. The body of the work 
 was, on the other hand, to have been deductive ; that is, 
 having discovered inductively the fundamental laws of 
 human progress, he would have applied them to English 
 history, which would have served as a series of illustra- 
 tions of the truth of those laws which he had already dis- 
 covered. But here again he would not have confined 
 himself strictly to the one method, and would inductively 
 have established those minor laws which now appear to us 
 as aberrations of the larger or fundamental ones. "With 
 this view he proposed, for the sake of clearness, to divide 
 what he called the special history of society into certain 
 classes, not according to any arbitrary standard, but accord- 
 ing to the actual condition of things as, for instance, 
 clergy, aristocracy, agriculturists, manufacturers, and the 
 like. This division he would only adopt as a scientific 
 artifice, and with the view of showing that the principles 
 which he had arrived at from a general observation of 
 history were applicable to all the different classes of a 
 special period. If such a proof could be made out, it was 
 evident that such a series of parallel reasonings would be 
 more confirmatory of the original principle than the ordi- 
 nary method of investigation. If, for instance, he could 
 
DIVISIONS OF SOCIETY. 177 
 
 show that a certain law which he had arrived at by a gen- 
 eral consideration of history is in any large period sepa- 
 rately applicable to all the great classes of society, he 
 would have made out a case very analogous to that in 
 which the general laws of natural philosophy are applied 
 to mechanics, hydrostatics, acoustics, and the like. This is 
 also the way in which general physiological principles col- 
 lected from the whole of organic nature have been applied 
 to man, and the nutrition of plants throws light on the 
 functions of human nutrition. At the same time, and by 
 way of further precaution, he would, while investigating 
 periods of special history, take occasion, when very impor- 
 tant principles were at stake, to recur to general history, 
 and not hesitate to collect evidence from other countries, 
 in order to prove that it holds good under the most differ- 
 ent conditions. If this should be accomplished with any 
 degree of success, not only would he have pointed out 
 some of the great laws which regulate the progress of 
 nations, but he hoped that, by a reflex process, some light 
 would be thrown upon the general constitution of the 
 human mind, and that some contribution would have been 
 made toward the formation of a basis on which metaphysi- 
 cal science could be hereafter erected. 
 
 But it is evident that, looking upon society as a whole, 
 it admits of two sorts of divisions : a division into classes, 
 and a division into interests. The nature of the first set of 
 divisions is very obvious, because it is constantly passing 
 before our eye. But the nature of the division into inter- 
 ests is much more obscure ; and this seems to arise partly 
 from the circumstance that men love their interest much 
 more than they love the class to which they belong, and 
 12 
 
178 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 partly because, to understand the different interests, it is 
 necessary to have a much more comprehensive knowledge 
 than is required in understanding the feelings of the dif- 
 ferent classes by which those interests are put in move- 
 ment. These great interests are, in every civilized society, 
 six in number, which will, from selfish motives, be always 
 especially protected by certain classes. These are religion, 
 science, literature, wealth, liberty, and the great principle 
 of order, or that conserving impulse which is exceedingly 
 dangerous in the contracted minds of ordinary politicians, 
 because it makes them oppose themselves to the healthy 
 development of society, but which, notwithstanding, has 
 more than once saved this country, and is the only protec- 
 tion we possess against the anarchical license into which, 
 unhappily, liberty is so prone to run. It is evident that 
 the most perfect society is that in which each of these 
 great interests is developed to the highest possible pitch 
 that is compatible with the free existence of the others. 
 
 How he would have executed this project we have an 
 example in the " Fragment on Elizabeth," whose reign 
 would most probably have formed one of those epochs 
 around which he proposed to group the history of the 
 various classes and interests of the period, and show how 
 everything fitted in with the laws of history already enun- 
 ciated. The Great Rebellion would probably have formed 
 another. These periods again would have been connected 
 by a short summary of the last group, and short anticipa- 
 tion of the next, so that each would have formed, as it 
 were, a link, perfect in itself, in the chain of the history of 
 England. 
 
 All this would have served as illustrative and confir- 
 
WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOWN. 179 
 
 matory of what he had already advanced in the " Intro- 
 duction." In that he did not pretend to investigate ques- 
 tions of practical utility, or to trace the connection be- 
 tween the discoveries of science and the arts of life. In 
 the " History " he hoped to do this, and to explain a num- 
 ber of minute social events, many of which are regarded 
 as isolated, if not incongruous ; how great events never 
 spring from small causes, and everything is connected 
 with and determined by its antecedents. He would have 
 worked out the fact that the advance of European civiliza- 
 tion is characterized by a diminishing influence of physi- 
 cal and an increasing influence of mental laws, the com- 
 plete proof of which could only be collected from his- 
 tory; have shown how every great increase in the ac- 
 tivity of the human intellect has struck a blow at the 
 warlike spirit ; and how the yeomanry class gradually de- 
 cayed. He would have shown how Elizabeth humbled 
 first the Catholic and then the Protestant clergy; the 
 effects produced on the whole structure of society by the 
 sudden change which took place in the value of the pre- 
 cious metals, and have shown that the fall of prices was 
 particularly detrimental to those landlords whose lands 
 were permanently let at a fixed rent ; and hence how the 
 clergy were weakened through their pockets, tried to re- 
 coup themselves by other means, and so helped to bring 
 on the Reformation ; how the growth of manufactures, by 
 taking men away from agriculture, made them see that 
 the powers of nature were not beyond their control, and 
 therefore diminished superstition ; and how the Puritans 
 were more fanatical than superstitious. He would have 
 traced the influence of Warburton's book, " The Alliance 
 
180 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 between Church and State," which appeared in 1736, and 
 which argues that the state has nothing to do with errors 
 in religion, nor the least right to repress them " To make 
 such a man a bishop was a great feat for the eighteenth 
 century, and would have been an impossible one for the 
 seventeenth." He would have examined carefully and in 
 detail the inductive tendency in English thinkers for more 
 than a hundred and fifty years after the death of Bacon ; 
 and how only in the nineteenth century an attempt was 
 made to return in some degree to the deductive method ; 
 why England devoted herself to practical pursuits and 
 politics, iDstead of to physical science and metaphysics 
 during seventy years after the death of Newton; and 
 would have shown how the opponents of Young were 
 able to put down the undulatory theory of light as a valu- 
 able illustration of the history and habits of the English 
 mind. He would have given an account of the angry- 
 contests which arose between the lovers of things past 
 and the lovers of things future shown in the hostility di- 
 rected against the Royal Society as the first institution in 
 which the idea of progress was distinctly embodied a 
 contest which is among the most instructive parts of our 
 history. The immense services of Locke in England, in 
 deposing the mere classical scholar from his pedestal of 
 supreme knowledge, would also have been related, to- 
 gether with the details of such discoveries as were subser- 
 vient to civilization. He would have shown how the 
 advance and spread of knowledge stopped the political 
 retrogression of George III.'s time; and how lawgivers 
 are never reformers; how the rise and growth of clubs 
 were of immense importance, and played a great part in 
 
MOURNFUL FOREBODINGS. 181 
 
 the history of England during the latter part of the eigh- 
 teenth century; and have collected the evidence of the 
 development of the love of traveling, and the influence of 
 the French and English intellect on each other. 
 
 These are a few of the points which he would have 
 treated in the body of the work, collected from a few 
 stray remarks in what he published. Little as they tell 
 us of what he would undoubtedly have done, they are 
 nevertheless valuable as giving some indication of the way 
 he would have written his history, and his extraordinary 
 breadth of view. At the end he would have again re- 
 turned from his restricted field of England, and, casting 
 his eyes over the whole of Europe, he would have ex- 
 amined the present condition of the human mind, and 
 endeavored to estimate its future prospects, fix the basis 
 of our present civilization, and indicate its future progress. 
 
 It is painful to be thus reminded of the vastness of our 
 loss in the death of a single man far away in Damascus ; 
 but let us console ourselves in the fact that nevertheless 
 we have the greatest, by far the greatest, part of what 
 it would have been possible for him to give us. Though 
 the proof is not so cogent, though we have not the detail 
 of the method, yet the method itself is there in all its 
 majesty of simple truth : " When the true path of inquiry 
 has once been indicated, the rest is comparatively easy. 
 The beaten highway is always open; and the difficulty is 
 not to find those who will travel the old road, but those 
 who will make a fresh one. Every age produces in abun- 
 dance men of sagacity and of considerable industry, who, 
 while perfectly competent to increase the details of a 
 science, are unable to extend its distant boundaries. This 
 
182 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 is because such extension must be accompanied by a new 
 method, which, to be valuable as well as new, supposes on 
 the part of its suggester, not only a complete mastery over 
 the resources of his subject, but also of the possession of 
 originality and comprehensiveness the two rarest forms 
 of human genius." 
 
 Had he lived to finish the introduction, we should 
 have had a work as complete in itself as Comte's " Phi- 
 losophic Positive " ; that is, the philosophy of history 
 without the detailed historical proof. It is sad that he 
 did not live to finish his work, and sad, indeed, that he 
 did not live to finish that one more volume. That he 
 would have finished the whole work, despite the chorus 
 of doubt raised by the reviewers on the appearance of the 
 first volume, is pretty certain. " They do not know the 
 amount of material I have collected," he was wont to say. 
 And we, who are privileged to see a part, and but a small 
 part, of what he had collected in his published common- 
 place books, can well believe that, had he lived, the work 
 would by this time have been an accomplished fact. Nine 
 more volumes had to be written, and he calculated that 
 each of them would have taken two years to write." It 
 was no careless ambition that laid the foundation of so 
 grand an enterprise. With the faculties he felt that he 
 possessed, and the ample materials he had collected ; with 
 the determination to postpone to that one work every 
 other object of ambition, devote his whole strength to 
 that alone, and sacrifice to it many interests which men 
 hold dear, he was justified in his belief that such power 
 
 16 His own estimate varied considerably. I have heard it stated on good 
 authority that he had estimated the number of volumes required at twenty. 
 
FALSE ACCUSATIONS. 183 
 
 and self-denial should yield success. Some of the most 
 pleasurable incentives to action he must disregard. " ISTot 
 for him," he says, in that mournful peroration written 
 soon after his mother's death " " not for him are those 
 rewards which in other pursuits the same energy would 
 have earned ; not for him, the sweets of popular applause ; 
 not for him, the luxury of power ; not for him, a share in 
 the councils of his country ; not for him, a conspicuous 
 and honored place before the public eye. Albeit con- 
 scious of what he could do, he may not compete in the 
 great contest ; he can not hope to win the prize ; he can 
 not even enjoy the excitement of the struggle. To him 
 the arena is closed. His recompense lies within himself, 
 and he must learn to care little for the sympathy of his 
 fellow creatures or for such honors as they are able to 
 bestow. So far from looking for these things, he should 
 rather be prepared for that obloquy which always awaits 
 those, who, by opening up new veins of thought, disturb 
 the prejudices of their contemporaries. "While ignorance, 
 and worse than ignorance, is imputed to him ; while his 
 motives are misrepresented and his integrity impeached ; 
 while he is accused of denying the value of moral prin- 
 ciples, and of attacking the foundation of all religion, as 
 if he were some public enemy, who made it his business 
 to corrupt society, and whose delight it was to see what 
 evil he could do; while these charges are brought for- 
 ward, and repeated from mouth to mouth, he must be 
 capable of pursuing in silence the even tenor of his way, 
 without swerving, without pausing, and without stepping 
 from his path to notice the angry outcries which he can 
 
 17 To the fourth chapter of his second volume. 
 
184 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 not but hear, and which he is more than human if he does 
 not long to rebuke. These are the qualities and these 
 the high resolves indispensable to him, who, on the most 
 important of all subjects, believing the old road is worn 
 out and useless, seeks to strike out a new one for himself, 
 and in the effort not only perhaps exhausts his strength, 
 but is sure to incur the enmity of those who are bent on 
 maintaining the ancient scheme unimpaired. To solve 
 the great problem of affairs, to detect those hidden cir- 
 cumstances which determine the march and destiny of 
 nations, and to find in the events of the past a key to 
 the proceedings of the future, is nothing less than to unite 
 into a single science all the laws of the moral and physi- 
 cal world. Whoever does this will build up afresh the 
 fabric of our knowledge, rearrange its various parts, and 
 harmonize its apparent discrepancies. Perchance the 
 human mind is hardly ready for so vast an enterprise. 
 At all events, he who undertakes it will meet with little 
 sympathy, and will find few to help him." 
 
 And then his voice sinks to a more somber tone, as he 
 almost foresees the sad fate which awaits him : " And, let 
 him toil as he may, the sun and noontide of his life shall 
 pass by, the evening of his days shall overtake him, and 
 he himself have to quit the scene, leaving that unfinished 
 which he had vainly hoped to complete. He may lay the 
 foundation ; it will be for his successors to raise the edi- 
 fice. Their hands will give the last touch ; they will reap 
 the glory; their names will be remembered when his 
 is forgotten. It is, indeed, too true that such a work 
 requires, not only several minds, but also the successive 
 experience of several generations. Once, I own, I thought 
 
HOPES AND EEGRETS. 185 
 
 otherwise. Once, when I first caught sight of the whole 
 field of knowledge, and seemed, however dimly, to dis- 
 cern its various parts and the relation they bbre to one an- 
 other, I was so entranced with its surpassing beauty that 
 the judgment was beguiled, and I deemed myself able, 
 not only to cover the surface, but also to master the 
 details. Little did I know how the horizon enlarges as 
 well as recedes, and how vainly we grasp at the fleeting 
 forms which melt away and elude us in the distance. Of 
 all that I had hoped to do, I now find but too surely how 
 small a part I shall accomplish. In those early aspira- 
 tions there was much that was fanciful; perhaps there 
 was much that was foolish. Perhaps, too, they contained 
 a moral defect, and savored of an arrogance which belongs 
 to a strength that refuses to recognize its own weakness. 
 Still, even now that they are defeated and brought to 
 naught, I can not repent having indulged in them, but, 
 on the contrary, I would willingly recall them, if I could. 
 For such hopes belong to that joyous and sanguine period 
 of h'f e when alone we are really happy ; when the emo- 
 tions are more active than the judgment ; when experience 
 has not yet hardened our nature ; when the affections are 
 not yet blighted and nipped to the core ; and when, the 
 bitterness of disappointment not having yet been felt, 
 difficulties are unheeded, obstacles are unseen, ambition 
 is a pleasure instead of a pang, and, the blood coursing 
 swiftly through the veins, the pulse beats high, while the 
 heart throbs at the prospect of the future. Those are 
 glorious days, but they go from us, and nothing can 
 compensate their absence. To me they now seem more 
 like the visions of a disordered fancy than the sober 
 
186 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 realities of things that were, and are not. It is painful 
 to make. % this .confession, but I owe it to the reader, be- 
 cause I would not have him to suppose that either in this 
 or in future volumes of my " History " I shall be able to 
 redeem my pledge, and to perform all that I promised. 
 Something I hope to achieve which will interest the 
 thinkers of this age, and something, perhaps, on which 
 posterity may build. It will, however, only be a frag- 
 ment of my original design." It was necessary to curtail 
 the " Introduction," or he could never hope to finish the 
 " History " as he had laid it out. 
 
 To turn from the consideration of Buckle's work to 
 that of some of the criticisms which have been lavished 
 upon it is a passage from the sublime to the ridiculous. 
 Some call him the " English Comte " ; some " Quetelet's 
 Enfant Terrible " ; some go even so far as to call the work 
 a mere compilation. These charges are not, as might be 
 thought, mere spite aroused by the unpleasant truths which 
 Buckle has told. Had they been so, it would not have 
 been worth while to notice them. But they are specimens 
 of a sort of mental incapacity which is fostered by micro- 
 scopic study, an inability to generalize or see a generaliza- 
 tion. It will be well, therefore, to fix, in some measure, 
 Buckle's place in history, show to which among his prede- 
 cessors he is really indebted, and what is the amount of 
 that debt. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Only Comparative Originality possible Comte and Buckle Vito Machiavelli 
 Bodin Bossuet Montesquieu Kant Buckle His place in History. 
 
 OKIGINALITY, as understood by the vulgar, is indepen- 
 dence of the labors of others. Its utter impossibility under 
 such a definition is, however, sometimes recognized, and 
 hence originality is sometimes allowed to a man who in- 
 vents a new way of threading a needle ; or they may call 
 the discovery of the retina-purple original because it has 
 not an obvious connection with the labors of former physi- 
 ologists. But, if a man patiently and laboriously collects 
 all that has been done in his particular study, and then, in 
 full public view, generalizes the facts and evolves order 
 out of chaos, " Oh," say they, " we could do the same our- 
 selves ! " The one is the obvious and almost mechanical 
 result of the other ; we will not allow originality to what 
 seems so calm and unbroken a process. Eeasoning in this 
 way, it is just as easy to deny all merit to the designer of 
 the Parthenon. Temples have been built of a like form 
 before. These Doric columns are to be seen in Egypt ; 
 that ornament is a transformation of the Assyrian honey- 
 suckle pattern. Is there, then, nothing new in the ex- 
 quisite proportion of those columns, the subordination of 
 the several parts, the gentle curves on every side, the re- 
 jection of what is bad, and the position of what is good ? 
 
 "Were originality, as thus defined, possible, then, as- 
 
188 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 suredly, of all classes of authors, the writers of fiction 
 should owe least to their predecessors ; and yet in no class 
 of literature is the dependence on what has gone before 
 more marked. Leaving out of consideration mere imita- 
 tion of style and choice of subject, which constantly runs 
 in sequences until it is stopped by some form of ridicule, 
 such as Cervantes' s " Don Quixote," or Boileau's " Heros 
 de Roman," we can not shut our eyes to the evident evo- 
 lution of one piece of fiction from another, and even to 
 the instances of direct plagiarism with which the best and 
 most original works of fiction abound. Name whom we 
 may, a little consideration will convince us that each has 
 been greatly dependent upon his predecessors. Let us 
 cite the first great poets whose names occur to us say 
 Homer, Yirgil, Dante, Ariosto, Shakespeare, Spenser, and 
 Milton. With the exception of the first, who can be left 
 out of account, it is easy to show their dependence. Dante 
 avows his obligations to Yirgil, a poet himself greatly de- 
 pendent on Homer, and who, in his turn, has inspired 
 most of the heroic poets of the middle ages. Ariosto has 
 been greatly indebted to him, to Ovid, and even to Horace. 1 
 
 1 For example : 
 
 " Arma virumque cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris 
 Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit 
 Littora " 
 
 " Le Donne, i cavalier, 1' arme, gli amori 
 Le cortesie, 1' audaci imprese io canto, 
 Che furo al tempo che passaro i Mori 
 D' Africa il mare," etc. 
 
 " Neque 
 
 Decedit aerata triremi, et 
 Post equitem sedet atra cura." 
 
 " Lo trova in su la roda e in su la poppa 
 E se cavalca, il porta dietro in groppa." 
 
NON-ORIGINALITY OF WRITERS. 189 
 
 Shakespeare has no original plots. Spenser is deeply in- 
 debted to Ariosto, and we find at least one example 2 of a 
 very important idea common both to him. and Shake- 
 speare. Milton, too, is a boundless borrower. 3 Indeed, so 
 far does this dependency go that not a single work of any 
 description can be said to be original in the strict sense 
 laid down at the opening of this chapter. Each one im- 
 proves a little or draws new truths from the works of his 
 predecessors. Nor are the "prose writers of fiction any 
 more original than the poets. From the earliest times be- 
 fore stories were committed to writing their universal ori- 
 gin was in a fact, such as a love-story or a fight. This 
 was told in various forms, incidents were added, stories 
 divided, and mixed and made new again. Thus Spenser 
 introduced an island full of allegorical personages into his 
 " Faery Queen," which was after the fashion of many pro- 
 ductions of this period; this gave birth to Fletcher's 
 "Purple Island," which produced Bernard's "Isle of 
 Man," from which, in its turn, arose Bunyan's " Pilgrim's 
 Progress." And this is an example of what should, ac- 
 cording to our definition, be another sort of want of origi- 
 
 2 " Caesar dead and turned to clay," etc. 
 
 " Ne, when the life decays and form doth fade, 
 Doth it consume, and into nothing go, 
 But chaunged is and altred to and froe." 
 
 8 Thus Mr. E. Gosse points out (" Studies in the Literature of Northern 
 Europe," London, 1879) that Milton's " Paradise Lost," in plot, speeches, 
 and description, is founded on the " Lucifer " of Van den Vondel. He is, 
 besides, indebted to Ariosto ; e. g. : 
 
 " Perche fatto non ha 1' alma Natura, 
 Che senza te potessi nascer 1' uomo," etc. 
 
 " Oh, why did God . . . create at last 
 This Novelty on earth ? " etc. 
 
190 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 nality: his description of Yanity Fair, for instance, was 
 probably taken from Bartholomew Fair or his own experi- 
 ence, like characters are taken from life by various authors 
 and worked up into different forms ; and so, too, with feel- 
 ings that are common to the human race ; for Dante and 
 he both open with the same sort of description of tribula- 
 tion and doubt. Swift, again, in his " Gulliver's Travels," 
 Fontenelle in his " Plurality of Worlds," Yoltaire in his 
 " Micromegas," are all indebted to Bergerac. Even Lord 
 Macaulay's New Zealander is taken from a conceit of Gib- 
 bon's; Sheridan's Mrs. Malaprop from Fielding's Mrs. 
 Slipslop ; Dickens owes his style and many of his inci- 
 dents, such as the Duel and Samuel Weller's offer of 
 money to Pickwick, to Smollett, and "Weller's story of the 
 muffins in all probability to Beauclerc's account to John- 
 son of the tragical end of Mr. Fitzherbert. Indeed, a man 
 who was really original in everything he said would be a 
 very prodigy, as great a prodigy as a new animal not de- 
 rived from some similar ancestor. There is no single 
 work whose dependence may not be traced upward from 
 suggester to suggester until its origin is lost in antiquity, 
 and it only remains for us to infer from analogous cases 
 that it originated in some fact. 
 
 Such being the true genesis of all works, it is idle to 
 expect in Buckle or any one else complete independence 
 of all predecessors. But he, and many other men of 
 genius, are none the less original because their works are 
 laboriously raised upon the studies of mankind. To pull 
 down the old building, reshape its stones, and build it up 
 into a more harmonious and perfect whole, is to produce 
 original work. The difference between this and a com- 
 
BUCKLE AND COMTE CONTRASTED. 191 
 
 pilation is the same as between one of Mr. Galton's in- 
 genious combination photographs and the Venus of Prax- 
 iteles. The first is a combination of all that? is there ; the 
 other requires not only combination, but selection of the 
 best, together with that creative genius which coordinates 
 and harmonizes the whole into a beauty which has never 
 yet existed. And so, in Buckle's plan, we may trace pass- 
 ing resemblances, while, as a whole, his work is as original 
 and fresh as any creation of genius yet produced. 
 
 It follows: that supposing Comte and Buckle equals 
 in genius, and of the same tone of thought, they should 
 have produced works extremely similar to each other. 
 And so they both were, in part. They were both deeply 
 imbued with the idea of the order and regularity of every- 
 thing in the universe ; both had had the same predecessors ; 
 they were contemporary and men of genius; but there 
 they diverge, and their circumstances were so different 
 that the resemblances are almost insignificant. We should 
 do Comte an injustice were we to compare him directly 
 with Buckle. Though they wrote on the same subject, 
 their aims were entirely different: Comte' s main work 
 was the classification of the sciences, to which sociology 
 was only added as the crowning-point. He erected a tem- 
 porary bridge over the gulf which separates the science of 
 man from the remainder of the sciences ; but it was only a 
 makeshift, because he neglected to use all the material 
 which former workmen had collected on its shores. His 
 judgment, moreover, was warped I had almost said en- 
 slaved by the circumstances in which he had the misfor- 
 tune to be placed. Amid a nation worn out with the 
 excitement of endless revolution, condemned like those 
 
192 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 unhappy spirits on the fiery sands of the seventh circle to 
 constant movement, and whose momentary pause before 
 the allotted time was punished with a hundred years of 
 additional torment; giddy with change, their faculties 
 amazed by the doubt thrown upon every principle that in 
 quiet times is almost inborn and clings to us unquestioned 
 through a lifetime. Rampant theories jostled each other 
 in the race for power ; while Comte, amid all this bustle 
 and clatter, this jangling and jarring and hurly-burly of 
 opinions, turned a longing eye to those quiet and sleepy 
 times when there was an authority to direct the opinions 
 of men a time doubly quiet and orderly when viewed 
 through the mist of ages past, when all, in theory, obeyed 
 unquestioning the behests of the wisest of their race. He 
 looked and longed, indeed, but no mind could pass through 
 those stirring times and remain the same as it was before. 
 He was like to him tempted of the fiend in the guise of 
 a fair woman, who loathes the form which holy water re- 
 veals, but would wish to recall what his imagination de- 
 picted. And so Comte imagined an impossible pope and 
 priesthood endowed with power over the opinions of man- 
 kind, telling them what to think, and what they should 
 believe; while there was to be another division of the 
 government to carry out these theories an executive, as 
 it were, to a moral privy council. This was his aim in his 
 " Sociologie," which is further elaborated in his " Philoso- 
 phic Politique " ; and it is enough to repeat what Buckle 
 has already said of it, that its serious proposal would make 
 the plain men of our island lift up their eyes in astonish- 
 ment, and probably suggest that its author should for his 
 own sake be immediately confined so monstrously and 
 
DIFFERENCES POINTED OUT. 193 
 
 obviously was it impracticable. 4 It was, indeed, inevitable 
 from the circumstances of his life that he should be un- 
 practical. Had he possessed practicality, he? would have 
 been a very great writer, and, even as it is, he is far be- 
 yond the ordinary run. But his incapacity to .see the need 
 of freedom, and particularly of that primary need so em- 
 phasized by Buckle, that governments must always follow 
 the wishes of the people, and can never lead them, is alone 
 sufficient to show that he had not grasped the science of 
 history. With Comte the people can not move intelli- 
 gently out of the leading-strings of the government ; with 
 Buckle, the sole function of a government is to express as 
 best it may the sum of the national will. He has made a 
 great advance ; he has shown the interconnection of many 
 historic facts of western Europe ; he has insisted on the 
 subjection of man to his antecedents ; but he has neglected 
 the connection between man and natural laws. 
 
 What is usually advanced as representing this connec- 
 tion is the famous law of the Three States, on the value 
 and importance of which he so strongly insists. But it ap- 
 pears to me that its value has been very greatly exagger- 
 ated, and it is well known that it is original only in 
 its modification, and can be traced upward from Comte, 
 through St. Simon, Turgot, Fichte, Yico, to the early 
 writers on the philosophy of history. They represent the 
 last remains of that universal passion for ticketing which 
 was formerly thought to constitute science. Everywhere 
 in these earlier philosophies do we see history carefully di- 
 vided into so many ages the Age of Gold, the Age of 
 Bronze, and the Age of Iron ; or the ages of childhood, pu- 
 
 4 "Essay on Mill," "Fraser's Magazine" for May, 1859, p. 511. 
 13 
 
194: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 bert y, manhood, decline, and decrepitude. In all, the pres- 
 ent age is invariably the age of decrepitude ; nor is Comte 
 an exception, for with him the present and positive stage 
 is also the last. Just as ages of childhood, manhood, and 
 puberty serve in some measure to picture the actual prog- 
 ress of the world, so the three stages of Comte also roughly 
 represent a true course of thought. In so far, they are of 
 value, but they serve little or nothing to explain the dy- 
 namics of civilization why mankind should progress in 
 one way more than another, why certain nations should 
 outstrip their compeers ; in a word, just that which he 
 thinks they explain. 
 
 The recklessness of the assertion that Buckle owed 
 everything to Comte is obvious to whoever will consider 
 what each has achieved in the science of history. Indeed, 
 their similarity is only incidental. They held certain 
 views in common because their subjects overlapped each 
 other Comte in seeking for a rational form of govern- 
 ment, and Buckle in showing how every movement of 
 mankind is subject to law. But the difference between 
 the two is far greater than that between Comte and St. 
 Simon, or Buckle and Montesquieu; and, moreover, it is 
 fundamental. Their different treatment of history is 
 shown most clearly in such points as Comte's failure in 
 every case to account for the greater advance of one coun- 
 try than another, as, for instance, Italy than Spain; or 
 why certain countries adopted Protestantism and others 
 did not; and in his irrational exaltation of Catholicism, 
 due to his ignorance of the early heresies and his false 
 notions of its unity and power. He has idealized it ; he 
 supposes it existed as a great moral power, and that from 
 
COMTE'S ERRONEOUS DEDUCTION'S. 195 
 
 it, during the middle ages, all reform originated. He 
 either did not know, or he ignored the fact, that the Cath- 
 olic Church was never so united as it has been during this 
 century ; that in earlier ages the difficulties of communi- 
 cation were too great to allow of more than a nominal 
 exercise of the central power ; and that, from the earliest 
 to the present time, it never had the power that he claims 
 for it. The priesthood, which he alleges to have been of 
 immense importance in all countries and nations as a 
 speculative class, have, moreover, considering the leisure 
 they enjoyed, done little or nothing compared with other 
 classes. They did not separate theory and practice, but 
 were in all nations rather practical than theoretical. The 
 treatment of the middle ages, for which Comte has been 
 most praised, was indeed that in which he failed most 
 signally, partly on account of his early education, which 
 narrowed his mind, and partly on account of his protec- 
 tionist bias, which led him to look behind the revolution- 
 ary period for the quiet for which he longed, and, trusting 
 to De Maistre's account, to imagine that something of the 
 same organization as existed in the middle ages would 
 calm existing troubles and reconcile existing distraction. 
 
 There are many points upon which Comte and Buckle 
 are one ; perhaps they are even more than those in which 
 they differ ; but, while the former are mostly subsidiary, 
 the latter are mostly fundamental. Comte's laws of civili- 
 zation are evolved as a necessary deduction from his hie- 
 rarchy of the sciences ; he supposes mankind to be subject 
 to natural laws, and not above them, simply because other 
 matters have been reduced to order and brought into the 
 domain of science. Buckle, on the other hand, proves the 
 
196 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 predictability of human actions by statistics. Comte ad- 
 vances as important laws of history his theological, meta- 
 physical, and positive stages, which he afterward reasons 
 deductively by illustrations from history. These, which 
 are mere tickets of phases of thought, analogous to the 
 labels on specimens in a museum, are rightly unnoticed by 
 Buckle, who discovers the laws of civilization first induc- 
 tively, and then, when he has done this, reverses the 
 process and proves them deductively. In this the Com- 
 tists accuse him of inconsequence, because they are more 
 familiar with the " Philosophic Positive " than the " His- 
 tory of Civilization," and urge that without the proof of 
 the hierarchy of the sciences history can not be made 
 positive; when, in fact, Buckle has proved directly and 
 incontrovertibly the dependence of human actions on their 
 antecedent circumstances, while the hierarchy of the sci- 
 ences is a very unsafe proof indeed. 6 Every step Buckle 
 takes is strictly reasoned, and his proof is more positive 
 and verified than any Comte chooses to give us ; that is, 
 Buckle's work stands on the same basis as any other scien- 
 tific work, while Comte, with all his positive claim, stands 
 on a basis not much more secure than, say, Smith's " The- 
 ory of Moral Sentiments," or, in other words, though his 
 method is positive, there is no inductive complement to his 
 
 6 Without entering upon this large subject in the way of proof which 
 has been done, indeed, far better than would be possible to me, by Mr. Her- 
 bert Spencer I would merely point out the obvious truth that chemistry 
 could be as well understood without mathematics and physics as astronomy 
 without chemistry, physics, and geology. The failure of M. Comte's proof 
 as to the hierarchy of the sciences, as that of the value of the three stages, 
 though it greatly lessens the value of the work according to his own estima- 
 tion, nevertheless deprives it of little merit ; for, as he himself so often 
 points out, any work which coordinates human knowledge is of value ; and 
 in details the " Philosophic Positive " is extremely valuable and suggestive. 
 
BUCKLE'S DISTINCTIVE MERIT. 197 
 
 deductive proof. Again, Comte knows hardly anything of 
 and despises political economy ; and supposes that it would 
 be both practicable and desirable that all nations should be 
 directed by their governments, and that all nations should 
 agree to be governed by a parliament of the wise, and 
 accept their laws on trust laws, the object of which they 
 did not understand a proposition which of itself shows 
 how little Comte grasped one of the most important of his- 
 torical facts ; while Buckle's chief merit is that he first made 
 a science of history by connecting it with political econ- 
 omy and statistics, and has shown how every advance is 
 intellectual from the people, and never in the opposite j 
 direction. Indeed, one of the truths he most insists upon 
 is, that it is better to make a harmful law with the concur- 
 rence of the people than to make a good one which they 
 do not like. Neither is Buckle solely a positivist like 
 Comte, for he allows the truth of the emotions. ISTor does 
 he venture to set a limit to the conquests of human mind, 
 as Comte, and even scientific men of the present day, are 
 so fond of doing, when a mere cursory survey of history 
 must convince all unprejudiced people that we are far too 
 ignorant to give any opinion on the matter beyond this, 
 that the achievements of the human mind will be far 
 beyond anything we can at present even imagine. In 
 religious opinion they were much the same. Both Comte 
 and Buckle allowed that the existence of God and the 
 immortality of man could not, at all events at present or 
 in the immediate future, be positively proved. But there 
 they diverged Comte to a ridiculous ritual under the belief 
 that, the one being unattainable, human needs must be sat- 
 isfied on the model of what had satisfied the only Church 
 
198 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 he ever knew ; Buckle to what at least was for himself a 
 transcendental proof, that what for mankind was a uni- 
 versal need was also a scientific truth. 
 
 In these, which are all of them fundamental points, and 
 which might have been added to, there is, as I have al- 
 ready said, more difference between the views of Comte 
 and Buckle than between either of the two and many of 
 their predecessors ; and I have dwelt the more upon them 
 than on the points of similarity, even at the risk of ap- 
 pearing unjust to Comte, because they are both more im- 
 portant, and also refute the shallow opinion that Buckle 
 has only popularized in England what Comte had first dis- 
 covered in France. At the same time, there are many and 
 valuable hints which Buckle has obtained from Comte in 
 minor matters, which no doubt saved him trouble, though, 
 in my opinion, his book would have been very much as 
 it now is had Comte's never been written. 6 The points 
 of resemblance are mostly necessary deductions, such as 
 the value of the inventions of gunpowder, the compass, 
 and printing ; 7 that the standard of clerical recruits is not 
 as high as it was ; 8 that the supposition that morality is 
 identical with religion is ruinous to the former; 9 and 
 others, together with certain deductions which at first sight 
 
 6 This is not M. LittrS's opinion, who says : "H n'aurait jamais ecrit un 
 tel livre, s'il n'y avait pas eu avant lui le livre de M. Comte " (" La Philoso- 
 phic Positive," p. 65, vol. ii., January to June, 1868). To which we may op- 
 pose M. de Remusat, who is at least unprejudiced : " Et cependant nous 
 pencherions a croire qu'il lui doit peu de reconnaissance. Rien ne nous 
 prouve qu'il n'eut pas trouve de lui meme ce qu'il lui emprunte " (" Revue 
 des Deux Mondes," p. 19, vol. xviii., 1st November, 1858). But this is a 
 minor consideration ; it is sufficient that no one can justly say that Comte 
 was Buckle's " master." 
 
 7 " Philosophic Positive," vol. iv., p. 104. 
 
 8 Ibid., pp. 422, 423. 9 Ibid., p. 554. 
 
BUCKLE'S OBLIGATIONS TO PREDECESSORS. 199 
 
 seem to be identical, such as their common neglect of meta- 
 physics, but which, in reality, are fundamentally differ- 
 ent ; since Comte refuses to have anything to^do with meta- 
 physics on the ground that the mind is unable to observe 
 itself, 10 and that transcendental views are unprovable; 
 while Buckle, on the other hand, does not discard meta- 
 physics altogether, but points out that the method of ob- 
 serving individual minds is not trustworthy, and the right 
 method is to study first the manifestations of the mass of 
 minds, and then only confirm these observations by the 
 former method." 
 
 Of course Buckle would have been the last to claim for 
 himself originality in the sense that he owed nothing to 
 his predecessors, to whom he was indebted in the mass, and 
 without whose labors he could not have written as he has. 
 To point out the particulars of his indebtedness, or whose 
 was the ore from which any grain of metal has been ex- 
 tracted, is, however, beyond the scope of this work, and 
 would, moreover, be as difficult and unsatisfactory as to 
 endeavor to point out in what Fraxiteles's Yenus was in- 
 debted to each of the hundred models. In each and every 
 of Buckle's predecessors we must of necessity find some 
 points of resemblance ; but it will be sufficient for us to 
 consider his real predecessors, or those who have taken an 
 important step in advance, and leave out of account the 
 feudal crowd who can only follow whither their knightly 
 leaders have gone before. 
 
 Now the really important ideas which have made a sci- 
 ence of history possible are extremely few. These are: 
 
 10 " Philosophic Positive," vol. iv., pp. 483, 488. 
 
 11 Buckle's History of Civilization," i., 151, 152. 
 
200 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Firstly, that man's course on earth is orderly, and not erra- 
 tic ; first really propounded by Yico. Secondly, that man 
 is governed by natural laws ; a proposition really due to 
 Montesquieu. Thirdly, that the laws of history are to be 
 looked for in the actions of the mass of mankind, and not 
 in those of the individual ; propounded by Kant. And, 
 lastly, that moral laws are dependent or intellectual; a 
 proposition first enunciated and established by Buckle. 
 
 The great skeptic Yico was the first who fairly grasped 
 the view that we must look for the laws of history, not in 
 divine interference, but in natural and earthly circum- 
 stances. And, though so great an opponent of Descartes, 
 lie nevertheless lays down the same fundamental proposi- 
 tion that the machine of life, once started, goes on with- 
 out the constant interference of Heaven. This view, which 
 his position at Naples made dangerous, and his religion 
 perhaps made him unwilling to express, he concealed un- 
 der the veil of that very Providence which he denied, 
 saying that man was so constituted by it that he must 
 move in a constant direction. He generalizes history. He 
 saw that the history of the Eoman Empire, the only history 
 he knew, was not a solitary and peculiar instance of growth 
 followed by maturity and decay, but the result of general 
 laws ; that the minds of men were everywhere the same, 
 and the same circumstances would produce the same his- 
 tory ; that individuals do not shape laws, but laws shape 
 individuals. Nay, so bold were his generalizations and so 
 skeptical his mind, that he denied that Zoroaster, Pythago- 
 ras, Solon, and Dracon had had any existence, and averred 
 that their codes were first produced by the wants of man, 
 and then ascribed to them, by that tendency in ignorant 
 
THE SKEPTIC VICO. 201 
 
 ages to ascribe everything great to individuals. In the 
 same way he anticipates the criticism of the present day 
 as to the personality of Homer, of Orpheus^-and of Her- 
 cules ; allowing, in some cases, a slight personality which 
 has been beplastered with all the great deeds of the like 
 kind which really happened afterward, or which the imagi- 
 nation of succeeding generations considered would render 
 the image more symmetrical. His method is the same as 
 Comte's. He has inherited of the classical period with its 
 successive metaphysical developers the theory of stages of 
 development, and shows that he has rightly conceived the 
 possibility of a science of history, by applying them, all 
 imperfect as they are, to the history of ancient nations, 
 and more ' particularly to that of Rome, where he again 
 anticipates the criticism of Niebuhr in his denial of the 
 early myths and in their rational explanation. And, though 
 he himself is not guiltless of the production of mythological 
 history, and we may now smile at his thunder-storm theory 
 of civilization, we must remember that it does not materially 
 differ from the tone of thought which produced the geologi- 
 cal-catastrophe theories prevalent before the era of Lyell. 
 
 Justly, therefore, has Yico been styled the father of the 
 philosophy of history, in the sense established by literary 
 usage, which, however, is in the same sense that some type 
 of Lemur is the father of mankind. He is the ancestor 
 up to whom we can trace the lineage ; but he is not the 
 father. Though he had glimpses of truth, there was much 
 worthless matter together with that which was good. He 
 seized the fact that civilization is not due to individual 
 lawgivers, who are merely the expression of the age ; that 
 progress is due to the natural satisfaction of human needs, 
 
202 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 for which he was to some extent indebted to Machiavelli's 
 axiom that each man seeks what is best for himself ; that, 
 given the same circumstances, the same history will be 
 evolved ; but, owing to the age in which he wrote and the 
 consequent narrowness of his view, he thought that the 
 same circumstances did sometimes recur, and hence his 
 well-known historical corsi and ricorsi. With little more 
 than the Roman history and the Italy of his day in view, 
 he thought the only possible change was to some form 
 which had existed before ; and for this again he was in- 
 debted to Machiavelli, who was to Yico much the same as 
 Alexander Bodin to Montesquieu that is, both Bodin and 
 Machiavelli revived the classical tone of thought and am- 
 plified it. But the sixteenth century was too 'early, and 
 those who might have succeeded were necessarily doomed 
 to fail in an enterprise which was reserved for the genius 
 of the eighteenth. Before Yico everything was considered 
 from a supernatural point of view, a method of treatment 
 of which Bossuet is the most perfect exponent, notwith- 
 standing that he lived a hundred years later than Bodin. 
 Had Bossuet not been a priest, and Louis XIY. not been 
 his king, it is possible that his great powers might have 
 earned for him the title which Yico subsequently won. 
 His circumstances, however, overcame his genius, and the 
 work which professed to be a history of the causes of the 
 rise and fall of nations, from the earliest times down to 
 Charlemagne, turned out to be simply so many instances, 
 made to fit in from history, to his leading idea that the 
 world exists for the sake of the Catholic Church. 12 
 
 12 1 have hardly found in Professor Flint's " Philosophy of History," or 
 in his account in the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," a single word in Buckle's 
 
BOSSUET. 203 
 
 Vico, like Comte, lias not taught us laws of civilization. 
 But he lias taught us to look for them in the doings of 
 
 praise ; and not only does he practically adopt many of Buckle's views with- 
 out a reference to him (e. g., " Philosophy of History," pp. 7, 27, 94, 101, 
 104, 128, 129), but actually goes out of his way to accuse him of unfairness 
 and dishonesty in his account of Bossuet. Mr. Flint's accusation is this : 
 that it is untrue that Bossuet neglected the Mohammedans, or overrated 
 Martin of Tours ; and he maintains that the Jewish nation is the most re- 
 markable in antiquity. Now, in the first place, though Bossuet does say 
 that he has deferred all consideration of Mohammed for his subsequent 
 work, yet it is indisputable that he has written a scheme of what he con- 
 siders the "history of civilization without any mention of Mohammedan 
 learning. Mr. Flint says Bossuet did not profess to write a history of civili- 
 zation. I answer, then, what is the meaning of " je reprendrai en particu- 
 lier, avec les reflexions necessaires, premierement ceux qui nous font en- 
 tendre la duree perpe"tuelle de la religion, et enfin ceux qui nous decouvrent 
 les causes des grands changcmenis arrives dans ks empires "? He certainly 
 puts religion first ; but as certainly professes to treat of the causes of politi- 
 cal and social changes. I doubt, moreover, that, even if he had written the 
 continuation he proposed, from the time of Charlemagne to Louis XIV., 
 which " vous decouvrira les causes des prodigieux succes de Mahomet et de 
 ses successeurs," he would have done more than give some account of the 
 Crusades. It is indisputable, again, that Bossuet, when he does mention 
 Mahomet, gives a very clear idea of what he considers the " False Prophet " 
 had to do with civilization, which was simply to inflict a great evil on the 
 Christian religion. Does Professor Flint really think anything further en- 
 tered into Bossuet's mind ? Again, as to St. Martin, I have yet to learn that 
 an author is to be blamed because he cites in a note his authority for the 
 text. "All that Bossuet has written in his 'Discours,'" says Professor 
 Flint, " is just the two lines which Mr. Buckle quotes." "Well, and what 
 then ? Buckle does not accuse Bossuet of saying more than he has quoted 
 of Martin of Tours. What he does say is : " When he has occasion to men- 
 tion some obscure member of that class to which he himself belonged, then 
 it is that he scatters his praises with boundless profusion." But Professor 
 Flint does not consider that to say of an ignorant priest who is now de- 
 servedly forgotten that his " unrivaled actions filled the universe with his 
 fame, both during his lifetime and after his death," is scattering praise 
 with boundless profusion ; nor does he mention that this is only the most 
 striking instance among many. And, lastly, if Professor Flint holds the 
 Jewish nation to have been the " most remarkable in antiquity," I would 
 ask him on what grounds? They were ignorant, and were obstinate, as 
 Buckle says. Their morals, their learning, and their laws were obtained 
 from their neighbors. Their monotheism was perhaps independently 
 
204 BUCKLE'S LIFE AKD WKITINGS. 
 
 mankind, and not in the doctrines of any theology. There- 
 in lies his merit, which is rather a negative than a positive 
 one. 
 
 Montesquieu was the first comprehensively to treat the 
 phenomena of civilization according to natural laws. There 
 had been attempts before him, and especially by Bodin, to 
 connect human affairs with external nature ; but these 
 treatises are analogous to the sensations of a man who has 
 lived all his past life in ignorance at home, and who sud- 
 denly finds himself in a foreign country where every cus- 
 tom is new to him. He can not think himself into his 
 subject. So Bodin, the ablest of Montesquieu's predeces- 
 
 evolved, but the Buddhists, at least, showed a contemporary monotheism, 
 and it is probable that the early Assyrians were also at one time monotheis- 
 tic. The Jews naturally had a good deal of influence on Christian thought, 
 but certainly not so much as Platonic, Persian, Buddhistic, and Egyptian 
 theology. But the subject is too large for my space. I will merely add 
 that both Professor Flint and M. Mayer have read Buckle carelessly if they 
 suppose that he is unjust to Bossuet in not making allowance for the age in 
 which he lived. Buckle is not writing a biography of Bossuet illustrated by 
 history, but a history illustrated by Bossuet. His narrowness and credulity 
 are solely referred to as an illustration of the fact that under Louis XIV. 
 even the " towering genius " of Bossuet could not overcome the tendencies 
 of the age. " In no instance," says Buckle, " can we find a better example 
 of this reactionary movement than in the case of Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux. 
 The success, and indeed the mere existence, of his work on Universal His- 
 tory, becomes from this point of view highly instructive. Considered by 
 itself, the book is a painful exhibition of a great genius cramped by a su- 
 perstitious age. But, considered in reference to the time in which it ap- 
 peared, it is invaluable as a symptom of the French intellect, since it proves 
 that, toward the end of the seventeenth century, one of the most eminent 
 men in one of the first countries of Europe could willingly submit to a pros- 
 tration of judgment, and could display a blind credulity, of which, in our 
 day, even the feeblest minds would be ashamed ; and that this, so far from 
 causing scandal, or bringing a rebuke on the head of the author, was re- 
 ceived with universal and unqualified applause." See Buckle's " History of 
 Civilization in England," vol. i., pp. 721-729 ; Flint's " The Philosophy of 
 History in France and Germany," pp. 89-92 ; Mayr's " Die Philosophische 
 Geschichtsauffassung der Neuzeit," pp. 20, 21. 
 
MACHIAYELLI. 205 
 
 sors, wlio had been accustomed to see the finger of God 
 in every trifling event, suddenly finds, in the writings of 
 Plato, Hippocrates, Polybius, and other ancient authors, 
 the very obvious remark that the customs of men are 
 adapted to the climate in which they happen to dwell. 
 He attempts to graft these original ideas upon those amid 
 which he had grown up, and necessarily and inevitably 
 fails. But Montesquieu, on the other hand, enjoyed the 
 immense advantage of living two hundred years later than 
 Bodin. He was thoroughly imbued with the truth enun- 
 ciated by Machiavelli and Yico, that mankind were per- 
 petually seeking to satisfy their wants; that, therefore, 
 their customs and laws were made to suit these wants, or, 
 in other words, that every law is the result of the circum- 
 stances by which its makers are surrounded. This is a 
 discovery which had never been anticipated, and for which 
 he will ever live. JSTor is his conception of the origin of 
 laws, great as it is, his only merit, for he also was the first 
 completely to separate history from biography. Yoltaire 
 had already insisted on the necessity of a reformation in 
 the manner of writing history, by paying more attention 
 to the history of the people, and less to that of their rulers, 
 and this improvement, as Buckle further points out, " was 
 so agreeable to the spirit of the time that it was generally 
 and quickly adopted, and thus became an indication of 
 those democratic tendencies of which it was, in reality, a 
 result. It is not, therefore, surprising that Montesquieu 
 should have taken the same course, even before the move- 
 ment had been clearly declared, since he, like most great 
 thinkers, was a representative of the intellectual condition, 
 and a satisfier of the intellectual wants in which he lived. 
 
206 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 But what constitutes the peculiarity of Montesquieu in 
 this matter is, that with him a contempt for those details 
 respecting courts, ministers, and princes, in which ordinary 
 compilers take great delight, was accompanied by an equal 
 contempt for other details which are really interesting 
 because they concern the mental habits of the few truly 
 eminent men who, from time to time, have appeared on 
 the stage of public life. This was because Montesquieu 
 perceived that though these things are very interesting 
 they are also very unimportant. He knew, what no his- 
 torian before him had even suspected, that in the great 
 march of human affairs individual peculiarities count for 
 nothing, and that, therefore, the historian has no business 
 with them, but should leave them to the biographer, to 
 whose province they properly belong. The consequence is, 
 that not only does he treat the most powerful princes with 
 such disregard as to relate the reigns of six emperors in two 
 lines, but he constantly enforces the necessity, even in the 
 case of eminent men, of subordinating their special influ 
 ence to the more general influence of surrounding society." 
 " In his work on the ' Spirit of Laws,' he studies the 
 way in which both civil and political legislation of a people 
 are naturally connected with their climate, soil, and food. 
 It is true that in this vast enterprise he almost entirely 
 failed ; but this was because meteorology, chemistry, and 
 physiology were still too backward to admit of such an 
 undertaking. This, however, affects the value of his con- 
 clusions, not of his method," which, as Buckle proceeds to 
 point out, is not affected by the truth or falsehood of his 
 illustrations. " The difficulty is not to discover facts, but 
 to discover the true method according to which the laws 
 
MONTESQUIEU. 207 
 
 of the facts may be ascertained. In this Montesquieu per- 
 formed a double service, since he not only enriched history, 
 but also strengthened its foundation. He enriched his- 
 tory by incorporating with it physical inquiries, and he 
 strengthened history by separating it from biography, and 
 thus freeing it from details which are always unimportant 
 and often unauthentic. And, although he committed the 
 error of studying the influence of nature over men consid- 
 ered as individuals, rather than over men considered as an 
 aggregate society, this arose principally from the fact that, 
 in his time, the resources necessary for the more compli- 
 cated study had not yet been created. ... He failed partly 
 because the sciences of external nature were too backward, 
 and partly because those other branches of knowledge 
 which connect nature with man were still unformed." " 
 
 Montesquieu's mistake of studying the influence of 
 nature over men as individuals was remedied by Kant, 
 the greatest of German thinkers, with the exception of 
 Goethe. He it was who first pointed out that, in a large 
 view of human affairs, free will can be left out of account, 
 and necessity take its place. He even adduces the tables 
 of births, deaths, and marriages in support of the fact 
 that human affairs are subject to natural laws. 14 He 
 clearly sees that history is governed by circumstances, 
 and, indeed, has anticipated Laplace's doctrine of necessity 
 in the simile of human progress to trees in forests which 
 
 13 Buckle's " History of Civilization in England," vol. i., pp. 752-766. 
 
 u Kant: "Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbiirgerlicher 
 Absicht" "Was man sich auch in metaphysischer Absicht fur einen 
 Begriff von der 'Freiheit des Willens' machen mag; so sind doch die 
 Erscheinungen desselben, die menschlichen Handlungen, ebensowohl, als 
 jede andere Naturbegebenheit, nach allgemeinen Naturgesetzen bestimmt." 
 " Werke," vol. iv., p. 293. 
 
208 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 can only grow upward because their companions deter- 
 mine their growth." He points out that, though we can 
 trace no general laws of civilization in individuals, we can 
 see a tendency in the mass, which, he thinks, is to express 
 an entity, an ideal man in humanity, brought about, not 
 by his desire to do this or that, but by the pressure of 
 circumstances which leave but one course open to him. 
 Kant's merit is to have perceived that the force of cir- 
 cumstance is too strong for free will, and that laws may 
 be traced in the conduct of the mass of human beings, 
 which are invisible in the individual. Yet he, like so 
 many others, must conceive a goal toward which all men 
 are striving. It is this assumed necessity for an aim in 
 civilization beyond the present even in the remote fu- 
 ture which marks how little the true laws of civilization 
 have as yet sunk into men's minds, a badge of slavery to 
 the old idea that mankind are extra to the rest of nature, 
 and not subject like the rest of the universe to general 
 laws. Hence it is that so many reviewers have com- 
 plained that Buckle has left civilization undefined. De- 
 fine civilization ? As well might we attempt to define the 
 Deity, or think it necessary that He should be defined 
 before the laws of morals could successfully be investi- 
 gated! When will mankind cease talking of humility 
 and be really humble? When will they allow the uni- 
 verse to be something more than a mere pedestal for their 
 display ? When will they admit that they are but a part 
 of a grand whole, and that, perhaps, not the apple of the 
 eye ? No one thinks it necessary to look for a summum 
 lonum in mathematics, chemistry, or geology, and, if they 
 
 15 Kant: "Werke," vol. iv., p. 299. 
 
KANT. 209 
 
 do look wistfully to the future for a time when all sci- 
 ences shall be displayed, they know they do but dream, 
 and such speculations are not necessary to the perfection 
 of any science. Why, then, should it be so difficult to 
 conceive that the laws of history may satisfactorily be 
 studied without first determining whither man's steps are 
 tending or where his progress shall be stopped ? 
 
 Kant, however, confined his speculations rather to the 
 political side of progress than the material, and this is 
 always apt to lead to those dangerous assumptions as to 
 imaginary perfection such as misled St. Simon, Comte, 
 and others. He saw that history might be predicted, and, 
 above all, saw that to do so required a large historical 
 knowledge ; and hence, though he failed in giving a fore- 
 cast of the way in which history should be written, he 
 has contributed to its philosophy important and original 
 truths, without attempting an elaboration, in which he 
 certainly would have failed. 
 
 Finally came Buckle, who, with a precision hitherto 
 unknown, has pointed out the real laws which govern 
 human affairs. He is the first to have raised history to 
 a science, because he first wrote it scientifically. He 
 pursues the same method as scientific workers in other 
 branches of knowledge, and substantiates his researches 
 in the same way. Here there is no groping in the dark, 
 no ideas thrown out of which the author does not know 
 the full value, no hap-hazard and uncorroborated state- 
 ments. Everything is strictly logical: not a mere logic 
 of words, but a logic of facts. Compare him with whom 
 you will compare him with Comte and how striking 
 is the difference ! The latter may be challenged at every 
 
 14 
 
210 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 step ; the former, armed from top to toe, is invulnerable. 
 They were contemporary, and, if anything, Comte, with 
 his foreign education, to whom speculations on the laws 
 of civilization were open from his childhood, had the 
 advantage over the Engish thinker, to whom these things 
 must be new. But mark the difference. The great 
 Frenchman, sagacious, quick, and extremely self-confident, 
 chooses His course while his mind is yet green and un- 
 formed, and deliberately shuts himself off from all further 
 knowledge, in the vain hope that his views would by such 
 means be more logical ; and that, since he would not hear 
 conflicting opinions, neither would he be influenced by 
 wrong ones. Yain hope ! He only succeeded in shutting 
 out those views which might have corrected and broad- 
 ened his field of humanity. There is hardly a note to his 
 " Physique Sociale," never a confirmation of a fact ; and, 
 having adopted the three-stage theory from his predeces- 
 sors, and modified it to truth, he treats it as an hotel- 
 keeper does his wine labels, which he considers have the 
 power of changing the quality of the wine. Instead of 
 looking upon the three stages as mere descriptions of an 
 invariable sequence of ideas, he makes them dynamical, 
 and refers everything to their action, rather than to the 
 action of general laws, to which he assigns a very subor- 
 dinate position. 
 
 Buckle, on the other hand, might have been writing 
 the elements of Euclid, as far as his method is concerned. 
 In his proof that men do not act without motives, that 
 these motives are the natural result of their circumstances, 
 and so on through his book, he proceeds step by step, 
 eliminating, as a chemist during an analysis, law after law. 
 
HIS ADMIRABLE MERIT. 211 
 
 He then begins to confirm these laws by pointing out how 
 every action of mankind is explained by them. Though he 
 probably has not connected man with nature <&s intimately 
 as hereafter he will be, 18 he did connect for the first time 
 all the known sciences with history, and is, therefore, just 
 as much the founder of the science of history, in the true 
 sense of the word, as Adam Smith was of political econ- 
 omy. Both had predecessors in their work, and both, 
 unlike their predecessors, left the foundation of their sub- 
 jects so sound and sure that, though they may be added 
 to, the foundation itself need never be altered. Much 
 will no doubt be added to Buckle's work, as much has 
 been to Adam Smith's, but nothing will be taken away. 
 He has left the main part unfinished, but it will have to 
 be finished in the way he has indicated. The general 
 laws, not merely evolved out of his inner consciousness, 
 but discovered by patient investigation, are there. Some, 
 of course, were known before, but they have been relieved 
 of their superincumbent mass of useless matter, so as to 
 have acquired a new, an increased, and a far more general 
 force. Others, and some of the most important, he has 
 enunciated for the first time : such as the dependency of 
 morals upon the intellectual state of the people;" the 
 greater value of popularization of knowledge as compared 
 
 16 As, for instance, in the probable effects of astral influences on mete- 
 orology and economical affairs. 
 
 17 Comte certainly pointed out that moral truths are useless without 
 some civilization, and that the value of morality depends upon the way in 
 which it is practiced (" Philosophic Positive," v., 416-419). But he did not 
 see that moral truths are stationary, and dependent upon the state of intel- 
 lectual knowledge for their interpretation. There have, besides, been many 
 other approaches ; but none come near to Buckle. What Condorcet says, 
 for instance, was simply to show how small is the power of the Church 
 when not backed by public opinion. 
 
212 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 with its concentration ; and, above all, lie has shown, what 
 Montesquieu and his disciples could only indicate, the im- 
 possibility of escape from general laws ; not that he taught 
 man to be permanently subject to them, as so many of 
 Buckle's reviewers have carelessly conceived, but that it 
 is useless to draw off the water of a dropsy until the heart 
 is cured ; it is useless to amend the proximate agent un- 
 less the higher and governing power is altered. 
 
 I know well that I shall be accused of the common 
 fault of the biographer, that I have gazed upon the bright- 
 ness of my hero until I can see naught else. And truly 
 there is so much of goodness and greatness in mankind 
 that the character of any one who towers above the rest 
 must necessarily and honestly be most worthy to him who 
 studies it most. To others, his light is obscured by the 
 multitude of other lights ; in some cases the nearer appear 
 to the careless observer the brightest ; in others, he may as- 
 cribe mysterious magnitude to the distant twinkle which 
 has shone from time long gone through all the time ensu- 
 ing. I can not say. My judgment may be affected as the 
 judgments of others have been before now. But, looking 
 at those things on which our judgment should be based, 
 it does seem to me that reason, at least as much as affec- 
 tion, has governed me in my estimation. Consider his 
 youth, his delicate state of health, his self-education, the 
 enormous drudgery he went through, and vast amount of 
 reading he achieved ; his self-denial, his love of truth, his 
 kindness to others, his charity and warmth of heart. 
 These raise him personally above the average of men. 
 Consider, again, the breadth and depth of his speculations, 
 his wonderful memory and vast power of assimilation, 
 
HIS PLACE IN HISTORY. 213 
 
 which gave him in every book he read a new soldier in 
 his army of truth ; an army in which every man was effec- 
 tive, because Buckle knew how to use him, Tjr-hile another 
 would have been simply confused, each individual would 
 have impeded the other, and the greater the army the 
 more hopelessly would theyjiav-e- been clubbed. This 
 gift of generalship, and the still higher and rarer gift of 
 generalization which Buckle possessed in so eminent a 
 degree, when found together with that quality which is 
 best defined as strong common sense, are so rare and valu- 
 able that we can not choose but allow him greatness who 
 possesses them. It is proved when a man of small for- 
 tune, without assistance from friends, is suddenly sought 
 after and caressed by all that is best in his native country, 
 his fame spreads to the four quarters of the globe, his 
 name long after his death constantly appearing in the 
 literature of the day, and his works, translated into the 
 chief European languages, continually being reprinted, 
 and creating a literature of their own. 
 
 And these works, what are they ? But a fragment of 
 a fragment. 
 
CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 Election to the Athenaeum To the Political Economy Club Lecture at the 
 Koyal Institution Success and Sorrow Letters Volume II. Anticipa- 
 tion of Death Mill's " Liberty "The Eights of Women Death of Mrs. 
 Buckle Grief of her Son Pooley's Case "Letter to a Gentleman" 
 Illness Stay at Blackheath Kindness to Children Utilitarianism and 
 Morals Death of his Nephew Stay at Carshalton Further Illness. 
 
 THE full recognition by society in London of the value 
 of Buckle's work had hardly time to show itself before its 
 ebb. But with the returning flood at the beginning of 
 1858 the tide of honors began rapidly to rise. Having 
 been put up for election at the Athenaeum, it soon became 
 evident that this election would meet with considerable 
 opposition ; the clerical element, which had not been lov- 
 ingly treated in the " History of Civilization," did not pro- 
 pose to return good for evil, but would do their utmost to 
 avenge his trespasses against their profession, and prevent 
 the purity of their club from being spotted by the mem- 
 bership of such a skeptic : insomuch that Buckle was even 
 advised to allow himself to be elected by the committee 
 rather than run the risk of failure, which his friends, nu- 
 merous as they were, believed to be imminent. But this 
 was not Buckle's way. Great as the honor of election by 
 the committee is, it would have been contrary to all self- 
 respect to shirk the battle. His friends did their utmost ; 
 and, when the time came, it became clear that he had no- 
 
ELECTION TO THE ATHENAEUM. 215 
 
 thing to fear. Some there were who knew him, many 
 who admired his book, and many more who could not 
 brook the disgrace which the action of a mere* cabal sought 
 to bring upon the club. One gentleman told an active 
 supporter of Buckle's that he had been asked to go down 
 to vote against him " because of his religious views." " If 
 that is your reason," he replied, " I shall certainly go and 
 vote for him." Indeed, so invisible had the opposition 
 become that many of those who had feared it most began 
 to doubt whether it had ever existed ; yet it was the opin- 
 ion of a member of no mean authority that the party had 
 had a very substantial existence, but had drawn off on see- 
 ing the strong general manifestation in Buckle's favor 
 probably from a proper respect to the wishes of the club, 
 though a different reason has been assigned for it. 1 It is fair 
 to say, however, that the greater number of clergy were 
 in his favor, and in the result he was triumphantly elected 
 by 264 votes to 9. The Political Economy Club spontane- 
 ously elected him a member, 2 and finally he was invited by 
 the Secretary of the Royal Institution to lecture there. 
 
 With the knowledge that we have since the publication 
 of his " Posthumous Papers," we see how he thought much 
 on the " Influence of women on the progress of knowledge," 
 and would naturally choose that theme for his lecture. 
 " Most able men have had able mothers," he remarks as an 
 accepted axiom in his mind ; and adds, " I shall hereafter 
 from a vast collection of evidence prove that the popular 
 
 1 It has been said, with how much truth I know not, that the majority 
 gave the cabal pretty clearly to understand that, if Buckle were pipped, they 
 would do the same for every clergyman put up. 
 
 2 December 2, 1868 : " Dined for the first time with the Political Econ- 
 omy Club, which elected me a member spontaneously." 
 
216 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 opinion is correct, that able men have able mothers. Wo- 
 men ought to educate their children, and, in fact, nearly 
 always do so after a fashion ; for education is not books." 3 
 He felt what an inestimable benefit the atmosphere of a 
 cultivated mother had been to him, and he wished to point 
 out perhaps influenced by Miss ShirrefFs work how 
 mankind is harmed by neglect of women's education. 
 
 , Expectation was on tiptoe. The novelty, the great 
 reputation of Buckle, and the fact that he had never spo- 
 ken in public before, excited the liveliest curiosity. He 
 began preparing his lecture on January 18th, and worked 
 daily at it up to the 21st February, writing out the main 
 points, and then (as he calls it) studying it, or, in other 
 words, rehearsing. He also, very wisely, attended the Fri- 
 day-evening lectures at the Royal Institution, which he 
 had never been to before, in order that he might accustom 
 himself to the theatre and the audience. On the 9th he 
 began writing it out for the press, as Mr. Parker was anx- 
 ious to publish it in " Fraser " ; but broke off, writing to 
 
 Mr. Parker : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 10th March, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : I can not make up my mind to write 
 the lecture, because, if I were to do so, I am sure that new 
 views or expressions would open themselves to me in 
 speaking, and I should deliver something quite different 
 from what I had written. 
 
 " But I intend to take notes, and, as I have a pretty 
 good memory, I am certain that with their aid I could 
 write out the lecture in two days after it was delivered ; 
 and, as you appear anxious [to] have it, I should not object 
 
 3 " Posthumous Works," vol. i., pp. 325, 326. 
 
LECTUEE AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 217 
 
 to do so. The only proviso I would make is, that I do 
 not forfeit the copyright in it by your printing it in < Fra- 
 ser.' Of course I have not the least intention-, at present 
 of exercising such power, and I need hardly say that I 
 would do nothing to effect the sale of 'Fraser,' if you 
 print the lecture there. Only as a principle, I have de- 
 termined never to surrender the copyright in whatever 
 I write. 
 
 " Have you succeeded in getting a ticket for the 19th ? 
 If not, I will, if I possibly can, send you one, but I can not 
 promise till three or four days beforehand. Please let me 
 know as soon as you can. 
 
 " If the lecture is printed in < Fraser,' could I have 
 eight or ten copies struck off separately, or would this be 
 inconvenient or unusual ? " 
 
 Numberless applications for tickets had to be refused, 
 and even Buckle could not get as many as he wanted. As 
 Mr. Barlow writes to him: "It is very hard that you 
 should be limited because of your just popularity. But 
 what can be done ? I can not expand the lecture-room, 
 nor prevent members from exercising their right to in- 
 dulge themselves and their friends with a high intellectual 
 gratification." 
 
 On the evening of March 19th the doors of the Royal 
 Institution were opened some time before the usual hour 
 to admit the throng of fashionable people who had col- 
 lected, and by the usual time for opening the theatre was 
 crammed from floor to ceiling by a brilliant and excited 
 audience, of which ladies formed a by no means inconsid- 
 erable portion. As the hour struck, and Mr. Buckle 
 
218 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 walked in, tlie loud buzz of conversation was drowned in 
 a burst of applause, which in turn gave way, as the lec- 
 turer opened his lips, to a silence in which one might 
 have heard a pin drop. Beginning in a somewhat low 
 voice, to husband his power, he soon warmed up, and 
 spoke on with great energy and action in that beautifully 
 modulated voice so well known to his friends, without 
 pause, without even hesitation, for an hour and forty min- 
 utes. He had written the heads of his lecture on a card, 
 at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Barlow, who warned him 
 how terrifying he would find the fixed gaze of nearly a 
 thousand people, and how probable it was that the sight 
 of his first expectant audience would unnerve him; but 
 he never once took it out of his pocket. This thorough 
 success of his maiden lecture gave Buckle the greatest 
 pleasure, which he did not attempt to conceal. Faraday, 
 Owen, and Murchison severally thanked him for the 
 great treat they had enjoyed ; and from all sides he re- 
 ceived letters of congratulation and of thanks. 
 
 Notwithstanding the letter to Mr. Parker, he had al- 
 ready written the lecture out before it was delivered, and 
 immediately after he set to revising it. On March 22d he 
 writes again to him : 
 
 " I have, by sitting up very late last night and work- 
 ing hard to-day, succeeded in writing out the lecture. I 
 am really so tired that I can't read it over, and I send it to 
 you as it is, feeling quite unequal to make a better copy, 
 as I had intended. You will, of course, let me see the 
 proof with the MS. 
 
 " I have received the most gratifying letters from men 
 of influence as to the effect produced by my lecture all 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIBREFF. 219 
 
 regarding it as an epoch, and urging me to have it pub- 
 lished. From this I have reason to believe that the de- 
 mand will be considerable. Possibly you may think it 
 worth while to print a hundred, or a hundred and fifty, 
 more copies of ' Fraser ' than usual. I do not mean this 
 in regard to myself, as I don't intend to give more than 
 
 four or five copies away. 
 
 " Yours very truly, etc." 
 
 " 23d March. I was unavoidably prevented from 
 sending this last night, and I now open my letter to add 
 that, since writing it, I have received such a quantity of 
 fresh communications as proves that the effect produced is 
 far greater." 
 
 Immediately after the publication of his first volume 
 he had begun to work at the second, for which he had 
 already got the greater part of the material by his pre- 
 vious reading. Yet, even while engaged upon this, and 
 also on the preparation of his lecture, he could still find 
 time to help his friends. We have already seen one letter 
 for help for Captain Woodhead ; he also helps Miss Shir- 
 
 reff: 
 
 "HALSTEAD, 19th June, 1857. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIEREFF : I am very much distressed to 
 hear from Mrs. Bowyear so poor an account of your 
 health ; and what I regret, if possible, more is, that your 
 letter, as she tells me, shows symptoms of a want of con- 
 fidence and a disheartening feeling respecting your work, 
 and the probability of bringing what you are engaged on 
 to a successful issue. What this is I have experienced, 
 though happily only for a short time, and at long inter- 
 vals ; but when, as in your case, it is aggravated by sharp 
 
220 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 physical pain, the combination must, indeed, be hard to 
 bear. The best way for you to console yourself is to re- 
 flect that the mental depression is mainly caused by the 
 state of the body ; that it will pass away ; and that it is 
 essentially unfounded, because, on comparing what you 
 can do with what others have done in your field, you have 
 every right to feel sanguine. You know that I make it 
 the business of my life to study what pertains to the intel- 
 lect, and I may therefore venture to believe that on such 
 a point I am a fair judge ; and I do honestly and deliber- 
 ately say that what you can and will do must be valu- 
 able looking at the amount of careful thought and of 
 natural power you have already expended on the subject 
 of education. I hope you know me too well to hold me 
 capable of the baseness of flattery ; but, firmly as I am 
 satisfied of the truth of what I am saying, I would not say 
 it except that I fear you are flagging in mind as well as in 
 body, and my regard for you is too sincere to let me think 
 this without doing what I may to remedy this case so 
 far as the want of confidence is concerned. If I can possi- 
 bly help you in any way, if you want my opinion respect- 
 ing any educational books or others which I have not 
 read, I will get them, read them carefully, and let you 
 know what I think. Pray give me something to do for 
 you. I am now pretty well, my time is my own, and a 
 few weeks' delay in preparing my second volume would 
 be as nothing compared to the pleasure of furthering your 
 labors and cheering you in the prosecution of them. Any 
 MS. you have prepared' I will read through carefully, and 
 would play the true part of a friend in criticising it closely 
 and severely. But pray keep up your spirits, and remem- 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 221 
 
 ber that the subject you are engaged on is one of the 
 noblest that could possibly be selected ; and that I am as 
 certain as I am of my own existence that you will succeed. 
 " I am enjoying myself here very much, and, instead 
 of the two or three days I meditated, shall remain till the 
 beginning of next week." 
 
 But, while in the very noontide of his fame, strong in 
 the citadel of his reputation, honored, feted, and feared, 
 he saw only too clearly that happiness would nevermore 
 be his. He had had hardly time to sip the cup before it 
 was dashed from his lips. As he turned homeward from 
 those gatherings of all that was of worth in London, the 
 contrast was great, indeed, of what was and might have 
 been. Another's loss too clearly shadowed forth his own : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 5ih August, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : I am shocked, indeed, at 
 this melancholy event. Poor Mr. Grey! how deeply I 
 feel for him to lose his mother thus suddenly I wish 
 you had told me how he bears it. "What anxiety, too, for 
 Mrs. Grey ! But I think more of her husband. She loses 
 only an aunt ; he, a mother. Poor Grey ! I wrote a few 
 lines to him the moment I received your letter. I much 
 wish I could have seen you this evening, but I dine at 
 
 Mrs. 's, with little heart, however, either for that or 
 
 anything else. I am broken-spirited, and care for nothing 
 but I would not put off my engagement : I am easily 
 excited, and excitement just now will do me good. 
 
 " To-morrow I go to Herne Bay. My mother is mis- 
 erably feeble ; but the threatening symptoms have all dis- 
 appeared, and they assure me that there is no cause for 
 
222 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 present apprehension. This is what they say present ap- 
 prehension ! I know the meaning of that, and I see the 
 future but too clearly." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 5th August, 1857. 
 "MY DEAR GREY: Perhaps I ought to abstain from 
 intruding on your grief, while sorrow is still so fresh ; but 
 we have been for some time on such intimate terms that I 
 can not resist the impulse of my heart, which urges me to 
 express the deep and earnest sympathy which I feel for 
 you under your irreparable calamity. Not that I, or in- 
 deed any one, can offer consolation ; for I have more than 
 once undergone in anticipation what you are suffering in 
 reality, and it has always seemed to me that consolation 
 may be for the dead, but never for the living. Still, you 
 are not, as I should be you have not lost all, you do not 
 stand alone in the world. At all events, if I may judge 
 of my own feelings of what would be precious to me had 
 I received so heavy a blow, you will not think that, in say- 
 ing how from the bottom of my heart I sympathize with 
 you, I am unduly trespassing on what is sacred to yourself. 
 You will rather believe that I write to you because my 
 mind is overflowing, and because it seems to me that I 
 have need to tell you what I feel." 
 
 " HERNE BAY, llth August, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR MRS. GREY : Your few lines with Mr. 
 Grey's note have been just sent to me from Oxford Ter- 
 race ; and, glad as I am to hear of you, I am almost sorry 
 that at such a moment he thought it necessary to answer 
 what I wrote, as I am fearful of ever seeming to intrude on 
 the thoughts of one bowed down by so grievous an affliction. 
 
SUCCESS AND SORROW. 223 
 
 " I left town early on Thursday morning for Herne 
 Bay, and found my mother very weak, but calm, and per- 
 fectly happy. Month after month she is n<?w gradually 
 altering for the worse at times slightly better, but, on the 
 whole, perceptibly losing ground. Her mind is changed, 
 even since I was here last ; * she is unable to read, she 
 confuses one idea with another, and nothing remains of 
 her, as she once was, except her smile and the exquisite 
 tenderness of her affections. I while away my days here 
 doing nothing, and caring for nothing because I feel that 
 I have no future. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Grey, I did not intend to write a note to 
 make you feel uncomfortable ; but my mind is now full 
 of one idea, and I can not help dwelling on it. When 
 you too are suffering, it seems selfish in me; but you 
 would not care for my writing if I did not speak what was 
 within." 
 
 " HERNE BAY, 5th September, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAK Miss SHTRKEFF : You will no doubt have 
 received through Mrs. Grey a message from me. To that 
 I have now nothing to add, except that all remains the 
 same the mind (at least the intellect) irretrievably shat- 
 tered ; but what remains is apparently safe for the pres- 
 ent ; at least, there is no reason for apprehension beyond 
 the constant uncertainty incidental to such a state. For 
 the future I shall say nothing upon this, unless, contrary 
 to all expectation I had almost said contrary to all possi- 
 bility there should be a favorable change ; in which case 
 you shall know immediately. 
 
 4 June 30th. 
 
224 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 " Your account of the progress of your own work is 
 very cheering. Any parts of it that you wish me to see 
 in MS. I will gladly read and give my very best attention 
 to. Do not scruple about this, as to help you would give 
 me real pleasure ; and, although I am still unable to write, 
 I am as equal as ever to reading and thinking. If you 
 could send it in the form of a registered letter^ I would 
 keep it with my own papers till I had read it, and return 
 it to you registered / in which case there is, I believe, 
 hardly an instance of loss, so many precautions being 
 taken. I am very anxious that you should execute this 
 work really well. Much will depend upon it, both for 
 your sake, and for the sake of the important subject of 
 education. I do not for a moment suppose that I should 
 be able to suggest to you new ideas on a subject you have 
 so deeply pondered, but possibly something might occur 
 to me (if I saw the whole work) as to the arrangement of 
 the topics or chapters ; and I need not remind you how 
 dependent all books (and particularly one like yours) are 
 on this almost mechanical consideration. 
 
 "Perhaps, too, other little points might be brought 
 out ; at all events, whatever the length of your MS. may 
 be, I should like to see the whole of it (if you are willing 
 that I should do so) when and how you think advisable. 
 As soon as I know full particulars I will take the first 
 opportunity of speaking to Parker, and I believe I can 
 answer for his acceptance of what I shall strongly, but 
 most conscientiously, recommend to him. 
 
 "I receive from all quarters the most favorable ac- 
 counts of the success of my work and, strange enough, 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIREEFF. 225 
 
 even at Oxford among the High-Church party. This 
 passes my comprehension ; but the ' Gentleman's Maga- 
 zine' is entirely in the hands of the Oxford people; 
 and yet see what they say of me in the number for 
 September just published." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 26th October, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR Miss SHERKEFF : I received your letter yes- 
 terday, and though very glad to hear from you, the plea- 
 sure was somewhat lessened by the account you give of 
 your work. "What ! Faint at the eleventh hour ! Im- 
 possible ! Surely you do not mean that you despair about 
 your book because it can not be all that you wish. And 
 as to your other objection, that your system of education 
 is different from others, and that therefore you will not 
 get a hearing, I do not believe that these are days in 
 which a view of education (or of any other subject) can be 
 suppressed because it is new. Pray go on ; then let me 
 see it ; and trust the rest to me, to Mr. Parker, and to the 
 public. Me first ! and the public last ! Observe the 
 vanity of the man. Seriously, I want to know that you 
 are advancing, as the right publishing season will soon be 
 at hand. 
 
 " I am better ; and able to work, and even to write a 
 little. . . . We are now settled in town. "We have never 
 returned home so early, and I do not know how so much 
 of London will agree with me. For my mother I make 
 no doubt it is the best plan, as we dare not risk for her the 
 chance of taking cold in traveling, and she always seems 
 happier here than anywhere else. . . . 
 
 " My book is selling extremely well." 
 
 15 
 
226 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 4th February, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : I am delighted. You have 
 come up to my expectations, and that is saying much. I 
 have now (2 P. M.) read to page TO, and therefore will de- 
 lay no longer telling you what I think. "When I saw you 
 last night I purposely abstained from giving you an opin- 
 ion, though I saw that you wanted one. I abstained, be- 
 cause your opening did not satisfy me, and does not quite 
 satisfy me now ; and seeing you so unwell I could not find 
 it in my heart to tell you so : and I should ill repay the 
 confidence you place in me if I were to flatter you ; there- 
 fore I said nothing. But the latter half of Chapter I. and 
 what I have read in Chapter II. are truly admirable. But 
 the opening is weak : I mean weak, not in conception, but 
 as a work of art. I intend first to finish the whole ; and 
 then carefully read again, and, if necessary, study the first 
 chapter, and we will then look it over. It is possible that 
 I may change my mind ; but I do not think I shall. You 
 may rely upon my giving your work such earnest and pa- 
 tient attention as real friendship can secure. 
 
 " Remember that I am only discontented with a small 
 part ; and that only because I compare you with yourself. 
 I would have called to-day to tell you all this, but am 
 obliged to go in a different direction ; and as I dine out at 
 a distance and must be home earlier than usual to dress." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 5th February, 1858. 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRKEFF : . . . Since writing to you 
 yesterday I have read about 20 more pages, all good: clear- 
 ly arranged, clearly written, and sometimes eloquent. I 
 have no alterations to suggest beyond a few trifling matters 
 
LETTERS TO MISS SHIRREFF. 227 
 
 solely in regard to style. If you have written the remain- 
 der in the same way, I shall venture to pronounce it much 
 superior to anything you have yet done." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 15th February, 1858. 
 
 " DEAE Miss SHIEEEFF : I send with this note your 
 first four chapters. The fifth I have nearly finished ; but, 
 as I am reading the MS. with great care, I go on slowly, 
 especially as I can do nothing to it by candle-light. The 
 style is on the whole very good / indeed, your choice of 
 words is admirable; and the only fault is that the sen- 
 tences are too long. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed at my lengthy list of corrections ; I 
 have simply done for your MS. precisely what I would 
 have done for my own. Some of my suggestions you will 
 no doubt disapprove of : in such case, let them stand over 
 till we meet. 
 
 " I have proposed no alteration rashly ; but the reason 
 of the proposal may not be at once apparent. 
 
 " The arrangement is good, clear, and symmetrical. I 
 am sorry I can't find more fault, it is so pleasant to be 
 spiteful at least, I enjoy it." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 22d February, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAE Miss SHIEEEFF : I return Chapter L, which 
 I have read through twice, once to-day and once yesterday. 
 I have, moreover, very carefully thought it over, and al- 
 though I can not pretend to think it equal to the other 
 parts, still I now believe that it had better not be altered, 
 because I do not think alteration would improve it. 
 
 " My impression is that your mind is better calculated 
 
228 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 to work out principles deductively (as you do in the body 
 of the book) than to rise to those principles by an induc- 
 tive and historical investigation, such as that contained in 
 Chapter I. 
 
 " The best of us can not do all things equally well, and 
 I only dislike Chapter I. when I compare it with what you 
 do in other matters. If I were to compare it with what 
 other writers on education have done, I should not have a 
 word to say against it. Still, I clearly see that the chapter 
 is essential to what follows : therefore it must stand, and 
 I would let it remain as it is. Another remark I ought in 
 justice to make is, that perhaps I am too harsh toward 
 Chapter L, because to me the whole matter seems so ob- 
 vious that I tire of an elaborate proof of a truism. It is 
 very difficult for me to forego my own point of view, and 
 (as it were, forgetting my knowledge) put myself in the 
 point of view of the majority of your readers. Yet this 
 is what I ought to do to give a sound judgment. You 
 must, therefore, take what I have said with this allow- 
 ance, and not affix too much value to my slight censure, 
 which is, after all, a relative censure rather than an abs.0- 
 lute one. 
 
 " To-morrow, or next day at the latest, you shall have 
 Chapters V., YL, and YII. ; and the other two I hope by 
 the end of the week. 
 
 " I have not the slightest doubt of the success of your 
 work. 
 
 " Your reasons for the word ' intellectual ' in the title- 
 page seem satisfactory; but you had better consult Mr. 
 Parker as to this." 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 229 
 
 ' ' 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 3d March, 1858. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIKREFF : I send Koch, three volumes. 
 Your latter chapters I like quite as much a- the others. 
 Some parts are admirable, but, looking at the book practi- 
 cally and as a work of art, I am of opinion that it is rather 
 too long. Still, I am not sure about this, and it may 
 well be that I am wrong. 
 
 " Are you serious in thinking to decoy me into writing 
 a dissertation on the professional employments of women ? 
 for you certainly know that without a dissertation it would 
 be impossible for me to write anything. The subject is 
 too large, and any opinion I might give would require to 
 be limited. All I know is that the matter is one of ex- 
 treme difficulty. 
 
 " The Dr. Smith, editor of the ' Dictionaries,' is Dr. 
 William Smith. He very civilly called on me the other 
 day, and that's how I know the name so pat. 
 
 " What you say in your letter about Smyth's lectures 
 is quite true ; and, as you have modified the praise, there 
 can be no objection to it. 
 
 " I do heartily rejoice to think that I have been of use 
 to you, and to hear you say so gives me real pleasure. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, etc. 
 
 " My mother is quite as well as usual. Dr. Bright was 
 much pleased with her to-day." 
 
 But her health, nevertheless, was in a very critical state, 
 and in July he staid with her and his sister, Mrs. Allatt, 
 at St. Helena Cottage, at Tunbridge Wells. Besides 
 looking through Miss Shirreff's MS., he was bringing out 
 a second edition of his first volume, and writing his second. 
 
230 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " TUNBRIDGE WELLS, ST. HELENA COTTAGE, 
 "21slJuly, 1858. 
 
 "My DEAR SiE 5 : Thanks for the check for 665 7s., 
 which I have just received as balance due for my first edi- 
 tion. The account is quite satisfactory, and the charge 
 for advertising very moderate. 
 
 " "When you pay the 500 for the second edition, please 
 to pay it into the London and Westminster Bank, to the 
 account of my cousin, Henry Buckle, of 40 Westbourne 
 Terrace. 
 
 "The fact is that, my income consisting entirely of 
 dividends, which I draw as I want them, I have no bankers ; 
 but my cousin, Mr. Henry Buckle, who is one of the di- 
 rectors of the "Westminster Bank, always manages for me 
 the very few business transactions which I have. I shall 
 write to him by to-day's post to tell him that you will pay 
 500 to his account shortly, but I am not quite sure what 
 I had better do with the check you have sent me, as my 
 name must be put on the back of it before it is presented, 
 and in that state [if] it falls into improper hands, the law 
 is so uncertain about crossed checks that I might be run- 
 ning some risk. Would it be the same thing to you if 
 you paid the two sums into the "Westminster Bank to my 
 cousin's account, leaving me either to destroy the check or 
 to return it to you by post, if it is quite safe to transmit it 
 in that way, which, from your sending it, I presume to be 
 the case ? 
 
 " I shall take no notice of the ( Quarterly.' The ani- 
 mus is too evident to do any harm. Besides, there is really 
 nothing to answer. The reviewer has had a year to ex- 
 
 Mr. Parker. 
 
LETTER TO MR. PARKER. 231 
 
 amine my notes and authorities, and neither he nor, in- 
 deed, any of my opponents have even accused me (much 
 less convicted me) of incorrect or garbled quotations. As 
 to the general principles at issue, they can never be dealt 
 with in a controversy ; and, having said in my work all 
 that I can say, I must leave men to decide between them 
 and the opposite views. 
 
 " I am glad to hear that you are about to take a holi- 
 day. I hope it will do you good. I am working closer 
 and more successfully than I have been able to do for the 
 last three years." 
 
 WELLS, ST. HELENA COTTAGE, 
 "27th July, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAK SIR 6 : I am really so very busy on ' Scot- 
 land,' and it would take so much thought as well as time to 
 write a proper review of Miss ShirrefFs book, that I can 
 not undertake it, at all events at present. I saw the 
 ' Saturday Keview,' and a miserable article it was, written 
 in a bad spirit, and by a man evidently incapable of tak- 
 ing a grasp of the subject. I am inclined to agree with 
 you that there a/re rather too many books recommended, 
 but that is at worst only an error of detail, and a work of 
 so much power must stand or fall according to the sound- 
 ness or unsoundness of its general principles. Besides, it is 
 a mistake on the right side ; for it is easier for a parent or 
 governess to curtail a good list of books than to add to it. 
 
 " Thanks about the check. A day or so will of course 
 not be important, but the fact is that I wrote last Saturday 
 giving a commission to buy 1,000 of this New Zealand 
 
 6 To the same. 
 
232 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Loan, which is just issued and guaranteed by government, 
 and, as Mr. Henry Buckle pays for it, I do not like him to 
 be without funds. "When I wrote to him I mentioned that 
 you would pay 1,165 Is. to his account. I have had a 
 good laugh at Daniel some people are so funny. 
 
 " Sincerely yours, etc. 
 
 "I hope you do not take it ill that I should again 
 decline writing a review of Miss ShirrefL But I really 
 find that I have more to do than I expected ; and I am 
 determined that, if possible, my second volume shall not 
 disgrace the first. I have about two hundred volumes on 
 Scotland down here to get through." 
 
 1 '59 OXFORD TERRACE, 25th September, 1858. 
 
 " DEAK Miss SHIKREFF : I will send to Chester Street 
 either to-day or to-morrow a Dutch work in two volumes 
 on the ' History of Manners,' which I think you will like. 
 If you have it sent down to Twickenham, please to give 
 particular orders about the packing, as I value it very 
 much ; it being out of print in Holland, and entirely un- 
 known in England. It will give you a fair specimen of 
 those curious parts of Dutch literature of which your in- 
 dustry has supplied the key. I am truly glad to hear of 
 your progress. . . . 
 
 " Your book is selling steadily, but of course slowly. 
 At this time of the year it is much for a book to sell at all. 
 
 " The g in Dutch is always guttural even at the begin- 
 ning of words. 
 
 "... I am remarkably well, and able to work with 
 perfect comfort upward of eight hours, so that Yol. II. 
 is happy in its mind. My mother sends her love. We 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 233 
 
 shall, I hope, in about a week go to Brighton for two 
 months. 
 
 " The old Dutch spelling (i. e., of seventeenth century or 
 even part of eighteenth) is more like the present Flemish. 
 Now the spelling is nearly always the same ; and your eye 
 will soon get used to the very slight difference the prin- 
 cipal being ij for y." 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 13th October, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : After your truly kind let- 
 ter I can not delay letting you know that we arrived here 
 Monday, 7 and that my mother was less fatigued by the 
 journey than I had expected; and, as coming here has 
 done no harm, the hope remains of its doing good. But I 
 am not sanguine ; I have been too often and too cruelly 
 disappointed for that. 
 
 " I hope you will like the Dutch books. There is a 
 noble field open there for anybody; and yet, strange to 
 say, no Englishman has cultivated it. I was thinking that 
 a life of Grotius would not be a bad enterprise. He has 
 deservedly a great name, and his career was full of adven- 
 ture. But we will talk of this when we meet, and, as to 
 the practical part of the question, I should like to hear 
 what Parker says. 
 
 " You had better get from the London Library Davies's 
 4 History of Holland, 5 and use it as a text-book, i. e., make 
 systematic notes from it, so as to thoroughly master the 
 leading events in Dutch history. I would also recommend 
 your drawing up an abstract of the somewhat scanty notices 
 of Dutch Literati in Hallam's * Literature ' ; reading each 
 life in ' Biographic Universelle.' There is nothing like 
 
 * October llth. 
 
234 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 taking a general survey before doing any one thing. If 
 you could get hold of Paquot, ' Hist. Lit. des Pays Bas, 5 
 you would find it useful." 
 
 " October, 1858. 
 
 " DEAR MRS. BOWYEAR : . . . . For the last three weeks 
 I have been unable to write a single line of my ( History,' 
 and I now confine myself to reading and thinking, which 
 I can do as well as ever, though I am too unsettled to com- 
 pose. My mother is just the same as when I wrote last, 
 caring for nothing but seeing me, though she is too unwell 
 to converse. . . . 
 
 " While she is in this state, nothing could induce me 
 to leave her, even for a day, without absolute necessity. 
 She has no pleasure left except that of knowing that I am 
 near her, and, as long as that remains, she shall never 
 lose it. 
 
 "... I want change, for, besides my anxiety, I am 
 vexed, and, to say the truth, a little frightened at my sud- 
 den and complete inability to compose." 
 
 ' ' BRIGHTON, 5th November, 1858. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : The only good history of Hol- 
 land in Dutch that I know of is by "Wagenaar, with Bilder- 
 dyk's continuation. You would probably not read the 
 whole of it, as it is in sixty-one volumes about twice the 
 size of Sismondi, 'Hist, des Francais.' You will, how- 
 ever, have to use it ; and, fortunately, I have a complete 
 copy. 
 
 " I don't agree as to the circulating libraries being the 
 main support of a ' Life of Grotius.' Such a biography, if 
 done carefully, would be very valuable, and would be pur- 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 235 
 
 chased by many persons for their own libraries. But more 
 of this anon. I have at home some valuable materials for 
 you. In the mean time, try and get Burign^'s ' Life of 
 Grotius ' (about 1T50), written in French, but perhaps the 
 English translation may be easier procured. We shall be 
 in town, I hope, the first week in December. During the 
 last ten days my mother seems to have rallied a little, but 
 I can not tell. 
 
 " There is a c Life of Grotius ' by Charles Butler very 
 poor." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 28d December, 1858. 
 
 "MY DEAR Miss SHIEEEFF: . . . Both in Dutch and 
 Spanish there are many openings ; and, when I was think- 
 ing about you the other day, it occurred to me how much 
 remained to be done for the early geography (fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries), and the adventurous lives of the 
 explorers men half geographers and half missionaries. 
 Above all, in reading Dutch, remember that nearly every- 
 thing is new to the English ; and, therefore, take copious 
 and precise notes of all curious matters. They are sure 
 to come in usefully. 
 
 " You will be shocked to learn that Mr. Petheram died 
 suddenly a few days ago. As soon as I heard of it, I 
 thought of c Self-Culture ' ; and I made every necessary 
 inquiry yesterday afternoon. It is difficult to arrive at the 
 truth ; but, unless different parties have deceived me or 
 are deceived themselves, you are quite safe i. e., his af- 
 fairs are not left embarrassed. The business will be car- 
 ried on for at least some time. You must take this infor- 
 mation for what it is worth. I have collected it from 
 booksellers whom I think I can rely upon. Still, you had 
 
236 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 better write to Mr. Petheram (his son, quite a youth, has 
 the management of everything), and say that he is no 
 doubt aware that your book was published on commission 
 only ; and that, as you suppose the business will not be 
 carried on, you would wish the remaining copies to be 
 returned to your house. This I advise as a matter of 
 precaution. The burial is to be to-morrow ; and I would 
 write on Monday morning. 
 
 "Will you tell Mrs. Grey that Dr. Addison is to be 
 here to-day at four o'clock (do you know, Dr. Bright died 
 suddenly ?), and, therefore, I can not call upon her, as she 
 wished. Neither could I yesterday ; for, having only just 
 heard of Mr. Petheram' s death, I was engaged the greater 
 part of the day in collecting such information as would be 
 useful to you to know. 
 
 " Thanks, indeed ! real warm thanks to you for all you 
 say and feel. 
 
 " You might leave a few copies of i Self-Culture,' in 
 case the business should be carried on ; but I would ~by all 
 means keep the larger part of the impression in your 
 hands. You might mention (as it were, casually) that you 
 had not received an account of the sale." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 5fh January, 1859. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHTRKEFF : I return Simpkins's letter. 
 As a matter of equity they clearly have no right to the 
 extra ten per cent., unless they take the trouble off your 
 hands. 
 
 "But what you have to consider is the expediency, 
 not the justice ; and the question is, Will any other house 
 equally respectable grant you more favorable terms ? 
 
LETTER TO MRS. GREY. 237 
 
 This I rather doubt, because, in every trade, traders re- 
 fuse to deal with private persons as they do among them- 
 selves ; and, if Simpkins was not to charge the ten per 
 cent., he would be dealing with you as he did with Pethe- 
 ram. 
 
 " My advice is to accept Simpkins' s offer on condition 
 that he will take one hundred copies at a time, and bind 
 them, charging you as Petheram did for the binding. In 
 regard to advertising, I think you had better keep it in 
 your own hands, and then you are sure that the adver- 
 tisements you pay for are inserted. 
 
 " If you are reluctant to adopt this course, I will most 
 willingly make any inquiries that you desire respecting 
 other publishers. 
 
 " Should you conclude with Simpkins, let it be clearly 
 understood that the title-page remains unaltered (for you 
 need not be put to that expense), and that you are not 
 charged for insurance of stock, or for anything beyond the 
 binding and ten per cent. You will, of course, keep a 
 copy of your letters to them." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 6th January, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAH I!KS. GKEY : I will call upon you between 
 3 and 3.30, on either Monday or Tuesday, whichever will 
 suit you best. I name that hour because I intend to have 
 a long talk with you, and because, not being very well, I 
 must be home by five o'clock, to have rest and a cigar 
 before dinner. 
 
 "I shall keep your MS. till I see you, as I wish to 
 turn the subject over in my mind. At present I see no 
 difficulty which you can not conquer. Great preliminary 
 
238 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 knowledge jv-ill -have to be acquired, but, speaking hastily, 
 I should say ten or twelve years would suffice. The 
 main thing will be to study economically, letting no time 
 run to waste. I need not assure you that all that I know, 
 and have, and can, will be at your disposition. 
 
 " I liked your letter very much. You approach such 
 an undertaking in the manner most likely to succeed 
 i. e., with a knowledge of its real difficulties." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 14th Januwy, 1859. 
 
 "DEAR Miss SHTRREFF: As you don't tell me what 
 Messrs. Simpkins say about advertising, I can not give an 
 opinion about their advice ; but my own impression is that 
 you had better confine yourself to the ' Times,' consid- 
 ering its universal circulation. I suspect publishers insert 
 advertisements in the smaller periodicals mainly with the 
 view of keeping up their connection. 
 
 " I am quite distressed to hear of poor Mrs. Bowyear's 
 illness. One feels for her and her husband in every way 
 as it were, exiled and shut out from all their friends. 
 The next time you hear from Clifton, do, pray, send me a 
 few lines to say how they are ; and, when you write to 
 Mrs. Bowyear, say with my love everything that is kind, 
 and which, in truth, I really feel. If I were differently 
 situated, I should be tempted to run down for a couple of 
 days to the hotel at Clifton, to try and cheer them both up 
 a little. As soon as I hear that Mrs. Bowyear is tolerably 
 well again, I shall write to her ; but I don't like to trouble 
 her husband (as I did before) with inquiries which he has 
 to answer, now that he is necessarily much occupied. 
 
 " I have not seen Bohn's edition of Butler's ' Analogy,' 
 
HIS MOTHER'S DEMISE AT HAND, 
 but it can not be so good as the old 
 
 - 
 
 thing is in such cases always added by inferior men under 
 pretense of illustrating or correcting. In all*eally great 
 works, the best editions are those published under the 
 author's own eye. A good copy of Butler, published in 
 the middle of the last century, can be bought for about 
 2*. 6d." 
 
 As his mother's state grew worse and worse, his anxiety 
 began to tell upon his health, and he was quite unable to 
 write. But his nature was so sanguine that he never could 
 quite realize how dangerous was the case and how immi- 
 nent the end. For the last six months of her life she was 
 from time to time delirious, but such was her strength of 
 mind that always when her son entered the room she be- 
 came perfectly rational. "Well might he say with Young : 
 
 " How oft I gazed prophetically sad ! 
 How oft I saw her dead while yet in smiles ! 
 In smiles she sunk her grief to lessen mine. 
 She spoke me comfort, and increased my pain. 
 Like powerful armies trenching at a town, 
 By slow, and silent, but resistless sap, 
 In his pale progress gently gaining ground, 
 Death urged his deadly siege ; in spite of art, 
 Of all the balmy blessings nature lends 
 To succor frail humanity ." 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, a sentence would escape her, showing 
 that her mind was wandering a little ; and he would seize 
 up his hat and rush out of the house, unable to endure it. 
 
 As some relief from the torment of his thoughts, he 
 dined out frequently. In February he writes to Mrs. 
 Bowyear : " I am still immersed in Scotch theology, for I 
 am more and more convinced that the real history of Scot- 
 
24:0 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 land in the seventh century is to be found in the pulpit 
 and in the ecclesiastical assemblies. A few days ago I 
 tried to compose, and with better success than previously. 
 I wrote about three pages that morning, and this has given 
 me fresh courage. But it is only after the great excite- 
 ment of conversation that I can write in the morning. 
 Nothing now stirs me but talk. Every other stimulus has 
 lost its power. I am dining out a good deal, and hear 
 much of my own success ; but it moves me not. Often 
 would I exclaim with Hamlet, ' They fool me to the top 
 of my bent.' " 
 
 On the 9th December he had written to Mr. Parker 
 offering to undertake a review on Mill's " Liberty," which 
 he felt would be a new stimulus to him : " If Mr. Mill's 
 forthcoming work on ' Liberty ' is what I fully contemplate 
 it will be, it will be intimately connected with some views 
 of my own concerning the influence of legislation ; and, in 
 such case, I would give you a review for ' Fraser.' But, 
 as I write nothing hastily, and look forward to reproducing 
 some day my miscellaneous contributions in a permanent 
 form, I should wish (if my proposal is agreeable to you) to 
 stipulate once for all that I retain the copyright of what- 
 ever I send to ' Eraser.' My object in writing so soon is 
 that I may have leisure to meditate the subject of Mr. 
 Mill's book ; and I would beg of you to consider this let- 
 ter as strictly confidential, because, if the work on < Lib- 
 erty ' is different to what I expect, I shall not review it. 
 As between you and me I shall require no engagement re- 
 specting the copyright, so perfectly am I satisfied that you 
 could do nothing but what was not only just but liberal. 
 But, as a matter of business, and looking at the uncertain- 
 
LETTER TO MR. PARKER. 241 
 
 ty of affairs, I would ask for a line from you to acknowl- 
 edge that I retain the copyright of whatever I give you 
 for f Eraser.' If you have the smallest objection to this, I 
 shall not feel at all hurt by your frankly saying so. What- 
 ever I publish in ' Eraser,' or elsewhere, I shall sign with 
 my name." 
 
 Mill's " Liberty " did fully answer his expectations, and 
 he began to prepare his notes on February 3d. On the 
 9th of March he writes : 
 
 " MY DEAE, SIE : 8 I am now engaged in earnest on the 
 ' Essay on Mill,' and, if you wish to announce it, you can 
 do so for c Eraser ' of 1st of May ; as, if I remain pretty 
 well, it will be ready for the press by the middle of April, 
 at the latest. I am afraid you must make up your mind 
 for a long article, both the subject and the man being of 
 the highest importance. Had I foreseen the labor it costs 
 me, I confess that I should not have undertaken it ; as, for 
 the last month, it has engrossed my thoughts. However, 
 I shall do my utmost not to discredit your magazine. 
 
 " The ' Saturday Keviews ' I wish to keep until I have 
 finished my article, when they shall be returned to you. 
 
 " At p. 55 of Mill < On Liberty,' a case is mentioned 
 of a person in 1857 being ' grossly insulted' by a judge. 
 Will you be kind enough to ascertain for me where I can 
 get sprinted account of this in detail ? Also please to let 
 me have the new volume of ' Transactions of Social Sci- 
 ence,' and the last edition of Whately's ' Logic,' provided 
 there is much new in it, since the sixth edition, which I 
 possess, published by Fellowes, 1836. I see that you pub- 
 
 8 Mr. Parker. 
 16 
 
242 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 lish Whately's ' Logic ' in two different forms ; the cheap- 
 er one will do for me, if it contains the same matter as the 
 
 larger octavo. 
 
 " Yours very truly, etc. 
 
 " I should be glad to know the date of the first edition 
 of Mill's < Logic.' " 
 
 He also writes to Mrs. Grey : 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 18th March, 1859. 
 
 " Mr DEAR MKS. GKEY : I have delayed answering your 
 note until I had time to consider it ; though, before you 
 called yesterday, my mind was so much shaken about your 
 plan that I had meditated writing to you. 
 
 " First of all, in regard to my name being in the pro- 
 spectus. I have long felt that men, perhaps from kind- 
 heartedness, or, as I rather believe, from want of firmness, 
 think too lightly of giving their names to charitable pro- 
 posals, and are unwilling to refuse what seems so slight a 
 matter. To me, however, it appears that no man should 
 give his name to any plan unless he is thoroughly con- 
 vinced of its propriety, not merely because he thinks it 
 good. "When I first heard of this scheme, I thought it 
 good ; but on further reflection I more than doubt of its 
 propriety. I look much to the influence of women for the 
 future advance of society ; but I am convinced that any- 
 thing which makes men and women compete, or which di- 
 minishes in the slightest degree the pecuniary profits of a 
 profession by throwing part of those profits into the hands 
 of women, will tell fearfully against women's power. At 
 present the two sexes do not envy each other ; but, if the 
 
THE EIGHTS OF WOMEN. 943 
 
 stronger sex should envy the weaker, it must happen that 
 the weaker will go the wall. 
 
 " Again, this is not a spontaneous English' movement ; 
 it is of American origin, and in America women have 
 more influence than in any other country, ancient or mod- 
 ern. In the United States, women being so respected, an 
 experiment may be safe, which here would be hazardous. 
 The institution would be covered with ridicule; and, al- 
 though this, generally speaking, would be no objection, it 
 is in the highest degree objectionable when the ridicule is 
 directed by men against the plans of women. That you 
 would do good, I make no doubt, as I can see many strong 
 arguments in favor of such a hospital. But I firmly be- 
 lieve that the large results would be mischievous. 
 
 " These things have passed through my mind in the 
 last few days, and you must forgive me, dear Mrs. Grey, 
 if I say that, on account of these, I can neither give my 
 name, nor can I, as I at first promised, ask my friends to 
 do so. 
 
 " But, although I disapprove of it, I admit the difficulty 
 of deciding how far the remote mischief will outweigh 
 the present good. I can only say, therefore, that if you 
 still persist in it, and if you find that more money will be 
 wanted, I will give to it any donation that you like to 
 name, simply because I wish to further what interests 
 you ; but in such case the gift must be anonymous and 
 through you. I can not openly countenance what I be- 
 lieve to be an extremely bold experiment, of which the 
 evil (to my mind at least) is greater than the good. On 
 the other hand, I can not bear to appear uncomplying and 
 ungracious to a friend whom I really value ; therefore I 
 
244 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 do most heartily offer to you any donation you like or think 
 proper, if under these circumstances you are willing to 
 accept it. 
 
 " It gives me great pain to refuse to you the use of my 
 name ; but I can honestly say that I am acting according 
 to the best of my judgment, and certainly in opposition to 
 my first impression." 
 
 But the siege was now fast drawing to a close, and he 
 
 knew it. 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 8th March, 1859. 
 
 " MY PEAK MES. WOODHEAD : I almost fear from your 
 letter that you did not receive the one which I wrote to 
 you some seven or eight weeks since, in answer to yours, 
 .... and that explains my silence. If you knew all, you 
 would pity me. Certainly, no one has less cause for ela- 
 tion than I have. What can I care about fame, when I 
 see the only person who would have gloried in it perishing 
 before my eyes, her noble faculties wasting away, the very 
 power of expressing her affection almost gone ? And this 
 is called success ! Rather call it cruel and bitter humilia- 
 tion, and failure at the last moment of all my cherished 
 hopes. 
 
 " When I tell you that for three months I have not 
 written six pages, you may imagine what I have gone 
 through and what I feel. I can work, and think, and talk, 
 as of old ; but the creative power seems to have gone from 
 me. I have only a chapter and a quarter to finish ; when 
 it will be done I have no idea. Nothing does me good 
 but excitement, and the excitement I relish is conversation. 
 Burn this when you have read it and shown it to your 
 husband. I am not wont to say thus much, but I am not 
 
DEATH OF MRS. BUCKLE. 245 
 
 willing that friends whom I care for should be misled into 
 thinking me changed. 
 
 "My mother is slowly but incessantly degenerating, 
 mind and body both going. I have been lately reading 
 with intense interest John Mill's new book on ' Liberty.' 
 Pray get it, and study it well ; it is full of wisdom. Mr. 
 Capel, seeing how it roused me, and how I was stagnating 
 at my old work, suggested to me to write a review of it. 
 This I have begun to do, and am feeling more pleasure in 
 it than in anything for a long time. If I complete it, you 
 will find it in ' Fraser ' for May. 
 
 " I am very glad to hear that your husband is getting 
 on with his work. Give my kind love to him, and say 
 that he has only to write to me about any difficulty which 
 he thinks I can clear up; and even without that I am 
 pleased to see his or your handwriting." 
 
 The end was not far off. Mrs. Buckle was so much 
 worse on March 31st that her son telegraphed to his sister. 
 On April 1st is written in his diary : " Mr. Morgan came, 
 and said it is now only a question of hours with my darling 
 Jenny. ... At 9.15 my angel mother died peacefully, 
 without pain." 
 
 We shall draw a veil over the last sad minutes, the last 
 tender pressure of the trembling hands, the last fond look 
 of the fast-dimming eyes, the frantic grief of the survivors. 
 " Consolation may be for the dead, but never for the liv- 
 ing." He had lost his all, and stood in the world alone. 
 
 'And, when the last sad offices were rendered to the 
 mother he had loved so well, and he sat down in the " dull 
 and dreary house, once so full of light and love," the first 
 
246 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 thing he wrote was his proof of the immortality of the soul 
 from the universality of the affections : 
 
 " Look now at the way in which this godlike and fun- 
 damental principle of our nature acts. As long as we are 
 with those whom we love, and as long as the sense of se- 
 curity is unimpaired, we rejoice, and the remote conse- 
 quences of our love are usually forgotten. Its fears and 
 its risks are unheeded. But when the dark day approaches, 
 and the moment of sorrow is at hand, other and yet essen- 
 tial parts of our affection come into play. And if, per- 
 chance, the struggle has been long and arduous; if we 
 have been tempted to cling to hope when hope should 
 have been abandoned, so much the more are we at the last 
 changed and humbled. To note the slow but inevitable 
 march of disease, to watch the enemy stealing in at the 
 gate, to see the strength gradually waning, the limbs tot- 
 tering more and more, the noble faculties dwindling by 
 degrees, the eye paling and losing its luster, the tongue 
 faltering as it vainly tries to utter its words of endearment, 
 the very lips hardly able to smile with their wonted ten- 
 derness to see this, is hard indeed to bear, and many of 
 the strongest natures have sunk under it. But when even 
 this is gone ; when the very signs of life are mute ; when 
 the last faint tie is severed, and there lies before us naught 
 save the shell and husk of what we loved too well, then 
 truly, if we believe the separation were final, how could 
 we stand up and live ? 8 We have staked our all upon a 
 
 9 Mr. Glennie, in his " Pilgrim Memories," p. 76, misreads this passage 
 as follows : " And wonderful it seemed to me that any one acquainted with 
 the facts of existence could dare to make so much of himself as to found 
 an argument for the truth of a belief on his ' inability to stand up and live ' 
 were he to find it false ! " 
 
GRIEF OF HER SON. 247 
 
 single cast, and lost the stake. There, where we have gar- 
 nered up our hearts, and where our treasure is, thieves 
 break in and spoil. Methinks that in that ftioment of 
 desolation the best of us would succumb, but for the deep 
 conviction that all is not really over ; that we have as yet 
 only seen a part; and that something remains behind. 
 Something behind; something which the eye of reason 
 can not discern, but on which the eye of affection is fixed. 
 "What is that which, passing over us like a shadow, strains 
 the aching vision as we gaze at it ? Whence comes that 
 sense of mysterious companionship in the midst of solitude ; 
 that ineffable feeling which cheers the afflicted ? Why is 
 it that at these times our minds are thrown back on them- 
 selves, and, being so thrown, have a forecast of another 
 and a higher state ? If this be a delusion, it is one which 
 the affections have themselves created, and we must be- 
 lieve that the purest and noblest elements of our nature 
 conspire to deceive us. So surely as we lose what we love, 
 so surely does hope mingle with grief. . . . And of all the 
 moral sentiments which adorn and elevate the human char- 
 acter, the instinct of affection is surely the most lovely, the 
 most powerful, and the most general. Unless, therefore, 
 we are prepared to assert that this, the fairest and choicest 
 of our possessions, is of so delusive and fraudulent a charac- 
 ter that its dictates are not to be trusted, we can hardly 
 avoid the conclusion that, inasmuch as they are the same 
 in all ages, with all degrees of knowledge, and with all 
 varieties of religion, they bear upon their surface the im- 
 press of truth, and are at once the conditions and conse- 
 quence of our being." 
 
 Alas ! alas ! would that this proof were as clear to us 
 
24:8 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 as to his grief -wrought heart ! Bereaved and lonely man 
 that he was, we might perchance think his mind was at 
 that time too readily open to such transcendental reason- 
 ing ; and yet it was no new idea with him, for he had al- 
 ready enunciated the thought in his first volume. 10 But, 
 seeing as we do that, though the universal emotion of love 
 is a possible indication of immortality, love would exist 
 just the same were our death absolute we can not hold 
 it proof. Indeed, this present world could not exist with- 
 out the binding principle of love, without which every 
 organized being would be swept away and effaced from 
 the earth. It is too plain that its existence is as necessary 
 a concomitant of our own as the air we breathe, and can 
 not, as such, be held a proof of our immortality. 
 
 But the emotion being the result of the stored-up 
 knowledge of our lives of that knowledge which is not 
 only learned from books and learned conversation, but from 
 the experience of the feelings, of the void in our being, of 
 the sympathies and laws of intercourse of mankind these, 
 indeed, may be trusted to indicate the truth, and pioneer the 
 way for surer generalizations from proven facts. As Buckle 
 himself writes," " The emotions are as much a part of us as 
 the understanding ; they are as truthful ; they are as likely 
 to be right. Though their view is different (from that of 
 the understanding), it is not capricious. They obey fixed 
 
 10 Talking of the institution of priesthood, he says : " We may, if need 
 be, remove some of its parts ; but we would not, we dare not, tamper with 
 those great religious truths which are altogether independent of it, truths 
 which comfort the mind of man, raise -him above the instincts of the hour, 
 and infuse into him those lofty aspirations which, revealing to him his own 
 immortality, are the measure and the symptom of a future life." " History 
 of Civilization," vol. L, p. 695. 
 
 11 " History of Civilization," ii., p. 502. 
 
LETTER TO MRS. GREY. 249 
 
 laws ; they follow an orderly and uniform course ; they run 
 in sequences ; they have their logic and method of inference." 
 He kept very quiet for twelve days after his mother's 
 death, working about six hours a day, chiefly in finishing 
 his " Essay on Mill." On April 13th, having heard of a 
 severe illness in Mrs. Grey's family, he visited her, "for the 
 first time," he writes, " since my darling mother's death." 
 But the memories of his mother which this visit called up 
 were too much for him, and he could not repeat it : 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 
 ["Between 13th and 23d] April, 1859. 
 
 " You would not ask me, my dear friend, if you knew 
 what my visit to Cadogan Place cost me. I can not; 
 everything which brings up a former association unhinges 
 me. I overrated my own strength I deemed myself 
 more than I am ; do not, I pray you, think me unkind. 
 Perhaps I may yet see you, for I promised Mrs. Bowyear 
 to call on her in Chester Street if I could ; but that must 
 be the only visit I make before I leave this house, where 
 everything is hateful to me. Do not be uneasy about me ; 
 I am quite well ; and, within such limits as are left to me, 
 I am happy. I can work freely and well. Beyond this 
 there is nothing for me to look for, except the deep con- 
 viction which I have of another life, and which makes me 
 feel that all is not really over." 
 
 And, under like circumstances, he wrote to Mrs. Bow- 
 year, after his visit : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, April, 1859. 
 
 "... I can not, my dear friend, come to you, for 
 there is a mass of business to finish, and which would be 
 
250 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 at a standstill were I to leave town. I have promised my 
 aunt that I will visit her before I go elsewhere ; and I 
 could not, at such a moment, find it in my heart to dis- 
 appoint her. I remain quite well ; but my grief increases 
 as association after association rises in my mind and tells 
 me what I have lost. One thing alone I cling to the 
 deep and unalterable conviction that the end is not yet 
 come, and that we never really die. But it is a separation 
 for half a life ; and the most sanguine view that I can take 
 is that I have a probability before me of thirty years of 
 fame, of power, and of desolation." . . . 
 
 The "Essay on Mill" was published on May 1, 1859, 
 and led to consequences which it will be necessary to dwell 
 upon, as they relate to the most important event in Buckle's 
 public life his accusation of Mr. Justice Coleridge. In 
 Mill's " Liberty," which he reviewed, he had come upon 
 the following passage : " Penalties for opinion, or at least 
 for its expression, still exist by law ; and their enforcement 
 is not, even in these times, so unexampled as to make it 
 incredible that they may some day be revived in full force. 
 In the year 1857, at the summer assizes of the county of 
 Cornwall, an unfortunate man, said to be of unexception- 
 able conduct in all relations of life, was sentenced to 
 twenty-one months' imprisonment for uttering and writing 
 on a gate some offensive words against Christianity." 
 
 " It was with the greatest astonishment," writes Buckle, 
 " that I read in Mr. Mill's work that such a thing had 
 occurred in this country, at one of our assizes, less than 
 two years ago. Notwithstanding my knowledge of Mr. 
 Mill's accuracy, I thought that, in this instance, he must 
 
POOLEY'S CASE. 251 
 
 have been mistaken. I supposed that he had not heard all 
 the circumstances, and that the person punished had been 
 guilty of some other offense." He, accordingly/ carefully 
 investigated the case, and read all the reports he could 
 find, with the result that the following are the facts of the 
 case, as stated by Buckle, and they have never been dis- 
 puted : " In the summer of 185T, a poor man, named 
 Thomas Pooley, was gaining his livelihood as a common 
 laborer in Liskeard, in Cornwall, where he had been well 
 known for several years, and had always borne a high 
 character for honesty, industry, and sobriety. His habits 
 were so eccentric that his mind was justly reputed to be 
 disordered ; and an accident which happened to him about 
 two years before this period had evidently inflicted some 
 serious injury, as since then his demeanor had become 
 more strange and excitable. Still, he was not only per- 
 fectly harmless, but was a very useful member of society, 
 respected by his neighbors, and loved by his family, for 
 whom he toiled with a zeal rare in his class, or, indeed, in 
 any class. Among other hallucinations, he believed that 
 the earth was a living animal ; and, in his ordinary employ- 
 ment of well-sinking, he avoided digging too deeply, lest 
 he should penetrate the skin of the earth, and wound some 
 vital part. He also imagined that if he hurt the earth the 
 tides would cease to flow, and that, nothing being really 
 mortal, whenever a child died it reappeared at the next 
 birth in the same family. Holding all nature to be ani- 
 mated, he, moreover, fancied that this was in some way 
 connected with the potato-rot ; and in the wildness of his 
 vagaries he did not hesitate to say that, if the ashes of 
 burned Bibles were strewed over the fields, the rot would 
 
252 BUCKLE'S LIFE AKD WRITINGS. 
 
 cease. This was associated in liis mind with a foolish dis- 
 like of the Bible itself, and an hostility against Christian- 
 ity ; in reference, however, to which he could hurt no one, 
 as not only was he very ignorant, but his neighbors, re- 
 garding him as crack-brained, were uninfluenced by him, 
 though in the other relations of life he was valued and 
 respected by his employers, and indeed by all who were 
 most acquainted with his disposition. 
 
 " This singular man, who was known by the additional 
 peculiarity of wearing a long beard, wrote upon a gate a 
 few very silly words expressive of his opinion respecting 
 the potato-rot and the Bible, and also of his hatred of 
 Christianity. For this, as well as for using language 
 equally absurd, but which no one was obliged to listen to, 
 and which certainly could influence no one, a clergyman 
 in the neighborhood lodged an information against him, 
 and caused him to be summoned before a magistrate, who 
 was likewise a clergyman. The magistrate, instead of 
 pitying him, or remonstrating with him, committed him 
 for trial, and sent him to jail." 
 
 Thomas Pooley was brought before the judge ; there 
 was no counsel for the defense, but there was for the prose- 
 cution. The attorney who prosecuted knew well all the 
 history recounted above, with the exception as he asserts 
 that he was ignorant that Pooley was deranged. The 
 spectators and reporters noticed the incoherence of his 
 speech, his restless manner, and glaring eye; but the 
 judge writes in an official letter, " There was not the 
 slightest suggestion made to me of his being other than 
 perfectly sane ; nor was there anything in his demeanor at 
 the trial, or in the conduct of his defense by himself, 
 
A SIMILAR CASE WITH A DIFFERENCE. 253 
 
 which indicated it." The result was that Pooley was con- 
 victed. 
 
 Quite recently there was a case remarkably similar : A 
 man named Sullivan was charged with annoying the in- 
 habitants of a part of London by chalking up words in 
 public places, such as " The Power of Prayer." He had 
 habitually offended in this way, as Pooley had been in the 
 habit of doing in his way. It is needless to say that Sul- 
 livan was not committed for trial, much less punished 
 with twenty-one months' imprisonment. The magistrate 
 told him " he had no right to chalk up any words on pri- 
 vate property. . . . He ought to have the sense to see he 
 was doing more harm than good by persistently breaking 
 the law " ; and the man was discharged, with a caution 
 that if brought up again he would be fined. 12 So Pooley 
 might have been cautioned and discharged, or sentenced 
 to a nominal punishment ; he ought, indeed, never to have 
 been convicted. But he was sentenced to imprisonment 
 for one year and nine months an imprisonment which 
 he soon exchanged for the madhouse. 
 
 Such a case was indeed likely to arouse all the generous 
 indignation of which Buckle's nature was capable. Like 
 Yoltaire, he preferred the heat and dust of the combat in 
 the cause of justice and freedom, rather than to consult 
 merely his own comfort, and remain mute and quiet. But 
 he only did once what Yoltaire did many times. Yol- 
 taire stood up for liberty where liberty was hardly known. 
 Buckle stood up for liberty where, indeed, she was in dan- 
 ger of being driven from her natural abode. Yoltaire 
 saved Sirven and La Barre, and defended the reputations 
 
 12 See the " Pall Mall Gazette," March 16th, 1878. 
 
254 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 of Galas, De Lally, and even Byng, an alien and an ene- 
 my, simply because he loved freedom, and could not look 
 quietly on the perpetration of injustice. For this he has 
 been honored and revered ; and shall we deal out a differ- 
 ent measure to Buckle ? 
 
 That the conviction was unjust, or, at least, that the 
 punishment was monstrous, the free pardon that ridicu- 
 lous and insulting fiction of the law to screen itself from 
 an acknowledgment that it has been wrong sufficiently 
 proves. As for the judge, his friends are placed in the 
 dilemma of either acknowledging that he committed an 
 injustice, or that he was incapable ; that he did not observe 
 those signs of lunacy which were patent even to the re- 
 porters ; that he was so careless to sift the evidence 
 against an undefended, ignorant man, that nothing was 
 brought out at the trial concerning Pooley's hallucinations 
 and his blameless life. It is no excuse for the late Sir 
 John Coleridge, as the " Law Magazine " I3 hints that it 
 should be, that, like the Inquisitors of Spain, his motives 
 were unimpeachable. Their excuse was ignorance ; but 
 no man, least of all an English judge, would care to plead 
 that excuse to-day. Mill himself pointed out the danger 
 in such prosecutions to personal liberty, and Buckle saw 
 and attacked it. He told his friend, Mr. Henriquez, that 
 "he saw no guarantee that the age of persecution was 
 passed for ever ; and could quite conceive that, in times of 
 great civil commotion, if a religious party got the upper 
 hand, persecution would be recommended and acquiesced 
 in. Only one party, indeed, could be trusted not to abuse 
 power and never to persecute, and that was the skeptics." 
 
 13 For August, 1859, p. 280. 
 
BUCKLE'S ENERGETIC ATTACK. 255 
 
 Buckle attacked the judge, because, as lie justly points 
 out, " it is impossible for us by any effort of abstract rea- 
 soning to consider oppression apart from the^ppressor. 
 We may abhor a speculative principle, and yet respect him 
 who advocates it. This distinction between the opinion 
 and the person is, however, confined to the intellectual 
 world, and does not extend to the practical. Such a sepa- 
 ration can not exist in regard to actual deeds of cruelty." 
 This personal attack was, however, resented by most of 
 the papers of the day, because they were not able to think 
 themselves into the position of the poor and oppressed. 
 They could see the position of the judge, but not the full 
 danger of intolerance and interference with liberty. 
 
 " The circumstances," says Buckle, " to which I have 
 directed public attention were not sought for by me. I 
 did not go out of my road to find them. I had never 
 heard of the case of Pooley until I came across it in the 
 book which I was reviewing. As it had fallen in my way, 
 I thought it my duty first to investigate it, and then to 
 expose it. In exposing it I denounced the principal ac- 
 tors, especially him who gave the finishing touch to the 
 whole. By doing so I have incurred the hostility of his 
 friends, and I have, moreover, displeased a large class of 
 persons who consider that an English judge occupies so 
 elevated a position that he ought not to be made the ob- 
 ject of a personal attack. To me, however, it appears 
 that his elevation and his name, and the pomp and the dig- 
 nity and the mighty weight of that office which he held, 
 are among the circumstances which justify the course I 
 have taken. If he had been a man of no account, it would 
 hardly have been worth while for me to pause, in the 
 
256 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 midst of my solitary labors, that I might turn aside and 
 smite him. For what is he to me ? Our ways of life and 
 our career are so completely different that between us 
 there can be no rivalry ; and the motives which commonly 
 induce one man to attack another can have no place. I 
 can not envy him, for I see nothing to envy. Neither can 
 I fear him ; nor can I expect to derive any benefit from 
 hurting him. Unless, therefore, it is supposed that I am 
 actuated by a spirit of pure, naked, and motiveless malig- 
 nity, I have a right to be believed when I say that in this 
 matter my sole object has been to promote the great, and, 
 to me, the sacred cause of liberty of speech and of publica- 
 tion. This, indeed, lies near to my heart. And it is this 
 alone which gives to the present case its real importance, 
 and will prevent it from sinking into oblivion. Yet a few 
 years, and Sir John Coleridge and Thomas Pooley will be 
 numbered with the dead. But, though the men will die, the 
 principles which they represent are immortal. The pow- 
 erful and intolerant judge, seeking to stop the mouth of the 
 poor and friendless well-sinker, is but the type of a far 
 older and wider struggle. In every part of the civilized 
 world the same contest is raging ; and the question is still 
 undecided whether or not men shall say what they like ; 
 in other words, whether language is to be refuted by lan- 
 guage, or whether it is to be refuted by force. Disguise 
 it as you will, this is the real issue. In this great warfare 
 between liberty and repression Sir John Coleridge has 
 chosen his side, and I have chosen mine. But he, being 
 armed with the power of the executive government, 
 has been able to carry matters with a high hand, and to 
 strengthen his party not indeed by arguments, but by vio- 
 

 LETTEE TO MR. PARKER. 257 
 
 lence. Instead of refuting, he imprisons. My weapons 
 are of another kind, and shall I not use them ? Am I for 
 ever to sit by in silence ? Are all the blows ty> be dealt 
 from one side, and none from the other ? I think not. I 
 think it is but right and fitting that Sir John Coleridge, 
 and those who agree with him, should be taught that lit- 
 erature is able to punish as well as to persuade ; and that 
 she never exercises her high vocation with greater dignity 
 than when, upholding the weak against the strong, she lets 
 the world see that she is no respecter of persons, but will, 
 if need be, strike at the highest place, and humble the 
 proudest name." 14 
 
 Some even of his own friends were shocked by the 
 violence of his language ; but the following letters will 
 explain themselves : 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 20th April, 1859. 
 " MY DEAR SIE : 16 There are so many corrections in 
 the inclosed proofs that I must see another revise, which 
 please ~by all means to let me have not later than 4 p. M. 
 to-morrow (Thursday). I shall remain in town till Friday 
 afternoon, in order to finish the whole ; and then you will 
 only have to send to Brighton a proof of the last three 
 pages and the Greek notes. I send herewith the Greek 
 notes. The proofs which I now inclose please to return 
 to me on Thursday, with the revise. The headings will, I 
 think, do very well as you have put them. One or two of 
 your words in the proof, and a small part of letter, I was 
 unable to decipher ; but, in truth, I am half stupid with 
 work and nervousness. Sincerely yours, etc. 
 
 14 " Letter to a Gentleman." 16 Mr. Parker. 
 
 17 
 
258 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 " I wish you would send copies of ' Fraser ' to Mr. 
 Sandars and to Mr. Fitz-James Stephen, with my kind 
 regards as well as to Mr. Kingsley. 
 
 " I can not alter the passages about Coleridge. The 
 mischief he has done is a thousand times greater than any 
 punishment which I can inflict on him. On reading over 
 the proof, I feel fresh indignation." 
 
 Mr. Charles Kingsley evidently did not approve of the 
 attack. Buckle answered his remonstrance, but only a 
 fragment has been preserved : 
 
 "... You suggest about asking his opinion. What 
 I have written above is very hurriedly, amid the pressure 
 of many matters, and it is flatly put ; but the result has 
 been long meditated. Can you put to me any case in which 
 you would punish a man for using or writing words, if 
 such words could not produce a breach of the peace ? I 
 do not say that you or I would strike or collar the scoun- 
 drel who used the language though, maybe, if it [had] 
 been used before one's wife or daughter, we should do even 
 that. But it is enough if a reasonable apprehension exists 
 that the peace may be broken. Whether or not the ap- 
 prehension be reasonable, the magistrate can, I suppose, be 
 the only judge. Do think this over, for I am deeply in- 
 terested in the question, and try if you can put a case fit 
 for punishment which my definition does not include. 
 Perhaps at your leisure you may write to me again. . . . 
 Much do I hope that at some not very distant time we 
 may be brought into closer contact. At present I have no 
 pleasure but when I am alone." 
 
 To Mr. Parker he writes again : 
 
LETTEK TO ME. PARKER. 259 
 
 "49 SUSSEX SQUARE, BRIGHTON, llth May, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR Sra : Thanks for the check f or,j34 which 
 I have just received for my essay in ' Fraser.' 
 
 "I do, indeed, regret that anything I have written 
 should expose you to annoyance ; but it is surely unfair to 
 hold you responsible for an article signed by me. Three 
 weeks ago I said, what I now repeat, that I wished you to 
 state to whoever it might concern that you suggested my 
 softening the expressions respecting Sir John Coleridge, 
 and that I refused to do so. As I said, then, I would far 
 rather have withdrawn the whole article than cancel a 
 single word I had written on a transaction respecting 
 which I felt so strongly. In justice, therefore, to your 
 own interests you ought to make this known, and I hope 
 you will. You can keep this letter, and show it to who- 
 ever you like. I wrote the remarks on Sir John Coleridge 
 deliberately. I carefully considered them afterward. I 
 consulted upon them a friend in whose judgment I repose 
 great confidence ; and now that I read them again in print, 
 I have nothing to withdraw or regret. I have some little 
 knowledge of the history of England, and I do deliberately 
 say that, considering all the circumstances of Pooley's case, 
 the sentence passed by Sir J. Coleridge is the greatest 
 crime and the foulest cruelty which has been perpetrated 
 in any country under sanction of the law since the seven- 
 teenth century. Holding this opinion, I have stated it 
 with the indignation which I felt, and still feel. The fact 
 that the culprit is powerful and influential produced no 
 effect, except to make me apply to him stronger language 
 than I would have done had he been weak and insignifi- 
 cant. There are, unhappily, innumerable instances of re- 
 
260 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 ligious intolerance in our judicial history; but in such 
 cases the age was intolerant, and public opinion sanctioned 
 the cruelty. The peculiarity of this case is that a judge 
 drives a poor man to insanity, and beggars his family, for the 
 sake of enforcing a persecuting principle with which men 
 have lost their former sympathy. He goes out of his way ; 
 he runs counter to the liberal tendencies of his time ; and 
 in doing so perpetrates an act of cruelty. I ask, ' Is that 
 act a crime ? and, if so, is it wrong to denounce the author 
 of it as a criminal ? ' Our laws do not call it a crime ; but 
 God forbid that we should form our notion of crime ac- 
 cording to the maxims of criminal law. As to motives, 
 these lie out of our reach, and no human eye can discern 
 them. But, if intolerance and oppression are crimes, I do 
 not see how the act of Sir J. Coleridge can escape that 
 appellation. 
 
 " Whatever any one may write against me, in this or 
 any other matter, pray publish it in ' Eraser,' without think- 
 ing it necessary even to inform me. I am very glad that 
 the judge's son has taken it up, because it is right that 
 both sides should be heard ; and I shall be only too glad 
 if some redeeming circumstances are brought out to make 
 the case appear less nefarious. This is the first personal 
 attack I ever made ; and I can conscientiously say that I 
 have been actuated to it by no mean or unworthy motive. 
 In my judgment Sir J. Coleridge committed a great and 
 grievous crime, which the interests of toleration, of liberty, 
 and of true religion required to be punished, but which, 
 being committed under shelter of the law, could only be 
 punished by a man of letters writing in a free country. 
 
 " Whatever you communicate to me in this matter I 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 261 
 
 shall consider strictly confidential ; and, as I hold that a 
 great principle is at stake (viz., how far an author is justi- 
 fied in using strong language to express strong abhorrence), 
 I should be really glad to hear some further particulars. 
 I should particularly like to know what the chief objec- 
 tions are whether as to the epithets of ' criminal,' etc., or 
 whether the general statement is deemed unfair. I sup- 
 pose that no attempt will be made to impugn the facts as 
 I have put them. I have evidence at home for all I have 
 
 said." 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 10th May, 1859. 
 
 "Mr DEAR Miss SHTRREFF: I need not tell you how 
 much pleasure your truly kind letter has given to me, for 
 you know that I am sensible of and value your friendship. 
 I am quite well, working very busily, and doing all in my 
 power to keep myself well. More than this is impossi- 
 ble either for me or for any one else, as we do not make 
 events, but are made by them. 
 
 " Neither do you say anything about your own work. 
 Can I be of use to you ? I suppose you can now read 
 Dutch with tolerable fluency, and you ought to select some 
 one subject. I have already mentioned the most interest- 
 ing, and probably most important, subject in Dutch biog- 
 raphy Grotius. You and Mrs. Bowyear, I remember, 
 laughed at me for this ; but that does not prevent it being 
 advisable for you to take it up, as I don't think either of 
 you much understood what you were laughing at. Before 
 I go to the north of Scotland I shall be in town for a day, 
 and would send to you any Dutch or other books you 
 needed. 
 
BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " I am glad you found my account of Mill's c Logic ' 
 clear. His profound views respecting coexistences, and 
 also respecting the difference between induction and de- 
 duction, are so very far in advance of the public mind 
 that probably I have done some service in popularizing 
 them ; as, though I have often talked to men on these 
 matters, I have never found any one who was really on a 
 level with the actual state of our knowledge of method. 
 
 " What you say about my notice of Justice Coleridge 
 does a little surprise me. I knew at the time that most 
 persons would think I had shown too much virulence ; but 
 I believed then, and believe now, that in this case, as in 
 other cases, when I have taken an unpopular view (such, 
 for instance, as the absence of dynamical power in morals), 
 those who object to my treatment have not taken so much 
 pains to inform themselves as I have done. You know 
 that I have no personal animosity against Coleridge ; and 
 yet I do say that, to the best of my judgment, his sentence 
 on Pooley is the most criminal act committed by any Eng- 
 lish judge since the seventeenth century. Most acts of re- 
 ligious cruelty have been in compliance with the temper 
 of the age ; but here we have a man going out of his way, 
 and running counter to the liberal tendencies of the time, 
 in order to gratify that malignant passion a zeal for pro- 
 tecting religion. I have felt all I have written ; and I 
 should be ashamed of myself if, on such a subject, and 
 with my way of looking at affairs, I had expressed less 
 warmth. Of course I may be wrong, but it seemed to 
 me that the influence, the name, and the social position of 
 the judge, made it the more necessary to be uncompromis- 
 ing, and to strike a blow which should be felt. And that 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIEEEFF. 263 
 
 it has been felt the letters I have received within the last 
 few days have proved. I believe that the more the true 
 principles of toleration are understood, the mdre alive will 
 people [learn] to be to the magnitude of that crime. At 
 all events, I know that, even if I had used still stronger 
 language, I should only have written what a powerful and 
 intelligent minority think. And I have yet to learn that 
 there are any good arguments in favor of a man concealing 
 what he does think. I never have, and never will, attack 
 a man for speculative opinions ; but when he translates 
 those opinions into acts, and in so doing commits cruelty, 
 it is for the general weal that he should be attacked. A 
 poor, ignorant, half-witted man sentenced to be imprisoned 
 for a year and nine months for writing and speaking a few 
 words against the Author of the Christian religion ! And 
 when I express only a part of the loathing and abomina- 
 tion with which I regard so monstrous an act, you, my 
 dear friend, c regret the extreme violence ' of my expres- 
 sions. To me it appears that your doctrine would root out 
 indignation from our vocabulary ; for if such an act is not 
 to rouse indignation, what is ? 
 
 " With all honesty do I say that I attach the highest 
 value to your judgment, and therefore it is that I should 
 really be glad if you would let me know why you dislike 
 the remarks on Coleridge. On my part there is no per- 
 sonal feeling, no rivalry, no jealousy ; but I felt great in- 
 dignation. I believed that the indignation ought to be 
 expressed ; and I knew that many who agreed with me 
 would shrink from compromising themselves, and incur- 
 ring the hostility of Coleridge's numerous and powerful 
 friends. For that I care nothing ; but for the opinion of 
 
264: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 MY friends I care a great deal, especially on a matter of 
 
 this sort." 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 13th May, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR Miss SHIEEEFF : I am very glad that you 
 have written so fully and freely, as, indeed, I felt little 
 doubt that you would do. But, though I admit the force 
 of all your reasoning, I am not convinced by it, sim- 
 ply because our premises are different. We look upon 
 affairs from an opposite point of view, and therefore 
 adopt opposite methods. My habits of mind accustom me 
 to consider actions with regard to their consequences ; you 
 are more inclined to consider them with regard to their 
 motives. You, therefore, are more tender to individuals 
 than I am, particularly if you think them sincere ; and you 
 hold that moral principles do hasten the improvement of 
 nations. I hold that they do not. Erom these funda- 
 mental differences between us, it inevitably happens that 
 we estimate differently such an act as the sentence on 
 Pooley. 
 
 "We are both agreed that the sentence was wrong; 
 but you consider that the judge, not having bad motives 
 (but who can penetrate the heart and discern motives ?), 
 and not being a bad man, diminishes the criminality of 
 the sentence, and, therefore, should have prevented me 
 from using such strong language. Now, in the first place, 
 hardly any amount of evidence would induce me to be- 
 lieve that, in THIS AGE, a judge who could pass such a sen- 
 tence on such a wretched creature as Pooley could have 
 either a good heart or a good head. He may be clever and 
 emotional ; an accomplished scholar, a good administrator 
 of the law in ordinary cases when there is no room for 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 265 
 
 prejudice ; and it may also be true that, when he passes 
 sentence of death, his sensibility is (as you say it is) so 
 shocked as to make him ill. But neither this"' nor a hun- 
 dred similar facts would prove as much of his moral na- 
 ture (putting aside his intellectual) as his treatment of 
 Pooley proves against it. The largest and finest natures 
 do not reserve their sensibility for great occasions, but ex- 
 pend it also on small ones. None but real and undoubted 
 criminals are now executed ; and I do not see that, even 
 in a moral point of view, it is anything in favor of a judge 
 that he is made ill when he leaves a man for execution 
 who has shown himself unfit to live, and whose death will 
 benefit society. Such feelings proceed as often from 
 effeminacy of understanding as from kindness of heart. 
 My analysis may be wrong ; but I think that, while it is 
 quite possible for a bad-hearted man to weep when he has 
 ordered an execution, it is hardly possible for a good- 
 hearted man to have sentenced poor, ignorant, demented 
 Pooley to twenty-one months' imprisonment. 
 
 " However, I would prefer resting my view upon 
 grounds still broader than these : As a public writer (not as 
 a private or practical man) I estimate actions solely accord- 
 ing to their consequences. The consequence of this sen- 
 tence I deem far more pernicious than I have been able to 
 state in my * Essay,' because I could not, for want of 
 space, open up all the topics connected with it. Dealing, 
 as I always do, with the interest of masses, and striving to 
 reach the highest view of the subject, I hold that when an 
 act is pernicious when it is done in the teeth of the lib- 
 eral tendencies of the time when the punishment far ex- 
 ceeds the offense when it is not only cruel to the victim, 
 
266 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 but productive of evil consequences as a public example 
 when these qualities are combined in a single transaction, 
 I call that transaction a great crime, and, therefore, the 
 author of it a great criminal. 
 
 "Now, in commenting upon such an act, how should 
 the principal actor be treated ? You say that I should not 
 have used language which one 'gentleman' would not 
 have employed to another in conversation. Here we are 
 altogether at issue. My object was not merely to vindi- 
 cate the principle of toleration (for that, to all persons of 
 competent understanding, was done before I was born), 
 but to punish a great and dangerous criminal. "Whether 
 I am able to punish is another question. If I am not able, 
 my remarks are ridiculous from their impotence, and I 
 have been foolish from incapacity, and not wrong as to in- 
 tention that is to say, not wrong in intention, unless my 
 way of looking at affairs is wrong ; and this is the very 
 point on which we disagree, and which your letter does 
 not touch upon. At all events, starting with this view 
 (which is precisely the theory of method which underlies 
 everything I have ever written), it formed no part of my 
 plan to use nice and dainty words. Instead of confining 
 myself to writing like a gentleman, I aimed at writing like 
 a m<m. I intended to smite Justice Coleridge, and the 
 anger of his friends is one of many proofs that I have suc- 
 ceeded. Had I, or had I not, a right to smite him ? Is it 
 the business of literature to chastise as well as to persuade ? 
 I think it is ; and I follow the example of many who have 
 done the greatest good and left the greatest names. You 
 would have me expose the crime, and yet spare the crim- 
 inal. But I can not stop at the act of oppression; my 
 
LETTEE TO MISS SHIREEFF. 267 
 
 mind goes on to the oppressor. And yet you say, * The 
 personality of the attack is the only thing I regret.' Most 
 truly do I know that you speak out of the very fullness 
 and kindness of your heart ; and I value more than I can 
 tell you a frankness which proves your friendship, if I 
 needed new proof. But I can not conceal from you that 
 we are in this matter as asunder as the two poles. As an 
 author, I will always say what I think ; and when an act 
 of cruelty comes across my path, perpetrated by a pow- 
 erful and influential man, I will never let conventional 
 and ' gentlemanly ' considerations restrain the indignation 
 which I feel. You also think that I weaken my own in- 
 fluence and reputation by making such an attack ; and in 
 that respect I am inclined to agree with you in part. 
 Many will be offended ; but it is not the verdict of London 
 drawing-rooms that can either make or mar a man who has 
 a great career to run, and a consciousness of being able to 
 run it. I would not willingly seem arrogant, but I think 
 you will understand me when I say, that I feel that within 
 me which can sweep away such little obstacles, and force 
 people to hear what I have to offer them. "Whether I am 
 right or wrong in this opinion, next year 16 will probably 
 determine. Meanwhile I may say that what I have heard 
 from the boldest and most advanced men has proved that 
 my attack upon Justice Coleridge has secured for me the 
 sympathy of those whose opinions are constantly gaining 
 ground, and are in the van of their age. More than this I 
 could never have expected. And, in forming your final 
 opinion upon what I have done, forgive me if I say that 
 you should not try me by a standard which I do not rec- 
 
 16 When vol. ii. of the " History of Civilization " was to be published. 
 
268 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 ognize. My views as to the propriety of a liberty of ex- 
 pression which many would term license may be wrong, 
 but they are honestly mine ; I act honestly upon them ; 
 and I think that the few friends I have should test me by 
 them. 
 
 " I am deeply interested in this matter, and I will ask 
 you to be kind enough to show this letter to Mrs. Grey 
 and to Mr. and Mrs. Bowyear, and, when you have an op- 
 portunity, to Mr. Capel. These include nearly all whom 
 I really love, and who I believe love me if, indeed, with 
 my now ruined and shipwrecked affections, I can expect 
 such a feeling. I wish them to be in possession of my 
 views on what is not only of the greatest moment to me, 
 but involves principles which lie at the very root of my 
 mind, and which, if they are wrong, the sooner they are 
 refuted the better." 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 30th May, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAE CAPEL : You seem to forget that you at 
 first approved of those remarks on Coleridge which you 
 now condemn, and at all events regret. The new i Fraser ' 
 will, I suppose, be here to-morrow morning. "Whatever 
 Mr. Coleridge may write, I shall make no reply." 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 49 SUSSEX SQUARE, 31st May, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAE SIE : " I received ' Fraser ' last night, and 
 
 your letter this morning. I need hardly assure you that I 
 
 fully approve of your inserting the two articles attacking 
 
 me. 18 Indeed, under the circumstances, you were bound 
 
 17 Mr. Parker. 
 
 18 " Mr. Buckle and Sir John Coleridge," by J. D. Coleridge ; and " Con- 
 cerning Man and his Dwelling-Place," by A. K. H. B. "Eraser's Maga- 
 zine," vol. lix., pp. 635-645, and 644-661 ; June, 1859. 
 
LETTER TO MB. PARKER. 269 
 
 to do so ; and, under any circumstances, it is advisable 
 that the fullest latitude should be given to the expression 
 of all opinions, however offensive and unreasonable they 
 may be to those who dislike them. 
 
 "My present disposition is not to answer Mr. Cole- 
 ridge's letter. "What is your impression about my doing 
 so ? Before deciding, it may be well to see what the next 
 two or three days will bring forth in the shape of com- 
 ments, etc., respecting which I shall trust to your usual 
 kindness to supply me with information. I shall be in 
 town on business for three or four days on or about the 
 14th of June, and I will let you know, that we may talk 
 this matter over. Meanwhile, please to send me such 
 criticisms as you may meet with." 
 
 In reply to this, Mr. Parker strongly advised him to 
 silence. But he was so excited that he had already begun 
 an answer " which, however," he writes, May 31st, " I am 
 not certain if I shall publish." On June 1st, he writes : 
 " Continued reply to J. D. Coleridge, though still doubt- 
 ful as to publishing it." June 2d : " Continued answer 
 to J. D. Coleridge ; which I think I shall publish." It 
 was finished on the 8th ; and he wrote to Mr. Parker on 
 the 9th : " You know that I dislike controversy, as a waste 
 of time, and that I have always abstained from replying 
 to attacks made upon me. But the tone of the daily press 
 and my own private letters convince me that it is abso- 
 lutely necessary to take notice of what Mr. Coleridge has 
 said. He has imputed to me many things which I never 
 meant, and which I desire to state that I never did mean. 
 I also wish to withdraw the language which I have used 
 
270 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 in intimating that Sir J. Coleridge knew of Pooley's mad- 
 ness ; while, on the other hand, I shall sum up, and state 
 more clearly the evidence that he was mad. To do this 
 is for my interest, and what is for my interest is also for 
 yours. My letter will be under four pages, and it will be 
 such as Mr. Coleridge will hardly deem it necessary to 
 answer. If, however, he should answer it, I promise you 
 to trespass no more in < Eraser ' ; for your magazine would 
 be injured by a long personal controversy ; and, indepen- 
 dently of my sense of justice to you, I feel that your un- 
 deviating courtesy to me, and, indeed, friendliness, would 
 be ill returned by my causing you annoyance. There- 
 fore, in case the matter should go further, I will publish 
 a pamphlet, thoroughly investigating the whole subject ; 
 and I make no doubt that the members of Parliament 
 and others who have furnished me with private and local 
 information (which I hold in my hands\ will allow me to 
 mention their names and quote their authority. At pres- 
 ent there is no necessity for this, and I do not wish to 
 compromise my friends in an unpopular question; but 
 some of them would, I know, run any risk sooner than 
 see me branded as a libeler when they could prove the 
 contrary. 
 
 " I should wish, if you please, an advertisement put at 
 once into the ' Times,' stating that a letter will appear 
 from me to the editor of ' Fraser,' because that may delay 
 the summary which you say the ' Times ' is preparing, and 
 which I should like to be delayed until my letter appears. 
 I shall, I think, be able to recall the public mind to the 
 real points at issue, which Mr. Coleridge has perplexed 
 with extraneous matter. Besides, I could not reply to the 
 
LETTER TO MR, PARKER. 271 
 
 ( Times,' and nothing would induce me to answer an 
 anonymous writer. If I did, there would be no end 
 of it." 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 49 SUSSEX SQUARE, 9th June, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIK : 19 Perhaps you are right in supposing 
 that it will not be necessary for me to sum up all the evi- 
 dence of Pooley's madness, though, from what I hear, the 
 assertions of Mr. Coleridge and of the magistrates' clerk 
 (whose testimony he quotes) have produced a certain effect. 
 However, your note in ' Fraser,' 20 with the medical opin- 
 ion, was very useful as a counteraction. 
 
 " If I abstain from going at length into the question 
 of insanity, about two pages and a half will be all the space 
 I shall ask for. Mr. Coleridge has quietly imputed to me 
 a number of accusations which I never made. What can 
 he mean by talking of my imputing a < conspiracy ' be- 
 tween Sir George Grey and the Judge ? 
 
 " I shall be in Oxford Terrace on Saturday next, the 
 llth, for about a week. Perhaps you will do me the 
 pleasure of calling the first morning you can, before 12.30 
 (on Sunday if you like). I shall be full of business, or else 
 would call upon you. 
 
 " As you say that the ; Times ' has given up its idea 
 of a summary, it will not be worth while to notice my let- 
 ter by separate advertisement ; for that would give need- 
 less prominence to a personal matter. The usual adver- 
 tisement of the contents of ' Fraser ' would suffice at least, 
 I should think so ; but you are the best judge. 
 
 Mr. Parker. 
 
 20 At the end of Mr. J. D. Coleridge's Letter, " Eraser's Magazine," vol. 
 lix., p. 638, June, 1859. 
 
272 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " I received yesterday a proposal for a public meeting 
 to be convened on Pooley's case ; but I have thrown cold 
 water upon it, and at all events I shall take no part. I 
 have all along had no personal feeling, and I have none 
 now. I should not be surprised if in a few days you see 
 an advertisement for a meeting ; but, if so, you may rely 
 upon my not coming forward. 
 
 " Thank you for your kind inquiries. I am much bet- 
 ter and stronger in every way, and working at [my] next 
 volume." 
 
 On the llth he returned to London, and " had a long 
 visit from Parker, who does not like to publish my reply 
 to Coleridge in * Eraser ' ; but recommends me to put it 
 forward in a pamphlet, which I shall probably do." And 
 he writes as follows to Mrs. Grey : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 14th June, 1859. 
 " DEAR MES. GREY : . . . Mr. Parker has just left me. 
 It is probable that I shall publish a pamphlet about Cole- 
 ridge and Pooley. This, not being quite settled, please not 
 to mention ; but I should be glad to hear from you what 
 points in my accusation of the Judge you think Mr. Cole- 
 ridge has invalidated. "When we meet on Thursday will 
 be time enough ; but I should be glad if you will write 
 down the heads. All I want is your judgment as to wheth- 
 er or not Mr. Coleridge has set aside any of my charges." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 24th June, 1859. 
 " MY DEAR SIR : 81 As I have not heard from you, I sup- 
 pose you have no remark to make ; if so, the pamphlet 
 
 "Mr. Parker. 
 
LETTEE TO ME. PAEKEE. 
 
 had better be published immediately. Please not to for- 
 get to send copies to ... and twenty copies to me. 
 
 " A young friend of mine is collecting autographs. 
 Would you be kind enough to preserve for me some of 
 your best authors ? " 
 
 "59 OXFOKD TEKBACE, gjth June, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIK : ai I almost fear whether you will re- 
 ceive this before you return on Monday, but I chance it, 
 as I will not go to press until I have your opinion about 
 the duration of the imprisonment. 
 
 " All the accounts I can now lay my hands on say twenty- 
 one months. This is given, not only in the i Reasoner,' 
 and in Mr. Holyoake's pamphlet, but also in the ' Specta- 
 tor' of 8th of August, 1857, and in [the] < Times' of 3d 
 August. To the argument of my pamphlet it matters (as 
 you truly say) nothing ; but to the point of it, it matters 
 a good deal. Besides, in my essay I said twenty-one 
 months (as Mr. Mill, in his ' Liberty,' I believe, also says) ; 
 and, though I would willingly recant an error, I do not 
 wish even in a matter of detail to represent myself as be- 
 ing wrong when I am probably right. The < Saturday 
 Review ' stands alone in calling it eighteen months. The 
 < Solicitors' Journal ' (I think) said twenty-one ; but of this 
 I am not sure. I must ascertain this. Surely there are 
 means in this free country of learning beyond the possibil- 
 ity of a doubt what any sentence was ? and I would rather 
 stay in town and keep the pamphlet back than be baffled. 
 
 " There seems a good deal of force in what you say of 
 Pooley having 'traduced' the Author of Christianity. 
 
 21 Mr. Parker. 
 18 
 
274 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Therefore I have omitted the ' hurt no one and traduced 
 no one,' and inserted ( neither hurt nor traduced any liv- 
 ing being.' This is a real improvement, and I am much 
 obliged to you for having been the means of putting it 
 into my head. 
 
 " Could the clerk of the records be written to ? 
 " Sincerely yours, etc. 
 
 " The first petition to Sir G. Grey, which I have seen, 
 but can not at the moment refer to, also mentions twenty- 
 one months. This I am sure of." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 25th June, 1859. 
 " MY DEAR SIR : M Since writing to you yesterday I saw 
 Mr. Mayo, and he undertook to get official evidence of the 
 sentence. I hav.e this moment received his letter. On 
 the other side I give an extract of his own words, in order 
 that you may judge if they set the matter at rest. The 
 clerk may have been speaking from the memory of what 
 he saw in the newspapers ; and you will observe that it is 
 not said that he referred to any document stating what 
 the sentence was. Can we not have an attested copy of 
 the sentence on paying a f ee ? I need hardly say that to 
 be beyond the possibility of doubt I would gladly pay 
 such fee. I shall not send the proof to the printers till I 
 hear from you. On Monday I leave home at two o'clock, 
 and shall be out all the afternoon till about seven. 
 " Yours very truly, etc. 
 
 " Mr. Mayo writes : 
 
 " ' I was directed to the Clerk of the Western Assize, 
 
 23 Mr. Parker. 
 
LETTER TO MR. PARKER. 
 
 Mr. Sidney Gurney House ; and his clerk let me glance 
 over the parchment indictment in his office containing 
 four counts; and on the last of the indictment it was 
 written that the prisoner was found guilty of the 1st, 3d, 
 and 4th counts ; and the clerk informed me that he knew 
 positively that the sentence was for twenty-one months' 
 imprisonment in the jail six months on the first count ; 
 six months on the third count ; and nine months on the 
 fourth count. The clerk said a copy could be had of the 
 indictment if necessary, but only allowed me to glance 
 over it without noting anything on paper.' 
 
 " Thus far Mr. Mayo. A copy of the indictment I 
 should not much care about ; but a copy or memorandum 
 of the sentence would be satisfactory though I can not 
 possibly believe that all the accounts are wrong, and the 
 ' Saturday Review ' alone right. Besides, I don't think 
 Mr. Coleridge would have let slip the opportunity of 
 taunting me with inaccuracy." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 27th June, 1859. 
 
 "MY DEAJR Sra: 23 I will write immediately to Mr. 
 Mayo, and try if I can not get official and attested evi- 
 dence ; for, as there is, to my mind, scarcely any doubt of 
 twenty-one months being the term, I do not see why I 
 should needlessly charge myself with inaccuracy. 
 
 " In my letter I have purposely used less strong lan- 
 guage than in my essay ; partly because there was no need 
 to repeat what I had already said, and partly because I 
 wished to consider you as the publisher. But surely I 
 have a right to comment as I like upon the public conduct 
 
 23 Mr. Parker. 
 
276 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 of a public magistrate ? and this is all I have done. The 
 most severe expressions I have used are ' cruelty,' and 
 1 evil deed ' ; and if the sentence on Pooley was not an 
 act of cruelty, what does the word mean ? The infliction 
 of needlessly severe punishment is cruelty, even if the 
 motive is good. For instance, an honest and well-inten- 
 tioned schoolmaster may be cruel, and would be punished, 
 however pure his motives might be. This at least is my 
 way of looking at it ; and if I am right, then, indeed, a 
 fortiori an act of cruelty by a judge is an evil deed. 
 
 " In regard to your responsibility, I will write you any 
 sort of letter you desire, with the understanding that you 
 shall show it to whoever you like. You published (and I 
 am glad you did so) Mr. Coleridge's letter, charging me 
 with slander and malignity : can he expect that you, my 
 sole publisher, should object to print my rejoinder, when 
 it does not even appear in your magazine, but as a pam- 
 phlet with my name ? 
 
 " Yours very truly, etc. 
 
 " If you are ' identified ' with my attack, then every 
 publisher makes himself responsible for a signed letter 
 which he publishes as a pamphlet. With such a doctrine 
 there would be an end to all free discussion." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, %8fh June, 1859. 
 " MY DEAR Sra : " Entirely to please you I have struck 
 out the word evil,' leaving the passage < the principal actor, 
 of that deed.' By this post I send the proof to Messrs. 
 Saville and Edwards. If to-morrow is fine, I shall be all 
 day in the country ; therefore, you will perhaps have the 
 
 24 Mr. Parker. 
 
"LETTER TO A GENTLEMAN." 277 
 
 kindness to see that my corrections are properly made by 
 the printers. They are only evil,' omitted at p. 1, line 
 13 ; f are,' instead of i were,' at p. 6, line 29 ; r and ' neither 
 hurt nor traduced any living being,' instead of ' hurt no 
 one and traduced no one,' at p. 7, line 23. 
 
 " This has been a long and troublesome business, but I 
 am more vexed by the annoyance it has caused you than 
 by its effect on me." 
 
 The " Letter to a Gentleman respecting Pooley's Case " 
 was published a few days later, and contains much of the 
 matter of his private letters. " His defense," says Buckle, 
 " fully justifies my attack ; and, if he is willing to agree 
 to the proposal, I wish for nothing better than that both 
 attack and defense should be reprinted side by side, and 
 circulated together as widely as possible, so that they may 
 be read wherever the English people are to be found, or 
 wherever the English tongue is known." It need hardly 
 be said that the attack alone, of the two, has been reprinted. 
 
 Nevertheless, this pamphlet, despite its power and 
 scathing sarcasm, had no very great circulation, owing to 
 the form in which it was printed ; and he writes as follows : 
 
 "BOULOGNE, 2Jfih October, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : . . . I am particularly glad to 
 hear that you have done something about the 'Letter.' 
 The little publicity given to it is, I think, unfair toward 
 me, and still more unfair toward the cause which I advo- 
 cate. Of course I can do nothing ; and the great dislike 
 which I have to circulate my own writings prevents me 
 from sending copies to people. If you chance to be in 
 
278 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 town, I wish you would ask Parker how matters are go- 
 ing on." 
 
 He told his friend, Mr. Henry Huth, that he intended 
 at some future time to get his essays reprinted, and meant 
 then to ask Mr. Coleridge, through his publisher, whether 
 he wished to have his answer to the accusation inserted in 
 the reprint. "I have not done anything in my life on 
 which I look back with greater satisfaction than this," he 
 added with earnest emphasis. " Since I wrote that article 
 I have had a great many requests from people who have 
 suffered wrong to write about their cases ; but, if I were to 
 go about like Don Quixote, redressing evils, I should miss 
 my effect where I think it most desirable that I should 
 speak." 
 
 That this controversy should have occurred just after 
 his mother's death was exceedingly lucky for Buckle. It 
 gave him an interest ; for, excepting as regards his intel- 
 lectual powers, he was but the wreck of his former self. 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 19th May, 1859. 
 
 "Mr DEAR MRS. GREY: I did not answer your kind 
 note immediately, because I thought that by waiting a few 
 days I might be able to say something positively about my 
 movements. But they are still uncertain, and I can not 
 decide upon them. Here I am, working hard and it is 
 my only pleasure, just as the capacity of work and thought 
 is the only part of me that has not deteriorated. Strange ! 
 that the intellect alone should be spared. But so it is. 
 The feeling of real happiness I never expect again to 
 know; but I am perfectly calm. Only to tell you the 
 
ILLNESS. 279 
 
 honest truth at once, I dread to see yon because of the 
 associations of the past. While I am here, everything re- 
 minds me of things that were / but, then, I see literally no 
 one, except my aunt, who never expects me to talk, and 
 I sit all the evening with her as contemplative as if I 
 were alone. And I can not break up these habits ; I begin 
 even to doubt if I shall travel. I do not yield to this with- 
 out a struggle. One day I did dine with Mr. , but I 
 
 suffered too much from the reaction to try society again. 
 Sometimes my old plan of going to the United States 
 comes before me but I can not tell. . . . 
 
 " I have spent many pleasant days with you all ; bnt, if 
 we were now to meet, it would only distress your warm 
 heart. Leave me alone, or write, if you will, about your 
 studies and your books. Into those I can enter, but all 
 else is gone. I am quite well, and able to take my full 
 amount of exercise." 
 
 And his aunt writes concerning this visit, showing how 
 his spirits improved : 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 25th June, 1859, 
 
 " It is now two weeks to-day since Henry left me : he 
 was certainly better for the change, and had many friends, 
 which made it pleasant for him, as he dined out several 
 
 times, and often spent the evening at the C 's, who live 
 
 in Kemp Town." He often had great fits of depression, 
 and excessive weakness also. I very much fear for his 
 brain ; and I am sure he does so himself. One morning 
 he was out of bed dressing half an hour before he knew 
 
 25 He dined out six times in seven weeks, and spent the evening out 
 once. 
 
280 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 where lie was he thought he was in Oxford Terrace. I 
 heard from him last week : he said he intended leaving 
 London in a short time, but did not tell me where he was 
 going. . . . Henry sometimes said he would go to Bou- 
 logne ; but he had no settled plan. When he left me he 
 talked of doing different things every day." 
 
 " But I can not tell," is the burden of his letters. He 
 could decide on nothing for certain. He was changing his 
 mind every day. But he could still help his friends : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 26th June, 1859. 
 
 " DEAR Miss SHIRREFF : I send the third, fourth, and 
 fifth volumes of Wagenaar. You always take so much 
 care of books that it seems ungracious to ask you to take 
 especial care of these ; but the fact is that the entire work, 
 which I possess, of more than sixty volumes, is very rare, 
 even in Holland, and here unprocurable. Therefore I 
 would only beg of you not to travel about with them, as 
 luggage is sometimes lost, and it would be impossible to 
 complete the set if anything were to happen to one of the 
 volumes. 
 
 " I am quite well. I shall leave town either on Mon- 
 day or Tuesday, and probably go direct to Cromer but I 
 
 don't know." 
 
 
 
 The following note, written to Mr. Theodore Parker, 
 also gives some account of his state : 
 
 " BLACKHEATH, 5th July, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : I have been in town for a few days on 
 business, and found your card on my table at Oxford Ter- 
 
STAY AT BLACKHEATII. 281 
 
 race. I can not tell you how much I regret that we should 
 not have met. The great respect which I feel for you, as 
 the most advanced leader of opinion in one of the two first 
 nations of the world, would of itself suffice to make me 
 eager for the pleasure of your personal acquaintance. 
 
 " And when I add to this the memory of your obliging 
 and friendly letters to me, you will easily believe me when 
 I say how much I have been disappointed at being unable 
 to call upon you, and make arrangements to see you. 
 
 " But the severest of all calamities has befallen me, and 
 has so prostrated my nervous system that I am now en- 
 joined the strictest quiet. 
 
 " Your conversation would arouse in me so many asso- 
 ciations, and excite me to so many inquiries respecting 
 your noble country, that I feel myself, alas ! unequal to 
 meeting you ; and, as you might possibly hear from some 
 of my friends in London, I have been compelled to give 
 up all society. In such cases the more I am interested the 
 more I am hurt. I do not know how long you are likely 
 to stay in England ; but it would give me great pleasure to 
 hear from you, and to be assured that you understand the 
 cause of my apparent inattention. I shall probably remain 
 here until the end of August." 26 
 
 At the time he wrote this letter he was staying in 
 lodgings at Blackheath, whither he had gone after leaving 
 Brighton, and seen his "Letter to a Gentleman" through 
 the press. His History, the second volume of which he 
 had been working at, at Brighton, was so far advanced 
 that he began to copy part of it ; though he enters in his 
 
 56 Weiss, vol. i., pp. 469, 470. 
 
BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 diary that he expects fifteen months more will be passed 
 before it is finished and ready for the press. 
 
 During his stay at Blackheath Mr. Capel visited him, 
 and wrote, as follows, to a friend : 
 
 " I went to Elsham Koad," he writes, July 25th, " on 
 Saturday week, and began a letter to you there to let you 
 know what our friend is after ; but he broke me off in the 
 middle, and I did not take it up again. 
 
 "He is going on composing uninterruptedly every 
 morning, and has two chapters on Scotland ready for the 
 press. He is getting on fast with the fourth, which will, 
 I hope, soon be complete. He will then be ready to ad- 
 dress himself to the last on the deductive method of the 
 Scotch schools, and its influence and general operation. 
 This, as he says, will prove the toughest part of the vol- 
 ume. 
 
 " There are two or three curious incidents about his 
 domicile which you will like to hear. He is very much 
 satisfied with his quarters, as you will have seen from his 
 note. He advertised, stating his wants, and of course got 
 numerous replies. He was disposed to go to Bexley 
 Heath, lower down in Kent, but was determined by the 
 shady avenues of the fine Spanish chestnuts in Green- 
 wich Park. Other things have conspired to justify his 
 choice, for his landlady, who has been a widow four or 
 five years, turned out a somewhat remarkable person. 
 She reads Italian, quotes Tasso and Dante, etc., is well 
 up in French, and knows its literature, and when neces- 
 sary can produce Yirgil and Cicero. There's for you! 
 She did not know anything particularly of her inmate till 
 I went down, and found her rather astonished, and hold- 
 
STAY AT BLACKHEATH. 283 
 
 ing her breath at him. She told me she had known me 
 well in the church in London, and she was evidently glad 
 to have her excited curiosity as to her guest ,-set at rest. 
 So I let the light fully in upon her, and called up her 
 anxiety to make atonement for having ventured to dis- 
 agree with him in something he had said to her as to the 
 mental influence of women the old topic, you see. On 
 going the next day (for they could not take me in there) 
 I told her I had three copies of the ' History of Civiliza- 
 tion,' and would lend her one ; but she had lost no time, 
 and had been to the bookseller and ordered a copy. 
 
 " Such, then, is his hostess mentally, and in manners she 
 is very much of the gentlewoman. So you will not won- 
 der that in the evening, after dinner, he sometimes drops 
 the solitaire, and invites her to converse, as he takes his 
 ease on the lawn in the shade behind the house. Nor is 
 this, when so disposed, his only resource, for she has two 
 or three children living with her, whose parents are in 
 India ; and he has made great friends with these espe- 
 cially with one, a little girl about five, a quick, intelligent 
 thing, and, as you may suppose, she has not been slow to 
 show how sure she is of his predilections, for she climbs 
 up on him, gets on his back, and pats him on the face, 
 and glories in her liberties, which pleases him the more. 
 So, at present, time goes on. ... 
 
 " I saw my medecin down here, and he ordered me to 
 the sea forthwith, or I do not think Mr. Buckle would 
 have consented to my leaving. As it was, he told me if 
 he were not so busy, and going on so satisfactorily with 
 his work, he would go to Cromer with me for as long as I 
 could stop." 
 
284 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Buckle was, indeed, remarkably fond of children, and 
 possessed the power of making them fond of him. Once, 
 when stopping with Mr. Capel, he saw a little girl during 
 one of his walks who took his fancy " she looked so gen- 
 tle." He talked to the little thing and played with her, 
 and the next day, and several days following, he always 
 found her at the same spot. At last he told her he should 
 not see her again, because he was going away. The child 
 looked very blank at this, but, suddenly brightening up, 
 asked him to take her with him, she would " like to be his 
 little girl." Once, too, calling on some friends, they no- 
 ticed how remarkably heated he looked. He had been 
 playing cricket with some nephews. " I can not refuse 
 anything to children," he said, in excuse for tiring himself 
 so in his weak state and on so hot a day. 
 
 His little niece was one of his favorite toys. " Let the 
 mother do for the boy ; I will take care of the little girl," 
 he said. 
 
 From Greenwich he went to Margate, and, though his 
 work steadily went on, his weakness gained upon him. 
 August 17th he " accidentally fell down stairs and fainted 
 away." Yet he did not himself seem to see that he was 
 out-taxing his strength. 
 
 " MARGATE, 7th September, 1859. 
 
 " I expect to be in town for a very few days late in 
 this month, on my way to Boulogne. I am working very 
 hard at Yol. II., and am quite well. I have absolutely no- 
 thing to write about, though I began my paper high up, 
 thinking to send you a long letter. . . . "What you say 
 
 about the little B 's does not seem so alarming as you 
 
 think, unless Dr. Mayo has said more than you have told 
 
LETTER TO MR. PARKER. 285 
 
 me. He is naturally nervous, and this always makes men 
 lean to the unfavorable side ; besides, his extreme con- 
 scientiousness would make him unwilling to run the risk 
 of seeming to give a flattering judgment. Children change 
 so rapidly, and are so capable of rallying, that what is true 
 of them now may not be true in a month's time. I hope 
 their father and mother will not be needlessly anxious. 
 
 As soon as I know where Mrs. B is I will write. 
 
 Everything is so uncertain (or, to speak more properly, we 
 are so densely ignorant) that, unless there is actual organic 
 disease, I do not think we ought ever to be apprehensive 
 about those we love. Otherwise we may pass our lives in 
 constant fear." 
 
 "MARGATE, 1 PARK PLACE, 13th August, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAB SIR : 2T . . . Having been working very 
 hard at Yol. II., I have flagged a little, and been advised 
 to try sea-bathing here. I am very anxious, if possible, to 
 go to press early next year. There are still some Spanish 
 books which Williams and Norgate promised to get for 
 me, though I hardly know now what they are. I hope 
 that you have remained pretty well. To stay in London 
 and to work must be very trying in such weather as we 
 have had. 
 
 " I see advertised in the ' Times ' an article in the 
 * Law Review ' a8 on Pooley's case ; but, as I know that 
 my facts can not be disputed, I have not thought it worth 
 while to buy the 'Review,' and shall wait till I can read 
 
 27 Mr. Parker. 
 
 28 " Sir John Taylor Coleridge and Mr. Buckle." In the " Law Magazine 
 and Law Review " for August, 1859, pp. 263-284. 
 
286 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 it in town for nothing which is about the value of most 
 
 criticisms." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 28th September, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : " Thanks for your note. All that I 
 want at present is to have the other volume of Campo- 
 manes's 'Educacion Popular,' of which you procured 
 some time ago four vols. for me (I think from Nutt's). 
 This work, as I now have it, is incomplete, and wants the 
 most important part, viz., the appendix of documents. 
 Also, I should be glad to have the Spanish work on the 
 Church. I forget the title, but you sent me last spring a 
 copy, which I returned to you, and which belonged to Mr. 
 Doyle, or at least was procured by him. 
 
 " I am in town for a few days before going to Brigh- 
 ton. I am, and have been, very busy with Yol. II. 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, etc. 
 
 " I have had a hint of a review preparing in the ( Tab- 
 let.' Do you know aught of it ? And have you heard of 
 a review in the ' Rambler ' ? Whenever you have occa- 
 sion to write, please to give me an idea of how Miss Shir- 
 reff's book is selling ; but don't trouble yourself to write 
 on purpose I know you have a good deal to do." 
 
 "MARGATE, 7th September, 1859. 
 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : Nearly all the early editions of Bayle 
 are castrated. You had better not buy one before 1730. 
 Look if it has the two lives of David, one of which is mostly 
 wanting, 4 vols. folio, calf, 35s. to 2 2s. Chalmers at 6 
 5s. ought to be a good copy, in sound calf or half morocco ; 
 and even then it would not be particularly cheap. . . . 
 
 89 Mr. Parker. 
 
LETTER TO MRS. BOWYEAR. 287 
 
 " I am working very hard at Yol. II., and am tolerably 
 well. 
 
 " Parker sent me the ' Fraser.' Dr. Mayo writes, as he 
 could hardly fail to do, in a very liberal and friendly spir- 
 it. I quite agree with what he says ; but it does not touch 
 my theory. 80 
 
 " The most convenient edition of Bayle is one published 
 this century, in about 16 volumes 8vo; but I am afraid it 
 is a dear book." 
 
 Dr. Mayo's paper chiefly contested the proof of the 
 little effect of morals on the progress of mankind. Con- 
 cerning this, Buckle had written soon after the publication 
 of his first volume to Mrs. Bowyear : 
 
 "January, 1858. 
 
 " You ask me how I reply to the charge of not taking 
 into consideration the effects produced by the passions of 
 men on the course of history. My answer is, that we have 
 no reason to believe that human passions are materially 
 better or worse than formerly nor that they are smaller 
 or greater. If, therefore, the amount and nature of the 
 passions are unchanged, they can not be the cause either 
 of progress or of decay ; because an unchanged cause can 
 only generate an unchangeable effect. On the other hand, 
 it is true that the manifestation, and, as it were, the shape 
 of the passions, is different in different periods ; but such 
 difference, not being innate, must be due to external 
 causes. Those causes propel and direct the passions of 
 men, and these last are (in so far as they are changeable) 
 
 30 " Some Remarks on Mr. Buckle's * History of Civilization ' " : " Eraser's 
 Magazine," September, 1859, p. 293 et seq. 
 
288 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 the products of civilization, and not the producers of it. 
 In my book I always examine the causes of events as high 
 up as I can find them, because I consider the object of 
 science is to reach the largest and most remote generaliza- 
 tions. But my critics prefer considering the immediate 
 and most proximate causes ; and in their way of looking 
 at the subject they naturally accuse me of neglecting the 
 study of the emotions, moral principles, and the like. 
 According to my view, the passions, etc., are both causes 
 and effects, and I seek to rise to their cause ; while, if I 
 were a practical writer, I should confine myself to their 
 effects. But I despair of writing anything satisfactory 
 within the limits of a letter on this subject." 
 
 ''BOULOGNE, 15th October, 1859. 
 
 " It is impossible in a letter to answer fully your ques- 
 tions on the utilitarian theory of morals. But I do not 
 think that you separate rigidly two very different matters, 
 viz., what morals do rest upon, and what they ought to rest 
 upon. All very honest people who have not any reach of 
 mind regulate the greater part of their moral conduct with- 
 out attending to consequences ; but it does not follow that 
 they ought to do so. The doctrine of consequences is only 
 adopted by persons of a certain amount of thought and 
 culture, or else by knaves, who very likely have no thought 
 or culture at all, but who find the doctrine convenient. 
 Thus it is that the science of political economy perpetually 
 leads even disinterested and generous men to conclusions 
 which delight interested and selfish men. The evil of 
 promiscuous charity, for instance, and the detriment caused 
 by foundling hospitals and similar institutions, is quite a 
 
UTILITARIANISM AND MORALS. 289 
 
 modern discovery, and is directly antagonistic to that spon- 
 taneous impulse of our nature which urges us to give, and 
 always to relieve immediate distress. If there ever was a 
 moral instinct, this is one; and 1 we see it enforced with 
 great pathos in the New Testament, which was written at 
 a period when the evil of the instinct (as shown by a sci- 
 entific investigation of the theory of consequences) was 
 unknown. I have no doubt that, when our knowledge is 
 more advanced, an immense number of other impulses will 
 be in the same way proved to be erroneous ; but, even 
 when the proof is supplied, there are only two classes who 
 will act upon it those who are capable of understanding 
 the argument, and those who, without comprehending it, 
 are pleased with the doctrine it inculcates. What is vul- 
 garly called the moral faculty is always spontaneous or, 
 at least, always appears to be so. But science (i. e., truth) 
 is invariably a limitation of spontaneousness. Every sci- 
 entific discovery is contrary to common sense, and the his- 
 tory of the reception of that discovery is the history of the 
 struggle with 'the common sense and with the unaided 
 instincts of our nature. Seeing this, it is surely absurd 
 to set up these unaided instincts as supreme ; to worship 
 them as idols ; to regret the doctrine of consequences, and 
 to say, ' I will do this because I feel it to be right, and I 
 will listen to nothing which tempts me from what I know 
 to be my duty J ; to say this is well enough for a child, 
 or for an adult who has the intellect of a child ; but on 
 the part of a cultivated person it is nothing better than sla- 
 very of the understanding, and a servile fear of the spirit 
 of analysis, to which we owe our most valuable acquisi- 
 tions. 
 
 19 
 
290 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 " I wish I could publish an essay on this ! How I pine 
 for more time and more strength ! Since I have been 
 here I have read what Mill says in his essays, and, like 
 everything he writes, it is admirable ; but I think that he 
 has done better things. He does not make enough of the 
 historical argument of unspontaneous science encroaching 
 on spontaneous morals, and the improvement of moral 
 conduct consequent on such encroachments. I saw this 
 when I wrote my fourth chapter on the impossibility of 
 moral motives causing social improvement. But here I 
 am getting into another field, and it is hopeless." 
 
 This last letter was written from Boulogne, where he 
 went as usual to spend Christmas, taking three boxes of 
 books with him, and intending, as he says, " to work stead- 
 ily, as I have been doing for some time, in the hope of 
 finishing Yol. II. before next spring. I am quite strong 
 now, but miserably restless and dissatisfied with every- 
 thing except the creations of the intellect." But about a 
 month later he writes : " I begin this letter hot in the best 
 frame of mind or body, as I am still suffering from the 
 effects of fever, which has confined me to bed for three 
 days. . . . Even before I was laid up, I felt as if my en- 
 ergy was gone. I can not tell you how I dread the idea 
 of going to London, to that dull and dreary house which 
 was once so full of light and love ! On the other hand, 
 my ambition seems to grow more insatiate than ever ; and 
 it is perhaps well that it should, as that is my sheet 
 anchor." 
 
 When he did go back he never entered his drawing- 
 room. Once only, during the whole time from his moth- 
 
DEATH OF HIS NEPHEW. 291 
 
 er's death to when he left the house for his last journey, 
 did he summon up courage to do so, and that was to get a 
 book from a dwarf bookcase which stood there. 
 
 Before he left Boulogne, another cruel bereavement 
 was destined to befall him, in the death of his favorite 
 nephew, a boy of uncommon parts, and devoted to his 
 uncle. He was his constant companion out walking. 
 " When you talk to me, uncle, it seems like a dream," he 
 once said ; and Buckle had so high an opinion of him 
 that he had left him his whole library in his will. The 
 boy died at Christmas, after three weeks' illness. He that 
 was to have succeeded went before, and another blow 
 fell on Buckle's already tottering health. 
 
 A few days after his return from Boulogne, Buckle 
 writes as follows : 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 17th January, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAK MRS. WOODHEAD : I have only been a week 
 in England, and have had so much pressing business that 
 I have not been able to answer your letter before. I was, 
 however, really glad to receive it, and to hear that you are 
 all pretty well. During the last four or five weeks I have 
 been very unwell, but am now regaining strength, and am 
 busy with my next volume, which I much desire to pub- 
 lish this season, though I am so hindered by the extreme 
 difficulty of procuring Spanish books that I feel no con- 
 fidence about it. You say nothing about your husband's 
 work. Since he has everything in his favor leisure, 
 health, and strength and still no result. However, give 
 my love to him. As they say in the East, ' It is written,' 
 and I suppose things must be so. 81 
 
 81 Major Woodhead published his " Life of Queen Christina " in 1864. 
 
292 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " I aril told that Macaulay has left his papers in such 
 confusion that nothing more will be published of his His- 
 tory. How much he is mourned ! Now that he is dead, 
 people are beginning to understand the real greatness of 
 the man whom when living every little critic was ready to 
 revile. 
 
 " Tell your husband to read Darwin < On Species,' 
 and to master it. He will find it full of thought, and of 
 original matter." 
 
 He worked on as usual his six hours a day, and was as 
 gay as ever in society : 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 10th February, 1860. 
 " DEAR THACKERAY : I send Beugnot's work on ' Pa- 
 ganism,' in the hope that you, not being a pagan, will 
 neither pawn it nor sell it, but will return it to me like a 
 Christian when you have read it. 
 
 " Joking apart, the book is well worth reading, and the 
 best I know of on the subject. 
 
 " With much regard, etc. 
 
 "It must have been under the influence of De Pri- 
 aulx's wine that I told you yesterday that Salverte was the 
 author." 
 
 And he writes to Mrs. Mitchell that he is making 
 strenuous efforts to go to press before the summer. But 
 he reckoned without his constitution, which again was 
 beginning to break : 
 
 " TUNBRIDGE WELLS 
 " [Between 27th March and 4th April], 1860. 
 
 "Mr DEAR ANNIE: ... I have been suffering from 
 weakness and depression of spirits, with all sorts of odd 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 sensations, and strange bodies flitting" 
 Mr. Morgan says, what, in fact, is obvious, that the brain 
 has been seriously overworked, and that nothing will 
 restore it but complete rest and the most bracing air I 
 can get. 
 
 " I shall probably stay here till Tuesday morning, and 
 then go for a day or two to Ramsgate, thence to Oxford 
 Terrace, and then, if the weather is fine enough, I shall 
 travel, but where, I do not yet know. . . ." 
 
 The way he set about taking " complete rest " is inti- 
 mated by the following letters, addressed to his friend 
 Henry Huth : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 22d August, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : I have returned to London for a few 
 days, and, not finding Nunez's < Life of Charles III.' 
 (which you thought would have been sent to you before 
 now), I write to ask if you have heard anything about 
 it, as I wish to go to press early in November, and the 
 book will be of no use to me unless I have it before the 
 middle of October." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 25th August, 1860. 
 
 "MY DEAR SIR:-'! feel really obliged by the trouble 
 you are taking for me. All that I know about Nunez is, 
 that Rio (in his < Historia del Reinado de Carlos III.,' 
 Madrid, 1856) constantly refers to his book as an author- 
 ity. At Yol. I., p. 201, note, Rio gives the title in full as 
 ( Fernan Nunez, Compendio Historico de la Yida del Rey 
 Carlos III.' 
 
 "If it should come to you not later than the 10th 
 October it would be in time." 
 
294 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEIT1NGS. 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERBACE, 12th December, 1860. 
 "... I have Navarrete, Opuscules, which you lent to 
 me, and which I shall return as soon as my chapter on 
 Spain is through the press. Have you any Spanish books 
 on the reign of Charles IY. or on Spanish politics from 
 the reign of Ferdinand YII. to the present time ? I hope 
 to go to press in less than a fortnight." 
 
 Mr. Capel at length prevailed on him to come and 
 stay a week with him at Carshalton. He soon made 
 friends with the three boys who were undergoing tui- 
 tion there, and who were, at first, disposed to look upon 
 him with considerable awe. He romped with them, pro- 
 cured them holidays, and threatened Mr. Capel that he 
 would make them rebel if he did not shorten their hours 
 of work. " He is a very nice fellow," one of the boys 
 wrote home, " and never talks philosophy to us." And 
 they followed him about like a pack of dogs. 
 
 " Mr. Buckle, when he was here, was a jolly chap," 
 was the description of him in a letter home, and the boys 
 wrote to tell him how they had enjoyed his visit. He an- 
 swered from Brighton : 
 
 " 18th September, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAE BOYS : I received your letter this morning 
 with great pleasure, as it showed that you had not forgot- 
 ten me ; and it is always agreeable not to be forgotten. 
 The next time I stay at Carshalton, all three of you will, I 
 hope, be at Mr. Capel's, and we shall be as merry as ever. 
 And I expect that before then you will have learned to go 
 up the chimney in the way I told you of. I have not tried 
 it myself, but I hear that it .is very pleasant, and it must 
 be funny to see a fellow covered with black gradually ris- 
 
LETTER TO MRS. GREY. 295 
 
 ing out of the chimney at the top of the house. Mind you 
 don't do too many lessons ; it's very bad to work too hard, 
 and particularly unwholesome for boys, especially when 
 they are growing. 
 
 " The weather here is very wet and disagreeable, and 
 so windy that I had my hat blown off yesterday, and very 
 nearly lost it in the sea. But I was too quick, and, after 
 a sharp race, I succeeded in capturing it. Such things 
 never happened to me at Carshalton. And now I must 
 say good-by, because I have my lessons to do, and as Zam 
 not growing I have no excuse for being idle, as you have." 
 
 From Brighton, he also wrote to Mrs. Grey, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 5th October, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAK MKS. GKEY : Without stopping to make in- 
 quiries, I have no hesitation in answering your question at 
 once, by saying that unless a German master has a good 
 connection to start with he has no reasonable chance of 
 succeeding here. The great number of schools here have 
 attracted so many masters that the competition is immense. 
 I know two German masters here, one of them an able 
 and very learned man, Dr. Euge, the translator of my 
 work, and I have in this way heard something of the pros- 
 pects and usances of teachers. Until about the middle of 
 October there are comparatively few persons here whom I 
 know ; but I will bear your request in mind, and make 
 inquiries from some of the residents when they return to 
 Brighton. 
 
 " Should I see cause to change my opinion, I will write 
 again otherwise you will suppose that I have heard no- 
 thing fresh. 
 
296 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " I wish you had told me how Miss Shirreff is, and if 
 she enjoyed her trip abroad. Pray make my kindest re- 
 membrances to her and to Mr. Grey. 
 
 " "We shall, I hope, often meet in London, as you are 
 going back so soon ; and I also shall be in town late in 
 November, in order to go to press. I feel tolerably strong, 
 and am able to do a good deal of work. The next volume 
 is actually finished, save the mechanical part of copying 
 the notes for the press. I am now meditating my third 
 volume, and trying to see my way to the arrangement of 
 the different topics which the civilization of America and 
 Germany naturally suggest. 
 
 " I have waited till the end of my letter to tell you 
 how glad I was to hear from you ; because I wished also 
 to say that your reproach seems hardly fair. If it is a long 
 time since you have heard from me, it is a long time since 
 I have heard from you. The great and constant pressure 
 of my own work makes me feel letter-writing extremely 
 onerous ; and I have accustomed myself to expect that my 
 friends will make allowance for this most of them do 
 make allowance." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 13th December, 1860. 
 " MY DEAR Miss SHTRKEFF : I have this moment re- 
 ceived your letter, and am indeed grieved to hear such an 
 
 account of G . Poor little fellow! I had fancied, 
 
 from what you told me, that he was really getting better ; 
 but such continued prostration is alarming. Most earnest- 
 ly do I trust that his life may be spared. I can not tell 
 you how much I feel for your sister and her husband. 
 Give my kindest love to them, and pray, dear Miss Shir- 
 
FUKTHER ILLNESS. 297 
 
 reff, let me have ONLY ONE LINE from you when you get to 
 Halstead, saying how they all are, and what you think of 
 
 G 's appearance. That such things should i>e hanging 
 
 over us, threatening at every turn of life, is too much. 
 They only are wise who can harden their hearts. 
 
 " I am working very hard, and apparently without in- 
 convenience ; but every part except my head is very ill. 
 
 If it would not be asking too much of Mrs. T , I should 
 
 like to have the whole of La Fuente, as well as Martignac 
 ' Sur la Revolution.' You know that I am very particu- 
 lar about books, and I will take the greatest care of them." 
 
 " BRIGHTON, November, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAB MKS. Bow YEAR i ... I am still at Brigh- 
 ton, too weak and ill to travel. When I shall get to town 
 I really can not tell. ... I see too surely how changed I 
 ain in every way, and how impossible it will be for me 
 ever to complete schemes to which I once thought myself 
 fully equal. My next volume is far from being ready for 
 the press ; and when it is ready it will be very inferior to 
 what either you or I expected." 
 
 "BRIGHTON, 29th November, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAK CAPEL : I have been very unwell for some 
 days, and now, to add to everything else, I have got the 
 mumps. I shall consequently not be in London till the 
 latter part of next week." 
 
 Before he left Brighton he had an interview with Mr. 
 Holyoake, who had sent him a pamphlet a year ago, and 
 now wanted him to bring out a cheap edition of his " His- 
 tory," leaving out the notes. He also arranged with Mr. 
 
298 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 Parker to sell him the edition of 3,000 copies of his second 
 volume for 600 ; and, immediately on his return to Lon- 
 don, on December 6th, " weak and depressed," set to work- 
 ing about eight hours a day, and began sending MS. to the 
 printers on January 4th. 
 
 At Easter he made a short stay at St. Leonards, with 
 Mr. and Mrs. Huth ; but, since an eye-witness is the best 
 witness, we will leave Mrs. Huth to give an account of his 
 visit in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 "Women and Knowledge What to read Fine Arts and Civilization Immor- 
 tality Suicide Stay at St. Leonards Dinner, 18th April Volume 11. 
 approaching Conclusion Epochs in Literature Further Illness Second 
 Stay at Carshalton Conversation with Mrs. Huth Tour in Wales In 
 Scotland Successes of the " History "Stay at Sutton Preparation for 
 Egypt. 
 
 IT was in 1857 that we became acquainted with Henry 
 Thomas Buckle. Long before we had heard him talked 
 of by an enthusiastic friend, who told us that Buckle was 
 then writing the " History of Civilization." Our friend, 
 Mr. Capel, would not borrow a book from us to read with- 
 out first asking " my friend Buckle " whether it was worth 
 reading, as lie knew all books. If I praised a favorite 
 author, I was told that my admiration was misplaced, as 
 " my friend Buckle " saw imperfections in him. " But 
 would not Mr. Huth like to call on my friend Buckle \ " 
 Mr. Huth decidedly objected, saying that, if that gentle- 
 man's library contained 22,000 volumes, and he had read 
 them all, as Mr. Capel assured us, it would be an imperti- 
 nence for a man, who had not anything very extraordinary 
 to recommend him, to intrude upon him. I was very glad 
 of this answer, for I hated that " friend Buckle," whose 
 name was constantly in Mr. CapePs mouth, and bored me 
 intensely, who was always put forward to contradict me, 
 who was said to know everything, and who had seemingly 
 
300 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 done nothing. We were, therefore, considerably surprised 
 when Mr. Capel came one day and said, " I have told my 
 friend Buckle that you wish very much to make his ac- 
 quaintance, and he will be glad to see you if you like to 
 call upon him." My husband looked very black, but he 
 had nothing for it but to go to 59 Oxford Terrace, where 
 he was told Mr. Buckle was not at home, and he left his 
 card. Later, when our dear friend made his last stay with 
 us, I told him how we had been forced into our acquaint- 
 ance with him, and he explained that he had only agreed 
 to see us as he thought it would be of advantage to Mr. 
 Capel, who was going to have a son of ours at his school. 
 At that time he had never expected our acquaintance to 
 develop into a friendship. 
 
 One morning Mr. Capel came in, looking very much 
 excited, and asked whether I was going to remain at home 
 that afternoon, for, if so, he would call with Mr. Buckle. 
 When he came, the conversation turned chiefly on educa- 
 tion, especially on the bad methods in which languages are 
 generally taught. Mr. Capel, I think to give Mr. Buckle 
 a good opinion of me, told him that I was studying min- 
 eralogy. Upon this Mr. Buckle immediately began to 
 banter me about it, and advised me rather to read the In- 
 troductions to the works of Rome de Lisle and of Haiiy, 
 without going further " For," he said, " as you neither 
 intend to give lectures or deal in minerals, it is a waste of 
 time for you to learn to distinguish felspar from quartz ; 
 it is not for women to go deeply into the technicalities of 
 science, but only de les effleurer." I told him, another 
 time, that I had only been looking into the subject, as one 
 of my boys had begun collecting minerals, and I wished if 
 
WHAT TO BEAD. 301 
 
 possible to foster any nascent taste for science ; and he then 
 quite approved of what I had done, and told me that a 
 friend of his, who had two charming little b#ys, always 
 asked his advice about their education, though the eldest 
 was then only five years old. All the advice he gave her 
 was to cultivate herself. The atmosphere of a cultured 
 mother was more beneficial than anything else to children. 
 
 At Mr. Buckle's first visit he also spoke of the immod- 
 erate admiration most people have of the past ; and that 
 was why, the more remote the times, the bigger, better, and 
 longer-lived the people were supposed to have been a sub- 
 ject then new to me, as his first volume had not yet been 
 published. 
 
 Mr. Buckle had on a thick, fluffy overcoat, which I 
 never saw again till we accompanied him to Southampton, 
 where he was to embark for Egypt with our sons. He 
 sat leaning back on a sofa, which pushed his coat collar up 
 over his ears, and gave him the appearance of a short, fat 
 man. 
 
 The next time I saw Mr. Buckle I asked his advice 
 about historical reading. He remarked on that occasion, 
 that most people read too much and think too little ; and 
 said that it was necessary to take copious notes while read- 
 ing, and look them through very often. Of Prescott he 
 observed, that that part of his works which treats of the 
 Netherlands was inferior to the Spanish part, because he 
 had never taken the trouble to learn Dutch, and, therefore, 
 had been unable to study those documents and works 
 which were as yet untranslated. He advised me to read 
 Lingard, not only because he was a good writer, but also 
 because I lived in an atmosphere of Protestant opinion, 
 
302 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 and, therefore, ought to be careful to get acquainted with 
 the opposite views. On French history he recommended 
 Lavallee, since, he said, in his four volumes were contained 
 all the most valuable facts related in the sixteen of Sis- 
 mondi. 
 
 I saw from that very first visit that Mr. Buckle's in- 
 tellect was something extraordinary. But he seemed to 
 me a cold, unfeeling man, with no sympathy for individ- 
 uals, and caring only for what was beneficial for mankind 
 as a mass. "When, soon after his first volume was pub- 
 lished, I read his biographical sketch of Edmund Burke, I 
 began to take a different view, but still thought that his 
 tenderness could be roused only by individuals of extraor- 
 dinary intellectual powers. By degrees I got more and 
 more puzzled about him. I kept a note-book, from which 
 I was prepared categorically to question him whenever I 
 knew he was coming; and the kindness, patience, care, 
 and sympathy with which he answered greatly astonished 
 me. It was a rule with him, never to pay more than one 
 visit a day among his friends on acquaintances he only 
 left cards and his visits, when they happened to be to 
 me, generally lasted about twenty minutes. But if, on 
 any subject on which we happened to be talking, I was not 
 yet quite clear, he went on combating my arguments point 
 by point, and never moved from his chair until he had 
 made it perfectly plain to me. But no sooner had I 
 grasped it than he took up his hat, said good-by, and hur- 
 riedly left. 
 
 The conversations which I had in this way with him 
 made me see that there were two Buckles one cold and 
 unfeeling as fate, who invariably took the highest and 
 
FINE ARTS AND CIVILIZATION. 303 
 
 widest view, to whom the good of the individual was as 
 nothing compared to the good of the, mass. This man 
 was heard in the " History of Civilization," aiid at dinner- 
 tables where many people were present. The other Buckle 
 was tender, and capable of feeling every vibration of a 
 little child's heart ; self-sacrificing to a degree which he 
 would have blamed in another ; and habitually concentrat- 
 ing his great intellect on the consequences of individual 
 actions to the actor. On these occasions he always took 
 the proximate view, and recommended it in the practice 
 of life ; for to foresee the remote consequences of our ac- 
 tions he considered impossible. 
 
 In reading the first volume of his work I was struck 
 by the almost entire absence of any mention of the fine 
 arts, and asked him whether he thought they had but lit- 
 tle influence on civilization? "Yes," he did think so. 
 They had civilized individuals indeed ; but never nations. 
 Their time has not come yet. And, going on to talk of 
 the decline of the fine arts in modern times, he pointed 
 out that when they stood highest men had only just begun 
 to investigate the laws of nature, and all the highest intel- 
 lects were absorbed in ai*t. Now they are absorbed in the 
 discovery of natural laws, and the arts will not again rise 
 until these are practically all discovered. Then the great- 
 est men will again have leisure to turn their attention to 
 art. Leonardo da Yinci was the greatest intellect of his 
 age. Had he been born now, he would not be an artist, 
 but a natural philosopher. One of the greatest poets of 
 the present time was Faraday surely a man need not 
 write poems to prove himself a poet ? Had he not shown 
 his great powers of imagination in his discoveries \ The 
 
304: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 last problems which would remain for us to solve would 
 be those of mind and of matter. And did he think they 
 would ever be solved ? We had no right to put a limit to 
 the human intellect. Of Cuvier, who considers " L'influ- 
 ence du corps sur Fame " a " probleme insoluble hors de 
 la portee de 1'esprit humain," he said : " If Cuvier said 
 this, he did not see beyond his own horizon." 
 
 He had shown in his " History " how absurd it was to 
 offer up prayers in church for rain ; how then, I asked 
 him, is it with prayer for recovery from illness? He 
 owned his contempt for general " prayers of the congrega- 
 tion " for recovery, and also that he himself did not be- 
 lieve prayer would at all alter the course of disease; 
 " but," he said, " if you have a dear friend who is ill, it is 
 your duty to do everything in your power to promote re- 
 covery ; and, if you believe that prayer is efficacious, it is 
 right for you to pray." 
 
 I then went on to say that philosophers talk of the 
 general increase of happiness, but what comfort have they 
 for the individual $ " The first answer I am going to give 
 you to this," he replied, " is that it is the business of phi- 
 losophers to discover and propagate truth, and not to give 
 comfort. However, they tell us that there is no future 
 punishment, and that is a great comfort. Society could 
 not exist if it were not to punish crime ; but we have no 
 right to blame the criminal who has become what he is 
 through a series of events over which he has had no real 
 control. Knowing this, how can we believe that the Great 
 Causer of all these events can at last punish His crea- 
 ture ? " " How do we know that there is a future state \ " 
 I inquired. " Know it we do not," he answered, " for it 
 
SUICIDE. 305 
 
 is transcendental ; but our instincts lead us to believe." 
 " And what do you think on the question of personality 
 in a future state ? " I asked. " What do I think on that 
 subject ? " he said, seeming rather interested in the ques- 
 tion. " I believe that what we have done here will not 
 be lost to us, but also that the mind of the philosopher 
 and that of the idiot will be equal after death. The dif- 
 ference we now see in them is owing to the material 
 through which the intellect filters. If mind is immortal 
 it can not really be diseased. Philosophers do not like 
 this idea." 
 
 " Why is it a sin to commit suicide ? " " Because in 
 ninety-nine cases in a hundred it is an act either of impa- 
 tience or of cowardice. As long as a single being exists 
 whom our death would pain, we have no right to kill our- 
 selves. Did any one exist whose death would hurt no- 
 body, and who was afflicted with a very painful and in- 
 curable disease, I really see no immorality in his quietly 
 taking a dose of laudanum. The reasons I have given 
 justify society in branding suicide as a crime, just as a 
 parent is justified in severely punishing a lie. For a lie, 
 too, is in most cases told from a bad motive, though it 
 need not necessarily be wrong. If I were to say ' two 
 and three make six,' what harm have I done ? " 
 
 The maxim commonly attributed to the Jesuits, Mr. 
 Buckle said, had not originated with them, nor did they 
 alone act upon it. " In so far as physical pain is con- 
 cerned, surgeons, for example, constantly act upon it ; for 
 what is taking off a limb but doing evil that good may 
 come ? We practice it, too, in the moral world every time 
 we deprive a child of a pleasure as a punishment, or be- 
 
 20 
 
306 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 cause it would be dangerous to it." He talked of the 
 beneficial influence of pleasure, not only in his book, but 
 also in his conversations. " It is a serious responsibility," 
 he said to me once, when I asked his advice, " to curtail 
 another's pleasure." And, on being told that a very deli- 
 cate old lady had gone to a very cold part of the country 
 to pass her Christmas with her daughter, he remarked that 
 the gratification of her will would probably benefit her 
 health. 
 
 Even while he was working eight hours a day at his 
 second volume, he could find time to give advice to a 
 friend. He made an appointment to call on me to answer 
 more fully some questions which I had asked him in Mrs. 
 Grey's drawing-room, and kept the appointment with his 
 usual punctuality. He staid nearly an hour, and afterward 
 wrote to Mr. Man waring to put my name among the sub- 
 scribers for Mr. Herbert Spencer's "First Principles," 
 which he had given me a great desire to read. But he 
 warned me never to take it in hand when I was tired a 
 piece of advice he had formerly given to me in regard to 
 Shakespeare. " The imagination," he said, " is a delicate 
 thing, and it must be carefully dealt with." On my re- 
 marking that in Germany there is an idea prevalent that 
 Shakespeare is more valued there than in his own country, 
 he replied, " The Germans have some right to say so, for 
 they were the first to write on 'Shakespeare.' Before 
 Coleridge, no Englishman had written anything worth 
 reading on t Shakespeare.' " "When I asked him whether 
 I should read the German critics, he told me to read Tieck 
 and Schlegel if I had time, but it is more important to 
 know " Shakespeare " than to know what has been writ- 
 
STAY AT ST. LEONARDS. 307 
 
 ten on him. From ten years of age to eighty, no better 
 book could be taken in hand. 
 
 The printers were going to stop work for about a week 
 at Easter, and Mr. Buckle having heard that we were go- 
 ing to make a stay at St. Leonards, asked me a great many 
 questions about the hotels there, and said that he would 
 join us in the hotel to which we had decided on going, if 
 the printers did not play him false. I wondered that he 
 preferred St. Leonards to Brighton, which place, he had 
 once told me, always set him up again in three days, how- 
 ever fatigued he was, and that the strongest east wind was 
 never too much for him. " This is an exceptional case," 
 he said. " I want a change, but I am very anxious to run 
 as little risk as possible of catching cold, as this would re- 
 tard the publication of my volume. St. Leonards being a 
 milder climate, there is not the same risk." About a week 
 afterward Mr. Capel wrote, asking us to secure a room for 
 Mr. Buckle in our hotel. "We were not, however, at an 
 hotel, as we had been tempted by an exceedingly well- 
 situated house, and all our endeavors to get him a room 
 for Easter week proved fruitless. To show how sorry we 
 were at our ill success, I mentioned that we had one spare 
 room, which we would offer him with pleasure, only that 
 it was on the third floor, and with a back view. It was, 
 therefore, with some surprise, more mixed, perhaps, with 
 fear than pleasure, that we received the following note by 
 return of post : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 23d March, 1861. 
 "My DEAR MKS. HUTH: I have just received your 
 letter, and it is so extremely kind that I can not hesitate 
 
308 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 to say yes to it. Unless the printers play me false I could 
 be with you by an early train on Thursday next (the day 
 before Good Friday), or possibly even on Wednesday 
 evening ; but I think it would be safer to say Thursday. 
 If this suits you, please to let me have a line to say so, and 
 also tell me what time the trains leave, and which are the 
 fast ones. Must I go from London Bridge ? Or can I go 
 from Pimlico station ? 
 
 "I shall be obliged to return home on Tuesday or 
 Wednesday after Good Friday, when the printers will 
 again begin to work. 
 
 " You will, I know, be careful to have the bed thor- 
 oughly aired. This I should not mention, except that 
 lodging-houses at this time of the year have often been 
 long unoccupied, and I am subject to pains in the limbs, 
 which are half rheumatic and half neuralgic. 
 
 " The bedroom being high up is no objection to me. 
 On the contrary, I prefer it as being more airy. You 
 must not put yourself at all out of the way for me, or 
 make any difference." 
 
 We tried to make him as independent as possible, with 
 a separate sitting-room, and the provision of ink and blot- 
 ting-book. 
 
 But during his whole stay he never once entered the 
 room. When going out for a walk or drive we never 
 asked whether he would come with us. Sometimes he 
 invited himself for a drive, but his walks he always took 
 alone. Once, indeed, he met my husband on the beach, 
 and they walked on together, talking on political econ- 
 omy. Mr. Buckle got interested in the questions he was 
 
ILLNESS. 309 
 
 asked, and went on walking and talking for an hour ; but 
 when he came home he was quite ill for the rest of the 
 day. My husband did not then know how slight a frame 
 bore that powerful intellect ; he himself had forgotten it 
 in the interest of talking. He retired to his bedroom to 
 sleep if possible for a couple of hours. "When the two 
 hours were nearly over my husband went softly up stairs 
 to see if he was moving ; but before he reached his door 
 he heard our landlady's children singing loudly and jump- 
 ing violently, as it seemed just over Mr. Buckle's room. 
 He stopped the noise, and then went to inquire if he had 
 slept. Mr. Buckle said, " No, the noise had prevented it." 
 Why did he not ring the bell ? " Oh no, poor little 
 things ! It was their time for singing and jumping, not 
 their sleeping time." . 
 
 The fullness of his mind was something wonderful. 
 Every evening the talk turned on a different subject. One 
 evening, in a sentimental mood, he would talk of poetry. 
 " Richard II. " he considered the most poetical of Shake- 
 peare's compositions ; and then, as he stood leaning 
 against the mantel-piece, he gave us that speech, " No mat- 
 ter where, of comfort no man speak." I doubt whether 
 any one has heard it on the stage rendered in anything ap- 
 proaching the perfection that we had in that little lodging- 
 house parlor. His eyes started forth, his looks were ghast- 
 ly, but he neither gesticulated nor moved about, as some 
 actors do. He did not even raise his voice above the or- 
 dinary pitch, but tuned it in a manner that made us feel 
 almost as miserable for the time as the unhappy king. 
 And then going on from one piece to another, he quoted 
 those lines of Corneille : 
 
310 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 "Et comme notre esprit, jusqu'au dernier soupir, 
 Toujours vers quelque objet pousse quelque de"sir, 
 II se ramene en soi, n'ayant plus ou se prendre ; 
 Et mont6 sur le faite, il aspire a descendre. 
 J'ai souhaite I'empire, et j'y suis parvenu; 
 Mais en le souhaitant je ne 1'ai pas connu. 
 Dans sa possession j'ai biouv6 pour tous charmes, 
 D'effroyable soucis, d'e"ternelles allarmes, 
 Mille ennemis secrets, la mort a tous propos, 
 Point de plaisir sans trouble, et jamais de repos.'" 
 
 He then went on to Milton : 
 
 "Thus with the year 
 Seasons return ; but not to me returns 
 Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, 
 Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose. 
 Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine ; 
 But cloud instead, and ever-during dark 
 Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men 
 Cut off, and, for the book of knowledge fair, 
 Presented with a universal blank 
 Of nature's works, to me expunged and rased, 
 And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out. 
 So much the rather thou, celestial light, 
 Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers 
 Irradiate ; there plant eyes ; all mist from thence 
 Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell 
 Of things invisible to mortal sight." 
 
 As he finished, my husband asked him some question, 
 but our poor friend had no voice to answer it ; for several 
 minutes he was almost in a fainting state, and, had he not 
 been on the sofa, would have fallen. It was plain that he 
 
 1 " Cinna," act. II., scene 1. 
 
FULL OF FUN AND ANECDOTE. 3H 
 
 was too painfully reminded by these passages of his own 
 bereaved state. 
 
 But the next evening he would be full of fun and an- 
 ecdote. His reading of French memoirs had furnished 
 him with a number of amusing stories, and among others 
 he told us many that Lord Lyndhurst had got from Tal- 
 leyrand. They were mostly clever answers of the witty 
 Frenchman. Another time we asked him a few questions 
 about the children, and it led to special medical advice for 
 every one of our little flock : the diet requisite for each dif- 
 ferent age and constitution, the amount of exercise, of sleep, 
 etc., etc., were all considered. Later I got much of the ad- 
 vice confirmed by Dr. Mayo, and none at variance with it. 
 
 That Easter, on account of the recent death of the 
 Duchess of Kent, everybody was in mourning, with the 
 exception of Mr. Buckle. " People do question me about 
 it sometimes," he said, " but I always answer that I never 
 do wear mourning for anybody but those who have been 
 my personal friends." " "What with going against the 
 stream in this way," said one of us, " and the opinions ex- 
 pressed in your book, you will never be Lord Buckle." 
 u No," he answered, "nor do I wish it." Yet he greatly 
 admired the character of the Duchess of Kent, and the 
 way in which she had educated the Princess Yictoria ; re- 
 specting which he told us how the Princess, having spent 
 all her pocket-money at a bazaar at Tunbridge Wells, saw 
 something that she wanted very much to have, but could 
 not buy. The stall-keeper at once requested her to take 
 it, and pay when she pleased. " Did not you hear the 
 Princess say that she had spent her allowance ! " interposed 
 her governess, who had to act according to the Duchess's 
 
312 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 instructions. The stall-keeper, quite taken aback, asked 
 to be allowed to put the article aside until the beginning 
 of next month. This was granted, and the Princess came 
 on the first day, paid for her parcel, and took it home. 
 " That is educating," added Mr. Buckle, with a little severe 
 look at me, when he had finished the story. " The conse- 
 quence is," he went on, " that the Queen has not once had 
 to come before Parliament to have her debts paid, as 
 former sovereigns were wont to do." He did not consider 
 that I was strict enough. For instance, my youngest child 
 was rather shy with strangers, and I ought to get her out 
 o f it send her with the nurse into the kitchen have her 
 in the drawing-room always, and so on. At the same time 
 he preferred a want of severity to anything approaching 
 cruelty to children. The tone in which he told us how 
 "Wesley's mother prided herself on having forced her chil- 
 dren while yet very young to bear pain without any out- 
 ward sign showed that he by no means admired her. 
 Then, going on to talk of education generally, he said that 
 girls' schools were nearly all of them bad, for they were 
 mostly kept by unmarried women, who have no knowledge 
 of the world, and who are afraid of everything above 
 
 mediocrity. "When was sixteen I gave her, as a 
 
 birthday present, Moliere's works. Soon after I heard 
 that her schoolmistress had immediately taken the book 
 away. I then made inquiries as to what authors were 
 granted access to that respectable establishment." And 
 here Mr. Buckle mentioned a number of second and third- 
 rate poets, among which I only remember the name of 
 Gray, while the forbidden works included all the greatest 
 of French and English authors. " "What harm can these 
 
CONVERSATION WITH MRS. HUTH. 313 
 
 great works of genius do? " lie continued. " Any girl who 
 has been brought up in an atmosphere of refinement will 
 shrink, if anything, from any coarse passage she-may come 
 across. The youngest schoolboys are allowed to read them 
 as much as they like ; and which grow up the most refined 
 men, these schoolboys, or the uneducated poorer classes ? 
 
 " How is it," I once asked Mr. Buckle, " that you, who 
 are so fond of refinement, should be so severe on those 
 who spend much thought or money on dress more severe 
 even than on those who waste the same amount on the 
 decoration of their houses ? " " Because the first has by 
 far the worst consequences," he answered. " Would not 
 a greedy woman shock you more than a vain woman ? " I 
 asked. " If I had a daughter," he replied, " I would rather 
 she had the former fault of the two." Anything like a 
 show of diamonds he considered vulgar, as it seemed to 
 be a sort of flaunting of riches, and I, therefore, confessed 
 in fear and trembling to my weakness for lace. To my 
 great relief he allowed that that ornament was blameless. 
 " The beauty of lace is insidious ; for ten persons who 
 would notice diamonds, perhaps one would notice lace." 
 
 Talking of the so-called " Working Classes," Mr. Buckle 
 thought that they would always exist, but would be better 
 paid than they now are. At present fortunes are still un- 
 equally divided. It is not right that any man should 
 have two thousand pounds a year and his housemaid only 
 twenty. Such things, however, can never be altered but 
 by the gradual rise of the standard of wages. It would 
 avail nothing were a few well-meaning persons to give 
 their servants higher wages." These remarks led to my 
 telling him how much the extravagance of my coachman 
 
314 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 and his family vexed me, and that I was not all sure but 
 that it was my duty to interfere as far as I could. " Would 
 your coachman like your advice ? " he asked. " No, he 
 would not." " Then don't give it. I always give advice 
 freely when I am asked, but not otherwise, excepting 
 to those whom I love." I told him that my Viennese 
 friends, finding me ignorant of many modern works of 
 German literature, recommended me to read the " Augs- 
 burger Zeitung." Should I follow this advice or not ? 
 The answer was that I could not know too much, and 
 that I should therefore do well to follow their advice, if I 
 had plenty of time. Since, however, this was not the 
 case, it was necessary that I should choose carefully what 
 was most important for me to learn ; and among these the 
 facts related in the " Augsburger Zeitung " could hardly 
 be classed. 
 
 "We accompanied him to the station when he was leav- 
 ing us, and saw him take a second-class ticket, which, he 
 told us, he often did. "I always talk," he said, "and 
 often find very intelligent people in those carriages ; the 
 first-class travelers are so dull ; directly you broach a sub- 
 ject they are frightened." Later in the year, when he 
 came to us from a tour in Wales, he told us that he had 
 picked up a great deal of information in this way from 
 commercial travelers, who generally have a thorough knowl- 
 edge of the country through which they are in the habit 
 of traveling. 
 
 When we returned to town, and I sent him a few things 
 which he had been unable to get into his portmanteau, the 
 messenger came back with some proof-sheets and the fol- 
 lowing note : 
 
LETTER TO MRS. HUTH. 315 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 3d April, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAS MES. HUTH : I think it a great sliame that 
 your husband should have so much the start of you as to 
 be able to begin niy next volume a whole chapter before 
 you ; a and as I hate cheating I remedy the fraud by inclos- 
 ing to you the proof-sheets of that chapter, merely begging 
 that you will return them, if possible, within ten days, or 
 at all events a fortnight at the very latest. I have not yet 
 written the Table of Contents, and to do so I shall need 
 the sheets. 
 
 " I say nothing about the pleasure which my visit to 
 you has given me. You have already phrased it : ' Les 
 femmes devinent tout.' 
 
 " "Will you say to your husband, with my very kindest 
 regards, that, if he wants any further information about his 
 proposed course of reading, he must not scruple to write to 
 me fully, either now or at any future time. However busy 
 I may be, I am never too busy to attend to what interests 
 those for whom I have a real regard." 
 
 On the 18th of April he dined with Mr. and Mrs. 
 Huth. "We were a party of ten," writes the latter, 
 " among whom were Miss Thackeray, Mr. Capel, and Mr. 
 Roupell. The last-named gentleman, who had never met 
 Mr. Buckle before, was much struck, not by his brilliancy, 
 which he had expected, but by the delightful humor which 
 is not often found in conjunction with such severity of 
 thought. Poor Mr. Capel, as the representative of the 
 clergy among us, had to serve as butt to Mr. Buckle's clever 
 sarcasms against them. Mr. Capel defended them valiant- 
 
 3 Mr. Huth looked through the proofs of Chapter I. on Spain. 
 
T 
 
 316 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 ly> by enumerating all the good they had done in preserv- 
 ing manuscripts, softening manners, spreading civiliza- 
 tion, etc., etc. ; but at the end of the discussion Mr. Buckle 
 said, quite seriously, that he considered the evil inflicted 
 by the clergy on mankind outweighed any good they had 
 done. After dinner Miss Thackeray made him talk on 
 poetry, when, among other things, he said that Goethe's 
 < Faust ' would live as long as the German language was 
 understood ; indeed he afterward, while traveling in the 
 East, remarked that, next to < Hamlet,' ' Faust' was the 
 greatest composition that had ever been written. And 
 what do you think of Schiller's genius ? All his reply was, 
 ' Schiller did not gird his loins.' ' Oliver Twist ' was the 
 best of Dickens's works. ' Adam Bede ' will live. ' Silas 
 Marner ' is a perfect jewel of a novel. One of the com- 
 pany asked what there was in Racine that his countrymen 
 assigned to him so high a rank ? ' I have been told,' he 
 answered, * that the refinement of his style is so subtle that 
 no one not bred up in the language can appreciate it.' c No 
 one, he thought, who was thoroughly at home in his own 
 language could be intimately acquainted with any other. 
 The gesticulation which the French so constantly make 
 use of is due to the poverty of their language, and not to 
 their wit.' I think he added ' that it was due to the same 
 cause that they had never had but one real poet Beranger.' 
 English he placed above all other languages ; and it was 
 plainly not mere sentiment which led him to this conclu- 
 sion, but study and thought. Once, at our dinner-table, 
 while describing its force, he said, ' We have little words 
 in our language which tell like the stroke of a ham- 
 mer.' 
 
LETTER TO MISS SHIRREFF. 
 
 " Mr. Capel and he staid to the last, though he com- 
 plained of fatigue. We told him to fancy himself in the 
 lodging-house at St. Leonards, and lie down on the sofa. 
 He then talked of Newton how mental and physical 
 strength were combined in his constitution, and com- 
 plained of his own feebleness, saying, c I am never a week 
 without feeling that I have a body. If I were a strong 
 man, I would do something. 7 Only a few weeks later the 
 second volume was in our hands, and we heard that its au- 
 thor was very ill, and in danger of brain fever." 
 
 On April 23d he writes from Oxford Terrace : " My 
 seclusion has been all owing to work, which has severely 
 tasked my strength and engrossed all my time. But now 
 it is well-nigh over, and unless the printers play me false 
 my volume will be out by the middle of next week. When 
 it comes out I hope that the Scotch clergy will love me. 
 I have toiled hard to deserve their affection." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 30th April, 1861. 
 
 "My DEAR Miss SHIKREFF: ... I saw Dr. Williams 
 the other day, and his prescription is, I think, doing me 
 good. But I seem to see all events with a distempered 
 
 and carping eye. I asked him about Gr , of whose 
 
 case lie spoke, on the whole, favorably, looking on time as 
 the great curer. Tell this to your sister, with my kind 
 love, and genuine thanks for her letter. Glad as I always 
 am to see her husband, the distance is too far, and he not 
 strong enough to make me wish him to call, unless he 
 should have occasion to be in the neighborhood. I do not 
 need a visit from him to be assured of his friendship." 
 
318 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 " 59 OXFOKD TERRACE, 1st May, 1861. 
 
 "ThcA-R MRS. MITCHELL: . . . You ask me to give 
 you a list of the few really important writers the world has 
 produced, and whose works, from the amount of new truth 
 they contain, mark an epoch in the history of the human 
 mind. Such a list will necessarily be extremely short ; 
 and I shall make it shorter by striking out of it the great 
 physical and mathematical works because the truths in 
 them are so cumulative that the latest works are usually 
 the best. With this reservation, I will now mention what 
 I think the most important and original writers : Homer, 
 Plato, Aristotle (the Romans produced nothing original ex- 
 cept their jurisprudence their philosophy they stole from 
 the Greeks, and spoiled it in the stealing), Dante, Shake- 
 speare, Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Grotius, Locke, Berkeley, 
 Kant, Brown on c Causes and Effects,' Hegel, Comte's c Phi- 
 losophic Positive,' Mill's < Logic,' Smith's < "Wealth of Na- 
 tions,' Malthus ' On Population,' Ricardo's f Political Econ- 
 omy.' And for the study of human nature, the three 
 greatest modern works of fiction are ' Don Quixote,' ' The 
 Pilgrim's Progress,' and Goethe's ' Faust.' 
 
 " Possibly I have omitted something ; but there, I be- 
 lieve, are the whole of the masterpieces. Yirgil and Mil- 
 ton I omit ; because, greatly as I admire them (especially 
 Milton), I can not place them in the same rank as Homer, 
 Dante, and Shakespeare. If this list needs further illus- 
 trations, pray do not hesitate to ask for it." 3 
 
 8 Plato : " This consummate thinker."?; 15, vol. i., " History of Civil- 
 ization." 
 
 Aristotle: "Probably the greatest of all ancient thinkers." P. 543, 
 note 244, vol. i. " Between Aristotle and Bichat I can find no middle man." 
 P. 812, note 137, vol. i. Hunter, as a physiologist, "was equaled, or per- 
 
LETTER TO MES. MITCHELL. 319 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 2d May, 1861. 
 
 " DEAK MES. MITCHELL : . . . Pray remember that I 
 did not send you the list with a view to your studies. Each 
 person needs a separate plan. My intention was to give 
 you a universal, and, as it were, bird's-eye view of the 
 
 haps excelled, by Aristotle ; but, as a pathologist, he stands alone." P. 
 566, vol. ii., " History of Civilization." " Little inferior to Plato in depth, 
 and much his superior in comprehensiveness." " Essay on Mill." 
 
 Dante : " It is impossible to discuss so large a question in a note ; but, 
 to my apprehension, no poet, except Dante and Shakespeare, ever had an 
 imagination more soaring and more audacious than that possessed ^by Sir 
 Isaac Newton." P. 113, note 194, vol. i., "History of Civilization." 
 
 Shakespeare : " The greatest of the sons of men." P. 42, vol. ii. " The 
 
 two mightiest intellects our country has produced are Shakespeare and 
 
 Newton." P. 504, vol. ii., " History of Civilization." " A perfect intellect, 
 
 . . . that instance, I need hardly say, is Shakespeare." " He thought as 
 
 deeply as Plato or Kant. He observed as closely as Dickens or Thackeray." 
 
 Bacon : Burke was, " Bacon alone excepted, the greatest thinker who 
 has ever devoted himself to English politics." P. 413, vol. i. " Bacon and 
 Descartes, the two greatest writers on 'the philosophy of method in the 
 seventeenth century." P. 542, note 242, vol. i., " History of Civilization." 
 "To genius of the highest order he added eloquence, wit, and industry." 
 " While the speculations of Bacon were full of wisdom, his acts were full 
 of folly."" Essay on Mill." 
 
 Descartes : " Of whom the least that can be said is, that he effected a 
 revolution more decisive than has ever been brought about by any other 
 single mind." P. 529, vol. i. 
 
 Hobbes : " The subtlest dialectician of his time ; a writer, too, of singular 
 clearness, and among British metaphysicians inferior only to Berkeley. 
 This profound thinker," etc. P. 356, vol. i., " History of Civilization." 
 
 Berkeley : " The most subtle metaphysician who has ever written in 
 English." P. 659, vol. i. " One of the deepest and most unanswerable of 
 all speculators." Vol. ii., p. 478, note 113, "History of Civilization." 
 
 Kant : " That extraordinary thinker, who in some directions has, perhaps, 
 penetrated deeper than any philosopher either before or since. . . . The 
 depth of his mind considerably exceeded its comprehensiveness. " Essay 
 on Mill," note. 
 
 Comte : " A living writer, who has done more than any other to raise 
 the standard of history." P. 5, vol. i., note 1. " This eminent philosopher." 
 P. 173, vol. 1. " The greatest [writer on the philosophy of method] in 
 our own time." P. 542, note 242, vol. 1. 
 
320 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 great epochs of thought, for speculative curiosity rather 
 than for practical use." 
 
 On May 15th, he received his second volume, and the 
 next day went to Margate, whence he writes : 
 
 "17th May, 1861. 
 
 " DEAR MES. GKOTE : I am so unwilling that you 
 should think that during the few weeks for which you 
 visit town I would intentionally abstain from coming to 
 see you that I write to tell you the cause. The moment 
 I had got my second volume through the press, the ex- 
 citement which had kept me up being withdrawn, I sud- 
 denly collapsed. The nervous prostration became so 
 threatening that I was ordered to try what this very 
 bracing air would do for me. Already I am better, but 
 
 Mill: See "the Essay." 
 
 Adain Smith : " Published his * Wealth of Nations,' which, looking at its 
 ultimate results, is probably the most important book that has ever been 
 written." P. 194, vol. i. " Indeed, Hume, notwithstanding his vast powers, 
 was inferior to Smith in comprehensiveness, as well as in industry." P. 
 195, note 59, vol. i. " Well may be it be said of Adam Smith, and said, 
 too, without fear of contradiction, that this solitary Scotchman has, by the 
 publication of one single work, contributed more toward the happiness of 
 man than has been effected by the united abilities of all the statesmen and 
 legislators of whom history has preserved an authentic account." Vol. i., 
 pp. 196, 197. " By far the greatest of all Scotch thinkers." P. 432, vol. ii. 
 " Displaying that dialectical skill which is natural to his countrymen, and 
 of which he himself was one of the most consummate masters the world 
 has ever seen." P. 441, vol. ii., and pp. 443, 540, vol. ii., "History of Civil- 
 ization." 
 
 Malthus: " The great work of Malthus." " Essay on Mill." 
 
 Ricardo : " Since Ricardo, no original thinker has taken an active part 
 in political affairs."" Essay on Mill." " And Mill's book is, on the whole, 
 the best since Adam Smith, though for pure political economy hardly equal 
 to Ricardo's. But Mill has larger social views than Ricardo, and is less 
 difficult." Letter to Miss Shirreff, July 5, 1858. 
 
FURTHER ILLNESS. 321 
 
 still miserably nervous, and tormented by the thought of 
 how little I can do, and how vast an interval there is be- 
 tween my schemes and my powers. This is th first day 
 I have been well enough to write, and the trembling of 
 my hand will, I fear, make this difficult to decipher. 
 
 " In about a week, or ten days, I shall probably be 
 again in town for a very short time, as I am ordered to 
 move about from place to place as much as possible. Di- 
 rectly the weather is settled I shall go abroad." 
 
 Mr. Capel joined him at Eamsgate, and related after- 
 ward several little things which showed in what a ner- 
 vous state poor Buckle then was, and how little things, 
 which formerly would only have provoked a smile, now 
 caused him real annoyance. " Now they are coming with 
 their vulgarities," he irritably exclaimed after a miserably 
 cooked dinner, when finger-glasses and doylies were put 
 on the table. Once, too, when Mr. Capel just read a cou- 
 ple of pages out of a newly published work of Mr. Mill's, 
 and rather inconsiderately asked some questions on it, his 
 friend nearly fainted in the attempt to answer him. 
 
 At Brighton, where Buckle went after a week's stay 
 at Ramsgate, his sleep was so restless and agitated that 
 one night he fell out of bed ; and his voice was heard so 
 loud that the servants knocked at the door, thinking that 
 he was calling. Brighton, however, set him up in some 
 degree, for he again went into society when he returned 
 to London, after a week's stay there. He called on Mrs. 
 Iluth, looking as usual and talking as usual ; but it was 
 plain that he was incapable of work, or he would not have 
 gone about calling on his friends in the middle of the day. 
 21 
 
322 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Mrs. Huth writes : " I told him how anxious we had all 
 been about him, and that the first we had heard of his 
 illness was from Mrs. Bowyear, who told me that he had 
 called on her, and was obliged to sit down for twenty 
 minutes before he was rested enough to speak. He 
 laughed, and said : ' What ? I did not talk for twenty 
 minutes ? You must have thought that a very bad symp- 
 tom ! ' When the carriage came, I asked him whether 
 we could put him down anywhere? He named some 
 out-of-the-way street, saying that he had business there. 
 LoDg after, I accidentally learned that the business was 
 one of those errands of charity to which he devoted so 
 much of his time, and that he had not the heart to inter- 
 rupt them even after his health had broken down." 
 
 From Brighton he wrote as follows : 
 
 " BRIGHTON, 27th May, 1861. 
 
 " DEAE MES. MITCHELL : I have been very ill, and 
 even now, though much better, my hand shakes so much 
 as to make it difficult to me to write. 
 
 " Complete and sudden nervous exhaustion forced me 
 to leave town without seeing any of my friends. But I 
 am told that with returning strength I may again go into 
 society ; and, as I have determined to go to London on 
 Thursday, and as your invitation is for only one day ear- 
 lier, I can not deny myself the pleasure you hold out to 
 me. Therefore, I will dine with you at eight on Wednes- 
 day, 29th." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 6th June, 1861. 
 
 " DEAE MES. GEOTE : Your letter is very kind, and I 
 should be truly sorry not to see you before I again leave 
 
LETTER TO MR. CAPEL. 323 
 
 town, which I shall do in about ten days. I have returned 
 home for a short time, because I felt so depressed that I 
 thought a little society would do me good. But my head 
 is so weak that I do not venture to see any one whose con- 
 versation is likely to interest me on a day in which I am 
 dining out. At present I am engaged till Monday next 
 inclusive; but on and after Tuesday I have nothing on 
 my hands, as very few people know that I am in town. I 
 would, therefore, call upon you on Tuesday afternoon (the 
 llth), or I would lunch with you ; or, as you kindly speak 
 of a quiet dinner, I would dine with you on that day, or 
 on some other when you may chance to be disengaged. If 
 you are at home when this note arrives, please to let me 
 have one line by the bearer ; for at present I hold myself 
 entirely at your disposal after Monday. But do not marvel 
 if you find me very dull ; I feel like a worn-out old man. 
 
 " Thank you for thinking about me for your evening 
 party ; but I have a dinner engagement for Friday, and I 
 must not risk a double excitement." 
 
 " 59 OXFORD TERRACE, 16th June, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : I hope to be with you on "Wednes- 
 day next. I can not fix the time, but I do not think I can 
 get to you before lunch. Don't ask any one to meet me 
 while I am with you. 
 
 " If my proposal suits you, let me have a line to that 
 effect. 
 
 c * I drink hardly anything but claret pure and sound, 
 but not expensive Julien, or some vm ordinaire. It is 
 advisable to know something of the place one gets it from, 
 otherwise it may be unwholesome. I know that you will 
 
324: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 excuse my mentioning this; or, rather, that you would 
 wish me to mention it. Mr. Mayo also wishes me to drink 
 occasionally German seltzer water. 
 
 " I shall hope to stay about a week with you. Try and 
 engage a really new-laid egg for me for breakfast." 
 
 Of course the boys were delighted to renew their ac- 
 quaintance with him when he again came down to Carshal- 
 ton ; but he seemed to them to be very weak. His gait 
 was stooping, and his walk rather shambling, though he 
 was able to walk long distances. As he sat quiet, his over- 
 worked nerves showed their state of weakness by his con- 
 stant little groans, as if he were going to speak and stopped 
 himself suddenly. 
 
 While he was staying there, Mrs. Huth came down to 
 Carshalton with a daughter for the day, to visit her sons. 
 " I sat half the day," she writes, " with him in the little 
 front garden. He seemed to be amused with the children, 
 who were constantly coming up to him, talking to him, or 
 shouting to him from a distance ; and I noticed the acute- 
 ness of his ear. The voices of my children at that time were 
 so alike that I could not distinguish them myself; but he, 
 though too short-sighted to see their faces unless they were 
 near him, seemed perfectly able to recognize them by their 
 voices. He talked to me of my daughter's education. 
 ( Four hours and a half at lessons is too much for her,' he 
 said ; ' you could not do it yourself, and you are stronger 
 than she is. 5 Surely I could read four hours and a half in 
 the day if I had no other duties. ' No, you could not,' 
 he replied ; ' and that child ought not to work more than 
 two in the morning and one in the afternoon, at present. 
 
CONVERSATION WITH MRS. HUTH. 325 
 
 That may make all the difference in her constitution, wheth- 
 er she be healthy or sickly during the rest of her life. And 
 you must find out what she takes an interest in, -and then 
 occupy her with it. She might take up drawing, in ad- 
 dition to the three hours' work, since you say she is fond 
 of it ; and the dancing would also be an extra, since it in- 
 volves no mental work. The tendency of education nowa- 
 days is to overwork children, and hence the great propor- 
 tion of weak-brained adults. Does she learn Latin ? My . 
 dear Mrs. Huth ! what induced you to make her study one 
 of the most difficult of languages ? Miss ShirrefF, as you 
 say, has pointed out its value, and what she says is quite 
 true, and advisable in the education of strong girls. But 
 she will teach it herself, if she wishes to know it, by the 
 time she is twenty ; and, for the present, the best thing 
 you can do is to make her forget what she has learned as 
 fast as possible. Let her read books on travel ; they will 
 teach her pleasantly, and without fatigue, much that is 
 valuable. If she does not care to read these, let her read 
 story-books. It is of the greatest importance to foster a 
 habit of reading ; the rest will come of itself. You ought 
 not to let her overdo herself physically either ; and by no 
 means let your daughters walk as you walked at their age. 
 Much of your present weakness and neuralgia is probably 
 due to that. You say that at that time you felt all the 
 better and stronger for it ? I dare say you did. But all 
 the while you were living on your capital ; your life was 
 consumed too fast. Statistics show that butchers are very 
 seldom on the sick-lists of their societies, while bakers are 
 constantly ill. But, nevertheless, bakers are longer-lived 
 than butchers. You were quite right not to let your 
 
326 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 daughter practice those Swedish exercises. Nothing of 
 the kind ought to be done without the advice of a really 
 good medical man. You may have the action of a feeble 
 heart, for instance, quickly strengthened by certain re- 
 peated exercises ; but the result may be heart disease, ow- 
 ing to that organ having been overworked. 
 
 " ' Tutors,' he said, ( generally teach too much from 
 books, and too little by word of mouth. I teach these 
 boys more, sometimes, in a quarter of an hour than they 
 would learn otherwise in a week.' But are our present 
 race of tutors capable of teaching in that way ? He shook 
 his head. Presently the postman came, and brought him 
 a letter. He read it, put it in his pocket, and, looking 
 quietly up at us, said, ' I have heard of the death of three 
 relatives to-day, and I do not care for any one of them. 
 It is conventional,' he went on, ' to look sad when speak- 
 ing of the death of a relative, though during his lifetime 
 one may never have shown him the slightest attention. I 
 think it better to be truthful. The letter I have just re- 
 ceived told me of the death of a relative abroad, whom I 
 had already taken a dislike to when we were children ; for 
 she had a bird that she made a great pet of, yet when it 
 died she did not seem to care one bit. Later in life, she 
 used to beat her children on the slightest of grounds.' 
 The threat < I'll lick you, if you don't,' from one of the 
 bigger boys to a smaller, which we overheard, caused Mr. 
 Buckle to tell me that he had heard it once before, and 
 seen it followed up practically. c Why did I allow it? 
 Oh, a strong boy is not hurt by a little rough treatment ; 
 and, supposing I had stopped that one act, what good 
 should I have done ? " 
 

 VISIT TO CAKSHALTON. 327 
 
 " Once more we paid Mr. Buckle a short visit at Car- 
 shalton. "We had been at Leatherhead to look at a place 
 which we meant to take for the summer, and stopped at 
 Mr. Capel's on our way back. Everybody was out. Mr. 
 Capel had gone to town, the servant informed us, but she 
 f knew where Mr. Buckle and the young gentlemen were.' 
 We waited ; and after a short time saw them coming 
 across the field, laughing, talking, and running, as if they 
 were all boys together. They had been at a strawberry 
 gathering, and one of the boys, enlarging on the generos- 
 ity of their host, told us that they * had been allowed to 
 eat as many as they liked.' < You ought to say, you ate 
 as many as you could,' interrupted Mr. Buckle ; and then 
 
 turning to me, ' filled himself with them till I saw 
 
 a strawberry come out of each eye.' Another boy, looking 
 all dimples, gave me his account of the treat. Mr. Buckle 
 watched his face, and then asked me in German whether 
 the mother of the boy had a pretty smile men rarely had 
 it. I warned him not to think that the little fellow did 
 not know German; but he said he had forgotten all he 
 knew since he had been at school. ' That's good educa- 
 tion,' Mr. Buckle said ironically, < to make a child learn 
 something, and allow it to be forgotten.' I reminded him 
 about my daughter's Latin, but he of course saw that I 
 understood the difference between the two cases. 
 
 " The weather was beautiful, and I made a remark on 
 the air, which was fresh, and fragrant with the scent of 
 the neighboring lavender fields. He, too, thought the air 
 very bracing, but said that, all the same, he could not stay 
 at Carshalton much longer. I guessed the cause, and re- 
 marked that Mr. Capel was not a suitable companion in 
 
328 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 his nervous state. 'No, poor Capel worries me; but I 
 shall miss the boys. I wish some one would make me the 
 guardian of two or three boys.' Then he discussed the 
 possibility of adopting some ; and said that he could not 
 adopt children of the lower classes, because they were so 
 badly brought up ; but that he should be quite satisfied 
 with ordinary gentlemen's sons of thirteen or fourteen 
 
 years of age. I told him that his friend Mrs. had 
 
 adopted the eldest child of some servants who had married 
 from her house. I thought she would find it awkward in 
 time, when the little girl had grown up as a lady, while her 
 father and mother, brothers and sisters, had to seek their 
 company in the servants' hall. lie thought so too, and, 
 indeed, held that an adopted child ought to be entirely cut 
 off from all knowledge of its real parents and relations. 
 "We then talked of his future plans ; he thought Sweden, 
 a country which he had never yet seen, would prove bene- 
 ficial as an entire change, and take him away from him- 
 self ; but doubted that the rudeness of the country and 
 hardship of traveling might not more than counterbalance 
 any advantage of this sort to a man in his weak and deli- 
 cate state of health. As to France, he said the only part 
 of it which is not too hot for a summer residence is the 
 extreme north, and there one would be subjected to the 
 same want of comfort as in Sweden. < Besides,' he added, 
 < 1 can not bear to see, what makes me miserable even to 
 think about, a noble people under the heel of that great 
 brigand 4 a people with such a literature ! ISTo, my indig- 
 nation increases year by year as this reign goes on.' He 
 considered France, after England, the most civilized of all 
 
 * Louis Napoleon. 
 
BUCKLE'S OPINION OF FEENCH MANNERS. 329 
 
 countries. c But,' I urged, ' in Germany there is more 
 knowledge. A greater proportion of the German popula- 
 tion are able to read and write even than the English.' 
 ' Reading and writing is not knowledge in itself,' he re- 
 plied; 'it is only a means to knowledge.' 'But you say 
 in your first volume that you consider the German philoso- 
 phers the first in the civilized world, and that Germany 
 has produced a greater number of thinkers than any other 
 country.' 6 ' Certainly,' he answered, * but if you look at 
 the context you will see that I point out that their litera- 
 ture is the growth of but a century, and has had hardly 
 any influence on the people.' ' You say that French re- 
 finement is only on the surface, because you never saw in 
 France a Frenchman behave with unselfish politeness? 
 An individual experience goes for nothing in a matter of 
 that kind. Look in the window of any grocer's shop, and 
 mark the arrangement of the French preserved fruits. 
 The people who fill those boxes belong to the lowest or- 
 ders, and yet how much refinement they show ! Look, 
 too, at the dresses of their women, and you can not but 
 admit that Frenchwomen show far more simplicity and 
 quiet taste in their attire than the women of other coun- 
 tries.' He gave me more cogent proofs, but I have for- 
 gotten most of his talk on the subject, and only remember 
 the generalizations, which amused and surprised me from 
 their being drawn from facts which most people would 
 hardly have noticed. 
 
 " As he sat there quietly talking on all sorts of sub- 
 jects, no one would have thought that anything ailed him. 
 Whenever he changed his position, however, I could see 
 
 6 "History of Civilization," vol. L, pp. 217, 218. 
 
330 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 little twitches of pain in his face. I asked him whether 
 he could keep himself from thinking. l Not altogether,' 
 he answered. c Could I have known that I should have 
 to pass so long a time without my books, I should never 
 have believed I could have borne it so well.' He remarked 
 once to me that pain or grief is not so difficult to bear as 
 it appears from a distance ; and it certainly seemed true in 
 his case, shut out as he was from all mental activity, and 
 with the wound still smarting of his mother's death. His 
 calm and cheerfulness were but rarely interrupted. Once 
 Mr. Capel surprised him in a flood of tears. ' You don't 
 know how I miss my mother,' he said. Yet he was al- 
 ways ready to joke. Talking of his health, he remarked, 
 f Upon the whole, when I look back I find I have made 
 no progress ' ; and then added, as if it were equally sad, 
 ' and now I am so hungry.' ' : 
 
 From Carshalton he went on a tour in "Wales, promis- 
 ing to write alternately to Mr. Capel and Mrs. Bowyear, 
 who were to let his other friends know how he was. 
 
 "TENBY, 13th July, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : It is a week to-day since I left 
 town ; I hope that I am better, but I can not say much 
 in my own favor. Please to write to me f Post-Office, 
 Aberystwith, Cardiganshire ' ; and, as I probably shall not 
 stay there more than two days, do not delay writing. An 
 article on my ' History ' is to be out to-day in the ' Edin- 
 burgh He view,' but there is not much chance of my seeing 
 it here. If you can get hold of it, tell me if it contains 
 any points of importance. 
 
 " I shall have my letters forwarded every ten days or 
 
LETTERS. 331 
 
 fortnight ; so that a line to Oxford Terrace will at any 
 time reach me, sooner or later. 
 
 "My love to the boys. Don't give them too many 
 lessons." 
 
 "HULL, 31st July, 186 L 
 
 " DEAR MRS. MITCHELL : After wandering for two or 
 three weeks in Wales, I have crossed the country to this 
 place, desiring to see an entirely opposite form of life. 
 On arriving here a few hours ago I found your letter. I 
 am in every respect better, and my old social cravings are 
 returning. Again I begin to feel human. At all events, 
 human or not, I am quite unable to resist the temptation 
 you hold out to me. I shall hope to be with you some- 
 where about the middle of August ; but you will perhaps 
 let me leave the time open, as the rate at which I shall 
 travel northward will depend on the weather and my 
 health, and, I fear I must add, on the caprice natural to a 
 solitary and unthwarted man. I will write to you some 
 days beforehand, of course with the distinct understanding 
 that, being myself so uncertain, I shall take the chance of 
 your house being filled. On no account would I interfere 
 with the arrangements in regard to friends whom you may 
 invite ; and if there is not room for me, I would travel on, 
 and come to you later. Pray let this be clearly under- 
 stood, as I have no right to leave my arrival so uncertain." 
 
 "FrLEY, 6th August, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAR CAPEL : I am now really better. I am 
 stronger and much less depressed. Your letter, dated 27th 
 July, I received two days ago; the uncertainty of my 
 movements prevented me from getting it before. I do 
 
332 BUCKLE'S' 'LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 not mind about the for in in which the Spanish translation 8 
 appears, but please to let both the translator and Robson 
 understand that there is to be not the slightest alteration 
 in the text, and that the title is simply to be c Introduction 
 to the History of Spanish Civilization,' or ' of Civilization 
 in Spain.' Mr. Huth will be good enough (I suppose) to 
 revise the proofs. 
 
 " I shall be glad if, when you go to town next Satur- 
 day, you would call at Parker's, and let me know how 
 things are getting on. ... 
 
 " I have not yet seen the ' Edinburgh ' indeed, I 
 never open a book except < Shakespeare.' But at Whitby I 
 shall perhaps have an opportunity of seeing the reviews. 
 Tell me in what article the notice is in the ' Quarterly.' 7 
 
 " If Robson should observe any alteration, he should 
 let you know before printing it. I do not like to be re- 
 sponsible for anything which I have not written." 
 
 "WHITBY, 13th August, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAR MKS. WOODHEAD i Your letter has just 
 reached me here, where I have stopped on my way to 
 Scotland. I have been traveling through "Wales, and the 
 fine mountain air did me much good. Since I saw you 
 I have suffered a good deal from nervous exhaustion. 
 Now I am considerably better ; but a very little exertion 
 fatigues me, and writing makes my hand tremble. Still I 
 would not delay sending you a line ; and I know, too, that 
 you will be pleased to hear of the success of my second 
 
 6 Translation of chapter i. of vol. ii. 
 
 7 " On Scottish Character." " Quarterly Review " for July, 1861. 
 
turn- 
 
 LETTER TO MRsN^fojj,^ 333 
 
 volume, of which nearly twenty-three hundred copies are 
 already sold, besides the sale of an American reprint and 
 a German translation. The chapter on Spain is now being 
 translated into Spanish. I write with difficulty, but I 
 hope you will be able to decipher this. Give my love to 
 your husband. I am pleased to learn that his industry is 
 returning to him." 
 
 "CAKOLSEDE, 25th August, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAK MKS. GEEY : I did not receive your letter 
 till two days ago. During the last few weeks I have been 
 constantly on the move, and my letters are only sent to 
 me about every ten days. For the moment I am staying 
 with the Mitchells very pleasant people whom I think 
 you know at all events, Miss ShirrefE knows them. 
 
 " I am really better, but think it prudent to abstain 
 from all work. I wish you could have given me a better 
 account of yourself and of Mr. Grey. He, no doubt, feels 
 the absence of summer. Here, at least, it is bitterly cold, 
 and since I left London I have found rain almost every- 
 where. I was delighted with Wales the southern and 
 western parts of which I never saw before. But, as your 
 theory is that I know nothing about scenery, I will say no 
 more on that head. Everywhere I go I soon feel restless, 
 and after the first novelty has passed want to go else- 
 where. This, I believe, is caused by the absence of that 
 stimulus to which my brain has been so many years accus- 
 tomed. I seem to cry out for work, and yet I am afraid 
 of beginning it too soon. 
 
 " You do not say if Miss Shin-off is doing anything. 
 My kindest regards to her. When quiet with you she 
 
334 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 will perhaps be able to do some work ; and, if my advice 
 can be of any use to her, there is no need for me to say 
 how gladly I would give it. 
 
 " I have no plans for the future ; but if the weather 
 improves, I shall probably go farther north. 
 
 " I am very glad that you sent me the paper about the 
 Essays and Reviews Defense Fund. I had not heard of 
 it, and shall certainly subscribe to it, and bring it under 
 the notice of others. 
 
 " This letter is very dull ; but how can a man help 
 being dull when he neither reads nor thinks ? I feel a 
 constant void and craving. But such is the penalty I have 
 incurred, and I must pay it." 
 
 "September, 1861. 
 
 " DEAR MRS. BOWYEAR : . . . The second edition of 
 my first volume is exhausted, and a third edition has been 
 nearly three weeks in the press. The second volume is 
 selling rapidly thanks in a great measure to my enemies. 
 If men are not struck down by hostility, they always 
 thrive by it. The German translation has appeared, and 
 a Spanish translation of the chapter on Spain is now 
 passing through the press. A Russian translation was 
 advertised as being in preparation, but it has been prohib- 
 ited at St. Petersburg ; and I have received two different 
 proposals for a French translation one from Paris and 
 one from Brussels. So much for the egotism of an au- 
 thor." 
 
 " SUTTON, 15th September, 1861. 
 
 "MY DEAR AUNT: . . . My health has improved 
 greatly, indeed I may say I am almost well, having lost 
 all my nervous symptoms. I greatly enjoyed my trip in 
 
SUCCESSES OF THE " HISTORY." 335 
 
 Wales and Scotland. My new volume is selling famously 
 in England and America. The German translation of it 
 has appeared, and a Spanish translation is being prepared. 
 The Russian translation has been prohibited, it not being 
 thought right that so mischievous a book should pollute 
 the pure minds of the Russians. You see that it is your 
 misfortune to have a bad and dangerous man for a nephew. 
 The second edition of my first volume is all sold, and a 
 third edition is being printed. 8 I think I have now told 
 
 8 Mr. D. Mackenzie Wallace twice found the Russian translation of 
 Buckle's History in peasants' huts. " In the course of a few years," he 
 says, " no less than four independent translations so, at least, I am in- 
 formed by a good authority were published and sold. Every one read, or 
 at least, professed to have read, the wonderful book ; and many believed 
 that its author was the great genius of the present generation. During the 
 first year of my residence in Russia I rarely had a serious conversation 
 without hearing Buckle's name mentioned ; and my friends almost always 
 assumed that he had succeeded in creating a genuine science of history on 
 the inductive method. In vain I pointed out that Buckle had merely thrown 
 out some hints in his introductory chapter [ ! ! ] as to how such a science 
 ought to be constructed, and that he himself had made no serious attempt 
 to use the method which he commended. My objections had little or no 
 effect ; the belief was too deep-rooted to be so easily eradicated. In books, 
 periodicals, newspapers, and professional lectures the name of Buckle was 
 constantly cited often violently dragged in without the slightest reason 
 and the cheap translations of his work were sold in enormous quantities." 
 Pp. 167, 168, " Russia," vol. i., London, 1877. 
 
 The following are the particulars of its sale in England : 
 
 Vol. i. : By the end of 1857, 675 copies were sold. On July the 10th, 
 1858, the publisher informs Buckle that 500 copies of the new edition had 
 been sold, including 100 to Mudie. 
 
 By 16th September, 1858, 714 copies of the new edition were sold. 
 
 By 8th November, 1858, 950 copies of second edition were sold. 
 
 By 15th December, 1858, 992 copies of second edition were sold. 
 
 23d February, 1859, 1,100 of the second edition sold. 
 
 22d July, 1859, " a trifle more than 1,200." 
 
 1st November, 1859, 1,340 were sold, of which 60 went at the October 
 sales. 
 
 13th April, 1860, nearly 600 left of second edition. 
 
 7th November, 1860, " there remain unsold 300 copies, and a little more," 
 of second edition. 
 
336 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 you all the news. And so, earnestly hoping that you will 
 soon recover your strength, 
 
 " I am, etc., etc." 
 
 "CABOLSIDE, 27th August, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAR MES. HUTH : Owing to the uncertainty of 
 my movements, I did not receive your letter till a few 
 days ago, on my arrival here. 
 
 " I fully hope and expect to be able to pay you a visit 
 at Sutton perhaps about the middle of September. "When 
 I can fix a day I will write again, to ask if my time will 
 suit you. Meanwhile, I should be glad to know if you 
 have heard from Mr. Capel, and where he is, and how he 
 is. "When he last wrote to me, he was about to go abroad 
 with your boys. 
 
 " I am much better, but still, as a precautionary mea- 
 sure, abstain from all work. I hope that you are all well. 
 Give my best regards to Mr. Huth." 
 
 On the 15th we met Mr. Buckle at the station, Mrs. 
 Huth writes, and saw him get out of a third-class carriage 
 with his little dog " Skye," who had been especially in- 
 vited. Skye had never traveled by rail before ; and when 
 Mr. Buckle had to change at Croydon, and saw him taken 
 
 17th April, 1861 (before vol. ii. came out), there remained 150 copies of 
 the second edition. 
 
 15th June, 1861, there were 74 copies remaining. 
 
 Vol. ii. : " My second vol. (edition 3,000 copies) was delivered to the 
 trade on 18th May. The trade subscribed for 900 copies, Mudie's 100. 
 There were orders in the house for 230. Total taken, 1,230. 
 
 "On 25th May, 'nearly 1,600 were sold.' 
 
 "On llth June, 'over 1,700.' 
 
 " On 15th June, 1,900 sold." 
 
 For the translations and editions, see the bibliography of this work. 
 
STAY AT SUTTON. 337 
 
 out of the dog-box trembling all over, he preferred rather 
 to get into a third-class carriage with him than have him 
 put back, and consequently caught a cold, which he did 
 not get rid of for a week. 
 
 He told us that he felt much stronger, and intended 
 to try to work for a couple of hours every day. In the 
 evening he brought a heap of newspapers and other peri- 
 odicals, and letters, into the drawing-room, which he had 
 found awaiting him at Oxford Terrace, and had not had 
 time to read before coming on to Sutton. They all had 
 reference to his second volume, the periodicals containing 
 reviews which the publisher or friends had sent him, and 
 the letters from people in almost every class of society, all 
 saying something about his book. 
 
 One of the most curious among them was from a pub- 
 lic-house keeper at Glasgow, who said that every word of 
 Mr. Buckle's character of the Scotch was true, and that he 
 himself would have written it just as Buckle had done, 
 but that he had not learned to write books. He finished 
 up with a long poem, which Mr. Buckle read out to us 
 with mock solemnity, full of conceits on his name; he 
 would buckle on his armor, and buckle to, and buckle with, 
 nor care for the buckling of bigotry's face, but take up his 
 buckler, etc., etc. Another letter was from a young Amer- 
 ican lady, who was pained to think that the author of the 
 " History of Civilization in England " was so little valued 
 in his own country. "Would it comfort him to know that 
 a heart was beating for him on the other side of the Atlan- 
 tic a heart full of admiration and warm and lively sym- 
 pathy? Many of these communications were from me- 
 chanics ; one, which was afterward found among Mr. Buc- 
 
 22 
 
338 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 kle's papers, was from the Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode 
 Island, who also sent him a copy of his work ; and another, 
 also found among the posthumous papers, was as follows : 
 
 " BOSTON, U. S., 9th August, 1861. 
 
 " DEAE SIB : In your last volume I observe you despair 
 of carrying out your primal idea. Did it never occur to 
 you that you might do three times the quantity of work 
 thrice as easily by having the assistance of a skilled aman- 
 uensis ? It is a source of EXTREME regret that I did not 
 propose to poor Macautey what I now take the liberty of 
 doing to you. 
 
 " I am by birth an Englishman, 38 years of age, a rapid 
 penman, a stenographer ; have since the age of 14 years 
 filled various arduous and responsible positions ; for half 
 my life, certainly, I have been used to write from dictation, 
 and can enable my employers to do more business in one 
 hour, and in better shape, than they would do for them- 
 selves in six : this may seem incredible, but it is absolutely 
 the fact. I can refer to numerous friends in England and 
 America to testify as to my character for probity and 
 honor. My salary is $1,500 (i. e., 300), but I feel I am 
 frittering it away uselessly while such men as yourself and 
 Mr. Macauby could render such increased service to the 
 world, with assistance such as I can afford them. 
 
 " I am of strictly temperate habits, of an energetic dis- 
 position, not ill-manneredly nor unamiable I believe, am 
 married, have a small family, am in comfortable circum- 
 stances, own my little cottage and bit of ground, but will 
 cast my bread upon the waters if you say the word : that 
 you want me ; for the chief aspiration of my existence is 
 
STAY AT SUTTOK 
 
 to be useful to my age, and I know my position and my 
 power ; and I know, too, how liable I am to be charged 
 with egotism when I declare to you THE FACT that I am 
 confident you would find me to be as invaluable as your 
 own right hand. 
 
 " I send herewith a few specimens of my recent com- 
 position as indices whereby you may judge of my caliber. 
 I also inclose a copy of a few of my testimonials, printed 
 by myself, for among other accomplishments I am ama- 
 teur printer ; also a photographer, etc., etc. I send you a 
 portrait of myself, done by myself, and remain 
 " With the greatest regret, 
 
 " Yery respectfully, 
 
 " Your friend and servant, 
 
 " Do you mean to answer all those letters ? " I inquired. 
 " E"o, not all," he said ; " there are too many. But I 
 always answer the misspelled ones." "We read as many of 
 the reviews out loud as we could get through in one even- 
 ing. Among them was one which said that the second 
 volume was as full of platitudes as the first ; while as for 
 that truism which he dwelt so much on in his first volume 
 that the progress of civilization depends not on moral but 
 intellectual progress, it was known and recognized by every- 
 one long before his book was thought of. Mr. Buckle 
 laughed, and said, " I have been attacked on this point 
 more than all the others put together ; and now it is called 
 a truism." 9 
 
 The drawing-room was given up to him during the 
 
 9 See page 129, and note. 
 
340 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WHITINGS. 
 
 morning as a study ; and for tlie first few days of his visit 
 he attempted to read German for a couple of hours, in 
 preparation for his third volume, for he was always re- 
 studying the languages of those countries on which he 
 wrote. He soon found, however, that his brain was still 
 too weak. It was not a question of prudence in taxing it, 
 but simply of possibility. In place of it, he frequently in- 
 dulged in the " luxury " of thinking. The greater part of 
 his two volumes, he told us, he had thought out while out 
 walking ; and here he would go out and sit in some field, 
 thinking over such subjects as whether Germany or Amer- 
 ica should be first treated in his next volume. Even Skye 
 was not allowed to accompany him on " thinking morn- 
 ings," but delivered over to the custody of one of the boys. 
 Sometimes the dog escaped, and went for long excursions 
 on its own account ; but Mr. Buckle would never allow 
 him to be beaten when he returned, as the boys advised : 
 he gave him a gentle tap with one finger, talked to him 
 reprovingly, and pointed in the direction in which he had 
 run away. And Skye really looked as if he understood it. 
 " If a dog can not be trained without being beaten," he 
 said, " it is better that he should not be trained at all." 
 Once, when he saw one of my boys with a dog-whip, he 
 advised me not to let him have it. " JSTo boy ought to be 
 intrusted to handle a whip," he said. " They can never 
 have sufficient judgment to tell when, and in what degree, 
 they should use it. Boys are, besides, generally cruelly 
 inclined, and this propensity ought to be more carefully 
 checked than any other ; for cruelty is, perhaps, the worst 
 of vices ; and cruelty to animals almost worse than cruelty 
 to human beings, so utterly helpless are they. For this 
 
STAY AT SUTTON. 341 
 
 reason Rarey's system of breaking horses was so meritori- 
 ous, because lie substituted firmness and kindness for un- 
 thinking brutality." For his dog he had a great affection ; 
 indeed, he said that he could not conceive it possible for 
 anybody to have much to do with any animal without get- 
 ting fond of it. 
 
 Mr. Buckle's proof of the non-dynamical character of 
 morals, though it seems clear enough to most readers, was, 
 nevertheless, often misunderstood. Many people thought 
 that, because morals were incapable of producing civiliza- 
 tion, Buckle considered them to be useless. The reason 
 was that so many fail to grasp the difference between 
 general and individual effects a subject which is dis- 
 cussed elsewhere in this volume. Hence it was that a 
 gentleman once said to him, pointing to his little boy, 
 " Were I to act in accordance with your teaching, I should 
 take all possible pains to cultivate the intellect of that 
 child, and leave his moral character to take care of itself." 
 Yet it would be impossible to state more distinctly the 
 exact opposite of Mr. Buckle's ideas on education. The 
 first thing to look to was a child's health and moral char- 
 acter ; the cultivation of the intellect was secondary ; and 
 a healthy child, whose tastes had been fostered but not 
 forced, would obtain knowledge for himself when his 
 mind was sufficiently matured. The only time he had 
 punished his little nephew was once when he had bullied 
 his sister. On the other hand, his constant advice to Mr. 
 Capel was: "Don't give the boys too many lessons." 
 "Were it necessary to neglect one of the two, he would 
 rather have the intellectual side abandoned than the emo- 
 tional and moral. And most particularly in the case of 
 
34:2 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 women, in whom lie valued " womanly " qualities far more 
 than cultivated intellect. It was on this account that he 
 thought it so bad for a woman to remain unmarried; 
 "for," said he, "unless occupied in active benevolence, 
 their affections are starved in a celibate state." 
 
 "We were talking one evening of that passage in his 
 second volume : " They taught the father to smite the un- 
 believing, and to slay his own boy sooner than propagate 
 error. As if this were not enough, they tried to extirpate 
 another affection, even more sacred and more devoted still. 
 They laid their rude and merciless hands on the holiest 
 passion of which our nature is capable, the love of a moth- 
 er for her son. Into that sanctuary they dared to intrude ; 
 into that they thrust their gaunt and ungentle forms." 10 
 " Mr. Capel," I said, " is always preaching severity to me, 
 and wanting me to act the Spartan." " Don't listen to 
 him," remonstrated Mr. Buckle. " Never hide your affec- 
 tion from your children. No successes in after-life which 
 severity can lead to will ever compensate for the want of 
 a mother's love." 
 
 I remember the sad expression of his face while talk- 
 ing on this subject, the sadness with which he spoke of the 
 lot of those who have no one to love them, and no one 
 whom they may love. "I keep my affections alive by 
 reading ' Shakespeare '," he said. Sometimes, indeed, his 
 own bereaved state would produce fits of depression and 
 despair of the future; but he never saddened others by 
 dwelling any length of time on the blessings which had 
 been denied to him ; and his buoyant and sanguine tem- 
 perament made him habitually look at the bright side of 
 10 Yol. ii., p. 407. 
 
STAY AT BUTTON. 343 
 
 everything. His studies, which had made him better ac- 
 quainted than most people with the enormous amount of 
 misery to which mankind has been, and is, subjected, had 
 not extinguished his conviction that the total amount of 
 mundane happiness exceeds that misery; one of the best 
 proofs of which is, that were it not so, people would not 
 cling so to life. He sympathized with "Wilhelm von Hum- 
 boldt's saying, that in " that marvelous piece of work, man, 
 both grief and sensibility may coexist with a temperament 
 otherwise happy." ] But the sentence preceding this : 
 " True sorrow is ever present to a well-nurtured soul," 13 he 
 would have put : " Only those of a powerful imagination are 
 capable of feeling true sorrow ; for they alone can idealize 
 the object of their affection. Whatever new ties they may 
 afterward form, however enjoyable life may again become 
 to them, the image of the lost one will be ever present. 
 The unimaginative may feel, perhaps, the absence of a 
 f amih'ar face ; but their loss is nothing more than a broken 
 habit. "' For him, then, it was plain that the loss of his 
 mother was irreparable. From the time of her death he 
 had never been able to talk of her. If his friends tried to 
 lead him on to that topic, he always changed the conversa- 
 tion. Once only, when we happened to talk of fine wo- 
 manly natures, their characteristics, and how they differed 
 from others, he burst out with, " I wish you had known 
 my mother ! She was. . . ." But this was the only time 
 we heard him allude to her. His aunt was very unhappy 
 about it, thinking that could he be got to talk of his moth- 
 
 11 "In dem wunderbaren menschlichen Gemiith konnen Schmerz und 
 Empfindung eines in anderer Hinsicht gliicklichen Darseins gleichzeitig 
 neben einander fortleben." 
 
 is " In gutgenarteten Seelen ist ein wahrer Schmerz immer ewig." 
 
344 BUCKLE'S LIFE ASTD WETTINGS. 
 
 er his grief might be softened. But old Dr. Mayo recom- 
 mended that he should be allowed to follow his instinct. 
 " Wait a little, and he will begin to speak of her of his 
 own accord, and then she will be on his lips continually." 
 And the event justified the prediction. A gentleman who 
 met Mr. Buckle not long afterward in Egypt said that he 
 spoke so much of her that it produced the impression that 
 she was still alive ; while the writer in the " Atlantic 
 Monthly," who met him at Cairo, says that Mr. Buckle 
 declared most impressively his belief in a future state, and 
 that life would be insupportable if he thought he should 
 be for ever separated from one person probably his 
 mother. 18 
 
 "When Mr. Buckle first joined us at Sutton, continues 
 Mrs. Huth, he told us that bodily he was much stronger, 
 and could do a little work ; but it was evident that his 
 head was still very weak. Soon after his arrival he en- 
 deavored to explain to me the theory of latent heat. I 
 failed to understand it, and after a time he stopped abrupt- 
 ly, and said, " I have not my powers of explanation ; per- 
 haps I shall be better able to make it clear to you some 
 other day." Undoubtedly, it was my fault for being so 
 dull of comprehension ; but how often had I been as dull, 
 and even duller, on former occasions ! Yet never before 
 had he dropped a subject before he had given me a clear 
 view of it. After a fortnight had passed, he seemed to 
 grow stronger, though he still complained of his nervous- 
 ness and absence of mind. The fact that he had sent off 
 a check and forgotten to cross it seemed to annoy him 
 very much. " I should not have done such a thing a year 
 
 13 "Atlantic Monthly " for April, 1863, p. 498. 
 
STAY AT SUTTOK 345 
 
 ago," lie said. Yet lie was now able to enter into elabo- 
 rate explanations, giving, for instance, a full account of 
 the Utilitarian philosophy apropos of Mill's first chapter 
 on that subject, which was expected in the forthcoming 
 " Eraser." Mr. Buckle gave us its whole history, from the 
 germ of the idea to its latest development. But it seemed 
 to me so cold and mechanical a creed, so inadequate to 
 meet human needs, so harsh to human weakness, that for 
 several days afterward I kept attacking him on that sub- 
 ject. " You will see it in time," he said gently. " It is 
 very natural that you should find some difficulty at first in 
 thinking yourself into it. You have grown up, and lived 
 all your life, in an atmosphere of theological ideas, and 
 you can not change suddenly. But you will see it in time, 
 for you have a very good, clear understanding." 
 
 I repeat this compliment, such as it is, not from any 
 sense of vanity, but simply because it was the only one he 
 ever paid me, and because the way in which he said it was 
 characteristic of him. Most people consider themselves 
 gifted with a clear understanding ; yet, so afraid was he 
 lest he might be thought to flatter, that he immediately 
 added, " And I don't say this just to give you pleasure ; 
 I mean it really." 
 
 When the first chapter of the " Utilitarianism " ap- 
 peared, Mr. Buckle was delighted with it ; and, pointing 
 out a single passage, said, " Now, if I had seen this, no 
 matter where, I should have recognized the pen of Mill. 
 He is the only man I have a very strong desire to know, 
 and him I have never seen." " Then why did you not 
 
 accept Mrs. 's invitation, when she promised to bring 
 
 you together ? " " Oh, I was not strong enough this sum- 
 
346 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 mer," he answered ; " the excitement would have been too 
 much for me." And in the course of the conversation he 
 observed : " If Mill and I differ in opinion on any subject, 
 I always have a latent belief that he is right and that I am 
 wrong." From Mill the conversation turned on other emi- 
 nent men. Of Dr. Stanley he spoke very highly : " He 
 thinks for himself"; and, contrasting him with other 
 theologians, said that few went through the necessary 
 study for their subject. Theologians should study the his- 
 tory of belief in all the ancient creeds ; that a knowledge 
 of Buddhism is necessary, for instance, to the right under- 
 standing of Christianity. " Buddhism," he continued, " is, 
 besides, a most philosophical creed " ; and he traced the 
 analogy between the transcendental philosophy of Buddha 
 and that of Fichte in its pantheistic tendencies. From 
 pantheism to spirit-rapping was but a step ; and one of us 
 remarked that some of these Spiritualists make a religion 
 of it, and hold in the greatest reverence any communica- 
 tion they may receive. A little girl got a message from 
 her departed grandmother, advising the family to go to 
 the pantomime ; and accordingly all gravely went off, in 
 obedience to the message. " And very good advice, too," 
 Mr. Buckle said, smiling. He added, that he had himself 
 been at a seance last June, for the first time in his life. 
 Some of the manifestations seemed to him totally inex- 
 plicable by any known natural laws ; but he meant to in- 
 quire into the subject carefully as soon as he should be 
 restored to his usual health. He considered it the duty 
 of every one to rescue phenomena from the domain of the 
 miraculous, and to marshal them, whenever possible, under 
 the heads of natural law. Neither the so-called experi- 
 
STAY AT STJTTOK 347 
 
 ments of Keichenbach, nor the marvelous powers ascribed 
 to clairvoyants, would he pronounce to be frauds. But in 
 all these matters he thought that people were fax too ready 
 to play into the hands of deceivers, by being more eager 
 to see and be astonished than to coolly balance facts and 
 ascertain the truth. Mr. Mayo had pressed him to attend 
 a clairvoyant's secmce / and he agreed to do so, with the 
 condition that, instead of the guinea entrance fee, the clair- 
 voyant should have a fifty-pound note if he could read its 
 number while it was inclosed in a box. But this condition 
 was not accepted. He had a short time before been at a 
 seance in a private house, where the clairvoyant was a 
 young lady, a friend of the hostess. He did not exactly 
 disbelieve in her powers, as he had not investigated the 
 subject. She told him, among other things, that his skull 
 was remarkably thin; and he really thought it was, he 
 added, laughing. 
 
 "Whenever he traveled about, he always got into conver- 
 sation with the police and school-teachers of every place he 
 stopped at. He used to inquire what particular crimes 
 were prevalent in each district, and found that they were 
 much the same all over the country : " People have so lit- 
 tle imagination," he complained, with a grave face as if 
 this want of imagination in criminal acts were a matter of 
 serious concern to him. In large towns, such as Birming- 
 ham, he used to walk through all the worst parts, to ob- 
 serve manners for himself, and remarked that he might, 
 as in the well-known anecdote, put down under the head 
 of manners none. In answer to a question, he said it 
 might have been dangerous for a weak man like himself, 
 but he was tall and carried a good stick, and always 
 
348 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 walked in the middle of the road to give less opportu- 
 nity to people to pick a quarrel. It was necessary to see 
 everything he wrote on, especially concerning England, 
 with his own eyes. 
 
 Of the teachers he inquired, among other things, what 
 were the punishments inflicted in their schools. One 
 schoolmistress told him that, when she first came, finding 
 that the girls were very unpunctual, she warned them that 
 all who came late should have three strokes with the cane 
 on the hand, and that after the first two weeks she very 
 rarely had occasion to punish them. The master of a 
 school in another place told him that the vicar had for- 
 bidden corporal punishment, and obliged him, instead, to 
 keep the boys in and give them tasks; with the conse- 
 quence that they became very much duller. " There is 
 nothing like the cane," Mr. Buckle added ; " a few strokes 
 that sting and will be felt several hours after make a boy 
 careful, and don't interfere with his health." " You must 
 deal with boys either in a rational or in an irrational man- 
 ner," he said to another friend. " If they will listen to the 
 arguments of their superiors, you do not require punish- 
 ment ; but if they will not listen to reason, you must treat 
 them as irrational beings, and flog them." Some of these 
 village teachers were well-informed men. One of them 
 spoke to him of the authors of the "Essays and Reviews," 
 praising their boldness ; and then went on to say, " But 
 there is another, even bolder man, of whom I dare say you 
 have heard, and whose book you have probably read I 
 mean Buckle." " What has he done ? " Mr. Buckle asked. 
 " Buckle, don't you know Buckle ! " "I saw that I was 
 falling in his esteem through my ignorance," Mr. Buckle 
 
STAY AT BUTTON 1 . 349 
 
 said, laughing, " so I said, < Oh yes, Buckle to be sure ' ; 
 and took my leave." 
 
 It is impossible to describe how thorough a master he 
 was of the art of pleasing ; how he was as ready to amuse 
 the children as he was grown people ; his joyous nature ; 
 his inexhaustible but never-tiring talk ; his wealth of anec- 
 dotes, and especially the way in which they were told, 
 which made them as amusing when he repeated himself 
 (as he sometimes did) as when heard for the first time ; or 
 to describe his appreciation of every little attention, and 
 the warm interest he took in what were matters of mo- 
 ment for others. How naturally he entered into all the 
 hopes and fears of his hostess concerning her family, ask- 
 ing questions, giving advice, and all with the deepest in- 
 terest. We remember how touched and soothed we felt 
 when one of our children fell ill, and we, hearing its cries, 
 rushed up to the nursery, leaving him alone in the draw- 
 ing-room. We stopped there some time, and quite forgot 
 our visitor ; but when we came out he was standing, wait- 
 ing patiently, outside the nursery door, to learn from us 
 what was amiss. I see the expression of his face now as 
 he said to us in a suppliant tone, " Don't look so anxious ; 
 it will be better to-morrow." And the next day, gently 
 reproaching me, he said, " You ought not to have let so 
 young a child go to the Crystal Palace. It is all very well 
 for the elder ones to have such amusements, but the little 
 things should be kept as quiet as possible." And then he 
 went on to say at what age and with what temperament 
 sight-seeing and the like excitement was beneficial, and 
 when it was likely to be harmful, adding, " Now, if you. 
 had asked my advice, I could have told you all this yester- 
 
350 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 day, and the child would have been saved pain" so ac- 
 customed was he by this time to have his advice sought on 
 every subject. " If I were to take a profession," he once 
 said, " I should like to be a physician ; nothing would give 
 me more pleasure than to assuage pain." 
 
 An old lady, who had known Mr. Buckle from his 
 boyhood, burst into tears when these and other little sto- 
 ries were repeated to her. " It was not vulgar curiosity 
 with him," she said ; " it was not that he was meddlesome. 
 I knew him so well. It was all part and parcel of his 
 great sympathy. Oh, it was more than human," she went 
 on, " and imparted a more than earthly soothing effect. I 
 shall never forget what he was to me when I found myself 
 suddenly alone in the world, and what he was to me ever 
 afterward. Even though he had only a few days in town 
 to prepare for his Eastern journey, he walked across the 
 park to see me, and to bid me farewell. He asked about 
 my health ; he gave me advice. He did it as if it were 
 both a pleasure and a duty to see that I did the right thing 
 for myself before he left England. I am neither hand- 
 some nor clever, nor have I rank or title, but he never 
 forgot that his mother had been fond of me ! And I 
 have often been made a good deal of by other people, sim- 
 ply because they saw that the celebrated Buckle treated 
 me with such respect." 
 
 Often was Mr. Buckle attacked by his friends because 
 he did not marry ; but the fact was that up to his moth- 
 er's death he never felt lonely ; and perhaps his previous 
 wounds, and his entire devotion to his book, made him 
 even unwilling to marry. But after this he acknowledged 
 his mistake he was alone, terribly alone, in the world. 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR EGYPT. 351 
 
 "If at least my little nephew had lived," he said, "I 
 should have had a friend in time : I would have made 
 something of him. But," he continued in a lower tone, 
 " what I love I lose ; and now that I am near forty I am 
 alone ! " 
 
 " If I am not better, there is nothing for it but travel- 
 ing ; as while I am stationary I must work," he wrote 
 long ago ; 14 and it was much the same case now. The 
 prospect of an idle winter in town was insupportable, and 
 it was necessary to travel somewhere. Perhaps it was 
 owing to Major Woodhead's suggestion that he finally 
 decided on going to Egypt. " My head is at times still 
 weak, and I feel that I need more rest and relaxation," he 
 writes from Button, 15 and "I can not tell you," he writes 
 to Mrs. Bowyear, " the intense pleasure with which I look 
 forward to seeing Egypt that strange, mutilated form of 
 civilization. For years nothing has excited me so much. 16 
 I shall go up the Nile as far as Egypt, and probably return 
 to England about the end of January." 
 
 It was all of a piece with his thoughtful and self-sacri- 
 ficing kindness that he offered to take the two eldest sons 
 of his host with him. What would he himself have given 
 when a boy to have traveled in the land of the Thousand 
 and One Nights ! And holding travel to be a necessary 
 and important part of education, and knowing the value 
 of his own influence and teaching, he thought the im- 
 mense benefit he was conferring would fully compensate 
 him for the trouble, anxiety, and even labor, their com- 
 
 14 To Miss Shirreff, 22d December, 1856. 
 
 15 24th September, 1861. 
 
 16 13th-19th October, 1861. 
 
352 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 panionship must entail. " Even in our times the impor- 
 tance of traveling is obvious," lie writes in his " Common- 
 place Book," " " and we rarely find an untraveled man 
 who is not full of prejudice and bigotry." 
 
 All his time, on returning to London, was occupied in 
 preparation for his journey and that of his young com- 
 panions : 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 1M October, 1861. 
 
 " MY DEAR MRS. HUTH : I have just had a long talk 
 with the dear, kind old man, Dr Mayo. Extremely satis- 
 factory in every respect, particularly as to the good, both 
 physical and intellectual, which he anticipates for the boys. 
 But he suggests one or two things of importance. . . . 
 
 "My conversation with Dr. Mayo has confirmed my 
 confidence in being able to meet any event which can 
 arise in the ordinary course of nature. And as impunity 
 and absence of risk are always impossible, this is all we 
 can expect. Give my love to the boys, and read this note 
 to the little men. I am sure they will be very obedient, 
 and, by their docility, will help my endeavors to secure 
 their health and happiness." 
 
 "59 OXFORD TERRACE, 18th October, 1861. 
 " DEAR MRS. GROTE : Your friendly reproaches have 
 reached me at a moment when I am is the midst of prep- 
 arations for my departure to the East, and have conse- 
 quently but a short time to defend myself. Early to- 
 morrow I leave for Southampton, and sail thence for 
 Alexandria. I shall ascend the Nile to the first cataract, 
 
 17 Fragments on " Traveling." " Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works," 
 vol i., p. 524. 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR EGYPT. 353 
 
 and thus gratify one of the most cherished wishes of my 
 childhood. I am literally pining with excitement at the 
 prospect of seeing the remains of that powerful but imper- 
 fectly developed nation, whose existence has always been 
 to me as a dream. 
 
 " I am much better, and, indeed, quite well in every 
 respect, save the most important. I can not work, and 
 therefore my life has not been very happy ; but, on the 
 other hand, it has sauntered on untroubled. I have been 
 traveling in Wales and many parts of England, spending 
 nearly three weeks at Carolside, in Berwickshire, with the 
 Mitchells pleasant and accomplished people, and extreme- 
 ly kind. 
 
 " I wish for the next few months to sever myself, if 
 possible, from all old associations, and, as it were, begin 
 life afresh. Consequently, I shall write no letters, and 
 shall not have any forwarded to me. After Egypt, per- 
 haps I may go to Greece, perhaps to Algiers, pel-haps to 
 Jerusalem ; but wherever I may be I shall retain a lively 
 sense of the pleasant hours I have passed with you. Some- 
 times I fear that I have permanently hurt myself, and form 
 plans of leaving London altogether but time will show," 
 
 23 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Responsibility Kindness Alexandria Cairo The Nile Education Thebes 
 Talk with Mr. Longmore Nubia Love of Antiquities Preparations for 
 the Desert Stay in Cairo Suez Major Macdonald Sinai Petra Jeru- 
 salemDead Sea Mill on Buckle Nabulus Nazareth The Fatal Illness 
 Visit from Mr. Gray Tiberias Akka Tyre Sidon The Last Letter 
 Beyrout Damascus Illness increasing Death. 
 
 ON Sunday, 20th October, 1861, Buckle embarked at 
 Southampton on the Peninsular and Oriental Company's 
 steamship Ceylon, for Alexandria, and saw the shores of 
 England for the last time. He had now undertaken, for 
 the first time in his life, the responsible care of two chil- 
 dren, one fourteen and the other eleven years old, of whom, 
 moreover, he knew little beyond what he had gleaned from 
 their parents and the family physician. He knew his re- 
 sponsibility, and undertook their care as none without his 
 depth of feeling and warmth of heart could have done. 
 How he understood it is shown by the following letter, 
 written soon after his return from Nubia : 
 
 "I do not wonder at your anxiety in being so long 
 without intelligence ; but I have done all in my power, 
 and have never, since we left England, allowed a post to 
 go by without writing. Your picture of your imagination 
 of my hanging over the bed of a sick boy, and bringing you 
 back a child the less, has gone to my very heart, and made 
 me feel quite miserable, since I know what must have 
 
RESPONSIBILITY. 355 
 
 
 
 passed through your mind and what you must have 
 suffered before you would write this. But why, dear 
 Mrs. Huth, why will you allow your judgment to be led 
 captive by such dark imaginings ? I never begin any con? 
 siderable enterprise without well weighing the objections 
 against it. In taking your children where I have taken 
 them, and where they are about to go, I have estimated all 
 the difficulties, or, if you will, all the dangers, and I know 
 that I am able to meet them. I say that I KNOW it. And 
 I am too deeply conscious of my own responsibility to 
 write such a word loosely or rashly. Here, as elsewhere, 
 some rare combination of events, or some insidious physi- 
 cal action, creeping unobserved through the human frame, 
 and stealthily coming on years before, may prostrate one 
 of your boys, as it may prostrate you or your husband. 
 This may happen in the healthiest climate, and in spite of 
 the tenderest care. But it is my deliberate opinion that 
 until you see your boys again they will run no risk greater 
 than they would have run had they spent the same time 
 under your roof. The excitement of the brain caused by 
 traveling and the scenes through which they pass is in it- 
 self a source of health ; and though you, of course, love 
 your children better than I do, and better, indeed, than 
 any one does for who knows so well as I that no love 
 can equal the love of a mother ? still, even you could not 
 watch them more carefully than I do ; and, as you would 
 be the first to acknowledge, you would watch them with 
 less knowledge both of what should be guarded against 
 and what should be done. The' boys are, and have been 
 all along, in perfect health. ... As the boys were vac- 
 cinated three years ago, there is no occasion to repeat the 
 
356 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 operation. The protection is complete. There are in- 
 stances of persons having the small-pox who have been so 
 recently vaccinated, just as there are instances of persons 
 having the small-pox twice. But there are also instances 
 of people being killed on the railroad ; and as there are no 
 railroads in Palestine or Syria, we may fairly put one dan- 
 ger against the other, both being about equal. . . . Mean- 
 while, do not be uneasy ; I pray you, do not be uneasy. I 
 know well what I am doing, and I know how much de- 
 pends on my doing it properly. Besides, if you give way 
 to anxiety, you will make yourself ill ; and, if you get ill, 
 my excellent friend Huth will hate me as the cause, and, 
 maybe, will poison me in my food when I come home. 
 So be of good cheer." 
 
 They had not got cabins together, as Buckle had taken 
 his before it was decided that the boys should accompany 
 him ; but they were not separated even for one night, for, 
 on the day they started, the two gentlemen who had berths 
 in Mr. Buckle's cabin good-naturedly exchanged, and they 
 were all together. To this Mr. Buckle alludes in one of his 
 letters : " I had a little difficulty about getting them into 
 my cabin, because I had to talk over two different gentle- 
 men, the inmates of it. But, somehow or other, I generally 
 end by getting my own way, and we are now all together." 
 
 Buckle at this time was aged thirty-nine, but looked 
 fully forty-five, and would have looked even older but for 
 the rich brown color of his hair. A tall and slender, but 
 not thin figure, slightly bowed ; a dignified carriage ; a 
 bald head, with the hair brushed over it, as in the frontis- 
 piece ; the beginnings of a beard ; a short, slightly aquiline 
 nose ; a high forehead ; and singularly vivacious eyes made 
 
KINDNESS. 357 
 
 up a figure which struck one as refined, notwithstanding 
 his shabby, though by no means slovenly, dress. He wore 
 for the journey an old swallow-tailed coat, o a cut that 
 was somewhat out of date, but such as I have seen worn 
 by old-fashioned men ten years after his death, a double- 
 breasted brown waistcoat, and dark trousers. In cold 
 weather he wore an old brown overcoat, which he had 
 worn for many years, and hoped to wear many years more ; 
 for, as he says in one of his letters, " My maxim is econ- 
 omy, not parsimony; and, though I never throw away 
 money, I never spare it on emergencies." He thought 
 that men should be careless of their dress, and had a great 
 contempt for those who decked out their persons with 
 jewels. But he liked to see women pay attention to dress, 
 and once said, " it was a woman's duty to look well," as 
 long as they did not pay too much ; though he would 
 rather see a woman careless than vain, and slovenly than 
 devote all her thought to personal decoration. 
 
 His care and attention to the two boys was unremitting, 
 and during the first two or three days, while they were 
 still sea-sick, he used even to fetch them books, wrappers, 
 and all they needed. The only books he had brought with 
 him were, Sharpe's " History of Egypt," Osborn's " Monu- 
 mental History of Egypt," 1 Martineau's "Egypt, Past 
 and Present," EusselFs "Egypt," Bonn's "Herodotus," 
 Milman's "History of the Jews," "Murray," the Bible, 
 " Shakespeare," and " Moliere," and he allowed no others, 
 because he wished to drive the boys by very weariness to 
 read the books he had brought, knowing well that, since 
 they were accustomed to read, and as there was little that 
 
 1 Which he thought did not add to the reputation of its author. 
 
358 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 could amuse them on board, they would require no other 
 inducement to read on the history of the country they were 
 about to visit. His plan was perfectly successful, and they 
 not only read, but took a pride in reading. For himself, be- 
 sides talk, his chief amusement was draughts with a gentle- 
 man on board, who happened to be a good player, but who 
 could never understand how it was that Buckle always won. 
 
 Nothing of interest occurred during the voyage, with 
 the exception of some wonderful theatricals brought out 
 by the sailors, who acted a tremendously sensational piece 
 called " Eed-hand, the Gypsy." They painted their sce- 
 nery themselves, with foliage Miat might have been drawn 
 by an ancient Egyptian ; and the only drawback to the full 
 enjoyment of the play was that the Orchestra shut out all 
 view of the stage. The usual sights were seen, the rock 
 of Gibraltar examined, and the view enjoyed from St. 
 George's Gallery. Yaletta was also visited, and the Church 
 of St. John duly admired. The sea, which had been rather 
 rough until Gibraltar was reached, was like glass from 
 there to Alexandria. 
 
 At landing, the usual scene occurred, familiar now to 
 all the world. Little has changed since then. As soon as 
 the Indian passengers had gone off, a boat was selected 
 from the surrounding flotilla, and the party made for a 
 wooden pier, so tightly packed with yelling Arabs that at 
 first it seemed impossible to land. A plentiful use of the 
 stick from the presiding sheik at length made it possible. 
 How the luggage got up was a mystery ; but it did, and a 
 seething mass of blue and white cotton rags fought a battle 
 over it. More use of the stick, and each piece of baggage 
 took a pair of legs to itself, and went off in different di- 
 
ALEXANDRIA. 359 
 
 reetions. It assembled again, however, where a few offi- 
 cials were lounging outside a shed, and was all thrown 
 down in a heap in the open street. A faint show was 
 made of opening the biggest box, but five shillings made 
 everything comfortable. The Arabs shouldered their bur- 
 dens, stood in a row to be counted, and then started for 
 the Hotel de 1'Europe. On the way there was a constant 
 bombardment of donkeys, who are shoved by their drivers 
 pertinaciously in the way ; and, as the quarter just about 
 the landing-place is inhabited chiefly by natives, the streets 
 are so narrow that walking through the donkeys is diffi- 
 cult. Soon a grave-looking Oriental, in Turkish dress, ac- 
 costed Mr. Buckle, and showed him papers ; he was a 
 dragoman, and was showing his testimonials from former 
 travelers. Buckle promised to inquire about him, and the 
 hotel was at last reached. Here Mr. Buckle, after his 
 usual custom, engaged rooms on the top floor of the hotel. 
 These were nice and cool, the thermometer showing only 
 Y6 ; and he then sallied forth to the bank, for it was only 
 10 A. M., and made inquiries about the dragoman, Hassan 
 Yyse ! so called because he had served the explorer of the 
 Pyramids ; for the Arabs put the surname first, and then 
 take a distinguishing title after it. The inquiries being 
 satisfactory, he was engaged, and the day was finished with 
 dinner at the t'dble-d'hdte, and a cup of coffee at a Turkish 
 coffee-house. 
 
 Buckle spent the first day or two in making purchases 
 of tobacco, Turkish slippers, a pipe, and other prepara- 
 tions ; seeing Pompey's Pillar, and what part of the Cata- 
 combs was visible for the pasha had lately had them shut 
 up, as it was reported that some treasure had been found 
 
360 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 there. But the greatest difficulty was finding a boat, or 
 dahabeeyeh, as they are called, concerning which, and other 
 things, he wrote the following very interesting letter : 
 
 "... The heat is intense, and I keep both the boys 
 indoors the greater part of the day. I have tried in vain 
 to get a good European servant, so I see after everything 
 myself, and am extremely particular about their ablutions 
 and change of linen, so absolutely necessary in such a cli- 
 mate as this. We received your very welcome letters yes- 
 terday, having ourselves writen to you the day before. 
 "We also wrote from Gibraltar and Malta. I hope that we 
 shall start for Cairo in two or three days ; but the difficul- 
 ties are great, owing to the railroad being washed away by 
 the unusually high rise of the Nile. The demand for 
 boats is consequently enormous, and the prices the owners 
 ask are fabulous. I have seen several boats to-day, and 
 one man demanded 35 from here to Cairo, a journey of 
 three to four days at the outside. I have been forced to 
 expose myself nearly all day to the sun boat-hunting, and 
 am rather exhausted; but I feel in better health and 
 spirits than at any time during the last three years. 3 Es- 
 pecially I am conscious of an immense increase of brain 
 power, grasping great problems with a firmness which, at 
 one time, I feared had gone from me for ever. I feel that 
 there is yet much that I shall live to do. Once you asked 
 me how I rated myself in comparison with Mill. I now 
 certainly fancy that I can see things which Mill does not ; 
 but I believe that, on the whole, he is a greater man than 1 
 am, and will leave a greater name behind him. This is 
 egotistical, but I am only so to those I care for ; and my 
 
 2 1. e., since the death of his mother. 
 
ALEXANDRIA. 361 
 
 letters are intended to be sacredly private to you and your 
 husband, though I am always willing that my dear old 
 friend Capey 3 shall see them but NO ONE ELSE.* Tell 
 him, with my best love, that I have received his letter, and 
 will write to him from Cairo* 5 Your sons are everything 
 I could wish ; they attach themselves much to me, and I 
 to them. A Scotchman on board said, 'Why, dear me, 
 sir, how fond those boys do seem of you ! ' And so I am 
 sure they are. I hope and believe that this journey will 
 be an epoch in their lives, morally and intellectually. 
 They are very diligent in reading ; but I never prescribe 
 any hours or daily task, merely telling them that the only 
 reward I require for watching over them is that they 
 should acquire knowledge. . . . 
 
 " Tobacco and pipes are very cheap ; everything else 
 enormously dear : ale, two shillings a bottle ; soda-water, 
 one shilling; miserable carriages, six shillings an hour; 
 and so forth. And yet with all this the labor market is 
 in such a state that an unskilled laborer earns with diffi- 
 culty twopence a day. "Wages low and profits high." 
 
 At length he found a suitable boat, iron built, and with 
 superior fittings not so luxurious as many that are now 
 on the Kile, but incomparably superior to those of Miss 
 Martineau's time. It belonged to Abdallah Pasha, a Euro- 
 pean, had the reputation of being fast, and was called El 
 
 3 The Rev. George Capel, an old friend of both Mr. Buckle and the 
 Huths, and the means of introduction between them. 
 
 4 This is the first time this passage has seen the light ; but, now that 
 both Mr. Buckle and Mr. Mill are dead, there is no longer any occasion to 
 suppress it. 
 
 6 This letter ivas written, but I have not seen it, and do not know whether 
 it exists. 
 
362 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Ableh, or the Wild One. Its hire was 60 a month, a 
 largish sum then, but nothing to what is now given. 
 Buckle ordered it to proceed to Boulak as soon as it could 
 be got ready, for the railway had been repaired sooner 
 than was expected, and it would have been useless to daw- 
 dle away time on a canal. The exposure to the sun, how- 
 ever, brought on so sharp a choleraic attack that he had 
 to keep his bed the greater part of the day, and only set 
 out for Cairo on the next. But when he got to Cairo he 
 was so little the worse for it that, despite his six hours? 
 railway journey, he spent the evening in " exploring " 
 that city with some friends he had made on board the 
 Ceylon. 
 
 The party put up at the Hotel d' Orient, which at that 
 time had the garden of the Esbeekeey eh almost under its 
 windows. Cairo has changed wofully for the worse since 
 then. The best half of this garden has been built over ; 
 and what remains is laid out in French style, with grass 
 that won't grow, and broken and dirty little gas-lamps 
 round its little ponds. Then it was open to every one, 
 and, though nothing in comparison with a good European 
 garden, it was beautiful in dusty Cairo, with its luxuriant 
 native vegetation. The dahabeeyeh was not expected to 
 arrive for a week, and in the mean while Buckle's time 
 was fully occupied in seeing Cairo. His ordinary practice 
 was to rise at six, read Sharpe's " Egypt," or " Murray," 
 or some other book on the country ; walk fifteen minutes, 
 and breakfast at nine. He then went about sight-seeing 
 or paying visits ; took a light lunch of bread and fruit 
 about one o'clock, and dined at six ; played a game of 
 backgammon with one of the boys, but not immediately 
 
OAIEO. 363 
 
 after dinner, and always for some stake, generally a half- 
 penny, because he considered that even a small stake pre- 
 vented reckless play ; read again from eight to ten, and 
 then went to bed ; or sometimes retired a little earlier, lit 
 a cigar, and read as long as it lasted. 
 
 So well and joyous did he feel here that he made up 
 his mind to continue his journey to Palestine, and with 
 this object bought Kobinson's "Biblical Eesearches " ; 
 and an Arabic grammar and dictionary, for the purpose of 
 studying Arabic. He soon found, however, that his brain 
 was not yet strong enough to allow him to study so diffi- 
 cult a language, and had to put it aside. 
 
 From Cairo he writes as follows, 15th November, 
 1861: 
 
 " We hope to leave here for Thebes to-morrow, pro- 
 vided the boat can be provisioned by then. It is a first- 
 rate boat ; and, as we shall be in it three months, I am 
 doing what I know you would do if you were here, spar- 
 ing no expense in laying in every comfort that can insure 
 health. I feel the responsibility of your dear children, 
 perhaps more than I expected, but I am not anxious ; for 
 I am conscious of going to the full extent of my duty, 
 and neglecting nothing; and when a man does this, he 
 must leave the unknown and invisible future to take care 
 of itself. ... If the boys improve still further in health, 
 and if I find that they are reaping real intellectual bene- 
 fit, I propose taking them in February to Jerusalem, and 
 thence making excursions in Palestine explaining to 
 them at the same time the essential points in Jewish his- 
 tory, and connecting it with the history of Egypt. The 
 few books which I require can be got here; all except 
 
364 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 one, viz.,.-.' Stanley's Sinai and Palestine.' This you (all 
 my letters are to you and your husband jointly) will please 
 to get, and send to Briggs, at Cairo; also some letter 
 stamps, and a letter of credit on Jerusalem, or some place 
 as near Jerusalem as possible. I shall write to England 
 by this mail for more money for myself, and therefore I 
 shall only use your letter of credit to about the extent 
 of your boys' expenses. Furthermore, I shall want a let- 
 ter of credit on Constantinople, as I propose sailing for 
 that city direct from Palestine, and then ascending the 
 Danube to Vienna (now a very easy journey), and meeting 
 you all there in May or June. To make sure, it may be 
 advisable to send, by separate mails, duplicate letters of 
 credit on Jerusalem and Constantinople. I could draw all 
 the money here, but there is the chance of robbery in the 
 desert. There is NO FEAR OF VIOLENCE, for I shall have 
 the best escort that monev can procure. My maxim is 
 economy, not parsimony ; and, though I never throw away 
 money, I never spare it on emergencies. If in the spring 
 there are any disturbances in Arabia or Syria, be you well 
 assured that I shall not set forth there. I find that my 
 reputation has preceded me here ; and as I know, conse- 
 quently, some influential persons, and among them a pasha 
 and a bey, I shall have the best information as to what is 
 going on in the countries through which we are to pass. 
 
 " I am better than I have been for years, and feel full 
 of life and thought. How this country makes me speculate ! 
 I am up at six o'clock every morning, and yet there seems 
 no day so much is there to see and think of. I try to 
 pour some of my overflowings into the little chaps ; time 
 will show if I succeed, but I think I shall do something 
 
UP THE NILE. , 365 
 
 ' 
 
 toward making them more competent 
 than they would otherwise be. 
 
 " And now, my dear Mrs. Huth, do you seriously ex- 
 pect that I am going to answer your questions of casuistry 
 about going to church, expressing free opinions, and fuller 
 amusement questions which it would take pages to an- 
 swer. All I can say is that the true Utilitarian philoso- 
 phy NEVER allows any one, for the sake of present and 
 temporary benefits, either to break a promise or tell a 
 falsehood. Such things degrade the mind, and are there- 
 fore evil in themselves. But, if you made a promise to 
 your child, and then found that keeping this promise 
 would ruin the health of your child, what sort of mother 
 would you be if you were to keep your promise ? The 
 other point is more difficult ; but 7 would not hesitate to 
 tell a falsehood to save the life of any one dear to me 
 though I know that many competent judges differ as to 
 this ; and in the present state of knowledge the problem 
 is perhaps incapable of scientific treatment : it is, therefore, 
 in such cases, for each to act according to his own lights." 
 
 The boat did not arrive till Tuesday, 20th November, 
 when Ayrton Bey, a friend of Buckle's, who had also 
 once occupied the boat, called to tell him that it was at 
 Shoubra. Thither Buckle and the boys walked, and had 
 their first sail up to Boulak. The next day they took up 
 their abode on board ; but delay in provisioning and then 
 contrary winds prevented a start before Sunday, 25th ; and 
 altogether the journey up to Thebes was not a very rapid 
 one. 
 
 But for all that the days passed quickly enough. The 
 hours kept were much the same as at Cairo. Buckle took 
 
366 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 care to have his daily walk before breakfast, and generally 
 managed to get another walk of about an hour in the course 
 of the day. Sometimes he read in the forenoon, sometimes 
 he was engaged in ticketing and cataloguing antiquities, 
 which he now began to collect, and in which he took a 
 great interest. The afternoon was spent in games of back- 
 gammon, in smoking, and reading, or in teaching the boys 
 ecarte and draughts ; but he always expected them to read 
 the greater part of the morning ; and he taught them to 
 make maps of Egypt and Palestine. During the walks he 
 questioned them on what they had read, told them stories, 
 and taught them elementary physiology, explaining the 
 human anatomy, and even making them remember its bar- 
 barous nomenclature, knowing well that a knowledge of 
 anatomy without this would be like a knowledge of geog- 
 raphy without the names, but always taking especial care 
 that these should not be merely names to them, but repre- 
 sent real ideas. If there was any rule as regards their 
 health which he particularly wished to impress upon them, 
 he told them anecdotes of cases in which they had been 
 disregarded, with all the dreadful consequences ; and such 
 anecdotes were indelibly fixed in their memory. He would 
 also make them write out lists of dates, such as the Con- 
 quest of Egypt by Cambyses, by Alexander, and Amrou ; 
 the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar ; the founda- 
 tion of Samaria ; the Conquest, by Titus, etc., etc., and 
 carry these lists about with them, so as easily to fix them 
 in their memory ; while, to see that they did so, he would 
 question them while on their walks. As before, however, 
 he never forced the boys to read ; he only made them un- 
 derstand that he was pleased if they did, and hurt if they 
 

 UP THE NILE. 367 
 
 did not ; and, as a further and perhaps necessary precaution, 
 where the choice lies between Robinson's dry researches 
 and Shakespeare, he removed the latter. 
 
 Buckle's own account of his system of education is given 
 in the following letter : 
 
 " 14th December, 1861. 
 
 " The journey up the Nile, though slow, has not been 
 dull, as we have plenty of occupation ; and the boys, I am 
 truly pleased to say, are most anxious to instruct themselves, 
 and without any pressure on my part they read quite as 
 much as I wish. Lest the long confinement should be in- 
 jurious, I stop the boat twice every day, and we walk with 
 an escort on shore. Then, and in the evening, I talk to 
 them about what they have seen and read, and, having en- 
 couraged them to state their opinions, I give them mine, 
 and explain how it is that we differ. They have accumu- 
 lated a great number of historical and geographical facts. 
 But that is not my chief object ; what I aim at is, to train 
 theni to consider everything from the largest and highest 
 point of view that their years and abilities will allow. To 
 this I make everything subordinate, save and except their 
 health. At first they were evidently bewildered by the 
 multiplicity of new details which crowded on their minds ; 
 but gradually those details took a regular and orderly form, 
 spontaneously arranging themselves under general heads. 
 To hasten this movement, without overworking their brains, 
 is the most difficult part of my undertaking. But I will 
 venture to say that if you could now see them you would 
 be convinced that their health must have been well attend- 
 ed to ; while if you could talk to them, you would be 
 equally well satisfied respecting the other part of the ques- 
 
368 BUCKLE'S LITE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 tion. Perhaps this sounds too much like praising myself ; 
 but your children are so far from you that I had rather be 
 deemed vainglorious than conceal facts concerning them 
 which it will please you to hear. . . . 
 
 "Besides the general history and geography of the 
 East, I am teaching the boys by conversation (for I have 
 no books on the subject) the elements of physiology, and 
 explaining to them the general laws which connect animals 
 with plants. Two or three days ago I first began to pro- 
 ceed further, and opened up the relations which the ani- 
 mal and vegetable kingdoms bear to the mineral world. 
 
 was never weary of listening and asking questions. 
 
 . . . His eyes quite sparkled, and beamed with light, as 
 he traversed (though, of course, very indistinctly) the field 
 of thought. 
 
 " You have, I suppose, received a letter which I wrote 
 from Cairo. ... If so, I must trouble you to send to the 
 same address another parcel, containing Josephus's f His- 
 tory of the Jewish War ' ; his c Own Life,' and his < Anti- 
 quities of the Jews.' As these are for the boys, they must 
 all be in English. The translation of the c Jewish "War ' 
 by Traill is better than the old one by Whist on. I also 
 want Jahn's ' Hebrew Commonwealth,' and a volume on 
 the history, etc., of Palestine, published in the Edinburgh 
 Cabinet Library ; likewise a very small volume on human 
 physiology, forming part of Chambers's Educational Course. 
 I am not quite certain as to the title, but you can hardly 
 mistake it, as the subject is the physiology of man, and it 
 is a thin one-and-sixpenny or two-shilling book, with cuts. 
 Then, some more thin writing paper, and a small but good 
 revolver, with a leather belt in which it can be worn such 
 
EDUCATION. 369 
 
 belts are made expressly. The revolver should be as light 
 as is consistent with its being an effective weapon. But 
 you know that I am not expert with fire-arms ; it must 
 not, therefore, have any needless complications, . . . 
 
 " The boys' Bible has no Apocrypha ; and I want to 
 explain to them the character of that most remarkable 
 Maccabsean revolution which broke out two centuries be- 
 fore Christ. If, therefore, you can buy the Apocrypha 
 separate, and in a portable form, do so ; but it is not worth 
 while to send out another whole Bible, as my memory 
 will enable me to explain the main points without it. 
 
 " We live in great comfort, and indeed luxury : an 
 iron boat, with good bedrooms, and a saloon that could 
 dine eight persons ; and we sail quicker than any boat on 
 the Nile. I have engaged the cook the Rothschilds had 
 when they were in Egypt. He is really a first-rate cook,, 
 and makes, I think, the best bread I ever tasted. I let the 
 boys live generously ; but I carefully watch the effect of 
 their food, and occasionally put them on a spare diet,, to 
 avoid medicine. . . . They get up before seven, and go 
 to bed at 8.10. The latter part of the arrangement they 
 don't always approve of, but they never resist me when 
 they see I am in earnest; and I ,am peremptory on this 
 point; believing that early sleep is of supreme importance 
 to them, living as they do amid such exciting scenes, and 
 with their attention continually on the stretch. . . ." 
 
 Perhaps the following two letters from the two boys, 
 written for the same post as the above, will show more 
 clearly than anything the nature of this education : 
 
 " We have been on the Mle about three weeks, and 
 expect to be at Thebes in a few days. We have not seen 
 
 24 
 
370 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITHSTGS. 
 
 any temples or tombs yet, except the tombs at Siout, which 
 is the capital of Upper Egypt. The tombs there are not 
 nearly as good as we shall see when we are coming back. 
 But I have picked up a piece of mummy cloth ; and I 
 have bought a little idol of our donkey-man, which I gave 
 twenty paras for (which is equal to three farthings). Mr. 
 B. says that it is sure to be real, because it does not pay to 
 forge such cheap things. You can not think how jolly it is. 
 Mr. B. lets us do what we like ; and the only lessons we do 
 as yet is reading. . . . We have seen no crocodiles yet, but 
 Hassan says that we shall see plenty by-and-by. I mean to 
 buy a small one, and send it home to be stuffed, unless I get 
 a letter to the contrary when we get back to Cairo. I have 
 made a little map of Egypt, and I mean to mark the places 
 that we have been to, and then send it to you when we get 
 back to Cairo. This letter will be posted at Thebes, and 
 we have told Briggs to forward your letter there. The 
 Egyptian post goes as far as Assouan, which is at the first 
 cataract. Mr. B. thinks of going to Nubia, as far as the 
 second cataract ; but it depends on the size of the other 
 boat which we shall have to hire at the first cataract. In 
 your next letter tell me if you would like a mummied cat. 
 I am not quite sure whether I shall be able to get it, but I 
 think I can. Ask Mr. C. if he would like one too ; as I 
 am afraid there is no chance of getting any models ; but 
 I shall try and get a photograph of the Pyramids. The 
 wind has just got up, and we are sailing fast; if it keeps 
 so we may get to Thebes to-morrow ; but we are only 
 going to post letters there, and then go on, for we do not 
 mean to see any remains till we come back. We have got 
 about the best boat on the Nile, and the best cook, and a 
 
EDUCATION. 371 
 
 very good dragoman, who was a long time with Colonel 
 Vyse, who explored the Pyramids, and discovered some 
 chambers in them. I have read Sharpe's History of 
 Egypt,' and Martineau and Russell's * Egypt,' and He- 
 rodotus, and now I am reading the c History of the Jews.' 
 I shall not tell you anything about Mr. B.'s plans for Syria 
 and Palestine and Mount Sinai, as he will most likely tell 
 you more about it than I could ; but won't it be jolly to 
 go to all these places ! "We are all jolly, and Bucky is a 
 brick. 
 
 " Please answer about the crocodile and all that, or 
 
 else I shall not know what to do. ... Tell that 
 
 Mr. B. says there is no fear of the Arabs stealing us, be- 
 cause it would not be worth their while ; but he is afraid 
 they will steal him, because he is such a nice little fellow." 
 
 The second letter is as follows : 
 
 "... I have finished Sharpe's 'History of Egypt' 
 and Milman's c History of the Jews'; and now I am go- 
 ing to begin the Bible, and read all about the Jews in 
 there. "We have been talking to Mr. B. about physiology, 
 and he says, when we have finished reading about Egypt 
 and Palestine, he will write for a book about it. We have 
 got a very good boat ; it is built of iron, and has beaten 
 three boats already that started two days before us. I 
 have made a map of Egypt and a map of Asia Minor. 
 To-day I saw rafts of pottery coming from Kenneh. "We 
 have got a very good cook. He can make plum-pudding, 
 and he can make Irish stew as well as Mr. Buckle's cook. 
 Here we always have marmalade and curry for breakfast. 
 The time here is about six hours faster than in England, 
 because we are so much farther east. It is about as hot 
 
372 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 here as it was last summer in England. Mr. Buckle has 
 been explaining to us the relation of minerals and plants 
 and animals to each other, and the way in which animals 
 get minerals through plants; and that while animals are 
 poisoning the air, plants are purifying it. ... I have 
 finished reading Herodotus, Martineau, and KusselPs 
 ' Egypt.' When w r e came to Alexandria, Mr. Buckle 
 allowed us two shillings a week." 
 
 Thus was the time passed daily on the Kile, until six 
 o'clock brought the proof of the cook's skill, which we 
 have seen praised so highly in his letter. After dinner 
 he sat with the boys in semi-darkness for a quarter of an 
 hour or so, playing and joking with them, till they gen- 
 erally ended in a violent romp, and now and then a smash 
 of crockery or windows. A breakage, however, had to be 
 paid for. Buckle himself boasted that he had never broken 
 anything since he was quite a youth, with the exception 
 of one tumbler, which had slipped through his fingers on 
 a very cold day j and he gave the boys a special allowance 
 to pay for their breakages, with the result that such acci- 
 dents were not nearly as common as they otherwise would 
 have been, for the boys had plenty of use for their money. 
 They, too, took an interest in antiquities and curiosities, 
 and. began to form a collection, in which they were much 
 assisted by Buckle, and allowed to think that the assistance 
 was reciprocal. 
 
 A good wind brought the dahabeeyeh to Thebes on 
 the 14th December, with " all well and in high spirits." 
 They immediately landed, and, after seeing Luxor, visited 
 Karnak, "that wonderful tenvple," as Buckle can not re- 
 sist calling it in his diary. The following day Luxor was 
 
THEBES. 373 
 
 again visited, and then he crossed the Nile, and saw the 
 Memnones the temples of the Memnonium and Me- 
 deenet Haboo, and finally, after dinner, went^to Karnak, 
 " and saw that prodigious ruin by moonlight." 
 
 " One thing I will say," he afterward wrote from Cairo, 
 " that everything which travelers relate of Egypt fails to 
 give an idea of the real wonders of this most interesting 
 country. To tell you that I have seen a single ruin (the 
 temple of Karnak at Thebes) which, when complete, 
 measured a mile and a half in circumference, sounds very 
 strange; but that is nothing when compared with the 
 amazing grandeur of the colossal statues, and the pillars 
 which support the edifice. And, then, the minute finish 
 of the sculpture which covered the walls of the Egyptian 
 temple is as noticeable as their grandeur." 
 
 And again he writes to another friend : 
 
 " To give you even the faintest idea of what I have 
 seen in this wonderful country is impossible. ~No art of 
 writing can depict it. If I were to say that the temple 
 of Karnak at Thebes can even now be ascertained to have 
 measured a mile and a half in circumference, I should, 
 perhaps, only tell you what you have read in books ; but I 
 should despair if I were obliged to tell you what I felt 
 when I was in the midst of it, and contemplated it as a 
 living whole, while every part was covered with sculptures 
 of exquisite finish, except where hieroglyphics crowded on 
 each other so thickly that it would require many volumes 
 to copy them. There stood their literature in the midst 
 of the most magnificent temples ever raised by the genius 
 of man. I went twice to see it by moonlight, when the 
 vast masses of light and shade rendered it absolutely ap- 
 
374 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 palling. But I fear to write like a guide-book, and had 
 rather abstain from details till we meet. One effect, how- 
 ever, I must tell you that my journey has produced upon 
 me. Perhaps you may remember how much I always pre- 
 ferred form to color ; but now, owing to the magical effect 
 of this, the driest atmosphere in the world, I am getting 
 to like color more than form. The endless variety of hues 
 is extraordinary. Owing to the transparency of the air, 
 objects are seen (as nearly as I can judge) more than twice 
 the distance they can be seen in England under the most 
 favorable circumstances. Until my eye became habituated 
 to this, I often over-fatigued myself by believing that I 
 could reach a certain point in a certain time. The result 
 is a wealth and exuberance of color which is hardly to be 
 credited, and which I doubt if any painter would dare to 
 represent. ... If you were here, and felt as I do what it 
 is to have the brain every day over-excited be constantly 
 drunk with pleasure you would easily understand how 
 impossible much letter- writing becomes, and how impatient 
 one grows of fixing upon paper ' thoughts which burn.' 
 But, as you know of old, if my friends were to measure 
 my friendship by the length of my letters, they would do 
 me great injustice." 
 
 Color was, however, his oldest love, to which he now 
 returned, and with even more ardor and devotion after 
 seeing Petra, with its perpendicular walls of living rock, 
 honeycombed with temples, dwellings, and tombs, and 
 streaked with colors so bright, so various, and yet in such 
 perfect harmony that no one who has not actually seen it 
 can form any idea of the general effect an effect which 
 is further heightened by the tumbled masses of rock and 
 
TALK WITH MR. LONGMORE. 375 
 
 the bushes and trees which hang on every ledge and 
 spring from every fissure. 
 
 The view over the Libyan plain of Thebe$ is perhaps 
 the most beautiful, and certainly the most characteristic, 
 in Egypt. For beyond fields of lupins and waving corn 
 still sit the two colossi, as they have sat for three thousand 
 years now, alas ! sadly battered, but yet majestic in their 
 solitary grandeur. A little to the right and behind is the 
 Memnonium, with its background of the Libyan hills, 
 which catch the parting rays of the sun on their white and 
 broken cliffs, and the slope of the Assaseef, riddled with 
 gaping tombs. Still further on the right are the remains 
 of the temple of El Goorneh, and a collection of mud 
 huts of the same name ; while on the extreme left are the 
 huge mounds and mighty ruins of the temple of Medeenet 
 Haboo. 
 
 A final look at the latter temple, and at certain tombs 
 of the Assaseef and its neighborhood ; and then, at five 
 o'clock on the 16th, sail was made for Assuan, which the 
 Ableh reached on the 22d. 
 
 As is usual, however, a halt had been made at Esneh, 
 to allow the crew to bake their bread ; and Buckle occu- 
 pied his spare time in visiting the shamefully neglected 
 temple of this place. Here were two other boats the 
 Fortunata, on board of which was Mr. Longmore, who has 
 since written an interesting account of his meetings with 
 1 Buckle during the journey; and the Canopus, occupied 
 by two clergymen. On board the latter, Mr. Longmore 
 made Buckle's acquaintance, and thus records the conver- 
 sation : " Though he smoked continuously during our 
 interview, he was by no means solely occupied with that 
 
 
376 BUCKLE'S LIFE- AND WETTINGS. 
 
 recreation, for he talked nearly as continuously. A good 
 deal of the time during which we were on board the Ca- 
 nopus together, he spent in maintaining that a constitu- 
 tional country like England was never so well governed as 
 when the sovereign was either a debauche or an imbecile. 
 In proof of this rather paradoxical position, }ie instanced 
 the reign of Henry the Third ; and Charles the Second, to 
 which we owe our Habeas Corpus Act, and one he still 
 more admired, de non Corriburendo Hereticos / 8 and those 
 of George the Second and George the Third as the 
 reigns in which we had made the greatest progress. With 
 the Pharaohs and Ptolemies of Egypt, and other absolute 
 monarchs, it was different, for they, if energetic men, 
 could do what they liked with the resources they gov- 
 erned, and thus leave to posterity such wonderful monu- 
 ments of their magnificence as we had recently been 
 admiring on the banks of the JSTile. 7 "Subsequently, 
 during the same visit to the Canopus," continues Mr. 
 
 * This proposition is sketched out in that part of the Introduction to the 
 " History of Civilization " which refers to the attempt of the Spanish govern- 
 ments to improve the people. On the Act de non Comburendo Hereticos he 
 has the following : " By the old law of England the bishops were not al- 
 lowed the luxury of burning heretics, except by the authority of a writ 
 issued by the king in council. But Henry the Fourth procured a law order- 
 ing that all heretics were to be judged by the bishop of the diocese, and, if 
 found guilty, to be burnt without any reference to the consent, or even to 
 the knowledge, of the crown."-Pp. 120, 121, vol. L, "Buckle's Posthumous 
 and Miscellaneous Writings "; fragment on " Bishops," under the "Reign 
 of Elizabeth." 
 
 7 He could not, however, have meant that under capable despots there is 
 as much progress as under imbecile monarchs in free constitutions. What 
 he probably said was, that these monuments were raised because the govern- 
 ment was despotic in its strictest sense, which implies misery to the people. 
 And, secondly, that under a despotic government the country is wholly de- 
 pendent on the capability of its ruler progressing under a great man, and 
 going back again under a reckless or foolish one. 
 
TALK WITH MR. LONGMORE. 377 
 
 Longmore, " some reference being made to modern spir- 
 itualism, Mr. Buckle graphically narrated his experiences 
 during a seance at which he had been present* shortly be- 
 fore leaving London. This seance took place in the house, 
 he said, of a Cabinet Minister, who, he was quite satisfied, 
 would not have lent himself to any collusive trickery to 
 facilitate the proceedings of the mediums. The chief of 
 these was Mr. Home ; and various marvelous phenomena 
 were produced, more particularly the floating of a large 
 circular drawing-room table in mid-air. These manifesta- 
 tions Mr. Buckle was unable to explain on any known 
 physical laws. * But,' he added, ' while I can not admit 
 there is anything supernatural about them, I think it quite 
 possible there may be a development of some new force 
 well worthy of scientific investigation.' He afterward 
 mentioned that Mr. Home called on him shortly after the 
 seance, and told him that he was anxious that he, a man 
 well known in the literary world, and recognized as no 
 granter of propositions he had not duly examined for him- 
 self, would take up the subject of spiritualism, and after 
 sufficiently testing the reality of its phenomena in doing 
 which Mr. Home offered every assistance in his power 
 announce to the world to what conclusion he had come. 
 Mr. Home volunteered that, whenever Mr. Buckle wished 
 it, he would readily come to his house, and perform his 
 experiments there, so that there might be no suspicion of 
 apparatus or collusion being employed to deceive him. In 
 conclusion, Mr. Buckle told us he was so pleased with Mr. 
 Home that he was quite willing to agree to his proposal ; 
 but that, the second volume of his book being then nearly 
 ready for press, his time had been so occupied with it that 
 
378 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 he was quite unable to take the subject of spiritualism up 
 before his health broke down, and he was compelled to 
 leave England. But he was resolved to investigate it on 
 his return home a return which, alas ! never took place." ' 
 At Assouan Mr. Buckle again met Mr. Longmore; 
 and, since with returning strength his love of conversa- 
 tion was also returning, seeking a cultivated companion 
 to whom he could talk during his projected tour in Pales- 
 tine, he invited him to accompany him during that jour- 
 ney ; but Mr. Longmore was unfortunately obliged " re- 
 luctantly to decline." 9 Here arrangements were made 
 for hiring another boat ; for, though all but the very big- 
 gest dahabeeyehs can pass the cataract, yet, as El Ableh 
 was built of iron, any damage she might receive in the 
 passage could not have been repaired in so primitive a 
 place. To a wooden boat an occasional bump against a 
 rock does no harm, and the only danger that is run is the 
 chance that the boat may escape down the rapid a dan- 
 ger which is effectually guarded against by ropes made 
 fast to rocks ; the boat is then hauled up a little farther 
 and again made fast, while the first ropes are loosed, and 
 the process repeated. 10 
 
 8 From Mr. J. A. Longmore's account in the "Athenaeum," p. 115, No. 
 2361, for 25th January, 1873. 
 
 9 "Athenaeum," p. 115, 25th January, 1873. 
 
 10 Mr. Glennie says : " Still grander, however [than ascending], was the 
 shooting of this first cataract, on our descending the Nile three weeks after- 
 ward. Some travelers do not risk it ; nor, I believe, did Mr. Buckle ; but I 
 found it one of the most glorious sensations I ever experienced." " Pilgrim 
 Memories," p. 21. A truly heroic feat ! which strangely recalls to us the 
 anecdote told to Pepys of the passage of a Frenchman through London 
 Bridge : " Where, when he saw the great fall, he began to cross himself and 
 say his prayers in the greatest fear in the world, and, soon as he was over, 
 he swore, * Morbleu ! c'est le plus grand plaisir du monde.' " " Pepys's Di- 
 ary," 8th August, 1662. 
 
NUBIA. 3Y9 
 
 The boat engaged for the Nubian trip was little better 
 than a common merchantman, the wild prototype of the 
 civilized dahabeeyeh. Many windows were broken ; and 
 though Buckle had a letter of introduction to the Gov- 
 ernor of Assouan from his Cairene friends, all his power 
 was unable to produce a square inch of glass, and they 
 had therefore to be patched up with paper. Two days 
 were occupied in transferring stores, during which Buckle 
 visited the Cataracts, the island of Elephanta, and " the 
 beautiful island of Philse," and also bought a great many 
 antiquities. 
 
 He started on the 24th December, came back on the 
 8th January, and the next day the party rode back to the 
 dahabeeyeh, which seemed quite a palace after the wretched 
 boat they had just left. " We have all been, and are re- 
 markably well," he writes. "The journey into Nubia, 
 notwithstanding its many discomforts, was in the highest 
 degree curious and instructive ; and, as I took extra pre- 
 cautions as regards diet and health, it did us no harm. . . . 
 The heat in Nubia was intense. On Christmas Day, at 
 half-past eight in the evening, it was in my cabin 81 
 Fahrenheit, though the sun had been excluded all day. 
 Not one Egyptian traveler in ten enters Nubia; but, as 
 you see, I felt confident in bringing us all well out of 
 it ; and now that we have been there, I would not have 
 missed it for five hundred pounds. I feel very joyous, 
 and altogether full of pugnacity, so that I wish some 
 one would attack me I mean, attack me speculatively. 
 I have no desire for a practical combat." And to his 
 aunt he writes from Cairo : " The Nubian part of the 
 journey I had to perform under circumstances of con- 
 
380 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 siderable discomfort in a common trading boat ; but ev- 
 ery step was to me so full of interest that I was amply 
 repaid." 
 
 Everything was ready for the departure, but the wind 
 blew strongly from the north, and forced a delay. Here 
 a Mr. Glennie, who was in a dahabeeyeh on its way up, 
 took the opportunity of having the news of the Prince 
 Consort's death to communicate, to call on Buckle and in- 
 troduce himself. The conversation on that occasion was, 
 as always with Buckle, extremely animated, and, as Mr. 
 Glennie says, was chiefly on spirit-rapping, as was the 
 conversation with Mr. Longmore at Esneh. There is, 
 however, this difference between the two conversations as 
 recorded by Mr. Longmore and Mr. Glennie that, while 
 at Esneh Buckle said that he was unable to explain the 
 phenomena on any known physical laws, and added, 
 "While I can not admit there is anything supernatural 
 about them, I think it quite possible there may be a devel- 
 opment of some new force well worthy of scientific in- 
 vestigation," " at Assouan he is declared to have believed 
 they were supernatural, and performed by spirits, though 
 the movements of table and chairs might not be ; and to 
 have listened with respectful attention and admiration to 
 the explanation, that u just as the molecular motion of one 
 organ of an animal body varyingly affects, and is affected, 
 by the dynamic equilibrium of every other organ, so 
 may individual bodies, conceived as systems of motion, 
 not only varyingly affect and be affected by each other, 
 through a mechanically conceived medium, but such in- 
 fluence may be a consequence of mental actions which, if 
 
 11 "Athenaeum," p. 115, 25th January, 1873. 
 

 LOVE OF ANTIQUITIES. 381 
 
 they have all mechanical equivalents, would, through a 
 medium, be mechanically communicable." 12 
 
 Though Buckle was an admirable listener, I do not 
 think he would have had patience to listen to eight pages 
 of this. Be this as it may, however, Buckle, as he pre- 
 viously asked Mr. Longmore, now asked Mr. Glennie to 
 join him on his tour in Palestine, and accepted, as he al- 
 ways was ready to accept, an invitation to spend the even- 
 ing on board Mr. Glennie's boat. His diary of this day has 
 the following entry : " Thursday, 9th January, 1862. The 
 Nile. Eoseat6.40. Breakfast at 8. At [9] left the boat 
 we had been in to Wady Half eh, and, riding to Assouan, 
 embarked there in our old boat. Walked 1 hour. Dined 
 at 6. Spent the evening in the dahabeeyeh of a Mr. Glen- 
 nie, who called on me this afternoon. In bed at 10.10, 
 and to 11.40 read the Bible." 
 
 On the following morning, notwithstanding the strong 
 north wind, a start was made. Buckle made but few en- 
 tries concerning what he saw, but he remarks at Edfoo, 
 " Carefully examined the magnificent temple there, which 
 is the most complete and interesting in all Egypt." Ever 
 since he had left Thebes especially he had taken the great- 
 est interest in collecting antiquities and curiosities, with 
 which he intended to form a museum in the stable belong- 
 ing to his house. " Connecting these with my reading," 
 he said, " I think I shall make a very interesting collec- 
 tion." Nothing came amiss to him ; specimens from the 
 various quarries of Egypt, Nubian and Arab dresses, orna- 
 ments, weapons, and utensils, and as many antiquities as 
 he could collect not confining himself to objects bearing 
 
 12 Glennie, " Pilgrim Memories," pp. 9-17. 
 
382 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WKITINGS. 
 
 an art value, but also buying ancient head-rests, mummy 
 linen, wooden bolts and spoons, and mummy heads, hands, 
 and arms. He loved to trace the likeness between the an- 
 cient and modern forms of utensils and weapons ; and took 
 so great an interest in everything that he often said, were 
 he only rich enough, he would have all the hieroglyphics 
 in Egypt copied. The following extracts from his cata- 
 logue will give some idea of what he collected : 18 
 
 " 4. Part of a mummy-case, found in the Libyan sub- 
 urb of Thebes, 22d January, 1862. This is curious from 
 the similarity to our mutes with their wands two of the 
 Genii. 
 
 " 8. The sun in the sacred boat. Found in the Libyan 
 suburb of Thebes, 20th January, 1862. Tablets of this 
 sort were worn suspended round the neck of the Egyptian 
 judges, and are the supposed origin of the Urim and Thum- 
 mim of the Hebrews. See Martineau's < Eastern Life,' 
 1850, pp. 379, 380. 
 
 "43. A piece of mummy-covering, found in the Lib- 
 yan suburb of Thebes, 20th January, 1862. This is curi- 
 ous, as showing how the Egyptians used to represent their 
 enemies on their shoes, for the purpose of trampling on 
 them. From the long noses the captives are probably in- 
 tended for Jews. 14 
 
 13 Compare Mr. Glennie's, " He interested himself comparatively but lit- 
 tle in the ancient hieroglyphics of Egypt," and " He admired the art of Osi- 
 rianism, though he dismissed its faith as superstition, and was hence, per- 
 haps, more anxious to preserve its idols than to understand its gods." Pp. 
 49, 54, " Pilgrim Memories," where a good deal more of the like nonsense 
 may be found. 
 
 1 Compare the story of 'Ala ed-Deen Abu-sh-shamat, in which 'Ala ed- 
 Deen is ordered to be hung by the Khaleefeh. But a friend of his repaired 
 to the prison, and said to the jailer, " Give us some one who is deserving of 
 
LOVE OF ANTIQUITIES. 383 
 
 " 89. A stool used by the Abyssinian women to lean 
 their elbows on. It was made at Gondar, and I bought it 
 of an Abyssinian at Assouan, on 23d December, 1861. I 
 have seen exactly the same stool represented in some of 
 the Egyptian tombs. 
 
 " 232. Model of the stool, or wooden pillow, used by the 
 ancient Egyptians to rest the head on. It was found in a 
 tomb in the Libyan suburb of Thebes, 16th December, 1861. 
 Exactly the same kind as is now used by the Abyssinians. 
 
 " 226. A gilt figure of the sacred tau, or sign of life. 
 It was presented to the king when he assumed the govern- 
 ment, and the early Christians of Egypt adopted it in place 
 of the cross. 
 
 " 4:14:. Four small cymbals, played with the finger and 
 thumb. They were made at Cairo, where I bought them 
 17th February, 1862. They supply the place of castanets 
 in the Almeh dance, and were the origin of the Spanish 
 Castanet. ' Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians,' 1854, Yol. I., 
 pp. 98, 99. 
 
 "416. The sling commonly used in Egypt to drive 
 birds from the field. It will hold several stones. Such 
 slings are often represented on the old Egyptian monu- 
 ments. This was made at Cairo, where I bought it on 7th 
 February, 1862. 
 
 being put to death." And he gave him one who was the nearest of men in 
 resemblance to 'Ala ed-Deen, who was hung in his stead. But now the 
 Khaleefeh wanted to see the body. " So the Khaleefeh went down, accom- 
 panied by the Wezeer Jaaf ar, and proceeded to the gallows ; and raising his 
 eyes he saw that the body which was hanging there was not that of 'Ala ed- 
 Deen." " How do you know ? " asked the Wezeer ; and to his reply that 
 this body is long, and the face is black, explains that these are the results 
 of hanging. But the Khaleefeh has the body cut down, and finds written 
 on the heels of the corpse the names of the two Sunnee saints, whereas 'A1& 
 ed-Deen was himself a Sunnee. 
 
384 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " 456. The ordinary Egyptian darabooka, or drum. It 
 is used all through Egypt, and nearly every boat on the 
 Nile is provided with one. Precisely the same instrument 
 is depicted on some of the oldest Egyptian monuments. 
 This I bought at Cairo, 19th February, 1862. 
 
 "483. A specimen of the ancient Egyptian bricks, 
 made of Nile mud and straw. I took this on 13th Janu- 
 ary, from the walls of Eileithyas, now called El Kab, situ- 
 ated about fifty miles south of Thebes. 
 
 " 339. An imperfect figure of Atome, which I bought 
 at Cairo on llth February, 1862. His head is decorated 
 with the lotus and plumes, and feather of Ammon. See 
 Birch's ' Gallery of Antiquities,' pp. 21, 22, where he is 
 called Nofre-Athom. He is the Athmon, or Athmoo, of 
 Champollion, Wilkinson, and Rosselini. According to 
 Mrs. Lieder, he was the great god of Heliopolis, and was 
 the parent of mankind the same as Adam. 
 
 "344. A rare, and unusually perfect figure, which I 
 bought from the Odelschachi collection at Cairo, 7th Feb- 
 ruary, 1862. It is like Fig. 16 in Birch's ' Gallery of 
 Antiquities,' except that Isis and Nepthys are not sup- 
 porting its sides. It represents Pthah f in his two-fold 
 capacity of Pthah and Socharis.' In his human type he 
 is ' standing upon two crocodiles ; perched upon his shoul- 
 ders are two hawks, which indicate his dominion over the 
 upper and lower hemispheres.' ' The goddess Pasht, bear- 
 ing on her head the solar disk, and with long wings pen- 
 dent from her arms,' considered as Merepthah, or the 
 (goddess) loving Pthah, < aids him behind.' BIECH, pp. 
 15, 16. l Pthah, or Ptah, was the principal deity and pro- 
 tector of the ancient city of Memphis.' BIECH, p. 13. 
 
THE PYRAMIDS. 385 
 
 ' His worship was of the highest antiquity, his name ap- 
 pearing on monuments coeval with the Pyramids them- 
 selves.' BIKCH, p. 14. The fact of this figure of Pthah 
 wanting Isis and Nepthys at the sides proves, says Mrs. 
 Lieder, its great antiquity." 
 
 Six days were spent at Thebes, two of which were de- 
 voted almost entirely to antiquity hunting, and the others 
 to sight-seeing, and such antiquities as chance offered. On 
 the 20th January, El Ableh again started, but Buckle 
 wrote nothing concerning the sights he saw, or deeds he 
 did, during his journey down the Nile except the descrip- 
 tion of Thebes already quoted, and a pleasant account of 
 his visit to Abydos, concerning which he says : " That I 
 have not already been thrown is a marvel, seeing that 
 among other audacious feats I went from the Nile " to 
 Abydos on a donkey, with a cloth for a saddle, and two 
 pieces of rope for stirrups, and in this wretched plight had 
 to ride between eight and nine hours." From his diary it 
 appears that he only rested three quarters of an hour at 
 Abydos, and returned " quite exhausted." 
 
 The last sight before reaching Cairo was the Pyramids. 
 Donkeys were obtained from Cairo "jolly-spirited don- 
 keys," as one of the boys writes, " such as we had not had 
 for a long time up the Nile." "With his usual care, Buckle 
 had warned the boys not to look down on their way up the 
 Pyramids. He himself went up also, but took thirty-eight 
 minutes, and, finding the first passage too difficult, he did 
 not go inside. 
 
 At Boulak the boat was moored, but the party were so 
 comfortable in it, and were so much better treated than 
 
 16 Girgeh. 
 25 
 
386 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 they would have been at a hotel, that they continued to 
 live on board, notwithstanding that the cost was nearly 
 double. 
 
 " We have anchored one and a half miles from Cairo," 
 he writes, "as I think living on the ISTile more healthy 
 than being in a hotel. I shall therefore keep on the boat, 
 and all my establishment, including my virtuous and noble- 
 minded cook, until we start for the desert. As to Cookey, 
 please God ! he and I will never part till the Asiatic part 
 of the journey is ended. 
 
 " I am glad that you thought of night-caps ; but I did 
 not write for them, because I did not wish to give needless 
 trouble, and excellent Arab caps can be bought here. I 
 had quite determined to provide myself with them. In- 
 deed, I never let the boys be out at all after sunset without 
 seeing that their ears, etc., are covered with a pocket-hand- 
 kerchief, which I prefer to a scarf, as less heating. 
 
 " I make no doubt that we can reach Vienna by June ; 
 but to hurry ourselves would spoil all, and be too fa- 
 tiguing, as for about three months all our traveling will 
 be on camels and horseback. How long do you think of 
 staying at Yienna ? and would it matter if we did not ar- 
 rive there till the first week in July ? I suppose you will 
 remain at least a month ; and I shall be glad of a little 
 rest to push on the boys in their knowledge, so that they 
 may return to England with everything gathered up and 
 thoroughly digested. 
 
 " Good-by ! keep up your spirits, and look to the fu- 
 ture with confidence. All will go well." 
 
 And in a postscript he asks, " Have you heard aught 
 of the Spanish translation of my History? " 
 

 EEPLY TO MR. HUTH. 387 
 
 In an interesting letter written a few days before to 
 the father of the boys, he writes : 
 
 " You ask me about Mill's ' Political Economy,' and 
 in asking you hit one of the very few blots made by that 
 very great man. Mill has, perhaps, fewer prejudices than 
 any living writer ; but he has never quite got rid of the 
 influence of the old doctrinaire school. The traditions of 
 that school were handed down to him by his father direct 
 from Jeremy Bentham ; and, though Bentham was one of 
 the most eminent thinkers this or any other country has 
 ever possessed, he was so unversed in the art of life (as 
 distinguished from the science) that if he had possessed the 
 requisite power he would have inflicted more misery upon 
 England than has ever been inflicted on it by any single 
 man. ' Meddle, meddle, meddle,' is always the cry of the 
 speculator, unless he be practitioner as well as speculator. 
 Your knowledge of practical affairs enables you to see, as 
 it were instinctively, that this is wrong ; though to prove 
 it to be wrong needs a long, a refined, and an intricate 
 argument. When a man can demonstrate that a thing 
 ought to be, the temptation is almost irresistible to cry out 
 it shall be. And yet compulsion and interference are so 
 essentially mischievous that it is often better (I believe I 
 may say it is always better) to tolerate the worst social 
 evils than to seek to remove those evils by the coarse hand 
 of the legislator. The present state of things in England 
 concerning inheritance and succession is no doubt very 
 bad, and does great harm ; but, unless you can convince 
 society of the harm, any alteration of the law would defeat 
 its own aim by provoking a reaction. The history of hu- 
 man affairs in modern times is the history of these reac- 
 
388 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 tions, all of which have been full of danger, and none of 
 which would have occurred if men would bide their time, 
 and would only condescend to sap bad institutions before 
 they try to overthrow them. 
 
 " I am very glad that you like 's letters ; but I 
 
 assure you that I have not the least hand in them. I 
 make a point of never seeing what the boys write, or of 
 suggesting to them what they should write, except that 
 I sometimes remind them to let you know about their 
 health. may possibly have repeated part of my con- 
 versation about what we had seen together. However 
 this may be, I have no hesitation in saying that both the 
 boys are much improving. Their habits of industry (I 
 mean industry as a pleasure) are so formed that it is quite 
 a pleasure to me to see them take up their books ; and 
 they are beginning to talk with eagerness about saving 
 their money when they go home to form a library of their 
 own. told me a day or two ago that he now won- 
 dered that he could ever have liked story-books when 
 books of history and travels were so much more inter- 
 esting. He added, that he should get his mamma to give 
 him other books in exchange for his story-books, since 
 these . . . were by no means good enough for him. 
 
 " Such aspirations are not to be laughed at ; still less 
 are they to be repressed. . . . 
 
 "About the 19th or 20th we shall, I hope, cross the 
 desert to Sinai, and if possible go from Sinai through Pe- 
 tra to Jerusalem. If, as constantly happens, Petra should 
 be unsafe, we shall return to Cairo, after seeing Sinai ; 
 and from Cairo cross the desert, at the north by El Arish, 
 to Gaza and Hebron. Directly we get to Cairo I shall 
 
EEPLY TO ME. HUTH. 389 
 
 begin to make preparations, and buy the tents, furniture, 
 etc. In Palestine and Syria I do not intend to go into 
 hotels anywhere, nor even at Jerusalem. They are often 
 damp and dirty, and I am satisfied that tent-life, with 
 proper precautions, may be made extremely healthy. But 
 I have as yet found few travelers who will take these 
 precautions ; and three or four parties on the Nile who 
 wished to travel with us to Jerusalem, under one common 
 arrangement, have turned back, and declined my plans as 
 too extravagant. And yet, if I know anything of myself, 
 there is no one less extravagant than I am. But in these 
 countries (especially when we shall undergo the fatigue of 
 traveling eight or nine hours every day for weeks on cam- 
 els or on horseback) comfort and health are synonymous. 
 I shall buy at Cairo iron bedsteads and good thick blan- 
 kets ; and, looking at these and other appliances, my drag- 
 oman calculates that we shall need eighteen or twenty 
 camels. At present we have three servants our dragoman 
 (i. e., Hassan), an excellent cook, and a boy about eighteen 
 or nineteen ; the boy is dull and inefficient, so I shall get 
 rid of him at Cairo, 18 but the other two I shall take on 
 with me. Instead, therefore, of the badly cooked, in- 
 digestible stuff which most Eastern travelers eat at the 
 khans, or in large towns at the hotels," we shall be well 
 fed ; and, if I can succeed in keeping the boys' digestive 
 functions in complete order, I have not the smallest fear 
 of the fatigue and exposure hurting them. I shall supply 
 
 16 Or, as one of the boys has it : " Instead of our fool of a boy, we are 
 going to have a man to wait on us, who has been in the desert before. Mr. 
 B. says that it makes him mad to talk to the boy we have now." 
 
 17 This is all changed now, and travelers generally have their own cooks. 
 Even in 1862 people were beginning to travel more luxuriously. 
 
390 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WHITINGS. 
 
 my servants well with fire-arms, and have the best escort 
 that can be procured. My present plan is to buy three 
 horses at Cairo, and have them sent on to meet us when 
 we enter Palestine; for some of the best horses in the 
 world, the fine old Arab breed, are to be had at Cairo ; 
 and they are perfectly docile and capable of long-continued 
 exertion qualities in which the Syrian horses are very 
 inferior. 
 
 " This will be a very expensive journey ; but looking 
 at the objects to be attained by it, I shall not grudge the 
 cost, and (unless I am greatly mistaken in your views con- 
 cerning the boys) you will not grudge it either. At all 
 events, it is clear that if the journey is to be made by boys 
 not very strong, and by a man not much stronger, it would 
 be madness to spare money, when money will increase the 
 chance of impunity. Perhaps you will think it unneces- 
 sary for me to have said thus much ; and I know that in 
 a mere pecuniary point of view such considerations can 
 not trouble you. Still, no one likes to incur expense with- 
 out knowing the reason why, and I have thought it just 
 to give you these details. That you will be amply repaid 
 in the improvement of your boys, I confidently believe ; 
 and most assuredly if I had not believed it nothing would 
 have induced me to take them. 
 
 " I hope that the thinness of the envelope will not pre- 
 vent this from reaching you safely ; but I have no thicker 
 ones, and none are to be procured here. We shall send 
 home two cases of antiquities. Some of them are valu- 
 able, and very fragile. They will be packed with great 
 care, and sent to Messrs. Briggs, at Alexandria, who will 
 forward them to you by the first ship which goes direct to 
 

 MES. LIEDER. 391 
 
 London. Please to be present yourself when they are ex- 
 amined at the Custom-house. They contain nothing but 
 antiquities, on which there is now no duty ; bu& be so kind 
 as to see that every article which is looked at is replaced 
 in the paper in which it is wrapped, as such paper bears 
 generally some particulars respecting it, which I should be 
 sorry to lose." 
 
 At Cairo he greatly increased his collection of antiqui- 
 ties, buying at various dealers', but chiefly from a museum 
 called the Odeschalchi. These he catalogued carefully in 
 the way which we have seen, and the same entry was on 
 the paper wrapper of the article when packed. In this he 
 was much assisted by a Mrs. Lieder, the wife of the Lu- 
 theran clergyman at Cairo, who had for twenty years her- 
 self been collecting antiquities, chiefly figures, and afforded 
 Mr. Buckle every assistance looking at his antiquities 
 which he brought to show her, assigning their period, and 
 finally having them packed in her own house. She and 
 her sister delighted in Buckle's conversation ; and though 
 the talk was chiefly on the country and antiquities, yet the 
 author remembers one occasion when they asked him to sit 
 down and explain the accusation against him of attacking 
 religion (!) in his book. Buckle sat down, and spoke for 
 at least half an hour with an uninterrupted flow of words, 
 explaining the real position he maintained ; but the effort 
 was rather too much for him, and he had to lie down in 
 his little cabin for the rest of the day. So energetic the 
 mind, so weak and feeble and faint the vesture of decay 
 that closed it in ! 
 
 "We have seen that Buckle counted on at most sixteen 
 days' detention at Cairo, but his actual stay was twenty- 
 
392 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 seven days. The following letter, dated 23d February, 
 will explain his generous reason : 
 
 " You will be surprised to find that we are still here. 
 But I have (with some hesitation) determined to postpone 
 our departure till after the arrival of the Delta, which, 
 according to your letter, received five days ago, should 
 leave Southampton on the 12th, and should reach Alexan- 
 dria on the 25th or 26th. The truth is that the boys are 
 getting on so admirably, and Josephus's ' Antiquities of 
 the Jews ' is so essential for their study of Palestine, that 
 I have deemed it advisable to forego the advantage of an 
 earlier start, rather than stop the course of their reading, 
 now that their minds are fresh and eager. Had we left 
 here on the 19th, it would have been impossible to receive 
 this very important book until we reached Jerusalem, and 
 perhaps (so uncertain are the means of transit in the East) 
 we should not have received it till we were at Beyrout, 
 about the beginning of May. Although, therefore, the 
 camels have been engaged since the 19th, as well as the 
 servants of whom I take, besides the cook and Hassan, 
 two well-armed men, and also two of the most influential 
 sheiks belonging to the tribes through which we pass (these 
 are in addition to the camel-leaders, etc.) I am still keep- 
 ing on the boat and crew, living en prince with these splen- 
 did establishments. But, seriously speaking, while I see 
 the dear little fellows so eager about knowledge, I could not 
 deprive them of another chance of getting their unfortu- 
 nate and long-delayed book. When I told that you 
 
 had written to say that the ( Antiquities of the Jews ' were 
 not coming with the first parcel, I really thought he would 
 have cried, so piteous was his disappointment ; and 
 
STAY AT CAIRO. 393 
 
 was nearly as bad. I am sure that you did all in your 
 power to push matters on, but the delay has been vexatious 
 for several reasons. However, I shall have everything in 
 preparation to enter the desert directly Josephus is deliv- 
 ered ; so that the 28th will, I hope, see us fairly oif. In 
 the desert I purpose husbanding our strength by traveling 
 slowly ; and every five or six days I shall encamp for an 
 entire day, if I see the least symptoms of over-fatigue. 
 Consequently we shall have plenty of time for reading, 
 and, I trust, plenty of vigor for talking. At present we 
 are all in high health and spirits. 
 
 "The revolver strikes me as very beautiful, but my 
 admiration is the admiration of ignorance. The books, 
 shirts, etc., were all quite right. ..." 
 
 During this stay at Cairo he read much, viz., Kenrick's 
 " History of Egypt," Birch's " Gallery of Antiquities," St. 
 John's " Turks in Europe," Eenan's interesting Introduc- 
 tion to " Le Livre de Job," Eenan's " Etudes d'Histoire 
 Eeligieux," besides finishing the Old Testament, which 
 he had begun on the Nile. But this was only in the inter- 
 vals and odd corners of his time, which was chiefly spent, 
 as I have already said, at Mrs. Lieder's and her antiqui- 
 ties, and in seeing Cairo, and his friends and acquaint- 
 ances, among whom Mr. Thayer, the American Consul- 
 General, by his exceeding kindness occupied a prominent 
 place. 
 
 The account of Buckle in Cairo is admirably given 
 by an American gentleman who met him there, 18 and to 
 
 is p ers onal Keminiscences of the late Henry Thomas Buckle," in the 
 "Atlantic Monthly," for April, 1863, pp. 488-499 ; and I quote as nearly as 
 possible his own words. 
 
394 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 whom he was introduced, as well as to Mr. Thayer, at a 
 dinner given by Mr. C., which took place at an hotel 
 called the Eestaurant d' Auric, on February 5th. Buckle, 
 he says, talked with a velocity and fullness of facts that 
 was wonderful. The rest could do little but listen and 
 ask questions. And yet he did not seem to be lecturing ; 
 the stream of his conversation flowed along easily and 
 naturally. Nor was it didactic ; Buckle's range of reading 
 has covered everything in elegant literature, as well as the 
 ponderous works whose titles make so formidable a list at 
 the beginning of his History ; and as he remembers every- 
 thing he has read, he can produce his stores upon the mo- 
 ment, for the illustration of whatever subject that happens 
 to turn up. 
 
 He expressed a strong hope that England would take 
 no part against America, and do nothing to break the 
 blockade. His next volume was to be on the United 
 States and Germany, and would contain a complete view 
 of the German philosophy ; but he will visit America be- 
 fore he writes. Although appreciating the great work of 
 De Tocqueville, he complains of the general inadequacy 
 of European criticism upon America. Gasparin's books, 
 by the way, he has not seen. For his own part, he con- 
 siders the subject too vast, he says, and the testimony too 
 conflicting, to permit him to write upon it before he has 
 seen the country ; and meanwhile he scrupulously abstains 
 from forming any conclusive opinions. Subject to this 
 reservation of judgment, however, he remarked that he 
 was inclined to think that George the Third forced the 
 Americans prematurely into democracy, although the nat- 
 ural tendency of things in both countries was toward it ; 
 
HIS APPRECIATION OF YOUNG MEN. 395 
 
 and lie thought that perhaps we had established a political 
 democracy without having yet achieved an intellectual 
 democracy ; the two ought to go hand in hand together. 
 The common people in England, he said, are by far the 
 most useful class of society. He had been especially 
 pleased by the numerous letters he had received from 
 working-men who had read his book. These letters often 
 surprised him by the acuteness and capacity displayed by 
 their writers. The nobility would perish utterly, if it 
 were not constantly recruited from commoners. Lord 
 Brougham was the first member of the secular peerage 
 who continued after his elevation to sign his name in full, 
 " H. Brougham," which he did to show his continued sym- 
 pathy with the class from which he sprang. Buckle re- 
 marked that the history of the peasantry of no European 
 country has ever been written, or ever can be written, and 
 without it the record of the doings of kings and nobles is 
 mere chaff. Surnames were not introduced until the elev- 
 enth century, and it is only since that period that geneal- 
 ogy has become possible. 
 
 Another very pleasant thing, continues this writer, is 
 Mr. Buckle's cordial appreciation of young men. He re- 
 peated the story that, when Harvey announced to the 
 world his great discovery of the circulation of the blood, 
 among the physicians who received it was none above the 
 age of forty. Mr. Thayer told him of some of his friends 
 who had read his book with especial satisfaction. He evi- 
 dently took pleasure in this sort of appreciation, and said 
 that this was the class of readers he sought. " In fact, the 
 young men," he said, " are the only readers of much value ; 
 it is they who shape the future." He said that Thackeray 
 
396 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 and Delane had told him he would find Boston very like 
 England. He knew but few Bostonians. He had cor- 
 responded with Theodore Parker, whom he considered a 
 remarkable man ; he had preserved but one of his letters, 
 which he returned to Mrs. Parker, in answer to her re- 
 quest for materials to aid in preparing the memoir of her 
 late husband. Buckle says that he does not generally pre- 
 serve other than business letters." 
 
 He had anecdotes to tell of Johnson, Lamb, Macaulay, 
 Yoltaire, Talleyrand, etc., and quoted passages from Burke 
 and from Junius at length, and in the exact words. Junius 
 he considered proved to be Sir Philip Francis. He told a 
 good story against Wordsworth, contained in a letter from 
 Lamb to Talfourd, too personal to publish, but which the 
 latter had shown to the present Lord Aberdare. Lamb 
 says that Wordsworth, who worshiped nobody but him- 
 self, affected to slight Shakespeare said he was a clever 
 man, but his style had a good deal of trick in it, and that 
 he could imitate him if he had a mind to. " So you see," 
 writes Lamb, " there's nothing wanting but the mind." 20 
 
 Mr. Buckle had a very low opinion of the ancient 
 Egyptian civilization, differing in this respect altogether 
 from Hekekayan Bey, an Armenian, a well-read, intelli- 
 gent man, and formerly Minister of Public Instruction, 
 who was one of the company. 21 Buckle declared that the 
 machines, as figured on the monuments, etc., are of the 
 most primitive kind ; and that learning, by all accounts, 
 
 19 This letter did not arrive, and must have been lost in the post. 
 
 20 Buckle kept a small Commonplace Book for anecdotes, and this is 
 among them i 
 
 51 Author of a " Treatise on the Chronology of the Siriadic Monuments," 
 1863. 
 
BUCKLE'S OPINION OF TURKISH CIVILIZATION. 397 
 
 was confined to the priests, and covered a very narrow 
 range, exhibiting no traces of acquaintance with the higher 
 useful arts. He says that it is a fallacy to suppose that 
 savages are bodily superior to civilized men. Captain 
 Cook found that his sailors could outwork the islanders. 
 For Turkish civilization he had not the slightest respect, and 
 said that he could write the whole of it on the back of his 
 hands ; and here Hekekayan Bey cordially agreed with him. 
 
 Mr. Thayer asked him, if in England he had been sub- 
 jected to personal hostility for his opinions, or to anything 
 like social ostracism ? He said generally not. A letter 
 from a clergyman to an acquaintance in England, express- 
 ing intense antipathy to him, although he had never seen 
 the writer, was the only evidence of this kind of opposi- 
 tion. 22 " In fact," said he, naively, " the people of England 
 have such an admiration of any kind of intellectual splen- 
 dor that they will forgive for its sake the most objection- 
 able doctrines." 
 
 He told the company that the portion of his book 
 which relates to Spain had been translated into Spanish." 
 Mr. Thayer remarked that to this circumstance, no doubt, 
 we may ascribe some part of the modern regeneration of 
 
 82 Compare the Rev. A. K. H. Boyd's " I have mildly vented my indigna- 
 tion ; and I now, in a moral sense, extend my hand to Mr. Buckle. Had he 
 come up that corkscrew stair an hour or two ago, I am not entirely certain 
 that I might not have taken him by the collar and shaken him. And had I 
 found him standing on a chair in the green behind the church, and indoc- 
 trinating my simple parishioners with his peculiar notions, I have an entire 
 conviction that I should have forgotten my theoretical assent to the doctrine 
 of religious toleration, and by a gentle hint to my sturdy friends procured 
 him an invigorating bath in that gleaming river." P. 650, vol. lix., " Fra- 
 ser's Magazine," No. 354, for June, 1859. 
 
 23 At the instance, risk, and under the superintendence of Mr. Henry 
 Huth. But Mr. Buckle was enjoined not to mention this fact. 
 
398 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Spain, the leading statesmen being persuaded to a more 
 liberal policy ; but this view Buckle disclaimed, with an 
 eagerness seeming to be something more than the offspring 
 of modesty. 
 
 After dinner, continues the contributor to the " Atlan- 
 tic Monthly," we returned to Mrs. R.'s apartments, where 
 we had tea. Buckle and Hekekayan now got into an ani- 
 mated discussion upon the ancient Egyptian civilization, 
 which scarcely gave the rest of us a chance to put in a 
 single word. It was, however, exceedingly interesting to 
 sit and listen. Indeed, although there was nothing awful 
 about Buckle, one felt a little abashed to intrude his own 
 remarks in such a presence. We staid until near midnight, 
 and then, taking our leave, Buckle accompanied S. and 
 myself as far as the door of our hotel. Buckle received 
 most kindly all suggestions made to him of books to be 
 read on American affairs, and people to be seen in the 
 United States. 
 
 On February 9th Buckle dined with Mr. Thayer at 
 the Hotel des Ambassadeurs. Buckle was in excellent 
 spirits, and, as before, was the life of the party. They had 
 been terribly afraid lest he and Hekekayan should get into 
 another long disputation, for the excellent Bey had forti- 
 fied himself with new materials ; but the ladies were taken 
 into their confidence to aid in turning the conversation, 
 should it be necessary, all of which made a great deal of 
 entertainment; but there proved to be no occasion for 
 anything of the sort. 
 
 Buckle told some capital stories : among them, one 
 against Alison, almost too good to be true, namely, that in 
 the first edition of his History he mentioned among the 
 
HIS COMPLIMENT TO MR. THAYER. 399 
 
 causes of the French Kevolution " tlie timber duty," be- 
 cause he had read in a' French pamphlet that there were 
 popular discontents about the droits de timbre. Alison's 
 History, he said, is the very worst that ever was written. 24 
 He cited the definition that " fine writing is that which is 
 true without being obvious." In the course of the conver- 
 sation in which, as before, Buckle touched points in the 
 whole circle of literature and science, giving quotations 
 even in Hebrew from the Talmud and the Bible he made 
 a very pretty compliment to his host, introduced as adroit- 
 ly as from the lips of a professed courtier, but evidently 
 spoken on the moment. It was something in this way : 
 Hekekayan and Buckle were in argument, and Buckle 
 
 24 He has many, and by no means complimentary, remarks on Alison's 
 History in various parts of his writings : " Began to read for the first time 
 ' Alison's History of Europe,' of which I looked through his very superficial 
 view of the ultimate results of the French Revolution at the end of the 
 fourteenth volume." " Diary," 26th May, 1851. " In Alison's ' Principles 
 of Population ' . . . there are some singularly superficial remarks upon the 
 poor-laws and population. . . . Amid all this nonsense, Alison has one good 
 remark. . . . " Pp. 453, 454. "Alison actually supposes 'that prices 
 inevitably rise in an old and wealthy community, from the great quantity of 
 the precious metals in the existing currency which their opulence enables 
 them, and their numerous mercantile transactions compel them, to keep in 
 circulation, and consequently,' etc., etc. !!!" P. 528, vol. i., "Posthumous 
 Works." " The ordinary compilers, such as Sir A. Alison." P. 329, note. 
 The reign of William the Third is " frequently misunderstood even by those 
 who praise it. Thus, for instance, a living writer informs us," that William 
 the Third had "the art of overcoming the ignorant impatience of taxation 
 which is the invariable characteristic of free communities." P. 368, note. 
 Talking of the reign of harles the First : " Sir A. Alison notices in his 
 History (vol. iv., p. 213), * how widely the spirit of discontent was diffused' 
 in 1796 ; and the only wonder is, that the people were able to keep it in 
 bounds. That, however, is a question which writers of his stamp never 
 consider." P. 456, note. " The common opinion, put forth in ' Alison's His- 
 tory of Europe.' "P. 483, note, " History of Civilization," vol. i. 
 
 The writer in the " Atlantic," however, adds that he has been unable to 
 confirm Buckle's anecdote. 
 
400 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 said, " Ah, you mistake a necessary condition for the cause." 
 " What is cause but necessary condition ? " asked Hekeka- 
 yan. " Yery different : two men can't fight a duel with- 
 out meeting ; but every two men who meet don't fight a 
 duel." " But they couldn't fight a duel without meeting," 
 persisted Hekekayan. " Yes," rejoined Buckle ; " but the 
 meeting isn't the cause of the duel. Why, there could 
 not be a dinner-party unless the company met ; but our 
 meeting here to-day isn't the cause of the dinner : the cause 
 of the dinner is the kindness of our host." " Or rather of 
 the landlord," said ~N. " Oh no ! of the American Govern- 
 ment," said C. " Ah," said Buckle, " those things are not 
 cause : the cause of our good dinner, I maintain, is only 
 the charming hospitality of the Consul-General." 
 
 The next day Buckle again dined with Mr. Thayer, 
 when he sat next to the writer in the " Atlantic," asked 
 about American books, and told him his opinion of those 
 he had read. He said that Quincy's " History of Harvard 
 University " was the latest book on America he had re- 
 ceived before leaving England. He preferred Kent's ex- 
 position of the United States Constitution to Story's, al- 
 though this also he had consulted and used. He had not 
 seen Mr. Adams's complete edition of the works of his 
 grandfather, nor Parton's " Life of Jackson," both of which 
 he was recommended to read, particularly the chapters in 
 the former in which are traced the steps in the progress 
 of making the American Constitutions. He said he would 
 not visit America till the domestic troubles were composed, 
 for he desired to see the practical working of the American 
 institutions in their normal state, not confused and dis- 
 turbed by the excitements of war. He would go first to 
 
CONTEMPLATED VISIT TO AMEKICA. 401 
 
 Boston and New York, the intellectual and commercial 
 heads, as he said, of the republic ; and to "Washington, the 
 political capital. He would then like to pass 4 ' from the 
 Northern into the Southern States, but asked if he could 
 travel safely in the latter, in view of his extreme opinions 
 in detestation of slavery. From the Southern States he 
 said he would wish to pass into Mexico, thence into Peru 
 and to Chili ; then to cross the Pacific Ocean to Japan, to 
 China, to India, and so back by the overland route to Eng- 
 land. This magnificent scheme he had seriously resolved 
 upon, and proposed to devote to it two or three years. He 
 undertook it partly for information, and partly for relaxa- 
 tion of his mental faculties, which he had injured by over- 
 work, and which imperatively demanded repose. He 
 asked many questions with regard to matters of detail : 
 whether he would find conveyance by steamers in the Pa- 
 cific, and of what sort would be the accommodation in 
 them and in sailing-vessels. He asked at what season he 
 had best arrive in the United States, and whether he had 
 better land at New York or at Boston. Boston, he said, 
 he regarded as "the intellectual head of the country, 
 and New York, you know, for trade." His friend an- 
 swered these questions to the best of his ability, and told 
 him that he must not omit seeing the "Western country, and 
 some of the new cities, like Chicago. Buckle asked him 
 if he knew " a Mrs. Child," who had written him a letter, 
 and sent him her book about the history of religion. He 
 had been pleased with the letter and the book. 
 
 The conversation became general, and Mr. B , of 
 
 New York, told a story of an old Congressional debate, in 
 which John Randolph derisively compared Edward Ever- 
 
 26 
 
402 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 ett to Kichelieu. Buckle at once said he should regard it 
 as a compliment of the very highest kind to be compared 
 to Richelieu. On being asked if he had read Dumas's 
 novels, he said he had not, although he had felt an inclina- 
 tion to do so. He asked one or two questions about them, 
 and gave a rapid generalization of the history of France at 
 that time. 
 
 Mr. Thayer showed him the little stock of books he 
 happened to have with him in Cairo. Mr. Buckle looked 
 them over with interest, expressing his opinions upon 
 them. One of them, Mr. Bayle St. John's little book on 
 the Turkish question, he borrowed, although he said that 
 he denied himself all reading on this journey, undertaken 
 for mental rest, and had brought no books with him. 
 They got upon the inevitable question of international 
 copyright, which he discussed in a spirit of remarkable 
 candor. His own experience was this : Messrs. Appleton 
 reprinted his first volume without compensation, asking 
 him to furnish materials for a prefatory memoir, of which 
 request he took no notice ; 2& afterward, when the second 
 volume was published, they sent him something I be- 
 lieve fifty pounds. Buckle's American friend pointed out 
 a distinction between copyright for the British author 
 and monopoly for the British publisher. He added that 
 the American people and their representatives in Con- 
 gress would not have the least objection to paying a tri- 
 fling addition to the cost of books, which would make, 
 upon the immense editions sold of the popular books, a 
 handsome compensation to the foreign authors, but that 
 they have very decided objections to the English system 
 25 See ante, the letter to Mr. Capel, p. 134. 
 
A VISIT FROM MR. HOLYOAKE. 403 
 
 of enormously high, prices for books. lie instanced sev- 
 eral books, which could be bought in the United States 
 for a quarter or half a dollar, while in England they can 
 not be purchased for less than a guinea and a half that 
 is, for seven or eight dollars, although the author gains 
 very little by these high prices, which, indeed, would be 
 absolutely prohibitory of the circulation of the books in 
 the United States. And since the great literary market 
 of the United States has been created at the public ex- 
 pense, by the maintenance of the system of universal edu- 
 cation, it is, perhaps, not unreasonable that the American 
 legislators should insist upon preserving, by the compe- 
 tition among publishers, the advantages of low prices of 
 books in pursuance of a policy which looks to a wide cir- 
 culation. In Great Britain the publishers follow a differ- 
 ent policy, and insist upon selling books at high prices to 
 a comparatively small circle of readers. 
 
 Mr. Buckle was kind enough to listen attentively to 
 this sort of reasoning, and admitted that it was entitled to 
 some degree of weight. Indeed, he said that he had ear- 
 nestly wished to bring out a cheap edition of his own 
 book in England, omitting the notes and references, for 
 the use of the working classes, of whose appreciation he 
 had received many gratifying proofs ; 28 he had made his 
 arrangements for this purpose, but was prevented from 
 carrying them out by the opposition of his publishers, who 
 objected that such an edition would injure their interest in 
 the more costly edition. But Mr. Buckle freely declared 
 
 26 Buckle's diary has the following entry, 18th November, 1862: "A 
 visit from Mr. Holyoake, whom I now saw for the first time, and who wishes 
 me to publish an edition of my History on common paper for six shillings, 
 leaving out the notes." 
 
404: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 that he would, in his circumstances, rather forego the 
 profit on the sale of his book than restrict its circulation. 
 This conversation led to a description of the reading pub- 
 lic in America, of the intelligence and independence of 
 our working people, of their habits of life and of thought, 
 about which Buckle manifested great interest, asking many 
 intelligent questions. 
 
 On February 13th there was a religious celebration, 
 including an illumination, in the mosque of the citadel, to 
 see which Mr. Thayer had invited Mr. Buckle, as well as 
 the two lads, his traveling companions. But at the last 
 moment the advice was strongly given on all sides not to 
 go, lest some bigoted Mussulmans should take offense, and 
 there might be a disturbance. Not long before, a party 
 of Englishmen had behaved very badly on a similar occa- 
 sion, from which resulted a disturbed state of feeling. It, 
 of course, could not be pleasant to people of any religious 
 belief to have their ceremonies made a spectacle for curi- 
 osity ; and although the mudir promised ample protection, 
 the plan was given up, and, the company being gathered, 
 they had a pleasant evening together. The presence of 
 
 the ladies of Mr. B 's party gave the opportunity to see 
 
 Mr. Buckle again under the inspiration of ladies' society, 
 which he especially enjoys, and in the lighter conversation 
 suited to which he shines with not less distinction than 
 when conversing upon abstruse topics. 
 
 In the course of the evening, in the midst of conver- 
 sation, in which he was taking an animated part, Mr. 
 Buckle exhibited symptoms of f aintness. Fresh air was 
 at once admitted into the room, which was full of cigar 
 smoke; water and more powerful restoratives were 
 
DONKEY-RIDING. 405 
 
 brought, but these lie declined. After a few minutes' re- 
 pose upon the divan, he declared that he was perfectly re- 
 covered, and half an hour afterward took his? leave with 
 the boys. 
 
 On the 15th February Buckle had arranged to visit the 
 so-called Petrified Forest, behind the Mokuttum range, in 
 company with Mr. Thayer and several American and Eng- 
 lish travelers. Mr. Buckle, who was always trying fa- 
 tigue-saving contrivances for his desert journey, thought 
 this a good opportunity for trying a camel with the ma- 
 zetta, a sort of box in which the harem generally travel, 
 something like a palanquin without the poles, carried on 
 the back of one camel. 
 
 The writer in the " Atlantic Monthly " says : " On look- 
 ing down from the balcony at the transportation train mar- 
 shaled for the occasion, amid the admiring gaze of all the 
 idlers of Cairo, I was at first a little chagrined to find, as 
 the final result of the various arrangements, that, besides 
 the camels, the mazetta, the carriage-and-four, and the 
 proud-stepping horse, there appeared but one donkey that 
 selected for me. But I was, in truth, very well off. To 
 begin with, it was not thought prudent that Mr. Buckle 
 should use the mazetta until the procession had got beyond 
 the narrow streets of Cairo, lest the camel bearing it should 
 take fright, and knock the whole thing to pieces against 
 the wall of a house. Accordingly, he and his charges 
 took donkeys, and I rode off with them at the head of the 
 column. By-and-by Mr. Buckle changed to the convey- 
 ance originally proposed, but a very short experiment (lit- 
 erally, I expect) sickened him of the mazetta, whose mo- 
 tion is precisely that of a ship in a storm, and he sent back 
 
406 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 to the town for donkeys. At the next halt the ladies took 
 him into their carriage, where he found himself, as he said, 
 ' in clover.' 
 
 "It pretty soon appeared," he continues, "that the 
 camel which T. was riding was young and frisky ; the ani- 
 mal was accordingly pronounced unsafe, and T. changed to 
 a donkey, which had fortunately been brought along for a 
 
 reserve. The Hon. W. S 's camel, from the saddle 
 
 becoming unfastened, pitched rider and saddle to the 
 ground a fall of five or six feet ; fortunately, no harm 
 was done, and he bravely mounted again. The saddle 
 
 upon the camel which the Eev. Mr. S rode split in 
 
 two, and the seat must have been a torture ; but he bore 
 it like a martyr, never flinching. But camel stock had so 
 far depreciated that I was able to try as much as I liked of 
 camel-riding now and then, at the same time obliging a 
 friend by the use of my donkey meanwhile. . . . 
 
 " The journey to the forest, about ten miles, was safely 
 accomplished. "We found the petrifactions duly wonder- 
 ful. An excellent luncheon was laid out, after which we 
 had an hour and a half of very entertaining conversation, 
 
 in which Mr. Buckle and the Kev. Mr. S held the 
 
 leading parts ; all around us as desolate and silent as one 
 could imagine. It was interesting to observe the manner 
 in which Buckle estimated eminent names, grouping them 
 in some instances in threes a favorite conceit with him. 
 John Stuart Mill, of all living men, he considered as pos- 
 sessing the greatest mind in the world. Aristotle, New- 
 ton, and Shakespeare are the greatest the world has pro- 
 duced in past times. Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare are 
 the only three great poets. Johnson, Gibbon, and Parr 
 
AN ADDITION" TO THE PAETY. 407 
 
 are the three writers who have done the greatest harm to 
 the English language. For Hallam he had a strong admi- 
 ration. He spoke of Sydney Smith as the greatest English 
 wit, and of Selwyn as next to him, and described Macau- 
 lay's memory as unequaled in conversation." " 
 
 However, at last everything was ready, and one of the 
 boys writes as follows : " We are expecting the c Antiqui- 
 ties of the Jews ' either to-day or to-morrow, and we are 
 going to start for Suez on Sunday. The camels are packed, 
 and are going to start to-day. Mr. B. has allowed another 
 gentleman to join our party, a Mr. Glennie. We have 
 seen some of our tent furniture. We have got iron 
 bedsteads, that fold up and put into a bag, like my fish- 
 ing-rod, only thicker; we have got four camp-stools, 
 and little Bucky is going to have an iron chair with a 
 back to it, that folds up, and a camp-stool to put his legs 
 on. We have got prepared milk in tin cases, so that we 
 shall not have to go. without milk as so many people do ; 
 and we have got preserved tongue in tin cases, because 
 we have nearly eaten all yours, and boiled beef, and I 
 don't know what all ; so we won't starve. Other people 
 only eat mutton, which is the only meat you can get from 
 the Bedouins. I have read the ' Hebrew Commonwealth.' 
 Part of it is dry and part interesting ; it gives a history of 
 the Jews from the time of Moses, B. c. 1500, to the great 
 Jewish war with the Romans, and the taking of Jerusalem 
 by Titus, A. D. 71. I am now going to begin the subse- 
 quent history of the Jews, which is in the same volume 
 
 27 Buckle met Macaulay at dinner, 19th June, 1852, at Lord Hatherley's 
 house, and records two anecdotes related by Macaulay. Buckle's remark on 
 Lord Macaulay's power of memory is thoroughly borne out by the admi- 
 rable biography of him written by his nephew. 
 
408 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WEITINGS. 
 
 with the < Hebrew Commonwealth.' I think Josephus 
 will be very interesting, but I have not begun it yet. 
 
 has nearly finished it ; but I don't think I shall be 
 
 able to read much in the desert, particularly such an im- 
 mense book as Josephus. 28 "We are very busy to-day pack- 
 ing up. Mr. B. is packing now, and directly I have fin- 
 ished this letter I am going to pack so we won't be able 
 to read much to-day. Mr. B. has put a little blistering- 
 plaster on my forehead for his own amusement, and won't 
 let me take it off again. I have got a very small mum- 
 mied crocodile; it is such a darling little thing that I 
 know you won't mind it." And the other boy writes : 
 " Mr. Buckle still often puts on the i rough brown coat ' 
 that you mentioned in your letter, and I mended the 
 sleeves for him, because he was always putting his arms 
 through the linings. ... It is raining to-day, the second 
 time since we have been in Egypt. We are very comfort- 
 able and jolly, and Mr. Buckle is packing up antiquity 
 after antiquity every day. I have read Stanley, and I like 
 it very much ; and now I am reading Josephus, and I like 
 it better." 
 
 On Monday, 3d March, a start was made, but, through 
 the fault of Hassan, the dragoman, the party just missed 
 their train, and had to go to the Hotel des Ambassadeurs. 
 The next day they started for Suez at 12.30, where they 
 found at the hotel " a Mr. Glennie," as Buckle has entered 
 in his diary, " who has agreed to join us." This gentle- 
 man had called on Mr. Buckle at Boulak on the 19th 
 February, when, as he writes, 29 " He was again kind enough 
 
 28 Traill's. 
 
 29 " Eraser's Magazine," p. 174, for August, 1863. 
 
IN THE DESERT. 409 
 
 to ask me to join him on his further journey, and spoke so 
 enthusiastically of the historical interest of the desert life, 
 that I said I should give him an answer next $ay. Next 
 day our dragoman's contract was signed at the Consulate." 
 
 Mr. Longmore, who also met Mr. Buckle here, says : 
 " After the table (Thote of that day at the Peninsular and 
 Oriental Hotel, we had a long discussion on the subject 
 of the different races of man being originally distinct, or 
 all derived from one stock. Buckle seemed to lean strong- 
 ly on the latter view of the question ; and when the oppo- 
 site was rather too strongly maintained by a gentleman 
 present, I could not but admire the able and effective man- 
 ner in which Mr. Buckle in a few pithy sentences closed a 
 discussion likely to become disagreeable." 30 
 
 The next day, 5th March, the party, which now in- 
 cluded Mr. Glennie, crossed over by boat from Suez to 
 the opposite shore. The water was beautifully clear, and 
 the rocky bottom visible in every detail ; but toward the 
 coast it shoals so much that the shore has to be gained on 
 men's backs. At the landing, camels were waiting, and 
 the first desert journey was a camel-ride of two miles to 
 the encampment at 'Am Musa. Here they found another 
 party encamped, who had just returned from a visit to 
 Sinai. " We here met," says the Rev. St. John Tyrwhitt, 
 " for the first and last time with Buckle, the historian of 
 civilization. Nothing can have been more delightful than 
 his conversation for the half -hour I passed in his company, 
 and he was full of life and energy of mind. But his 
 whole frame seemed slight, and worn to a degree ; and I 
 thought he was taking mistaken precautions against heat, 
 
 30 "Athenaeum," p. 115, 25th January, 1873. 
 
410 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 which would try his strength severely." ' Mr. Glennie 
 also, as he says, hinted to Buckle once or twice that his 
 costume was too warm ; but Buckle pointed out that the 
 Arab chiefs all wore voluminous clothing, and that protec- 
 tion from heat is as much assured by flannel as protection 
 from cold." The result of neglect of this precaution is 
 thus told in Mr. Tyrwhitt's own words : " Little thought 
 we, on the Red Sea level, of the cold of the granite glens 
 of Sinai " ; and they suffered " from dysentery, the conse- 
 quences of heat and cold, and change of living, and long 
 marches." 33 And Buckle points out, in his letter from 
 Jerusalem, that those who differed from him, " strong and 
 vigorous young men as they were, they fared differently 
 being constantly unwell, and always ascribing their com- 
 plaints to the wrong cause." 34 
 
 Buckle, though described by Mr. Tyrwhitt as " worn 
 to a degree," was at this time in better health than he had 
 been for several years. His dress was the same as he had 
 worn in Egypt, with the exception that he substituted 
 flannel for his white shirts. These, having been sent out 
 to him from England, were not a very good fit ; and his 
 clothing was altogether old-fashioned, and not new, though 
 it was good ; as an American writer observes, " In this re- 
 
 81 In " Vacation Tourists and Notes of Travel," in 1862-'63. Edited by 
 Fr. Galton, p. 356. London and Cambridge. 1864. 
 
 52 " Eraser's Magazine," p. 175, for August, 1863. 
 
 33 " Vacation Tourists," pp. 331, 342. 
 
 84 Had Mr. Glennie looked in " Murray," he would have seen that Mr. 
 Porter says : " It is a great mistake to wear linen, or any other thin mate- 
 rial. Woolen cloth is a non-conductor, and when we are protected by it the 
 sun's rays fall harmless. . . . Many throw over the whole a white Arab bur- 
 nus of very thin material, and this affords additional protection against both 
 heat and dust."" Handbook to Syria and Palestine," vol. L, p. xlv. 1868. 
 

 INDIFFERENCE AS TO DRESS. 
 
 spect affording a not disagreeable contrast to the studied 
 jauntiness which Englishmen are apt to affect in their 
 traveling gear." 35 * 
 
 As for the looks of his dress Buckle did not care one 
 straw. Indeed, he rather preferred doing things in a dif- 
 ferent way to what was customary. " The immense mass 
 of mankind," he says, " are, in regard to their usages, in 
 a state of social slavery, each man being bound under 
 heavy penalties to conform to the standard of life common 
 to his own class. . . . Men, not cowards in other respects, 
 and of a fair share of moral courage, are afraid to rebel 
 against this grievous and exacting tyranny. The conse- 
 quences of this are injurious, not only to those who desire 
 to be freed from the thraldom, but also to those who do 
 not desire to be freed ; that is, to the whole of society." 
 Hence, he continues, a sufficient number of experiments 
 in the art of life are not made, and knowledge is re- 
 tarded. 38 Hence his unbounded contempt for those who 
 sneer at a man because he does things in a way different 
 from what they have been accustomed to, without ever 
 deigning to inquire into the merits of the case, and some- 
 times even despite the evident superiority of the new over 
 the old method. He himself refused to fire salutes on the 
 Nile, or carry a flag in the desert, merely " because others 
 did," when he saw no use in it. On one occasion, when 
 one of the boys put a bottle in the middle of the table, 
 and Mr. Glennie wished to have it at the corner, he said, 
 
 35 "Atlantic Monthly," p. 491, April, 1863. Mr. Glennie adds to his de- 
 scription of Buckle's dress (which is not correct) the words : u A wide- 
 awake . . . shaded his un-shaven face." " Fraser's Magazine," p. 175, Au- 
 gust, 1863. What he is endeavoring to say is, that Buckle wore a beard. 
 
 36 " Essay on Mill." " Posthumous Works," pp. 47, 48, vol. i. 
 
412 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 " No, leave it there. I hate to see things always done in 
 the same way." 
 
 The next day Buckle tried his dromedary; but the 
 following he only rode for little over an hour on that dis- 
 agreeable animal, the motion of which he describes as 
 "insufferable," and thenceforth traveled on his Cairene 
 donkey which he had provided for the emergency. 87 
 
 The route was by Wady Ghurundel and "Wady et-Tai- 
 yibeh, where the sea-shore is reached; and here Buckle 
 and the boys wandered for an hour before dinner, col- 
 lecting the shells which lay strewn in abundance along the 
 sandy shore. The usual way in which the day was passed 
 like the whole traveling equipage, entirely the arrange- 
 ment of Buckle was to get up at six, breakfast while the 
 tents were being struck, start a little before eight, and 
 generally before the baggage camels were ready ; lunch 
 generally about twelve, while still on the march,' on a few 
 figs and biscuits ; then rest for about three hours during 
 the hottest part of the day wherever there was natural 
 shade ; or, if there were none, a part of a tent was pitched. 
 Here Buckle smoked, and talked to Mr. Glennie for a 
 
 37 Mr. Glennie erroneously states that Buckle never again tried camel- 
 riding after that short ride from 'Ain Musa ; and says that it was owing 
 to his "stiffness" that the motion was so disagreeable. "Pilgrim Mem- 
 ories," p. 69. The fact is, that the peculiarity of the camel's gait makes it 
 necessary to swing backward and forward with every step, and this made 
 Buckle giddy. He also tries to draw a ludicrous picture of Buckle mount- 
 ing his donkey " one man helping him up, another on the other side hold- 
 ing the saddle straight, and one holding the animal in case of fright." 
 Ibid., p. 70. Mr. Glennie does not add that this, apart from exaggerations, 
 is the way that he himself, and every one else in the East, mounts. One 
 man holds the stirrup with one hand, and the donkey with the other, or it 
 would certainly start off ; while, if there is a second man near, or the rider 
 be a man of consequence, he is always helped up. 
 
MAJOR MACDONALD. 413 
 
 time, and then slept ; while the baggage camels had time 
 to come up, and get a start sufficient to allow of the camp 
 and dinner being nearly prepared when he aguin came up 
 to them, about six o'clock. Buckle, who always now rode 
 his Cairene donkey, was independent of attending Arabs 
 or camel-leaders. Part of the time he rode by Mr. Glen- 
 nie, and talked to him ; and for an hour to an hour and a 
 half he walked, generally with the boys. After dinner, 
 which, like all other meals, was in the open air, he would 
 smoke and resume his talk. Then to bed about nine, 
 where he lit a cigar, and read Jahn's " Hebrew Common- 
 wealth," Murray, Josephus, or the Bible, for about an 
 hour before he went to sleep. 
 
 The seventh day of traveling saw the party up the 
 Nukb Badereh, or Pass of the Sword's Point, and into 
 Wady Maghdrah, or the Yalley of the Cave, so called from 
 the mines, which, together with many dwelling-places, 
 tanks, forts, and inscriptions, mark the ancient Egyptian 
 copper-mines. At that time a Major Macdonald was liv- 
 ing there, who, as Buckle says in his diary, " received us, 
 though strangers to him, with great kindness, persuaded 
 us to stay all day with him, and gave us some turquoises 
 from the mines which he had discovered." He invited the 
 party up to his rough dwelling, and regaled them on hot 
 Arab tortilla or flat cakes of dough baked on a plate of 
 iron ibex cutlets, and other novelties. He then showed 
 them the ancient mines, and gave them some ancient flint 
 arrow-heads, a few small turquoises, and many of another 
 kind which turned green after a short time, or almost 
 white. These latter had brought the Major into great 
 trouble at one time, for, in his ignorance, he had sent both 
 
414 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 kinds to the European markets, and thereby brought the 
 mines into discredit. He had first discovered them while 
 wandering over the hills, seventeen years before, and then 
 came and settled, where he lived for sixteen years, seeing 
 nobody but Arabs, and yet had not learned the language ! 
 This Buckle spoke of afterward with some contempt. At 
 that time he had a nephew staying with him, who had 
 learned to make himself understood in a few months. 
 The Major spoke of the ancient reservoirs, and explained 
 how easily the desert might be made productive by simply 
 damming up some of the torrent-beds, so as to form reser- 
 voirs. For the desert is fertile wherever irrigated ; and the 
 rainfall, though it only lasts about a couple of days, is some- 
 thing tremendous. When asked what he would do if 
 strangers came to work the mines, he said that he and the 
 Tawarah Arabs would fight them. His system was to find 
 the mining tools, and pay his Arabs a percentage on what 
 they found. Each worked for himself; and whoever 
 made a lucky discovery of a good vein tried to keep it 
 secret, though generally without success, as he was soon 
 tracked by his fellows. The Major also talked of the ter- 
 rible Arab vendetta, and pointed out a man whose life was 
 in hourly danger. This Arab was a truculent-looking ruf- 
 fian, armed with a heavy straight sword, and a gun some 
 twelve feet long slung across his shoulder, who had quar- 
 reled with his nephew about a case of candles which had 
 been washed ashore. The nephew wounded his uncle, 
 upon which the uncle slew his nephew, and was now being 
 hunted by his nearest relatives. 
 
 Major Macdonald extended his hospitality in the kind- 
 est way to all comers ; and not long after Buckle's arrival, 
 
SINAI. 415 
 
 another caravan appeared, with whom he was destined to 
 travel during the rest of the desert journey. They also 
 were invited to dinner, where Buckle was, a"s usual, the 
 soul of the party. 
 
 The following day was a " very fatiguing " journey of 
 twelve hours, through Wady Mukatteb, to the oasis and 
 ruined Christian village of Wady Feiran. Dinner was 
 late, and Buckle exhausted ; but he got up as early as 
 usual the next day to examine the ruined houses and 
 church. That day's journey was only six hours' duration ; 
 but according to Mr. Glennie, he had a long talk with him 
 all day ; and the following day he was so tired that he 
 could not talk at all, though he walked from the encamp- 
 ment to the convent of Sinai, and back again, before dinner. 
 
 The party were admitted into the convent after they 
 had presented the usual letter of introduction, during the 
 perusal of which Buckle expressed very unflattering re- 
 marks on asceticism generally, and the monks in particular. 88 
 He did not like the look of the guest-rooms, and preferred 
 to remain in his tent, the double roof of which proved use- 
 ful that night in keeping out a heavy fall of rain. Gebel 
 Musa, the Sinai of the monks and Arabs, was ascended 
 the next day, one third of the way by a road practicable 
 by camels, and the remaining two thirds on foot over loose 
 stones. On the summit is a little chapel and a mosk the 
 latter hung all over with votive rags, the former beplas- 
 tered with dirty prints. Here they rested a couple of 
 hours, had lunch, and a drink from the cool and refreshing 
 spring called Moses' Well, which Buckle pronounced to 
 be the best water he had tasted since he left England. 
 
 38 Glennie, "Pilgrim Memories," p. 137. 
 
416 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WBITINGS. 
 
 Then they descended to the chapel of Elijah and Aaron, 
 where the very cave is shown in which Elijah lay hidden. 
 In the evening Buckle and the other travelers, forming in 
 all four parties, fired off their revolvers to try them ; but 
 Buckle had to seek advice from Mr. Gray a gentleman 
 traveling with another party, to whom he took a great 
 fancy how to load his weapon. The next day was spent 
 in seeing the convent, its church, pictures, mosk, and li- 
 brary, and also in writing home : 
 
 " As I know how anxious you must be," he says, " to 
 have the latest possible news of the desert travelers, I have 
 arranged to send a Bedouin express on a fleet dromedary 
 this evening to Suez. He will reach Suez in about three 
 days with this letter. 
 
 " We are all quite well very tired every evening, but 
 waking up quite fresh and vigorous every morning. Our 
 average day's journey is seven hours of actual riding, and 
 we rest about three hours during the day. I hope that 
 we shall succeed in getting to Akaba, then to Petra, and 
 from Petra through Hebron to Jerusalem. 
 
 " But as there are rumors at Sinai of war among the 
 tribes, I have sent a Bedouin to Akaba to learn the actual 
 state of things before I venture to start ; and I shall take 
 a similar precaution at Akaba in regard to Petra. An 
 American party leave here to-morrow, without taking any 
 steps to procure information, and much wish us to go with 
 them. But I do not like to run the risk, as with, I be- 
 lieve, one exception, no one has been to Petra during the 
 last five years. I have sent for the head sheik, Hussein, 
 and if he will accompany us with an escort, we will go if 
 not, not. So, as the Irishman said, ' Be aisy now.' 
 

 ALONG THE SEA-SHORE. 417 
 
 " I am too tired to write more. The excitement and 
 exquisite interest of the life we are leading are indescrib- 
 able, but unfit me for every other exertion. 
 
 " Our encampment here is 5,500 feet above the level 
 of the sea the mid-day sun intensely hot, but the morn- 
 ings bitterly cold." 
 
 This was written on the 17th March, a day of rest be- 
 fore resuming the journey ; but, though unwilling to write, 
 Buckle was in excellent spirits, for, in a letter written 
 home at the same time, one of the boys says, " You must 
 
 excuse mistakes, because Mr. B will sing ri-too-rall- 
 
 loo-rall-loo." Indeed it was not until the latter part of the 
 journey, when his last illness was already upon him, that 
 his high spirits and constant flow of fun ever did fail. 
 
 The next day and before, of course, the messenger 
 had returned from Akaba a late start was made, because, 
 having fresh camels, the burdens had to be redistributed. 
 The route lay for the most part along the sea-shore. It was 
 here, as Buckle looked across the deep blue sea of Akaba 
 to the many-tinted mountains of the opposite shore, that 
 he again burst out with the conviction, already expressed 
 in Egypt, that the beauty of color was superior to form ; 
 and felt, what before he had little more than reasoned, how 
 great was the stimulus of natural beauty to the imagina- 
 tion. "With the aid of the boys he collected many shells, 
 and specimens of red and white coral ; and, as an instance 
 of his method of education, I may here mention that the 
 boys one day at dinner told him how they had been amus- 
 ing themselves by knocking off the tails of lizards, to 
 see how these jumped, while the lizards ran away as if no- 
 ting had happened. Mr. Glennie remarked that it was 
 27 
 
418 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 very cruel, and ought to be put a stop to ; but Buckle 
 quietly said that it was the nature of boys to be cruel, and 
 that they would know better when they grew older. The 
 consequence was that they, who had resented Mr. Glennie's 
 remarks, and would probably not have attended to an order, 
 were ashamed of what they had done, and did so no more. 
 The only adventure on the march, which lasted five days, 
 was one that Mr. Glennie relates, that Buckle only just 
 escaped the spring of -a cobra, which had been disturbed 
 by his donkey, and, after his fashion, gave the incident a 
 ridiculous turn by jokingly inveighing against the blind- 
 ness of fate, through which the career of a great philoso- 
 pher might have been cut short by the merest accident or 
 the most contemptible agent. 89 
 
 On the sixth day there was a halt for the return of the 
 messenger, and the next saw them encamped amid the 
 palm-groves of Akaba, hard by the old square castle, and 
 in company with three other parties, two American and 
 one English. 
 
 From Tuesday to Saturday the tents remained pitched, 
 while the principals of each party were negotiating with 
 Sheik Mohammed for protection and an escort to Petra. 
 For some time the 'Alawin had been waging war with the 
 Fellahin of that place, and consequently for the last five 
 years the whole neighborhood had been in so unsettled a 
 state that no travelers could venture into it. The last 
 party had been attacked, one person killed, and another 
 died of fright. Now, however, the 'Alawin had to a cer- 
 
 39 Glennie, " Pilgrim Memories," p. 174. Mr. Glennie, with surprising 
 naivete, relates this as having been said in sober earnest. But, then, Mr. 
 Glennie was in the habit of taking jokes in this way. 
 
THREE CLERGYMEN. 419 
 
 tain extent gained the mastery, and the Fellahin were a 
 kind of powerful feudatories entitled to a share of the 
 backsheesh indeed, but unable to oppose the entry of trav- 
 elers who enjoyed the protection of the powerful Sheik 
 of the 'Allawin. 
 
 There was plenty of leisure for conversation while the 
 negotiations were going on, and Buckle particularly talked 
 to Mr. Gray, who writes as follows : 
 
 " Notwithstanding Mr. Buckle's anti- Christian opinions, 
 one would have thought that in the desert at least our fel- 
 low travelers would have availed themselves of the oppor- , 
 tunity afforded them of studying such a man as Mr. Buckle. 
 Yet all, with the exception of Mr. Glennie himself a free- 
 thinker and myself, kept out of his way. During many 
 years' wanderings throughout the world, I have never met 
 any one whose general knowledge or conversational power 
 could be compared for a moment with that of Buckle : 
 whether in botanizing up Sinai, or geologizing at Petra, in 
 astronomy, medicine, chemistry, theology, or languages 
 every thing and every subject appeared to me handled as 
 if by a professional. And yet, however much one dif- 
 fered from him, his kindly mode of reasoning with me 
 against what he believed to be erroneous views was always 
 so pleasant and fascinating that I could not resist return- 
 ing again and again to his arguments. 
 
 " Singularly enough, there were three clergymen in the 
 combined parties a Church of England, a German Luther- 
 an, and an American Baptist ; and I remember, because it 
 struck me very forcibly, that one day, when the German 
 was defending some point of religious doctrine, Buckle 
 pointed out that he had omitted one or two stronger argu- 
 
420 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 merits in his favor, which he proceeded to give. It was 
 quite evident to me that few priests or parsons existed 
 who were qualified to defend their respective creeds bet- 
 ter than was Mr. Buckle himself any one of them. I took 
 an early opportunity of letting Mr. Buckle know that, 
 both as a Scotchman and a Catholic, I had read with much 
 interest his account of Presbyterianism, adding that, as 
 Catholics were accustomed to stripes, his castigation of 
 Catholicism also was only one of many wounds inflicted 
 upon us ; whereas even royalty coquetted with the former 
 in Scotland, and Presbyterians were astounded at his pre- 
 suming to lecture them for their misdoings. Mr. Buckle 
 said that it was satisfactory to him to know that, among 
 other leading Scotchmen, the editor of the ' Scotsman,' the 
 late Mr. Kussell, had welcomed his book as a boon to Scot- 
 land. While on the subject of Scotch intolerance, I re- 
 member asking Mr. Buckle whether, were he living in 
 Scotland, he would expect to be most repugnant to the 
 Presbyterians as a Deist or a Catholic ? He replied at once 
 that he had no doubt he would be least objectionable to 
 them as a Deist. My asking him one day what in his 
 opinion were the strong and what the weak points of 
 Catholicism and of Protestantism, led up to the following, 
 to me, memorable remarks : * I understand that the Catho- 
 lic Church is making great progress in America ; but it 
 must do so, for what has it to contend against there ? Only 
 Protestantism, which is inconsistency itself. I, too, was 
 brought up a Protestant,' he continued, ' and was taught 
 to regard my private judgment as my birthright, of which 
 no one could rob me. But when, in making use of my 
 private judgment, I was led to reject Christianity, an out- 
 
HIS OPINION OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 421 
 
 cry was at once raised against me for exercising this very 
 undoubted right.' Then, turning toward me, he said : 
 6 Your Church at least is consistent, for it does :r not profess 
 to allow the right of private judgment. But then it starts 
 from false premises, for it assumes that Christ was the Son 
 of God. Prove to me that Christ was the Son of God, 
 and I, too, at once become a Catholic.' 40 
 
 " Among his miscellaneous remarks I remember that, 
 in a conversation on articles in the ' Times ' and other lead- 
 ing English papers, he said it was very easy for a man to 
 sit behind his desk and write an article ; but he found 
 from experience that these writers seldom cared to discuss 
 verbally the subject of their articles. "When speaking of 
 various authors, he occasionally added that a few years 
 hence their works would be forgotten. A book that would 
 not descend to posterity was evidently one for which he 
 had but scant respect. With mighty captains he had no 
 sympathy. Napoleon, in his eyes, was simply a curse to 
 civilization. He did not believe in humane generals, and 
 was much interested in some anecdotes I told him of what 
 I had seen while serving as a volunteer in the Indian Mu- 
 tiny. On the subject of the Suez Canal, he believed that 
 the canal would be made in spite of British opposition, and 
 insisted that Palmerston had asked Stephenson to put all 
 the difficulties in the strongest light, in order to prejudice 
 English public opinion." 41 
 
 40 1 give this in Mr. Gray's words, and he adds : " These words made so great 
 an impression upon me at the time that I took the first opportunity of repeat- 
 ing them to Mr. Glennie, who acquiesced perfectly in Buckle's avowal." But 
 it seems to me that the last word ought to be Christian, as it is difficult to 
 understand how all the doctrines of Catholicism could be deduced from this. 
 
 41 From notes kindly communicated to me by Mr. Alexander Hill Gray, 
 of East Ferry, Dunkeld, N. B. 
 
422 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 After several tedious interviews with the sheiks, who 
 at first agreed, then threw difficulties in the way, and 
 finally agreed again, a start was made on March 30th, 
 with a new escort of wild 'Alawin in place of the gentle 
 Tawarah Arabs, accompanied by the great sheik himself 
 on the first day's journey, and then by his uncle. The 
 party was now a large and powerful caravan, consisting, 
 with the servants and escort, of 110 well-armed men. To 
 prevent undue straggling, the mid-day rest was curtailed to 
 one hour. On the first day a halt was called, as more dif- 
 ficulties were advanced by the tiresome chiefs. They pro- 
 fessed to have discovered some new danger, which it 
 would be necessary to meet by more backsheesh. " I gave 
 it as my opinion," says Mr. Gray, " that the fellows, know- 
 ing how anxious we were to reach Petra, were simply en- 
 deavoring to extort money from us under false pretenses. 
 Mr. Buckle, anti-Christian though he was in belief, chid 
 me for want of charity. I enjoyed the reproof, but felt all 
 the same that, however learned a man might be in Europe, 
 it was quite possible he might be easily fooled in Asia ; 
 and I was therefore very glad, when night came on, to 
 rouse Mr. Buckle with the latest news after he had retired 
 to rest. The news was simply this : Abd-el-atee, the lead- 
 ing dragoman of the united party, 42 had suggested to the 
 sheik that he should demand more money all round, which 
 
 42 Still a well-known man at Cairo. "What did his party say of Buckle 
 before him ? Mr. Warner, whom he afterward served, says he referred to 
 Buckle as follows : " You no think the Lord he take care for his own ? . . . 
 When the kin' of Abyssinia, who not believe, what you call infidel, like that 
 Englishman, yes, Mr. Buckle ; I see him in Sinai and Petra very wise man, 
 know a great deal, very nice gentleman, I like him very much, but I think 
 he not believe."" Mummies and Moslems," pp. 318, 319. London, 1876. 
 

 
 "tJe*-* " ~r*- 
 >> 0* THF, 
 
 T 
 ASCENSION OF MOUNT HOR. ^ ^ 423 
 
 money he and the sheik were to divide between 
 dragoman had no objection to the arrangement, provided 
 that he obtained his share of what his masters^paid. To 
 this proposal Abd-el-atee would not consent, and Hassan, 
 turning traitor, first came to tell me that he had overheard 
 my conversation with Mr. Buckle, and assured me that 
 my suspicions were correct. Mr. Buckle never lectured 
 me again upon want of charity." Buckle's worthy cook, 
 however, who was no Rustam, was so frightened by stories 
 of the ferocious Fellahin, and particularly of his last pred- 
 ecessor at Petra, five years since, who had been shot, that 
 he swore the triple oath of divorce nothing should induce 
 him to stir a step forward. The dragoman came in much 
 perplexity to tell Buckle of this ; for the triple oath is ir- 
 revocable, and the man who divorces his wife in this way 
 may not marry her again till some one else has married 
 and divorced her. 49 Buckle called the man before him, 
 and, pointing out that he was bound by his contract, gave 
 him the choice whether he would go on, or return to a 
 consular prison. The cook became a bachelor. 
 
 In the course of the next day, and after much talk, an 
 agreement was arrived at, and the party began their march 
 again April 4th. On the way Mount Hor was ascended. 
 Buckle got up in an hour and a half, tired and hot, and 
 rubbing his bald head, exclaimed, " No wonder poor old 
 Aaron died when they dragged him up here ! " Even the 
 clericals laughed at this unholy remark. But the view 
 
 43 y er y ugly men are chosen for this purpose by repentant husbands. 
 They sometimes, however, refuse to divorce the woman for her former hus- 
 band to remarry her ; and they can not be compelled. Compare the story 
 of 'Ala ed-Deen Abu-sh-Shamat. Lane, 1840, vol. ii., p. 274 ; and Ibid., 
 " Modern Egyptians," 1842, vol. i., p 262, et seq. 
 
424 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WETTINGS. 
 
 from the summit over the neighboring peaks was worth all 
 the fatigue, and reminded one in its vast expanse, and 
 the absence of all vegetation but a little straggling grass or 
 insignificant bush or stunted tree of a raised map spread 
 before one's feet. Once at the top, an extra backsheesh 
 was demanded for permission to see Aaron's tomb, and re- 
 fused by the indignant travelers, who did not care much 
 to see it. The descent was done in an hour, though 
 Buckle was forced to draw his revolver on his attendant 
 savages, who kept pushing him to make him go at what 
 they considered a suitable rate of speed. 
 
 That afternoon the tents were pitched in Petra. In 
 the evening the whole party had a narrow escape. There 
 was a quarrel between the sheiks, as they sat round their 
 camp-fire, on the division of the spoil. The sheik of the 
 Fellahin drew his sword, and was on the point of killing 
 the sheik of the 'Alawin, who was unprepared, when the 
 blow was turned aside by a bystander ; and the angry Fel- 
 lahin chief went off in a huff, promising that as he " had 
 the pigeons in his cage, he would not let them go " ; and 
 intimating that he would occupy the heights, and attack 
 the party when they attempted to leave. However, the 
 next day Buckle and some of the others began their sight- 
 seeing by the pass of the Sik, a narrow rocky passage, the 
 principal, and probably, in ancient times, only, entrance to 
 Petra. They had hardly got half way when the dragoman 
 told them it was dangerous to go on ; that the sheik had 
 heard the Fellahin were in ambush ahead, and they must 
 return at once. Buckle quietly asked who was the mes- 
 senger, and he was pointed out. " Then," said he, " I 
 will go back ; but I shall take you before the sheik, and 
 
BUCKLE ANGRY WITH ME. GRAY. 425 
 
 ask him if your story is true ; and if it be not, you shall 
 be punished." Upon this the man began equivocating, 
 saying that he had not been sent by the sheik, but thought 
 it extremely likely that the Fellahin might be there, etc. ; 
 and it became at once clear that he had invented the story 
 merely to save himself the trouble of escorting the travel- 
 ers about the place. On their return they found poor 
 Achmet, the cook, the center of a group of Fellahin, who 
 had found out his cowardice, and were demanding sugar, 
 tobacco, and everything they had a fancy to. They pointed 
 out to him the individual who had slain the cook of the 
 last party, and chaffed him unmercifully. 
 
 The only time that Buckle was angry with Mr. Gray 
 was at Petra. " Finding a snake," writes this gentleman, 
 " I killed it, and brought it to the door of Mr. Buckle's 
 tent. ' Take that away from here, if you please,' said he ; 
 but I enjoyed his discomfiture too much to obey him at 
 once. He was at first angry, but quickly recovered his 
 temper, merely remarking that the mate of the dead snake 
 would certainly take up its abode near his tent if the body 
 was allowed to remain there. "When the Fellahin at Pe- 
 tra were becoming troublesome," continues Mr. Gray, 
 " Mr. Buckle remarked, that ' if they came to his tent with 
 guns he would probably get under the bed ; but if they 
 wished to discuss matters quietly with him, to prove he 
 had no right to be there, he would be happy to offer the 
 chief a chair.' " 
 
 One more day was passed in Petra ; and then on the 
 Monday the caravan slowly defiled out on the road to 
 Hebron, with a somewhat uncomfortable feeling that the 
 sheik of the Fellahin, with his rude and devoted follow- 
 
426 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 ers, might be occupying the heights and prepared to at- 
 tack. But the presence of the powerful Bedouin sheik 
 proved a sufficient safeguard, and they passed out in peace. 
 The journey to Hebron was uneventful. Every evening, 
 almost, the escort wasted their powder to warn off rob- 
 bers; and sang to show their numbers. JSTearly every 
 day they managed to get an alarm of a Bedouin attack ; 
 and once very nearly had a real affray with the Tiyahah, 
 near Hebron, who wished the travelers to dismiss the 
 'Alawin, and take their camels instead. But the demand 
 was peaceably resisted; and in a few hours more they 
 were safely encamped at Hebron. 
 
 The Prince of Wales, who had been making the tour 
 of Egypt, and thence gone directly by sea to Palestine, 
 had succeeded in getting into the mosk which covers the 
 supposed tomb of Abraham at this place. He had ex- 
 pressed a wish to the authorities that, since Christians had 
 once been allowed to enter it, they might in future always 
 be allowed to do so ; but the wish was expressed in vain. 
 There was nothing to see, therefore, but the outside. The 
 Arabs were dismissed, for the desert was now passed. 
 Horses were substituted for camels, and all enjoyed a gal- 
 lop for the first time, with the exception of Buckle, who, 
 indeed, for the last two or three days had been riding on 
 one of the sheik's horses, as his own donkey had cast a 
 shoe. 
 
 From Hebron to Jerusalem is only one day's travel. 
 Buckle started at nine, taking Bethlehem on the way, 
 walking two hours, resting half an hour, and entering 
 Jerusalem by the Jaffa gate at half -past four. Here he 
 went to Hauser's Mediterranean Hotel, as it was more 
 
JERUSALEM. 427 
 
 convenient than camping outside the town. On the 16th 
 of April, he writes as follows : 
 
 " We arrived here three days ago, after a laost fatigu- 
 ing and arduous journey through the whole desert of Sinai 
 and of Edom. "We have traversed a deeply interesting 
 country, visited by few Europeans and by none during 
 the last five years, so dangerous was the latter part of the 
 journey reputed to be. But I had taken my measures 
 before venturing to go beyond Sinai, and gradually feeling 
 my way, secured, as I went on, the protection of every 
 leading sheik, having studied at Cairo their relative power 
 and position. Having an ample stock of provisions, I was 
 prepared at any moment to fall back, and return if need 
 be to Egypt. Three other parties, chiefly Americans, 
 joined us at Sinai, each having their separate establish- 
 ment arranged, with their own dragoman, but all, for 
 greater safety, keeping together till we reached Hebron. 
 "We were in all fifteen persons, and with our servants and 
 escort we numbered one hundred and ten armed men. 
 Nothing but a combination of tribes could hurt us ; and 
 such a combination I considered to be morally impossible 
 in the face of the precautions which I suggested, and to 
 which, after some demur, the other parties agreed. "When 
 I say morally impossible,' I mean the odds were so large 
 as not to be worth the consideration of a prudent man. 
 There were several alarms, and there was undoubted dan- 
 ger ; but in my deliberate judgment the danger was not 
 greater than would be encountered in a rough sea with a 
 good vessel and a skillful captain. Some of our fellow 
 travelers were in great fear two or three times, and as- 
 sured me that they had no sleep on those occasions. For 
 
428 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 ray own part, I never was kept awake ten minutes. The 
 boys behaved exceedingly well. 44 ... I told them always 
 to keep close to me in the caravan ; they always slept in 
 my tent ; and, without concealing from them the real state 
 of affairs, I simply assured them that whatever happened 
 to them should also happen to me. They believed me. 
 They were satisfied that I meant what I said ; and I am 
 more than repaid by their confidence and affection. 
 
 " The result is that we have seen Petra as wonderful 
 and far more beautiful than anything in Egypt. Burk- 
 hardt, about forty years ago, was the first European who 
 ever set foot there ; and since then, not more probably than 
 100 persons have seen it ; that is to say, have really seen 
 it as we did, at leisure, and spending three whole days 
 there. Occasionally gentlemen without tents, and with no 
 food but what they can carry on their own horse, gallop 
 from Hebron to Petra (about 120 miles) in two days and a 
 half, reaching Petra in the evening, seeing it by moonlight, 
 and then gallop back, before the Bedouins and Fellahin are 
 aware of their presence. The English and other consuls, 
 and the Governor of Cairo with other persons of influence, 
 all declared that this was the only way I could see Petra ; 
 but the hardship of the journey, and the risk of sleeping 
 in the open air, prevented me from thinking for a moment 
 of such a plan. Among the English here our journey has 
 created quite a sensation ; and the result is one of many 
 
 44 Being one of the boys mentioned, I may as well state, both for my 
 brother and myself, that we had such entire and perfect faith in Buckle 
 that seeing he appeared under no apprehension we believed the danger ex- 
 tremely remote, and were unconcerned accordingly. Mr. Glennie also was 
 one of the least alarmed ; but on his laughing at a gentleman of another 
 party, Buckle reproved him, and said it was extremely natural, as the man 
 had heart-disease. 
 
PASSAGE THROUGH PETRA. 429 
 
 proofs which have convinced me of the profound ignorance 
 of officials in the East of everything which their own eyes 
 do not see. I had to collect all my facts through an inter- 
 preter, but I analyzed and compared them with something 
 more than official care and precision. Having done so, I 
 acted ; and I really look back to this passage through Petra 
 from Egypt as by far the greatest practical achievement of 
 my life. I believe that you are both laughing, and I am 
 almost inclined to laugh myself. But I am conceited about 
 it, and I think I have reason to be so ; for I must, more- 
 over, tell you that nearly all our party were more or less 
 ill with fatigue, anxiety, and the extraordinary vicissitudes 
 of temperature. At 3.30 P. M. the heat was on one oc- 
 casion 119 Fahr., and before sunrise the next morning 
 the thermometer had fallen in the tent (and our tent was 
 by far the thickest and warmest of all) to 42. Headaches, 
 sickness, bleeding at the nose, and bowel complaints were 
 very common ; but we three had not even the pain or in- 
 convenience of any kind, except that. . . . The dear little 
 kids are now the picture of health, and we are all as brown 
 as Arabs. . . . 
 
 " The truth is that we were the only ones who had 
 proper food and were properly clothed. "We had plenty of 
 green vegetables preserved ; also preserved meats of every 
 kind, and excellent preserved Julien soup ; while others, 
 day after day, lived upon fowls, tasteless mutton, and hard 
 biscuits. They also, in spite of my warning, committed 
 the enormous but very tempting mistake of wearing sum- 
 mer clothes in hot weather. On the other hand, I and the 
 boys had on complete winter clothing, which was never to 
 be changed till going to bed, when I always saw myself that 
 
430 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 the boys had two good blankets over them, however warm 
 they might be. Poor - - often complained of the heat 
 when he went to bed ; but I was inflexible as to the blank- 
 ets, being satisfied that a free and constant action of the skin 
 is the only safety-valve in this dangerous climate. Others 
 thought differently, and, strong and vigorous young men 
 as most of them were, they fared differently being con- 
 stantly unwell, and always ascribing their complaints to 
 the wrong cause. 
 
 46 
 
 " I am truly sorry to hear of poor CapePs illness, though 
 I am not much surprised, since for the last few years I 
 have not been satisfied with his condition. His restless- 
 ness and irritability are, I fear, the result of disease. Poor 
 fellow ! it is sad under any circumstances to feel the brains 
 impaired ; but how infinitely sad when there is nothing to 
 compensate the mischief nothing, if I may so say, to jus- 
 tify it. 48 I shall write to him to-day, and do what I can 
 to soothe him. 47 
 
 " It is not quite certain that we shall go to Constanti- 
 nople, because I have to ascertain the character of the 
 steamer to Pesth, and the healthiness of the Danube, 
 which is at times visited by malaria though, I am at 
 present informed, this is only in autumn. At all events, 
 you shall have the two or three weeks' notice which you 
 
 45 Only about the postal arrangements. 
 
 46 " What booteth it to have been rich alive ? 
 What to be great ? what to be gracious ? 
 When after death no token doth survive 
 Of former being in this mortall hous, 
 But sleepes in dust dead and inglorious." 
 
 SPENSEK, " The Ruins of Time," 11. 351-355. 
 41 This letter I have not been able to find. 
 

 HIS THOUGHTFUL KINDNESS. 431 
 
 require of our time for being in Yienna ; and as you say 
 that with this notice you can both of you arrange to be 
 there at any time, this prevents all difficulty, and leaves 
 me free to act. In case of my being in Germany before I 
 can give you due notice, I wish you would tell me if there 
 is any healthy, and not too dull, watering-place between 
 Pesth and Yienna, or thereabouts, where we could remain 
 while awaiting your arrival at Yienna. It will not be ad- 
 visable that the boys should stay two or three weeks in a 
 hot and crowded city. Besides, I want to get them on in 
 German, and it will be quite time enough to visit their 
 relations after your arrival. 
 
 " Thanks for offering to bring the ' Mill on the Floss ' 
 for me to read ; but you could not do so without buying 
 it, and it is not worth while to do that. So, unless you 
 have it already, or can borrow it, I should much prefer 
 waiting, and reading it in London. But I want one or 
 two books bought for my little boys. I want Newman's 
 ' Hebrew Monarchy ' (published, I think, by Chapman 
 anonymously, but always ascribed to Frank Newman), 
 and the < Dictionary of the Bible ' (or some such title), 
 lately edited by Dr. William Smith, on the same plan as 
 Smith's i Dictionary of Geography and Mythology ' ; also 
 ask Capel for the loan of Carpenter's ( Physiology.' This 
 
 is for , but as I am not quite certain whether he can 
 
 yet enter into it, I would rather not have it bought for 
 him, especially as I can lend it to him in town, and it is 
 an expensive book. Therefore, if you can not borrow it, 
 do not bring it. Carpenter's f Human Physiology,' or his 
 ' General Physiology ' either would do. Finally, for 
 myself, please to bring some of Schiller's poems, or of the 
 
432 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 minor poems of Goethe, whichever you have ; or any other 
 German poetry which is good, and which you have al- 
 ready by you, and will not take up too much room. 
 
 " I have so much to see and to do, that I can not an- 
 swer several questions in your letter, as I would other- 
 wise. But I must tell you that I am far stronger both in 
 mind and body than I have been since you knew me, and 
 I feel fit to go on at once with my work. But I neither 
 read nor write. I think ; I see ; and I talk. Especially 
 I study the state of society and habits of the people. "We 
 shall stay here to the end of this week, and then go to 
 Jericho, the Jordan, Dead Sea, and Bethlehem, and thence 
 northward for Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Damascus, 
 Baalbec, etc. I feel boyish enough for anything, and 
 fancy myself growing younger ; yet I am old, very old- 
 forty on the 24th of last November. It's a great age." 
 
 The day after his arrival, Buckle looked out for a 
 house to lodge in, for the weather was too wet to make 
 tent-life pleasant, and the hotel was bad, and its cookery 
 worse. He was, however, unsuccessful in his search, and 
 consequently remained at the hotel during the whole of 
 his stay at Jerusalem. To his stay here may fairly be 
 ascribed the fever he caught, and finally died of. His 
 time he spent in seeing all that was to be seen. Of an- 
 cient Jerusalem there was then but little visible, and hence 
 the greatest part of his time was devoted to what are sup- 
 posed by some of the more devout to be the Holy Sepul- 
 chre and other holy places, excursions, the Garden of 
 Gethsemane, the lepers' quarter, and the bazaars. Here 
 Mr. Longmore met him again, but though he regularly 
 saw him at table tfhdte, he unfortunately kept but little 
 
VISIT TO CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULOHEE. 433 
 
 record of his conversation. " I accompanied him to the 
 Church of the Holy Sepulchre," says this gentleman, " and 
 assisted him in buying a number of rosaries, naade of the 
 fruit of the Doum palm ; crosses, seals,, paper-cutters, and 
 such like articles, made from wood of Mount Olivet, of- 
 fered for sale in the square before the church ; in all of 
 which he showed more interest than I should have antici- 
 pated. 48 Next day, at dinner, he said he received a letter, 
 
 48 " Athenaeum," 25th January, 1873, p. 115. Buckle came home one 
 day smiling, and in reply to a question said, rubbing his hands, he had 
 every reason to feel elated, as he had just beaten a Jew down a halfpenny ! 
 in bargaining for some knickknacks of this sort. Mr. Glennie relates this 
 as follows : " Once when he had lagged behind, near the Church of the Holy 
 Sepulchre, as we were on our way by the Via Dolorosa, and St. Stephen's 
 Gate, to the Garden of Gethsemane, he came up apologizing for having kept 
 me waiting, but elated with having, in bargaining with a Jew about some 
 glass bracelets, beat him down from twopence to three-halfpence ; and as 
 the Jew was always cheating in the court of the Church, even as his fore- 
 fathers in that of the Temple, I could not refrain from saying that, ' while 
 going to Gethsemane, I had no eye for glass bracelets.' " " Pilgrim Memo- 
 ries," p. 297. 
 
 This remark, apart from its curious inconsequence, and the inconsistency 
 of the whole with the fact, is worthy of rescue from Mr. Glennie's ponderous 
 prose. We must remember that the true Jerusalem was forty or one hun- 
 dred feet below the filth on which Mr. Glennie was standing ; that the Garden 
 of Gethsemane is a pleasing (and lucrative) fiction of the monks ; and that 
 Mr. Glennie, despite this pious expression, does not in a general way ex- 
 press extreme veneration, even where veneration might not be misplaced ; 
 as, for instance, the passage, where talking of the Jordan he says " and 
 that other event, as our good Murray says, ' of still more thrilling interest, 
 the baptism of God Himself in its sacred waters.' An event, certainly, after 
 the mention of which it is, I confess, an anti-climax to conclude with the fall 
 ' down flat ' of the walls of Jericho, on the Israelites shouting and blowing 
 their trumpets. One could, in our respectable caravan, say nothing against 
 literal belief in these legends ; and so, what expression could one give to 
 one's contempt of belief, and indignation at pretense of belief, in fables so 
 puerile, so infantile rather ; what expression but that of utter ignoring of 
 them, in a gay flirtation ? " etc. (p. 324). 
 
 That this is Mr. Glennie's usual tone of thought, and not the reverend, 
 which so aptly serves to make Buckle out a thoughtless miser, his whole 
 " Pilgrim Memories " will show. Compare especially pp. 404 and 341. 
 28 
 
434: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 I think from Thackeray himself, intimating his resignation 
 of the editorship of the < Cornhill,' and. that he proposed 
 devoting himself to writing a Life of Queen Anne. On 
 Good Friday Buckle came in too late for dinner, and had, 
 in consequence, his food served cold, at which he was very 
 wroth.* 9 To judge from the gusto with which he talked 
 of the many capital dinners he had eaten in London, I 
 think he had a great deal of the gourmet in his tastes. 
 He was not a great eater, but was rather fastidious in 
 what he ate. He told me he never got a first-class dinner 
 in a married man's house the only unfavorable remark 
 on matrimony I recollect hearing him make. He talked 
 also a great deal about ciphers, saying that no cipher had 
 ever been invented which two men then in London, 
 Wheatstone and De Morgan, could not find out. On the 
 19th of April," continues Mr. Longmore, "I went with 
 him to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to see the so- 
 called miracle of the descent of fire from heaven into the 
 tomb of our Saviour, where the Greek Patriarch is shut up 
 alone. As usual there was a great crowd of Greek pil- 
 grims crushing and crowding the floor of the church in a 
 very unpleasant way. Through the American Consul, I 
 got Buckle a place where he could see at ease, without 
 being hustled about." 60 This was a loggia in the gallery 
 of the rotunda looking down upon the sepulchre. The 
 floor around was so tightly packed with human beings 
 that it would have been possible to walk over their heads ; 
 the heat, noise, and babel of voices were beyond descrip- 
 
 49 1 find by his diary, however, that Buckle dined at the usual table-cThote 
 hour, 6.30; and hence conclude that the hour was changed on that day 
 without his knowledge. 
 
 50 " Athenaeum," for 25th January, 1873, p. 116. 
 
THE HURLY-BURLY DONE. 435 
 
 tion. The rain was all the while pouring continuously 
 through the circular opening of the dome of the rotunda 
 upon the sepulchre beneath. Looking down upon this 
 seething mass, Buckle had to wait more than three hours, 
 as the miracle was unpunctual or it was waiting for the 
 priest, who was unpunctual, as he had to wait for the 
 pasha, and pashas are always unpunctual. At last the 
 Patriarch entered the sepulchre, and soon after a flame 
 issued forth from a sort of pigeon-hole on the side. The 
 multitude became frantic. Candles were produced, and 
 the light spread with marvelous rapidity all over the 
 church, even the galleries contributing to the smoke and 
 blaze. Men passed the flame round their faces, to prove 
 that it would not harm them : for was it not of heavenly 
 origin ? Others produced pieces of rag, which they be- 
 dewed with grease, in the hope that these drops of wax, 
 melted in divine fire, and buried with them, would cheat 
 the devil of his due. 
 
 At last the hurly-burly is done, and Buckle returned, 
 much impressed, to the hotel. Mr. Longmore asked him 
 what he thought of it? "A great deal," said Buckle; 
 " pious frauds have been considered allowable in all ages 
 of the Church." He resumed the subject on another oc- 
 casion at dinner ; and, talking besides of some processions 
 he had seen, made some little jocular remarks upon the 
 dresses of the monks. Seeing how the company were en- 
 joying these sallies, Mr. Gray, who was seated near him, 
 coughed audibly. Buckle leaned back in his chair, and said, 
 " Really, Gray, I would not have said what I did had I 
 thought it could possibly hurt your feelings." Mr. Gray 
 answered that Buckle ought to know him better by that 
 
436 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 time, and that he had only coughed to warn him that he 
 was listening to his remarks, and remind him that he was 
 a Catholic. However, Buckle turned the conversation by 
 saying, " You know I do not think as you do ; but, after all, 
 there are many things equally difficult of belief which the 
 Protestants accept." " And pray, Mr. Buckle," said the Ger- 
 man clergyman who sat opposite, " what may those things 
 be which you find so difficult of belief? " "Well," said 
 Buckle, " take, for instance, the supposition that Jonah lived 
 three days in a whale's belly, and then came out still alive." 
 " Oh," said the German, " but that was a miracle." " That 
 is an assumption on your part," replied Buckle, a not a 
 proof that it really occurred." " Then you don't believe in 
 miracles?" said the German, rather nettled. "If you 
 mean by a miracle," replied Buckle, " the reversal of the 
 laws of nature, then I do not." Upon this the German 
 lost his temper, and left the table; and the two other 
 clergymen thought it their duty to do likewise. As they 
 departed, Buckle turned round to the company, and sol- 
 emnly exclaimed, " See how they flee ! " The conversa- 
 tion was now centered on religious subjects. Buckle talked 
 of the prophets, and maintained against some of the com- 
 pany that Isaiah was the greatest, greater even than Jere- 
 miah ; astonishing them by the quotations he was able to 
 give in support of his assertions. After dinner the talk 
 was still continued. He said he believed in the New Tes- 
 tament after eliminating the supernatural; that he con- 
 sidered Jesus Christ the greatest teacher and civilizer of 
 mankind that ever lived ; declared " that there was that 
 in His teaching which it was difficult, indeed impossible, 
 to account for without believing Him to have been divine- 
 
SETTING OUT FOR BETHLEHEM. 437 
 
 Ij inspired." In reply to a question whom he placed next 
 as a civilizer of mankind, he answered without hesitation, 
 " William Shakespeare." 6a Of the two, however, he placed 
 Shakespeare first in the order of mind one of " the two 
 mightiest intellects our country has produced," as he calls 
 him ; "the greatest of the sons of men" ; "the greatest of 
 our masters." 63 Indeed, he considered Shakespeare to have 
 been inspired, as Christ, and as all great minds who pos- 
 sess true genius, the real breath of God. He afterward 
 said he had never known but one real atheist, and that he 
 was a cabinet minister." 
 
 On Monday, 21st of April, Buckle and his party set out 
 for Bethlehem, all on horseback, but the former rejoicing 
 in the extra comfort of a cavalry saddle, which he had bought 
 at Jerusalem. In an hour-and-a-half ride Bethlehem was 
 reached, and then two hours were devoted to the convent, 
 the Church of the Nativity, and the Greek and Latin chap- 
 els, the Cave of Adullam, where David longed for the water 
 of the well of Bethlehem, and the well of Bethlehem with 
 the water which David longed for. From thence they 
 rode to Mar Saba, where they had appointed to meet their 
 companions of the desert. The monastic rules were too 
 strict to allow of the admission of the ladies of one of the 
 parties, who consequently had to encamp outside ; but the 
 monks console themselves for the deprivation of female 
 society, and cheat their founder, the holy St. Sabas, by 
 drinking arrack, a liquor which, as it was not invented A.D. 
 532, and as the saint had apparently no prophetic soul, was 
 
 52 J. A. Longmore, in the "Athenaeum," pp. 116, 116. 25th January, 
 1873. 
 
 53 " History of Civilization," vol. i., p. 432 ; vol. ii., pp. 42, 404. 
 
 54 " Athenaeum," ut sup. 
 
438 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 not included among the prohibited drinks of his founda- 
 tion. The whole party started early the next morning 
 down the rocky road to the Dead Sea, a region which, as 
 of yore, is still infested with robbers. Thieves accompanied 
 them, as a visible sign and receipt of the blackmail which 
 had been levied ; " and at one o'clock, the hottest time of 
 the day, they arrived at the lowest point of the surface of 
 the globe, the valley of the Dead Sea. 56 Here Buckle filled 
 one of the tins he had had made in Cairo for the specimens 
 of the water of the Nile, Red Sea, Dead Sea, Jordan, and 
 Tiberias. From this scene of desolation they rode on to 
 the refreshing waters of the Jordan, and thence to their 
 encampment at Jericho. The next day they returned to 
 Jerusalem by Bethany, a place Buckle did not stop at, as 
 he had already made an excursion to it from Jerusalem. 
 
 Having seen all that was to be seen in this disagreeable 
 and ill-smelling town, Buckle set out the next day. He 
 had just received a letter from the boys' mother, in which 
 was copied out the chief part of Mill's notice of the " His- 
 tory of Civilization," in his fifth edition of the " System of 
 Logic," 6T where, talking of the causation of social phe- 
 nomena, he says that Buckle has not only popularized the 
 great principle of general laws, but clearly and triumph- 
 
 55 It is related of a gentleman and his wife who, refusing to pay black- 
 mail, ventured on this road a few years later, that they were set upon, and 
 stripped of all they had with the exception of the " Times " newspaper. The 
 gentleman returned to Jerusalem clad in the body of that journal, while his 
 wife was forced to content herself with the supplement. 
 
 66 It is 1292 feet below the level of the sea. Mr. Glennie takes the oppor- 
 tunity to sneer at Buckle because he did not expose his feeble person to the 
 sun in the hottest part of the day in the hottest part of Palestine, " to ex- 
 perience the singular sensation of being unable to sink." " Pilgrim Mem- 
 ories," p. 323. 
 
 67 Vol ii., 1862, pp. 524, et seq. 
 
A TALK WITH MR. GLENNIE. 439 
 
 antly shown that masses are governed bj them in the same 
 way as individuals are. At the same time he thinks, like 
 so many others, that Buckle has asserted that morals are of 
 no effect in civilization, though he agrees with him in at- 
 tributing to the advance of knowledge the great improve- 
 ment in moral actions, moral principles remaining very 
 much the same ; and hence, to the advance of knowledge 
 the main, the chiefest, and almost exclusive agency in the 
 advancement of civilization. Hence Buckle's contemptu- 
 ous remark on the savage at Petra, " Vice is better than 
 ignorance " ; for well he knew that the worst vice was ig- 
 norance, just as the greatest sinner is the instigator to sin. 
 Let a community be vicious if you will, but if they culti- 
 vate knowledge, true and real knowledge, and not that 
 semblance which goes under the name of an " acquaintance 
 with literature," they must improve ; no power on earth 
 can stop it. This letter gave Buckle great pleasure: 
 " Only a woman would have thought of sending me these 
 extracts," said he ; and during the first day's journey he 
 had a long talk with Mr. Glennie on Mill's remarks." 
 They encamped that evening at 'Ain-el-Haramiyeh, or 
 the Eobber's Fountain, a distance of five hours' journey 
 from Jerusalem, having rested at Bethel an hour and a 
 
 58 piig r i m Memories," p. 330. " So gratified, indeed, was Mr. Buckle 
 that, for the first and last time," says Mr. Glennie, " in my recollection of 
 him, he expanded in a humorous practical joke presenting one of the fel- 
 lows of the encircling crowd with a cheap Jerusalem cigar, which, as he 
 whispered to me, he had found would not draw." This is very probable, 
 as Buckle had no objection to harmless practical jokes ; it is also very 
 probable that it was the only one that appeared humorous to Mr. Glennie. 
 But Buckle would rather have given up smoking altogether than smoke bad 
 tobacco ; and never, as far as I recollect, bought a cigar in Jerusalem. He 
 laid in a stock of Manillas at Suez. 
 
440 BUCKLE'S LIFE AKD WRITINGS. 
 
 quarter. "But though," as Buckle says in his diary, he 
 " rose at seven, such was the delay of the muleteers that 
 we did not leave Jerusalem till eleven." He encamped at 
 six, and dined at seven o'clock. They reached Nabulus 
 the next day, at one o'clock, after six hours' ride, including 
 a rest of twenty minutes. Here he walked up Mount 
 Gerizim, a fatiguing walk in the hot sun, and then visited 
 the Samaritan synagogue, saw the Samaritan Pentateuch, 
 and bought a Samaritan MS. ; and the next day attended 
 service in the synagogue at 6.30, where all the chiefs of 
 the few remaining Samaritan families were assembled, 
 clothed in white, and, to the untrained ear, making a tre- 
 mendous noise. At about six the same evening he en- 
 camped at Jen in, just on the edge of the plain of Esdra- 
 elon, having seen the church of St. John, at Samaria, on 
 the way. He was up the next day at his usual hour, not- 
 withstanding that he had been eleven hours in the saddle 
 the day before, and, with the escort of one picturesque 
 Arab guard, which is usual in crossing the dangerous plain 
 of Esdraelon, started at 7.30 and encamped at Nazareth at 
 2.30. The route followed was that by the mound and 
 ruins of El-Fuleh, an important spot during the Crusades, 
 but now of little interest. Indeed, throughout Palestine 
 the historical spots are of but little interest, and generally of 
 but little authenticity ; the general features of the country 
 are, as a rule, the only real points of interest, and not such 
 tilings as the reputed prison of St. John. 
 
 Buckle's system had hitherto battled bravely with the 
 fever, which, as I have said, must have seized him at Jeru- 
 salem, but, weakened by the fatigues of the last two days, 
 

 THE FATAL ILLltfESS. 
 
 lie succumbed at Nazareth for the first time. 59 He did not 
 give way, however, without a fight. After a bad night he 
 rose at eight, and enters in his diary, " Much better, but 
 shall rest here all day. From 10.30 to 12 made notes from 
 New Testament. Toward afternoon it rained with great 
 heaviness, and I thought it better to sleep at the convent." 
 The rain in addition against him was more than he could 
 bear up against ; and the next morning he woke with a 
 bad sore throat, which he had felt coming on the evening 
 before ; he had no appetite, and felt so weak that, with 
 the exception of two hours in the afternoon, he remained 
 in bed all day, unable to read. "While Buckle was lying 
 ill here, Mr. Gray and his party arrived at Nazareth ; " and 
 although," he observes, " we were told that Mr. Buckle 
 was lying ill at the monastery, I could not help noticing 
 that I was the only one who called upon him. He was in 
 bed, and, pointing to his throat, told me he was sorry that 
 he could only converse with me in a whisper, but asked 
 me to sit down near him, and we conversed on various 
 topics. I shall not easily forget the interest with which 
 he listened to my narration of how I fell into the hands of 
 robbers at Shiloh, near Nabulus. He said that he had 
 been so interested in his journey that he thought of going 
 next year to Persia, and invited me to accompany him. 
 Next year I had to travel through Persia with another, for 
 my friend had performed his last journey. I advised him 
 to call one of the monks, who was a doctor. He replied, 
 ' I hear he is a Spaniard. Do you believe in Spanish doc- 
 
 59 Mr. Glennie hints that this was due to " a certain imprudence of 
 diet ! " " Pilgrim Memories," p. 365. Buckle was more particular in his 
 diet than in any other point of physical conduct. 
 
442 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 tors ? ' And I was obliged to confess I had no experience 
 of them." He doctored himself from a little medicine- 
 chest he had brought with him from England, and enters 
 in his diary, "Took six grains compound-rhubarb pill." 
 But the next morning, " feeling worse, I sent early for an 
 Armenian doctor. He touched the left tonsil with lunar 
 caustic, and applied a small blister externally ; told me to 
 keep very warm, and by no means to get up, and to take 
 at night another six-grain rhubarb pill." The doctor re- 
 turned again at seven the following day ; but even then 
 neither he nor Buckle recognized the true nature of the 
 disease. He told Buckle that an ulcer was forming, which 
 he touched with caustic, and then very unwisely ordered 
 him half a grain of antimony, to be taken every two hours. 
 "After two doses I found the sickness insupportable," 
 says the unfortunate patient, " and I refused to take more, 
 to the great regret of my Armenian doctor, who visits me 
 twice a day, and, though a very civil man, is, I fear, a very 
 ignorant one. He told me to keep in bed all day." " A 
 restless night, with great prostration, amounting almost to 
 wandering, confirmed my opinion that I am being badly 
 treated. When, therefore, the doctor came, at 8 A. M., I 
 persuaded him to send me some muriate of iron, of which 
 I took ten drops in a wine-glassful of water. I further 
 ordered strong mutton broth to be made ; for since Tues- 
 day 60 I have had nothing stronger than rice-water and 
 milk ; and at 10 A. M. I got up, and am now writing my 
 journal (11.15) with the window open. The throat is very 
 painful when I swallow, but I feel better in all other re- 
 spects. I would not let the doctor meddle with my throat 
 
 60 This was Friday. 
 
THE FATAL ILLNESS. 4A3 
 
 this morning, as I wish the ulcer to reach its full size, and 
 then be lanced." The next day he writes, " Much better, 
 but, appetite being bad and tongue covered with a coat 
 like white cream, I took at 6.30 A. M. two of Mr. Morgan's 
 pills, containing gray powder. Rose at T.30. Ate no 
 breakfast. Walked half an hour ; the first time I have 
 been out. In afternoon played backgammon. The only 
 nourishment I can take is mutton broth with toast, and 
 occasionally a little milk. But at 6.30 I took half a wine- 
 glass of brandy in two tumblers of water, and felt better 
 after it." The next day, Sunday, he was again " much 
 better ; ate two eggs and drank a cup of milk for break- 
 fast ; walked half an hour," and even smoked a cigar as 
 he sat reading under a fig-tree. 
 
 But it was only his throat that was better. The in- 
 sidious disease had not yet mastered him ; but it was 
 steadily gaining ground, and ever ready to show itself 
 when given the slightest advantage. All the delay of his 
 illness mattered little to Buckle himself ; but he felt, and 
 was always regretting, the enforced delay of Mr. Glennie, 
 involving a waste of time and money to that gentleman ; 
 and he started on Monday morning for Tabaria, or Tibe- 
 rias, but in so weak a state that, as he sadly notes in his 
 diary, " I could only walk my horse all the way," and had 
 to rest for two hours and a quarter on the road." He was 
 a little stronger the next day, and able to stroll about Ta- 
 baria, see the hot springs, peep for a minute into the bath- 
 house where he notes that he saw the " people bathing, a 
 
 61 I do not wish to reflect on Mr. Glennie by this passage, for he, of 
 course, knew nothing of Buckle's motive beyond what polite expressions of 
 regret could convey, or hfe manifest weakness could hint. 
 
444: BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 curious but disgusting scene " and also into the syna- 
 gogue. He afterward attempted to buy a phylactery from 
 some of the Jews who were of German origin, and spoke 
 German to him ; but their demands were so extortionate, 
 and their German so bad, that he grew quite angry, and 
 bought nothing. For now he was changed in this respect, 
 and could no longer keep his temper as before. Not that 
 he was irascible or fretful ; but little things would irritate 
 him, in a way that was all the more observable because of 
 his usually admirable temper in health, and constant flow 
 of spirits, which now diminished, but never quite left him 
 up to his death. From Tabaria he rode back to Nazareth, 
 resting two and a half hours on the way, and " able to trot 
 and canter a little." 
 
 The remainder of his journey is but little more than a 
 record of illness, weakness, exhaustion, and unabated ener- 
 gy, interest, and delight in what he saw. He left Nazareth, 
 and reached Akka, on May 7th, after five and a half hours' 
 journey and a rest of two hours ; and then walked through 
 the town and round the fortifications, and looked into the 
 prison a large dungeon, where thieves and murderers, 
 the least bad and the very worst, were confined together, 
 loaded with chains, but otherwise free to do very much as 
 they liked. They cooked their own food at a large bon- 
 fire in the middle, and a begging committee sat in perma- 
 nence behind the grated gate. The next day Buckle rose 
 with a bad sore throat again, but started all the same at 
 eight, along the fertile plain of Akka, across the " Tyrian 
 ladder" a difficult pass on a spur of Lebanon, which 
 forms the first defense of Tyre and encamped by the ruins 
 of Alexandroschene. After six hours' riding and two hours' 
 
TYEE. 445 
 
 rest lie was " quite exhausted, and fell asleep before din- 
 ner." He started again the next morning, with his throat 
 worse than the day before, and resumed his painful march 
 over the " White Cape," the path of which is more diffi- 
 cult than that of the Tyrian ladder, and stopped at Ras el 
 'Ain to examine the enormous reservoirs, which are curi- 
 ous from the means adopted for raising the water. The 
 springs are situated in the plain, and gush with such force 
 from the earth that, if allowed, they would form natural 
 fountains twenty-five feet high. The ancient inhabitants, 
 however, knew better than to waste this valuable gift. 
 They built around each spring a massive wall, of enormous 
 and unnecessary strength, which formed huge reservoirs 
 raised above the plain, and supplied various aqueducts till 
 almost modern times, but now only served to drive a sin- 
 gle mill. From thence, along the sweep of sand which 
 has accumulated over Alexander's Mole, he rode to Tyre, 
 where he went out in a boat to see the columns and other 
 ruins, which were quite visible under the transparent wa- 
 ter, though not so visible as they would have been had the 
 water been smoother. Thence, leaving at about half -past 
 two, and neglecting to visit the u tomb of Hiram," he 
 traveled along the plain of Phoenicia, and encamped at a 
 spot near the mouth of the Nahr el Kasimiyeh, probably 
 the ancient Leontes, about four o'clock. 
 
 During the night there was a long and violent storm, 
 which, together with the pain he suffered from his throat, 
 and probably the malaise of typhoid fever, caused him to 
 sleep very badly. Several times, too, in his anxiety for 
 the boys under his care, he got up to feel if the rain had 
 penetrated the double roof of the tent. The day's journey 
 
446 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 was six hours, and lie arrived at Sidon at 3 P. M., where, 
 he says, he " found rooms in a house," and then, " sent for 
 the French resident doctor, who turns out to be a very in- 
 telligent man, and is a friend of Kenan's. He says I only 
 need rest." He could eat nothing but mutton broth ; and 
 the next day, after breakfasting in bed, he removed to the 
 convent, where the monks gave him " excellent rooms." 
 The following day his throat was " nearly well ; but I feel 
 very weak," he adds, and only walked a quarter of an hour 
 during the day. But he amused himself by playing back- 
 gammon, and looking at some Phoenician antiquities, which 
 were sent for his inspection, and of which he bought sev- 
 eral. The French Government were then making excava- 
 tions in the neighborhood, but Buckle was too weak to visit 
 them, though he pushed on for Beyrout the next day, en- 
 camping about half way after being four hours and a half 
 in the saddle. He rose the next day " stronger, notwith- 
 standing a bad night," and arrived at Beyrout at 11 A. M., 
 14th May, lodging at the Hotel Belle Yue. Here, the 
 same day, he wrote a letter, of melancholy interest as the 
 last he ever penned : 
 
 ""We have arrived here," he says, "all well, after a 
 journey from Jerusalem entirely beyond all description. 
 "We diverged westward, after visiting the Sea of Galilee, 
 in order to travel through Phoenicia. We saw Tyre and 
 Sidon, and got much valuable information respecting the 
 excavations conducted there for the last eighteen months 
 by the French Government. . . . 
 
 "To-morrow we shall see the Assyrian remains near 
 here ; and the next day start for Damascus, Baalbec, and 
 
THE LAST LETTER. 44.7 
 
 return to Beyrout by the cedars of Lebanon the oldest 
 and grandest trees in the world. 
 
 "I have most reluctantly abandoned Constantinople; 
 because, although we should be there and up the Danube 
 long before the unhealthy season, I am advised that the 
 nights on the river are occasionally damp, and dangerous 
 for weak eyes, and I can not quite satisfy myself about the 
 protection the berths afford. I don't choose to risk my 
 ... to having inflamed conjunctiva, for he has now had 
 nothing the matter with his eyes for more than five months, 
 and I intend to bring him back sound and invigorated in 
 all respects. 
 
 " The only other route to Vienna is by Trieste. "We 
 must therefore take the steamer from here to Smyrna, 
 Syra, and Athens. We shall see little or nothing of Greece, 
 as the weather will be too hot. The journey is not-very 
 interesting, but we have had our fill of interest, and must 
 think of health. 
 
 " I expect to be at Trieste about the middle of June ; 
 and as you said that the end of July would suit you to 
 reach Yienna, this leaves me a clear month, which I pur- 
 pose spending in Gratz, or Gratz, in Styria, on the rail- 
 road between Trieste and Yienna. It is very healthy, has 
 fine air, and is well known for masters and education. I 
 shall take a small house, or part of a large one, have none 
 but German servants, and work the boys well in German. 
 
 " Please, therefore, direct your next letter to Post Of- 
 fice, Gratz, or Gratz (I find even Germans pronounce it 
 differently), and send to the same place the books I asked 
 for in my last letter, viz., Newman's 'Hebrew Monarchy' 
 (or ' Commonwealth '), published by Chapman, and Smith's 
 
448 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 new ' Dictionary of Biblical History and Geography.' This 
 is by Dr. William Smith, and the book is on the same plan 
 as his i Dictionary of Mythology.' To this I now add 
 Kenrick's < Phoenicia,' as my boys have been much inter- 
 ested in Phoenicia, and want to know more about it than 
 I have told them. I shall take apartments in a house at 
 Gratz for one month, and hope to take back the boys good 
 Gerinanists. Four weeks' rest and good work will, after 
 all this excitement, benefit body and mind. Consequently, 
 if we were finally to name the 1st of August as our day of 
 meeting it might be well. Send also to Gratz, carefully 
 packed in a tin canister, two pounds of tea. . . . 
 
 " I shall send from here (probably via Alexandria) two 
 wooden cases. The largest contains nothing but curiosities 
 shells from the Red Sea, coral, antiquities, etc. ; and 
 you jnay confidently declare that there is nothing to pay 
 duty ; but, if opened, the repacking will require great care. 
 The other and smaller case contains about twenty pounds 
 of the finest Latakia tobacco, unmanufactured. To pass 
 this a permit from the customs will, I believe, be required ; 
 but you will know how to proceed. The tobacco must be 
 kept in a dry place, of equable temperature, specially avoid- 
 ing heat." 
 
 The same day he brought his dragoman before the con- 
 sul for not properly fulfilling his contract. It is not un- 
 usual for these men to behave exceedingly well during the 
 trip up the Nile, in the hope of being taken on through 
 Palestine, and then, relying on not being prosecuted, to sup- 
 ply the party badly during the journey. Hassan had not 
 brought a sufficient quantity of supplies from Cairo, nor 
 
BEYROUT. 449 
 
 had he made up this deficiency where he had the opportu- 
 nity ; and, moreover, the progress of his illness made Buc- 
 kle fretful, and the less likely to look over such things. 
 As Hassan understood Italian best of all European lan- 
 guages, Buckle spoke his accusation in that tongue, with 
 the result that Hassan was ordered to refund a part of his 
 pay. Another symptom had also begun prominently to 
 show itself. For the last few days, notwithstanding his 
 weakness, loss of appetite, and bad nights, he had become 
 restless, and anxious to finish his journey. He felt it im- 
 possible to come so far, and then leave without seeing Da- 
 mascus, the dream of his boyhood. A gentleman staying 
 at the same hotel, seeing how haggard he looked, urged 
 him to return to Europe and recruit his health ; but in 
 vain. A great part of the following day was spent in set- 
 tling with Hassan at the consulate, in engaging another 
 dragoman, and making arrangements for the continuation 
 of the journey. 
 
 And still neither he nor any one about him recognized 
 the nature of his disease. " "Walked for one hour about 
 the town," he writes, May 16th. " Feel better to-day than 
 I have done yet." If he had only been stricken down 
 then, or delayed a day or two, we might now see the " His- 
 tory of Civilization" complete! But at one o'clock he 
 started by the new French road, the only one in the whole 
 of Syria or Palestine that can be dignified with the name ; 
 and having sent on the tents and horses to El-Merj, beyond 
 which point the road was unfinished, he did the six hours' 
 journey in a carriage, and arrived again terribly knocked 
 up. " Oh, this body ! It is no body at all ! " 62 he bitterly 
 
 62 Glennie, " Pilgrim Memories," p. 439. 
 29 
 
450 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 exclaimed. And the next day his appetite was worse, 
 again, he could only take a little milk for breakfast, and 
 some of the other symptoms of his disease recurred. Nev- 
 ertheless, he again set out at nine o'clock, walking his 
 horse along the road where practicable, and when turned 
 off by guards, or where the road was unfinished, along the 
 winding track which did duty for a road. He rested three 
 and a half hours at mid-day, and during this rest spoke to 
 Mr. Glennie of his life. 68 
 
 " I have spent fourteen years of uninterrupted happi- 
 ness, which, I imagine, few people can boast of. But, 
 then, it was spent in work such as few men have cared to 
 undergo." His mother's illness and death had broken the 
 spell ; but the wound was doubtlessly healing, and, had he 
 lived, he would again have been happy, if not as happy as 
 before. But death was already upon him, and it was not 
 to be. The whole day he could eat nothing solid ; his din- 
 ner that evening was only soup. But there was still the 
 indomitable will the prepotent mind, too powerful for 
 the overtasked body. Notwithstanding the increasing 
 gravity of his symptoms, he again rose at six the follow- 
 ing day, though he had passed a very bad night ; again his 
 breakfast consisted only of a draught of milk, and his 
 weakness was so great that he was scarce able to sit his 
 horse. Three times had he to dismount and rest during 
 that day's journey; and once, where the valley of the 
 Abana forms an oasis, in the road between the desert pla- 
 teau of Sahra and the ridge of Hermon, Mr. Glennie 
 
 63 Mr. Glennie puts it at this point of the journey (" Pilgrim Memories," 
 p. 440) ; and though I remember the conversation, I do not remember where 
 it occurred. 
 
ILLNESS INCREASING. 451 
 
 heard a cry behind him, "and turning round saw Mr. 
 Buckle clinging to the neck of his horse. A stirrup had 
 suddenly given way, and he had been almost thrown. The 
 effect of this on nerves so overworn by excitement as his 
 now were can easily be imagined. And, as I assisted him 
 from his horse, he said ' a sweat of terror had burst over 
 him.' 64 
 
 There was now the rocky ridge of Hermon to surmount, 
 from whence the magnificent view, so often celebrated by 
 travelers, burst suddenly upon him. 68 Buckle was deeply 
 affected, and, dismounting, sat down and gazed upon the 
 panorama spread below. This was the sight which h#d 
 filled his childish dreams as he read the " Thousand and 
 One Nights " at his mother's knee that dear mother he 
 was so soon to rejoin. This was also the historic plain, 
 the site of many a speculation of maturer years. Did 
 the shadows of the illustrious line of Hadad, of the leper 
 Naaman, the proud Assyrian Lord Cyzicenus, Aretas, or 
 
 64 pilgrim Memories," p. 449. Mr. Glennie has thought it judicious to 
 omit the passage, " He was now quite beyond concealing fear," which he 
 had in his account furnished in 1863 to "Fraser's Magazine," p. 184. 
 
 65 Ariosto describes it as if he had seen it : 
 
 <: Delle piu ricche terre di Levante, 
 Delle piu popolose e meglio ornate 
 Si dice esser Damasco, che distante 
 Siede a Gerusal&m sette giornate, 
 In un piano fruttifero e abbondante, 
 Non men giocondo il verno, che 1' estate. 
 A questa Terra il primo raggio tolle 
 Delia nascente Aurora un vicin colle. 
 
 " Per la citta duo fiumi cristallini 
 Vanno inaffiando per diversi rivi 
 Un numero infinite di giardini, 
 Non mai di fior, non mai di fronde privi." 
 
 " Orlando Furioso," Canto XVII., xviii., xix. 
 
452 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 Paul, " the man who had done most harm to the world," 
 of the Muslims, sword in hand, followed by the graceful 
 figures of Ghdnim, the son of Eiyoob, the distracted slave 
 of love, of JSToor ed-Deen, of 'Ala ed-Deen, or Marids and 
 Jdn, 'Efreets and Perees, again people the smiling plain ? 
 Did he revert to great historic principles, and, looking 
 down from this vantage-ground, seeing this sea of foliage 
 bounded by a desert, the fertilizing streams, the luxury of 
 position, of color, of climate, and of fertility, again bow to 
 the great power of nature over the minds and imaginations 
 of mankind? Long did he gaze at that living picture. 
 With the hand of death upon him, his keen sense of 
 beauty had not yet gone. " This is worth all that it has 
 cost me ! " he exclaimed ; and what it had cost him was, 
 his life. 
 
 That very night as he arrived at the hotel, at eight 
 o'clock, after a fatiguing ride through the lanes of the 
 suburb, he sent for the only qualified doctor in the place, 
 Dr. Nicora, a Frenchman; for, as he describes himself, 
 he was "utterly prostrate." The doctor gave him no 
 advice that evening, but called again the following mom- 
 ing, Monday, 19th. Buckle had again passed a wretched 
 night ; his tongue was white, he suffered from great and 
 constant thirst. But the doctor failed to recognize his 
 disease, and treated it as a common choleraic attack; 
 ordered him to continue soup, and yolks of eggs beaten 
 up with a little brandy, but not to take too much milk ; 
 to allay his thirst he was to take eight to ten drops of 
 laudanum in a quart decanter of rice-water, two decanters 
 in the twenty-four hours ; and actually ordered him, con- 
 trary to the dictates of his appetite, to eat solid food a 
 
ILLNESS INCREASING. 453 
 
 cutlet, if possible, twice a day. He accordingly ate a cut- 
 let for breakfast, and then went out for a walk of naif an 
 hour's duration in the bazaars, leaning on the arm of his 
 dragoman. At dinner that day he was unable to sit at the 
 table, which was spread in the court-yard of this truly 
 Oriental hotel, between the fountain and the alcove, on 
 the far sofa of which Buckle was lying, apparently half 
 asleep. As the soup was being served, he suddenly start- 
 ed up, crying, " Oh, mon Dieu, je deviens fou ! " There 
 was a great sensation at the table, and he was taken up- 
 stairs, but remained delirious the whole evening, though 
 he was able to undress and go to bed. This attack he at- 
 tributed to the laudanum he had been ordered to take, 
 which might have had such an effect on his exhausted and 
 weakened frame. 
 
 On Monday or Tuesday Mr. Glennie had called on the 
 acting consul, Mr. Sandwith, and informed him that he 
 was traveling with Mr. Buckle, and that Mr. Buckle was 
 at present ill. Mr. Sandwith at once sent a message ask- 
 ing permission to call upon him ; for which he expressed 
 his thanks, but asked him to defer his visit until he should 
 be better. In the mean while, Dr. Nicora at last discov- 
 ered that his patient was suffering from typhoid fever, 
 and immediately adopted the lowering treatment. He 
 wanted to bleed him, but Buckle strongly objected, and 
 only consented at last to be locally leeched, for he knew 
 well enough the danger of this method of treatment, and 
 especially of bleeding. 68 Accordingly he refused to follow 
 
 66 " The most remarkable symptom of the typhoid poison is the extreme 
 degree of prostration, both of the physical and of the intellectual powers, 
 which it produces. . . . Bleeding is most pernicious." See his " Miscella- 
 neous and Posthumous Works," vol. L, pp. 403, 404. 
 
454 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 the doctor's advice, but treated himself from the small 
 medicine chest which he had brought with him from Eng- 
 land, but soon got too weak even to do this, and the doctor 
 had his own way. He was leeched on Saturday, 24th, Sun- 
 day, 25th, and Tuesday, 27th, and the lowering treatment 
 put into full practice. 
 
 On Thursday, 22d, Mr. Glennie called again on Mr. 
 Sandwith, 67 " to say that he could not conveniently stay any 
 longer, as he was anxious to see Baalbec before quitting 
 Syria, and intended setting out thither at once. He added 
 that he considered Mr. Buckle so far better as to justify 
 his leaving him." 68 "Relieved at hearing a better ac- 
 count, I ventured," continues Mr. Sandwith, " as soon as 
 Mr. Glennie had left, to call at the hotel," and on Sunday, 
 25th, he received Mr. Buckle's permission to visit him. 
 " I found Mr. Buckle in bed," he says, " with a worn and 
 anxious look ; and sitting by his bedside I talked with him 
 for about a quarter of an hour." Buckle spoke with him 
 of Damascus and his travels ; the old fire began to return^ 
 and he talked with considerable animation, among other 
 things mentioning, with great admiration, the name of 
 Dean Stanley, whose mind he considered one of the most 
 fruitful in the English Church, and of rare independence ; 
 and incidentally, that religion, being of all others the sub- 
 ject of most importance to mankind, had consequently 
 engrossed some of the deepest minds in all ages. Judging 
 that he was fatigued, Mr. Sandwith then left, at the same 
 time making arrangements to take the boys, who were 
 still at the hotel, but no longer in the same room, and 
 
 67 " Pilgrim Memories," p. 465. 
 
 8 Letter of Mr. Sandwith to Henry Huth. 
 
ILLNESS INCREASING. 455 
 
 of whom " lie seemed very fond," for a ride through the 
 beautiful gardens of Damascus. 
 
 On Monday, 26th, Mr. Sandwith called again, with Mr. 
 Kobson, a missionary, when they found the patient's mind 
 beginning to wander, and his symptoms generally becom- 
 ing so grave that they thought it advisable to ask him if 
 he had any testament to make ; but he was not sufficiently 
 himself to respond pertinently to their questions. Mr. 
 Sandwith then persuaded Dr. Nicora to allow him to tele- 
 graph to Bey rout for an American physician, Dr. Barclay ; 
 he also procured an Englishwoman, who had had experi- 
 ence in nursing, to sit with Buckle ; and he and Mr. Kob- 
 son thenceforward were almost constant in their attendance 
 at his bedside. 
 
 Even now, despite the dreadful state of weakness to 
 which poor Buckle was reduced, his life might possibly 
 have been saved. Mr. Sandwith telegraphed on Monday, 
 26th, at two o'clock in the afternoon ; and allowing two 
 hours for receipt of telegram and preparation, the doctor 
 might, with hard riding, have arrived by eight o'clock on 
 the Tuesday morning. But by the criminal neglect of the 
 telegraph clerks, Dr. Barclay did not receive it until 
 twelve hours after it was sent, and then, instead of at once 
 starting off, he telegraphed back to ask whether his ser- 
 vices were yet required ; and precious time was lost be- 
 fore a second telegram, requiring his immediate pres- 
 ence, reached him. During Tuesday Buckle's mind was 
 clearer again ; he recognized those around him, often 
 sweetly smiling when the boys came into the room, but he 
 was never equal to any sustained mental effort ; his articu- 
 lation was very imperfect, and toward evening his mind 
 
456 BUCKLE'S LIFE AND WRITINGS. 
 
 was wandering again. Dr. Barclay arrived at three o'clock 
 on Wednesday, 28th, and at once pronounced the case al- 
 most hopeless. The patient was insensible, breathing 
 heavily, and his pulse was at 130, feeble and intermit- 
 tent; there were besides indications of internal haemor- 
 rhage. Without waiting for Dr. Mcora, lie at once gave 
 him stimulants; and when that gentleman arrived, he 
 persuaded him to agree to this method of treatment. 69 
 
 About eight o'clock the same evening consciousness be- 
 gan to return, and he managed to intimate that he wished 
 to see his little traveling companions. They came in, one 
 at a time. The first he beckoned to him, and as lie bent 
 down to kiss him, put his arm round his neck and mur- 
 mured, " Poor little boys ! " The other sat with him for 
 about an hour. He had a very quiet night, with intervals 
 of consciousness ; but at six in the morning a sudden and 
 very marked change for the worse became but too pain- 
 fully evident ; and at a quarter past ten he quietly breathed 
 his last, with merely a wave of the hand. 
 
 " I shall never forget the look of intellectual majesty 
 as well as of sweet dignity which death had stamped upon 
 
 69 " I found him apparently moribund, comatose, with stertorous breath- 
 ing, occasionally spasmodic, involuntary discharges, vomiting a black fluid 
 like coffee-grounds, pulse very frequent (130 a minute), feeble, and inter- 
 mitting, and extremities cold. ... I administered an enema of assafcetida, 
 and ordered brandy and water to be given, and sinapisms to be applied to 
 extremities. . . . After some two hours the doctor called, and pronounced 
 the case better than when he called in the forenoon, the pulse having be- 
 come regular, fuller, and comparatively soft, and a warm perspiration hav- 
 ing appeared on the forehead and chest. The breathing was also easier and 
 more natural. After some discussion I induced Dr. Nicora to agree to the 
 stimulant plan of treatment, viz., carbonate of ammonia, stupes of oil of 
 turpentine over the abdomen, which was tympanitic, and the brandy to be 
 continued ; also a blister was applied to the neck, and very strong chicken- 
 broth administered during the night." Evidence of Dr. Barclay. 
 
DEATH. 457 
 
 his features features which, in their sharply defined out- 
 lines, caused by excessive thinness, bore little resemblance," 
 says Mr. Sandwith, "to a photograph of the deceased 
 which I have since seen." That same afternoon we 
 carried him to his last resting-place, in .the little Protes- 
 tant cemetery, " a little company of real mourners the 
 doctor, Mr. Robson, who had watched with me by the pil- 
 low of the departed, myself, and those two boys, the sons 
 of Mr. Huth, who were heart-broken at the sudden loss of 
 their noble-minded companion and friend." The Syrian 
 sun shone hotly down as the solemn Anglican burial ser- 
 vice was read, and mother earth closed over that vesture 
 of decay which, for so short a time, had enwrapped his 
 immortal soul. 
 
 10 He never had but one taken. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 MR. GLENNIE'S MEMORIES. 
 
 ALL the biographies of any importance have already 
 received sufficient notice in the course of this work. But 
 there yet remains one, on the last few months of Buckle's 
 life, which, coming from the pen of a fellow traveler, and 
 professing to be records of " Travel and Discussion in the 
 Birth- Countries of Christianity with the late Henry Thomas 
 Buckle," would appear to be of greater importance than it 
 really is. 
 
 How Mr. Buckle made Mr. Glennie's acquaintance ; how, 
 feeling his health improve, and his love of conversation re- 
 vive, he sought a companion for the remainder of his jour- 
 ney, and, failing the company of any one else, secured that 
 of Mr. Glennie, has already been described. How they met 
 at Suez, and continued their travels together until Mr. Buckle 
 was struck down at Damascus with typhoid fever ; how Mr. 
 Glennie, unwilling to waste his time in attendance on his dy- 
 ing companion, left for Baalbec, and Mr. Buckle died, has 
 also been related, and need not be repeated. The main facts, 
 indeed, were already known soon after Buckle's death. Well, 
 then, may Mr. Glennie have been thought to be one speaking 
 with authority, and his work considered not only an impor- 
 tant contribution to Buckle's biography, but also as a shrine 
 wherein much of his conversation was treasured up. 
 
 The book is a curious one. There is much in it about 
 " Oneness " and the " Ideal." We are told that Christ and 
 the chief priest and elders were in the habit of talking Greek 
 
460 APPENDIX. 
 
 to each other ; * and we are treated to such brilliant flights 
 of eloquence and imagination as the passage : " How Ely- 
 sian were life, all gathering for each other, on the strand of 
 our little star- island, the beautiful shells of natural law, and 
 bathing in the gleaming sea of the Infinite ! " What is even 
 more curious to any one who ever met Buckle is the extraor- 
 dinary fact that in most cases Mr. Glennie seems to monopo- 
 lize the conversation, while Mr. Buckle only ventures to put 
 in occasionally a " Well ! " or " How so ? " or announce the 
 fact that it is time for lunch. But, if the reader be indul- 
 gent, he will pass this over, considering that the unequal 
 length of the paragraphs may be due to the fact that Mr. 
 Glennie has had thirteen years to work up the arguments 
 he urged, while Mr. Buckle's interjections come in very use- 
 fully to help Mr. Glennie along, and wind him up again, as 
 it were, when he has run down. However, this indulgence 
 can not last long ; for looking more carefully at Mr. Buckle's 
 reported conversation, we feel irresistibly impelled to exclaim 
 with the " Athenaeum," " In Mr. Buckle's lifetime he talked 
 sense, but here he is made to talk nonsense." Occasionally, 
 indeed, we do come across a sentence, a fragment, an oasis 
 in the dreary waste of words, which Buckle's friends would 
 recognize as his ; such as his quotation to Mr. Glennie : " I 
 can find you an argument, but not understanding." And 
 yet, notwithstanding this natural deficiency, Mr. Glennie has 
 undertaken to supply Mr. Buckle with arguments some 
 from passages in the "History of Civilization," some from 
 his "Miscellaneous and Posthumous Works," and others, to 
 judge from internal evidence, from his own dreams. 
 
 How, it may be asked, could two boys, the one but fif- 
 teen, the other but twelve, presume to doubt Mr. Glennie's 
 
 1 " Most pertinent is the question of the chief priests and elders of the 
 people : 'Ez/ iroia Qovvia ravra. iroie'is ; /col ris ffoi eSw/cei/ r^v Qovffiav ravirriv ; 
 ' By what authority doest Thou these things ? and who gave Thee this au- 
 thority ? ' And that question can not now be answered by a refusal to 
 answer it OuSe 670? \fyo vfuv Iv iroia l^oviria ravra iroiw ' Neither tell I 
 you by what authority I do these things.' " See p. 298. 
 
 a Page 246. 
 

 APPENDIX. 461 
 
 report of conversations, which were not addressed to them, 
 of which they took no notes, which they frequently did not 
 listen to, and could rarely have remembered or even have 
 understood ? The answer is very simple. Notwithstanding 
 that Mr. Glennie has waited until nearly all was published 
 that poor Buckle left behind him ; notwithstanding his as- 
 sertion that he has " given all Mr. Buckle's more important 
 opinions in the very words of his published writings," 8 he 
 has not read those writings so carefully but what he has 
 attributed to Buckle in many instances the exact opposite of 
 what he says " in his published writings." Such a proof of 
 the worthlessness of Mr. Glennie's record was, indeed, unne- 
 cessary for those who knew Mr. Buckle at all intimately. 
 Buckle's sentiments, behavior, and whole tone of conversa- 
 tion, as here given, are so utterly different from those of the 
 Buckle they knew, that they saw at once that Mr. Glennie 
 was quite incompetent to produce anything at all similar to 
 what he really must have said. 
 
 Mr. Buckle's conversations have been already described 
 in the body of this work ; they were always interesting, 
 whether a discussion of the summum bonum or mere badi- 
 nage. Though vain men were not always pleased to meet 
 him, they listened gladly enough, however they might in- 
 wardly chafe at their inability to shake his argument. 
 " There was nothing awful about Buckle," says a writer in 
 the " Atlantic Monthly " ; and he enjoyed a joke, and made 
 one, as well as anybody. He would listen with deference to 
 anybody who wished really to arrive at the truth ; but " if," 
 says Mr. Longmore, 4 " indeed he saw symptoms of conceit, 
 or impudent dogmatism, on the part of an opponent, he was 
 down upon him like a sledge-hammer ; and I have often pit- 
 ied a poor wretch who had to submit to be pounded to 
 pieces by him, though I must say the victim generally richly 
 deserved it. ... He never prosed, and woe betide him who 
 became prosy in his company. In a single lucid sentence or 
 
 3 Preface, p. xiii. 
 
 4 " Athemeum," 25th January, 1873, p. 114. 
 
462 APPENDIX. 
 
 two he took up the threads of the arguments over which the 
 proser was driveling, and completely shut him up, by clearly 
 explaining to the company what there seemed no prospect of 
 his being able, in any reasonable time, to make clear him- 
 self." 
 
 His conversations with Mr. Glennie were no exceptions 
 to this rule. Here was a young man, whom Buckle thought 
 to be clever and desirous of knowledge ; he intended to 
 write a book on the " History of British Law " ; he was go- 
 ing to publish it in two years. Nothing could be more 
 likely to enlist Buckle's sympathy, nothing more powerful 
 to move him to point out the road most likely to lead an 
 earnest worker in the right direction. He very early ex- 
 plained to Mr. Glennie how impossible it was to write any- 
 thing worth reading without having previously studied all 
 that had been written of importance on the subject, and 
 without having formed and exercised one's self in a good 
 style of writing. He ought to devote at least ten years 
 more to preparation. As he sat inside his tent with the boys 
 at 'Ain Musa, the first evening of the desert life, he smiled, 
 and nodding toward the form of Mr. Glennie, who stood 
 outside in his red tarboosh, said, " The tall man in the red 
 cap thinks he is going to write a book in two years." Mr. 
 Glennie's first scientific work was published just ten years 
 after. 
 
 Mr. Glennie seems to have omitted this conversation on 
 his projected work, so we will go on to the first that he does 
 give : on Buckle's estimation of the character of the Scotch. 
 In this, Mr. Buckle asks Mr. Glennie what he thinks it was 
 so excited the anger of his countrymen. 6 Mr. Glennie an- 
 swers, that Buckle should have read more of the ballad liter- 
 ature of Scotland instead of the religious publications exclu- 
 sively. To this Buckle is made to say nothing more than 
 what has been published long ago in his History. Mr. Glen- 
 nie then observes that he thinks " civilization in Scotland, 
 and its history, can not be truly represented as a whole with-' 
 
 6 Page 104. 
 

 APPENDIX. 463 
 
 out taking due account of both these parties (i. e., the fanat- 
 ical majority and the skeptical minority) ; so, the fanatical 
 Christian section can not be truly judged except except it 
 be justified." Buckle is surprised, and Mr. Glennie goes on 
 to explain that " these men had but drunk too deeply of 
 dogmatic Christianity," 6 and to that should be attributed 
 their intolerance, their belief in themselves, the patience of 
 their flocks, their assumption of, and the public acquiescence 
 in, their claim to be divinities on earth ! And Buckle has 
 no direct answer to make to this ! He has nothing to say to 
 the assertion that these men are pardonable because they 
 only adopted literally, and believed without question, the 
 words of the Bible ! He allows Mr. Glennie, according to 
 Mr. Glennie's account, to slip on to another question, which 
 we shall presently notice, and says nothing ! Why, pages of 
 his History might be quoted in answer ! He pardons 
 them, indeed, in that they kept alive the spark of liberty : 
 " One thing they achieved, which should make us honor their 
 memory, and repute them benefactors of their species. At 
 a most hazardous moment, they kept alive the spirit of na- 
 tional liberty. . . . This is their real glory, and on this 
 they may well repose. They were the guardians of Scotch 
 freedom, and they stood to their post. Where danger was, 
 they were foremost." 7 He pardons them for that, and tells 
 us that the real cause of their conduct was the circumstances 
 under which they were placed. To impute blame to them, 
 would be to blame the laws of nature. We do not, indeed, 
 blame a man because he is criminal ; we blame his education. 
 At the same time, we can hardly praise him for his wicked- 
 ness. He undoubtedly has a certain amount of free will, 
 and he might have been better. Nor, even if he has no free 
 will whatever, will our opinion be modified. We admire the 
 well made and strong, not the weak and the crippled. Be- 
 cause the Scotch Covenanters did one good thing, shall we 
 neglect to censure those things they did which were bad ? 
 
 6 Page 113. 
 
 7 " History of Civilization," vol. ii., p. 258. 
 
464: APPENDIX. 
 
 Shall we praise them for their ignorance and intolerance, 
 their ascetism and tyranny, because they refused to allow 
 any sort of tyranny but their own ? However, undisturbed 
 by anything of this sort, the conversation is thus continued : 
 
 "B[uckle]. I have not yet happened to study the his- 
 tory of Buddhism. 
 
 " A[uthor, i. e., Mr. Glennie]. No study can, I think, be 
 more instructive with reference to the origin and character 
 of Christianity as a great historical phenomenon. For Bud- 
 dhism is the Eastern correlate of Christianity," etc. 
 
 "B. Well, I fear that I must admit the truth of your 
 other allegation, and that it was really out of expediency 
 rather than principle that the toleration of Christian com- 
 munities historically arose. 
 
 "A. Not in Christianity, therefore, which ever was as 
 to this day, wherever it has the chance, it is bitterly anti- 
 tolerationist," etc. 8 
 
 Had Mr. Glennie read Mr. Buckle's Commonplace 
 Books, instead of merely looking into the index, had he 
 carefully looked through the " History of Civilization," had 
 he even kept a catalogue from the sale of Mr. Buckle's 
 library, he might have avoided so grave a mistake. In this 
 catalogue may be found the titles of numbers of books which 
 Buckle could not have read without studying Buddhism ; 9 
 
 8 Page 115. 
 
 9 "History of Civilization," vol. i., p. 2, note 7. From the Sale Cata- 
 logue I select the following : 
 
 " Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal." Calcutta. 8vo. 
 
 " European Speculations on Buddhism." By B. H. Hodgson. Vol. Hi., 
 pp. 382-387. 1834. 
 
 " Further Remarks on M. R6musat's Review of Buddhism." By B. H. 
 Hodgson. Vol. iii., pp. 425-431. 1834. 
 
 "Notices on the Different Systems of Buddhism, extracted from the 
 Tibetan Authorities." By A. C. Korosi. Vol. vii., p. 142, et seg. 
 
 " Review of L'Histoire du Buddhism Indien, par E. Burnouf." By Dr. 
 E. Roer. Vol. xiv., part ii., pp. 783-809. 1845. 
 
 " A Few Gleanings in Buddhism." By Colonel Low. Vol. xvii., part, 
 ii., pp. 591-618. 1848. 
 
 " Asiatic Researches, or Transactions of the Society Instituted in Ben- 
 gal," etc. Calcutta. 4to. 
 
APPENDIX. 465 
 
 while in the Commonplace Book, Buckle has several notes 
 on Buddhism. And Mr. Glennie must teach Buckle, for- 
 sooth, that " Buddhism is the Eastern correlate of Christi- 
 anity." The remark was made long ago by Southey, who, 
 though he did not see the entire bearing of the subject, yet 
 writes : " I think I have discovered that one of the great 
 Oriental mythologies was borrowed from Christianity that 
 of Buddha, the Fo of the Chinese ; if so, what becomes of 
 their chronology ? " and is copied into Buckle's Common- 
 place Book, as an instance of the advance of religious 
 knowledge in England in 1805. 10 Moreover, if this is not 
 enough, the whole scope and tenor of Buckle's studies might 
 have taught Mr. Glennie better ; and, further, since we only 
 have Mr. Glennie's word for the assertion, he must not com- 
 plain if I, too, assert, that when talking on Fichte to my 
 mother he explained the relation of Fichte's philosophy to 
 Buddhism, and said that the latter " was a most philosophi- 
 
 " On Egypt and other Countries, etc., from the Ancient Books of the 
 Hindus." By Fr. Wilford. Vol. iii., art. xiii., pp. 412, et seq. 
 
 " On Singhala, or Ceylon, and the Doctrines of Bhooda, from the Books 
 of the Singhalaise." By Capt. Mahony. Vol. vii., art. ii., pp. 32-56. 
 
 " Introductory Remarks intended to have accompanied Capt. Mahony's 
 Paper on Ceylon and the Doctrines of Buddha," etc. By J. H. Harrington. 
 Vol. viii., appendix, p. 503, et seq. 
 
 " On the Religion and Literature of the Burmas." By Fr. Buchanan. 
 Vol. vi., art. viii., pp. 163-308. 
 
 " The Mahawanso, in Roman Characters, with the Translation subjoined, 
 and an Introductory Essay on Pali Buddhistical Literature." By the Hon. 
 G. Tumour. Ceylon, 1837. 4to. 
 
 " Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ire- 
 land." London. 4to. 
 
 " Sketch of Buddhism, derived from the Buddha Scriptures of Nipal." 
 By B. H. Hodgson. Vol. ii., art. xiii., pp. 222-257, and appendix, pp. 
 Ixxvii.-lxxxii. 
 
 " On Buddha." By James Low. Vol. iii., art. iii., pp. 57-65. 
 
 " A Disputation respecting Caste, by a Buddhist," etc. By B. H. Hodg- 
 son. Ibid., pp. 160-169. 
 
 "Journal Asiatique." Paris. 8vo. 1822-1848. Contains many pa- 
 pers on Buddhism. 
 
 Also other and general works. 
 
 10 Buckle's C. P. B., art. 1986. See, also, art. 1779. 
 30 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 cal creed." Even the beginning of Mr. Glennie's sentence, 
 No study can, I think, be more instructive," is, with the 
 exception of the " I think," extremely like Buckle's diction. 
 And then Mr. Buckle has, as he fears to admit, Mr. Glen- 
 nie's teaching that Christians only became tolerant from 
 expediency ! This is Mr. Buckle's own teaching, as far as 
 concerns the immediate cause. But it is not the ultimate 
 cause, which Buckle has so frequently pointed out in his 
 History ; " while, as for Mr.' Glennie's teaching, " Not in 
 Christianity, therefore, which ever was as to this day, 
 wherever it has the chance, it is bitterly anti-tolerationist," 
 it only differs in being involved and confused from Mr. 
 Buckle's contemptuous reference to that " meddling and in- 
 tolerant spirit which, in every age, has characterized eccle- 
 siastical legislation." 12 Mr. Glennie then goes on to say 
 that the principle of toleration is contrary to Christian be- 
 liefs, since it involves a denial that belief in its dogmas is 
 necessary for salvation. 13 And Buckle, instead of pointing 
 out that it does nothing of the sort," is made to give the 
 totally irrelevant answer that the Covenanters were ascetic. 
 Mr. Glennie, in defending the bigotry and intolerance of the 
 Covenanters, finds it necessary to point out to Mr. Buckle 
 that this was due to their creed, and that, however pernicious 
 this creed was, they should be treated with honor for the 
 self-sacrificing devotion which has given them a place in the 
 history of Christian fanaticism. To which Mr. Buckle an- 
 swers, that he can not excuse this fanaticism on the score of 
 its being the natural result of Christian teaching. 15 What 
 an honorable position to take " a place in the history of 
 Christian fanaticism ! " Mr. Glennie deserves credit for his 
 powers of muddling what is so exceedingly clear in the 
 "History of Civilization." Buckle says that in keeping 
 
 11 Compare, e. g., chap. viii. and p. 481, vol. i. 
 
 12 See vol. i., pp. 520, 521, 524, and vol. ii., p. 405, of the " History of 
 Civilization." 
 
 13 Page 116. 
 
 14 E. g., " History of Civilization," vol. i., p. 506. 
 
 15 Page 118. 
 
APPENDIX. 46Y 
 
 alive Scottish liberty they did a real good. " Herein, they 
 did a deed which should compensate for all their offenses, 
 even were their offenses ten times as great"; 1 ? and shows 
 that " the real cause of their conduct was the spirit of their 
 age, and the peculiarities of their position. None of us can 
 be sure that if we were placed exactly as they were placed 
 we should have acted differently. ... In Scotland the age 
 was evil, and the evil rose to the surface. . . . We should, 
 in fairness to the Scotch clergy, admit that the condition of 
 their country affords the best explanation of their conduct. 
 . . . Let us not be too forward in censuring the leading 
 actors in that great crisis through which Scotland passed." " 
 In this there is sense ; but where is the honor of a place in 
 Christian fanaticism ? Is it likely, too, that Buckle would 
 have made such a lame answer to Mr. Glennie's extraordi- 
 nary proposition, as merely to say that their fanaticism was 
 not the " natural fruits of Christian beliefs " ? He would 
 have said that the practice of Christianity is the result of 
 the state of civilization ; and, moreover, that pure Christi- 
 anity inculcates no monstrous persecution. But instead, he 
 only "courteously" admits "that there was something in 
 what" Mr. Glennie has said. 18 
 
 " Mr. Buckle set everything on style," says Mr. Glennie, 
 " attacht (sic) the greatest importance to its cultivation, and 
 declared that it so influenced men that that alone would pre- 
 serve one's fame. Hence it was that the poets were so pop- 
 ular, and that the influence of their pernicious fancies was 
 so great." And then he actually adds : " My dissent from 
 this rather strongly expressed opinion as to the influence of 
 the poets only provoked a more explicitly contemptuous de- 
 nunciation of them, except the two or three greatest, and 
 particularly Shakespeare and Moliere." ] I will merely quote 
 a few words from Buckle's " History of Civilization " : " In 
 England, especially, there is, among physical inquirers, an 
 
 16 " History of Civilization," ii., p. 259. 
 
 17 " History of Civilization," vol. ii., pp. 257-259. 
 is pilgrim Memories," p. 121. 
 
 19 Page 169. 
 
408 APPENDIX. 
 
 avowed determination to separate philosophy from poetry, 
 and to look upon them, not only as different, but as hostile. 
 Among that class of thinkers, whose zeal and ability are be- 
 yond all praise, and to whom we owe almost unbounded ob- 
 ligations, there does undoubtedly exist a very strong opinion, 
 that, in their own pursuit, the imagination is extremely dan- 
 gerous, as leading to speculations, of which the basis is not 
 yet assured, and generating a desire to catch too eagerly at 
 distant glimpses before the intermediate ground has been 
 traversed. That the imagination has this tendency is unde- 
 niable. But they who object to it on this account, and who 
 would, therefore, divorce poetry from philosophy, have, I 
 apprehend, taken a too limited view of the functions of the 
 human mind, and of the manner in which truth is obtained. 
 There is, in poetry, a divine and prophetic power, and an in- 
 sight into the turn and aspect of things, which, if properly 
 used, would make it the ally of science instead of the enemy. 
 By the poet, nature is contemplated on the side of the emo- 
 tions ; by the man of science, on the side of the understand- 
 ing. But the emotions are as much a part of us as the un- 
 derstanding ; they are as truthful ; they are as likely to be 
 right. Though their view is different, it is not capricious. 
 They obey fixed laws ; they follow an orderly and uniform 
 course ; they run in sequences ; they have their logic and 
 method of inference. Poetry, therefore, is a part of philos- 
 ophy, simply because the emotions are a part of the mind. 
 If the man of science despises their teaching, so much the 
 worse for him. He has only half his weapons ; his arsenal 
 is unfilled. . . . And I can hardly doubt that one of the 
 reasons why we, in England, made such wonderful discoveries 
 during the seventeenth century, was because that century 
 was also the great age of English poetry. The two mighti- 
 est intellects our country has produced are Shakespeare and 
 Newton ; and that Shakespeare should have preceded was, I 
 believe, no casual or unmeaning event. Shakespeare and 
 the poets sowed the seed which Newton and the philosophers 
 reaped." s And again he says : " To these cases of the ap- 
 80 " History of Civilization," vol. ii., pp. 602-504. 
 
APPENDIX. 469 
 
 plication of what may be termed the ideal method to the in- 
 organic world, I will add another from the organic depart- 
 ment of nature. Those among you who are interested in 
 botany, are aware that the highest morphological generaliza- 
 tion we possess respecting plants is the great law of meta- 
 morphosis, according to which the stamens, pistils, corollas, 
 bracts, petals, and so forth, of every plant are simply modi- 
 fied leaves. It is now known that these various parts, dif- 
 ferent in shape, different in color, different in function, are 
 successive stages of the leaf epochs, as it were, of its his- 
 tory. The question naturally arises, who made this discovery ? 
 Was it some inductive investigator ? . ,. . Not so. The dis- 
 covery was made by Goethe, the greatest poet Germany has 
 produced, and one of the greatest the world has ever seen. 
 And he made it, not in spite of being a poet, but because 
 he was a poet." 21 
 
 These few passages are sufficient, I should suppose, to 
 convince even Mr. Glennie that he has made an egregious 
 blunder in attributing to Mr. Buckle sentiments adverse to 
 poetry ; and that he might easily have corrected his memory 
 or his note-book in the course of the twelve years which 
 elapsed between this reported conversation and the publica- 
 tion of it. 22 The fact is that Buckle was constantly quoting 
 poetry ; that he had all the best parts of the poets by heart ; 
 and that he read Shakespeare, Homer, Goethe, Dante, Milton, 
 Corneille, and Moliere with ever-increasing admiration and 
 pleasure. No. What he probably did say to Mr. Glennie 
 was, that ideas alone would not produce a good style ; and 
 that to acquire a good style it was necessary to study the 
 best authors, as he himself had done. This was another les- 
 son kindly given to Mr. Glennie, which he would have done 
 well to profit by. 
 
 21 " Lecture on the Influence of Women on the Progress of Knowledge." 
 S2 It is not a little extraordinary that Mr. Glennie makes this mistake, 
 
 seeing that he admits having read Buckle's published writings (preface, p. 
 
 xiii.), and particularly mentions having heard the lecture, from which he 
 
 walked home, as he kindly informs the world, " to the rooms I then had in 
 
 Mount Street " (p. 102). 
 
470 APPENDIX. 
 
 But Mr. Glennie is not content with attributing a dislike 
 to the poets to Mr. Buckle ; he also makes him deny the 
 value of the imagination in science. " I got into discussion 
 with Mr. Buckle," he says, " on the necessary qualifications 
 of the historian. I maintained, and he at length partially 
 admitted that, for the truly great historian was requisite, 
 not only the analytic power of the philosopher, but the 
 sympathetic insight of the poet." * Now, if there was any 
 one thing which Buckle insisted on more than another in all 
 his writings, it was precisely this. The whole of the lecture 
 he gave particularly turned on it ; the " History of Civiliza- 
 tion " teems with passages deprecating the neglect of the ima- 
 gination, which he shows to be one of the most important 
 means of scientific investigation. After the passages which 
 I have quoted above, it is hardly necessary to quote any 
 more ; yet, since Mr. Glennie may fancy that this does not 
 apply to history, I will quote yet another passage but one 
 from the many which might be quoted. In his account of 
 the Scotch intellect, he compares Hume and Adam Smith : 
 " But Hume, though a most accomplished reasoner, as well as 
 a profound and fearless thinker, had not the comprehensive- 
 ness of Adam Smith, nor had he that invaluable quality of 
 the imagination without which no one can so transport him- 
 self into past ages as to realize the long and progressive 
 movements of society, always fluctuating, yet, on the whole, 
 steadily advancing. How unimaginative he was appears, 
 not only from the sentiments he expressed, but likewise from 
 many traits in his private life. It appears, also, in the very 
 color and mechanism of his language ; that beautiful and 
 chiseled style in which he habitually wrote, polished as 
 marble, but cold as marble too, and wanting that fiery enthu- 
 siasm and those bursts of tempestuous eloquence which, ever 
 and anon, great objects naturally inspire, and which rouse 
 men to their inmost depths. This it was, which, in his 
 * History of England ' that exquisite production of art, 
 which, in spite of its errors, will be admired as long as taste 
 remain among us prevented him from sympathizing with 
 23 pilg r i m Memories," p. 314. 
 
APPENDIX. 471 
 
 those bold and generous natures, who, in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, risked their all to preserve the liberty of their country. 
 His imagination was not strong enough to picture the whole 
 of that great century, with its vast discoveries, its longings 
 after the unknown, its splendid literature, and, what was bet- 
 ter than all these, its stern determination to vindicate free- 
 dom, and to put down tyranny. His clear and powerful un- 
 derstanding saw these things separately, and in their various 
 parts, but could not fuse them into a single form because he 
 lacked that peculiar faculty which assimilates the past to 
 the present, and enables the mind to discern both with al- 
 most equal ease. That Great Rebellion, which he ascribed 
 to the spirit of faction, and the leaders of which he turned 
 into ridicule, was but the continuation of a movement which 
 can be clearly traced to the twelfth century, and of which 
 such events as the invention of printing, and the establish- 
 ment of the Reformation, were merely successive symptoms. 
 For all this, Hume cared nothing. In regard to philosophy, 
 and in regard to the purely speculative parts of religious 
 doctrines, his penetrating genius enabled him to perceive 
 that nothing could be done, except by a spirit of fearless 
 and unrestrained liberty. But this was the liberty of his 
 own class ; the liberty of thinkers, and not of actors. His ab- 
 sence of imagination prevented him from extending the range 
 of his sympathy beyond the intellectual classes, that is, be- 
 yond the classes of whose feelings he was directly cogni- 
 zant. It would, therefore, appear, that his political errors 
 were due, not, as is commonly said, to his want of research, 
 but rather to the coldness of his temperament. It was this 
 which made him stop where he did, and which gave to his 
 works the singular appearance of a profound and original 
 thinker, in the middle of the eighteenth century, advocating 
 practical doctrines, so illiberal, that, if enforced, they would 
 lead to despotism, and yet, at the same time, advocating 
 speculative doctrines, so fearless and enlightened, that they 
 were not only far in advance of his own age, but have, in 
 some degree, outstripped even the age in which we live." ! 
 24 " History of Civilization," vol. ii., pp. 458-460. 
 
472 APPENDIX. 
 
 This is what Mr. Glennie calls opposing the value of the 
 imagination of the historian ! 
 
 The next long conversation which Mr. Glennie reports to 
 us is on the non-effect of moral truth on the progress of civ- 
 ilization. What Buckle is made to say, when there is any- 
 thing at all in his remarks, is merely a succession of extracts 
 from the "History of Civilization"; and what Mr. Glennie 
 says is chiefly remarkable for the way in which he utterly 
 misunderstands Buckle's position, and the way in which he 
 ventures to say things which not only Buckle but any edu- 
 cated man could easily refute. 36 However, Mr. Buckle was, 
 as usual, wof ully defeated, and meekly says, " Well, I think 
 it is time for lunch." After lunch, however, Buckle takes 
 heart of grace, and renews the conversation with the new 
 weapon of the state of morality in the middle ages. " Mr. 
 Buckle thought he had me there," says Mr. Glennie. 28 But 
 how miserable was his defeat ! Mr. Glennie was quite calm ; 
 his cheeks blanched not ; he firmly withstood the shock ; 
 and then quietly overwhelmed his antagonist with a speech 
 of two or three pages in length. It was Prince Giglio and 
 Captain Hedzoff over again. Mr. Glennie's argument was, 
 of course, quite unanswerable. Mr. Buckle had, indeed, 
 caught a Tartar when he " thought he had him there," and 
 could only slink away crestfallen to the innermost recesses of 
 his tent. 
 
 It is a remarkable thing, and speaks volumes for Mr. 
 Buckle's courage, that, notwithstanding his repeated and 
 almost invariable defeats, he should still continue to wage 
 an impotent war against his invincible antagonist. The sub- 
 ject of the next conversation is the materialistic view of the 
 greatest happiness, 27 a subject in which Buckle was deeply 
 
 85 Mr. Glennie says, for example (pp. 198, 199), that Buckle attributes 
 the rise of every new religion to the acquirement of new knowledge; 
 whereas, what Buckle did say was, that no new religion advances civiliza- 
 tion or influences the people, unless it is accompanied by an increase of 
 knowledge. It is merely the old religion with a new name, and the people 
 act as they did before it was introduced. 
 
 SB piig r i m Memories," p. 200. 
 
 27 Ibid., pp. 206-219. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 interested. In this the reader will notice with astonishment 
 that, while Mr. Glennie delivers himself of some three hun- 
 dred lines of print, Buckle is unable to manage even one 
 hundred. Perhaps some Philistine, who has not read Mr. 
 Glennie's volume, may urge that Buckle, being a good writer 
 and conversationalist, might have made his sentences more 
 pithy, straight, and to the point ; while Mr. Glennie labored 
 on, like the horse in the mill, ever circling, but never nearer 
 to the point around which he works. But if he reads, he 
 will find this theory untenable, for Buckle's style in this con- 
 versation is no better than Mr. Glennie's. He will find no 
 trace of that manysidedness which is so distinguishing a 
 characteristic of Buckle's reasoning, and which we may illus- 
 trate, for instance, by a reference to the letter on J. S. Mill 
 which he wrote from Cairo. 28 The doctrine here attributed 
 to him is poorly materialistic. In it there is no room for 
 love. Buckle had no love ! No room for poetry. No room 
 for anything but cut-and-dried selfishness ! There is, indeed, 
 nothing new in this conversation beyond the fact that Mr. 
 Glennie understands the subject no better than he does Mr. 
 Buckle. 
 
 It would be wearisome tp the reader, and perhaps it is 
 not possible for me, exhaustively to criticise all the conver- 
 sations which Mr. Glennie has reported. We can not read 
 them without seeing that he is deeply indebted to Buckle ; 
 that the barren soil has brought forth something it would not 
 otherwise have been capable of. But the crop is so intermin- 
 gled with tares and weeds that it is valueless. What I have 
 just said of the last conversation is again applicable to the 
 next it is all Mr. Buckle encouraging Mr. Glennie to state his 
 opinions, and no Mr. Buckle then stating his, and examining 
 where they differed. But that the conversation took place 
 as Mr. Glennie writes it, I, for one, do not believe. We may 
 allow, for instance, that Mr. Glennie quoted Aristotle in the 
 original Greek, as he before says he quoted Socrates. 29 The 
 thing is possible, though hardly probable. But, that he had 
 
 28 See p. 387. 
 
 29 " Pilgrim Memories," pp. 75, 222. 
 
474: APPENDIX. 
 
 to add a translation for Buckle's benefit ! If the translation 
 was meant for the reader only, then why was it not put in a 
 note, like the translation to the quotation which he says he 
 made from Hegel in the original German ? 80 But it will not 
 do to pass all that follows over. There is one, in which Mr. 
 Glennie professes to give an account of a conversation he 
 again had with Mr. Buckle, on the relative influence of moral 
 and intellectual knowledge, and in which a German clergy- 
 man who was traveling with another party took part. Of the 
 one, he merely says : " Mr. Buckle, with his deism, which, 
 notwithstanding all his anti-theological zeal, he but obscurely 
 saw to be but a specially indefensible theology, agreed with 
 the German." Of himself he says : "For myself, however, 
 I thought with Hume, the great founder of the Scottish 
 school, and the coinitiator with Kant of a new period of 
 European philosophy. . . . Nor, as I maintained, was this 
 a mere open question. . . . As to the origin of this hypoth- 
 esis, it is to be found in the earlier stage of men's concep- 
 tions of causation, which Hume (in that profound theory 
 of 'The Natural History of Religion,' of which Comte's 
 * Law of the Three Periods ' was little more than a f ormu- 
 lizing) was the first adequately to distinguish as the theo- 
 logical stage, in its three progressive periods of vulgar 
 polytheism (called by Comte 'fetichism'), polytheism, and 
 monotheism." 81 
 
 The reader will bear in mind that Mr. Glennie is telling 
 this to Mr. Buckle, and then will turn with me to the " His- 
 tory of Civilization," Vol. I, p. 229, Note 22, and read as 
 follows, on Hume's method : " The historical facts he intro- 
 duces are merely illustrations ; as any one will see who will 
 read * The Natural History of Religion ' in ' Hume's Philo- 
 sophical Works,' Edinburgh, 1826, Yol. IV., pp. 435-513. I 
 may mention that there is a considerable similarity between 
 the views advocated in this remarkable essay and the relig- 
 ious stages of Comte's ' Philosophic Positive '; for Hume's 
 
 80 A translation, moreover, which is poor literally, and grammatically 
 bad. See " Pilgrim Memories," p. 240, note. 
 . 31 "Pilgrim Memories," pp. 250-252. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 early form of polytheism is evidently the saml 
 fetichism, from which both these writers believe that mono- 
 theism subsequently arose, as a later and more refined ab- 
 straction. That this was the course adopted by the human 
 mind is highly probable, and is confirmed by the learned 
 researches of Mr. Grote. See his ' History of Greece,' Vol. 
 I, pp. 462, 497, Vol. V., p. 22. The opposite and more 
 popular opinion, of monotheism preceding idolatry, was held 
 by most of the great earlier writers, and is defended by 
 many moderns, and among others by Dr. Whewell (' Bridge- 
 water Treatise,' p. 256), who expresses himself with consid- 
 erable confidence ; see also ' Letters from Warburton to 
 Kurd,' p. 239. Compare Thirlwall's ' History of Greece,' 
 Vol. I., p. 183, London, 1835, with < Einige Funken des Mono- 
 theismus ' of Kant, ' Kritik der reinen Vernunf t,' in ' Kant's 
 Werke,' Vol. II., p. 455." 
 
 The next conversation is on the question of hereditary 
 genius, which Buckle had justly said was not proved. In 
 this conversation Mr. Glennie does not make him say any- 
 thing new ; but he says in the course of it : " And with 
 characteristic frankness, he pointed to the phrenological indi- 
 cations of his own head his forehead having been, before he 
 became bald, not even apparently by any means very high or 
 broad ; and yet but it was the circumstances of his 
 life." 32 
 
 This passage is " not even apparently by any means very " 
 clear, or grammatical. What does Mr. Glennie mean ? That 
 Buckle having lost his hair had gained a " phrenological in- 
 dication ? " That having lost his hair his forehead suddenly 
 bulged out and became " apparently by every means very 
 high and broad ? " Or does he mean to say that his forehead 
 was an imposture, and looked high only because he was bald ? 
 What were the " circumstances of his life " ? To bewilder 
 us still more, Mr. Glennie adds the following mysterious note 
 after the word " frankness " in this passage : " Compare an- 
 ecdote above quoted from the ' Atlantic Monthly.' " What 
 
 32 Pilgrim Memories," p. 339. 
 
476 APPENDIX. 
 
 anecdote ? The " Atlantic Monthly " says nothing whatever 
 on the question. As it happens, I do recollect the circum- 
 stance to which Mr. Glennie thus obscurely alludes, though 
 I can not unravel the mysteries of his report. In talking on 
 phrenology, Buckle, as a kind of argument that working the 
 brain did raise the forehead, pointed to his own, and told 
 Mr. Glennie that as a youth he had had a very low forehead, 
 whereas now it was patent to all (and may be seen by the 
 only photograph ever taken of him) that his forehead was 
 remarkably high and broad. Let the reader understand this 
 from Mr. Glennie's report, if he can. 
 
 What is the value of conversations recorded as are these ? 
 They give us no new knowledge, for all that is of value in 
 them had been already published before Mr. Glennie wrote. 
 They give us not only no true idea of what Buckle was in 
 conversation, but they do give us a most wrong and harmful 
 and untrue idea. Buckle is used simply as a peg upon which 
 Mr. Glennie may hang his own views ; Buckle begs expla- 
 nations, and Mr. Glennie explains ; Buckle says " How so ? " 
 and Mr. Glennie adds some more explanation. Look at the 
 conversation related on pages 345-364 ; would not any one, 
 unacquainted with Buckle's works, put him down as a fool ? 
 Buckle is always wandering from the subject ; logical Mr. 
 Glennie is always bringing him back. Buckle seeks to es- 
 cape by turning the conversation ; 8S victorious Mr. Glennie, 
 with true magnanimity, allows it. Buckle has the misfortune 
 to utter the word " toleration " ; but Mr. Glennie is instant- 
 ly down upon him with : " I exceedingly dislike the word. 
 Toleration, properly speaking, can be, and has in fact his- 
 torically been, offered only by those who endeavored to carry 
 off their inability to suppress by an insolent assumption of 
 superiority in permitting. Letting the word, however, pass, 
 my views," etc., etc. 34 As if Mr. Glennie ever dared to 
 talk like this ! or as if Buckle, despite his marvelous pa- 
 tience, would have allowed so insolent an " assumption of 
 superiority of permitting ! " Mr. Glennie here talks some 
 
 33 Page 353. & Page 350. 
 

 APPENDIX. 477 
 
 four hundred lines ; while Buckle does not take even one 
 hundred and fifty. Mr Glennie quotes a passage from the 
 Greek Testament, and translates it for Buckle's benefit. 35 
 Therefore we must draw the conclusion that Buckle did not 
 know Greek, while Mr. Glennie knew Aristotle's works, Soc- 
 rates, and the New Testament by heart. He is, indeed, a 
 wonderful man, with a wonderful memory ; a memory, how- 
 ever, which nevertheless is strangely unable to retain Buckle's 
 conversation. Look again at the matter of these conversa- 
 tions. Mr. Glennie is allowed to go on with but half an- 
 swers from Buckle, while any one with even a tolerable ac- 
 quaintance with Buckle's habit of thought could double 
 them. All that Mr. Glennie says here could have been ea- 
 sily refuted out of the " History of Civilization." 
 
 At last Buckle tired of Mr. Glennie's arguments about 
 " Oneness " and " Mutual Determination," and endeavors to 
 prove from his inner consciousness the great effect of moral 
 laws on the progress of civilization told him that if he 
 wanted to prove it he must do so historically, and offered 
 him all the assistance in his power. So magnificent an offer 
 was, of course, accepted with proper gratitude by Mr. Glen- 
 nie, who said, " Of course I shall acknowledge the assistance 
 from you in my preface," or words to that effect. But 
 Buckle answered that he need do nothing of the sort : " I 
 have made my reputation ; you have yours still to make." 
 I have seen no mention of this conversation in Mr. Glennie's 
 " Pilgrim Memories." 
 
 If these conversations are valueless, there yet remains a 
 good deal of description of scenery, which may be interest- 
 ing, though it can not, of course, differ very much from the 
 descriptions in " Murray's Guide," if both be true. But the 
 reader will find that the resemblance is even greater than he 
 would at first have been led to expect, as though " Murray " 
 had had a prophetic view of what Mr. Glennie was going to 
 write, and had forestalled him. I put a few passages side 
 by side : 
 
 35 Page 363. 
 
478 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mr. Porter, in "Murray's Guide," 
 published 1868. 
 
 " Damascus and its plain burst 
 at once upon our view. The 
 change is so sudden, so unex- 
 pected, that it seems like some 
 glorious vision. . . . This distance 
 lends enchantment to the view. 
 . . . Tapering minarets and swell- 
 ing domes, tipped with golden 
 crescents, rise up in every direc- 
 tion from the confused mass of 
 white terraced roofs; while in 
 some places their glittering tops 
 appear above the deep green fo- 
 liage, like diamonds in the midst 
 of emeralds . . . Away on the 
 south the eye follows ... a long 
 green meadow, stretching from 
 near the mouth of the gorge to 
 the western side of the city. The 
 Barada winds through it ..." 
 (p. 435). 
 
 And again : 
 
 Mr. Porter. 
 
 "Napoleon called it the key 
 of Palestine. . . . The Phoenician 
 Accho took the Greek name Ptol- 
 emais. ... In 1229 it became the 
 chief seat of the Kingdom of Je- 
 rusalem, and the headquarters 
 of the Templars, the Teutonic 
 Knights, and the Knights of St. 
 John. The latter took the title 
 of St. John of 'Akka ; which, in 
 the French orthography, St. Jean 
 d'Acre, became the current ap- 
 pellation of the city in Europe. 
 The city was now a Babel of 
 tongues, races, and rulers. Gib- 
 
 Mr. Glennie, in " Pilgrim Memo- 
 ries," published 1875. 
 
 " And suddenly nere there 
 bursts on us a wondrous scene. 
 Below us, at the foot of the bar- 
 ren mountains, stretched, far aa 
 the eye, in the clear Eastern air, 
 could see, a vast desert. But in 
 its center was a long strip, wide 
 toward the north, and narrowing 
 southward, of the most gloriously 
 rich vegetation. Amid the deep 
 green foliage was a confused mass 
 of white terraced roofs. Over 
 these rose countless swelling 
 domes and tapering minarets, 
 glittering, here and there, like 
 diamonds set with emeralds. And 
 outside this Paradise-city, and 
 between it and the desert, lay a 
 wide and beautiful meadow, in 
 the midst of which gleamed a 
 winding stream " (p. 450). 
 
 Mr. Glennie. 
 
 " Our first day's journey was 
 down to the sea at Akka the 
 * Key of Palestine,' as it was 
 called by Napoleon St. Jean 
 d' Acre. . . . Soon after, we passed 
 through the gates, and rode along 
 streets that occupy the site of 
 those of the Phoenician Accho 
 and Greek Ptolemais ; of what 
 was once the chief place of the 
 mediaeval kingdom of Jerusalem ; 
 the headquarters of the Knights 
 of the Temple, the Teutonic 
 Knights, and the Knights of St. 
 John (from whom the town has 
 

 APPENDIX. 479 
 
 bon well remarks . . . 'a mourn- its modern name of St. Jean 
 ful and solitary silence prevailed d'Acre) ; the general gathering- 
 along the toast which had so long place of the Crusaders ; and the 
 resounded with the WOKLD'S DE- seat of those congresses in which 
 BATE ' " (pp. 355-357). all the princes of Europe met, 
 
 when these now silent shores 
 'resounded,' as again they may, 
 4 with the world's debate.' GIB- 
 BON, ' Decline and Fall,' vol. vii., 
 close of chapter on ' Crusades.' " 
 
 I have no more space fx>r any further illustration of this 
 curious identity between the versions of Mr. Porter and 
 Mr. Glennie. But the curious reader may readily find some 
 more for himself by examining "Murray" whenever he 
 comes across a descriptive passage in the " Pilgrim Memo- 
 ries." 
 
 There remains but one more subject, which Mr. Glennie 
 will doubtlessly be grateful to me for calling attention to. 
 "I was, I believe," says Mr. Glennie, "myself the first to 
 make any inquiry about Mr. Buckle's grave. In answer to 
 a letter of mine, Dr. Barclay thus wrote, under date Beirut, 
 November 24, 1864 : ' I also wrote at the same time to 
 Mr. Rogers, H. B. M. Consul at Damascus, asking, as you 
 desired, for a pencil sketch of the grave ; and in reply was 
 informed that not even a stone or mark of any kind indi- 
 cated the spot of interment ! Shortly afterward, Mr. R. 
 came on to Beirut, when I spoke to him on the subject, and 
 showed him your letter.' Toward the close of 1865, Mr. 
 Rogers was visited by his sister. And through her zeal it 
 was that, in the autumn of 1866, nearly four years and a 
 half after his death, the grave of Mr. Buckle was at length 
 marked by a simple monument." 
 
 Now, I do not know what impression this passage leaves 
 on the mind of the reader ; but on my first perusal it ap- 
 peared to me that Mr. Glennie claimed for himself the honor 
 of having directed the attention of Miss Rogers to the fact 
 that there was no memorial marking Buckle's last resting- 
 se "Pilgrim Memories," p. 468. 
 
480 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 place. No doubt Mr. Glennie did not suppose that such a 
 construction could be put upon his words, and will be only 
 too happy to have the matter clearly set forth. The truth 
 is, he had not the remotest connection with it. He, no doubt, 
 did write a letter to Dr. Barclay asking for the particulars 
 of Buckle's death, and no doubt asked at the same time for 
 a sketch or photograph of the tomb which he, as every one 
 else, supposed was there, for the purpose of ornamenting his 
 "Pilgrim Memories." Dr. Barclay wrote back to say there 
 was none ; and there the matter dropped. This was in No- 
 vember, 1864. Toward the end of 1865, Miss Rogers went 
 out to join her brother, who was Consul at Damascus ; and 
 on February 8, 1866, accompanied him to the Protestant 
 cemetery, to visit the grave of a near relative. She went 
 with the full expectation of also seeing Buckle's tomb; and 
 was greatly surprised, and very much shocked, to find no- 
 thing but a rounded mound over his remains. "Buckle's 
 
 grave is not far from X 's," she writes home two days 
 
 later, " but it is unmarked 1 I am surprised that no orders 
 have been given for a stone to mark the resting-place of such 
 a man ! I should like to receive instructions from some of 
 his admirers to have a simple slab put over the spot, before 
 people forget where it is. It would not cost much, for I 
 would draw the inscription, and see it properly cut." This 
 letter was sent by Mrs. Rogers to her friend Major Bell, who 
 knew Buckle well from his writings, and greatly admired 
 him. He also was astonished to see " that there was not a 
 stone to mark the place of Henry Buckle's remains, and at 
 once took an extract from" her "letter, and communicated 
 with two of Buckle's most intimate friends, Mr. John Dick- 
 inson and Mr. Henry Huth. Both of these were surprised 
 and shocked to hear of such neglect." Mr. Henry Huth 
 wrote at once to Mrs. Allatt, Buckle's only surviving sister, 
 and she at once wrote in reply : " Thank you so much for so 
 kindly writing to me on a subject which you know deeply 
 interests me. After my dear brother's death I had nothing 
 to do with the settling of affairs, but was certainly under the 
 ^impression that a stone had been set." She gratefully ac- 
 

 APPENDIX. 481 
 
 cepted Miss Rogers's kind proposal to put up a tomb, at the 
 same time sending the English epitaph. This was communi- 
 cated through Major Bell to Miss Rogers at Damascus, who 
 wrote back as follows : " Thank you heartily for helping me 
 to fulfill my wish with regard to the grave of Henry Buckle. 
 I would NOT under any circumstances have left Damascus 
 with his last resting-place unmarked and unprotected ; but 
 of course it was more consistent that his sister should have 
 the opportunity and privilege of dedicating a stone to his 
 memory, and of giving instructions about it. Immediately 
 on my return from Baalbec I went to the stone-mason's ba- 
 zaar, and visited shop after shop, carefully inspecting the 
 work in marble and stone then in hand, that I might judge 
 of the comparative skill of the workmen, and of the kind of 
 design they would be most likely to carry out satisfactorily. 
 I have not quite decided about it yet ; but my chief object 
 will be to insure (as far as the nature of things will permit) 
 the durability of the monument. I shall try to interest one 
 of my native friends here about it, that the grave may be 
 kept in order after my departure from this city." 
 
 The tomb was finished by 30th October, 1866 ; and up to 
 the year 1871, or 1872, Mr. Glennie, I understand, had not 
 even heard that there was one ; but, happening to see a 
 photograph of it in Major Bell's copy of the " History of 
 Civilization," he wrote on the 26th February 1875, to Mrs. 
 Bell : " I remember seeing in Major Bell's copy of Buckle's 
 ' History of Civilization ' a photograph of his tombstone. I 
 should be much obliged if your friend Miss Rogers would 
 kindly give the particulars of the time, circumstances, etc., 
 of the erection of the tombstone." This Miss Rogers did ; 
 and the account I have given, showing that to Miss Rogers 
 is entirely and solely due the honor of the first initiation, as 
 the subsequent erection of the tombstone, is no doubt what 
 Mr. Glennie intended to convey to his readers ; but he has 
 been unfortunate in his choice of language, and this explana- 
 tion therefore became necessary. 
 
 I have now done with Mr. Glennie's "Pilgrim Memo- 
 ries " ; and trust I shall never have to resume so disagree- 
 
 31 
 
482 APPENDIX. 
 
 able a theme. If he feel aggrieved at my treatment of his 
 work, he has only himself to blame. The publication of 
 these " memories," made it incumbent on every friend nay, 
 on every human being who honors justice and is able to 
 wield a pen to defend Buckle from the insinuations which 
 they convey ; and shall not I, who loved him, vindicate his 
 memory ? In so doing, I have restricted myself to the bare 
 proof of the worthlessness of Mr. Glennie's book ; and I sin- 
 cerely hope that I may never be compelled to enlarge on a 
 subject which I have taken up with reluctance, and finish 
 with relief. 
 
SPECIAL BIBLIOGEAPHT. 
 
 A. K. H. B. See under " Boyd." 
 
 "Albion, the Liverpool," 13th April, 1863. " Keminiscences of Mr. 
 
 Buckle." See " Hale, Oh." 
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 pp. 2745, 2746. 
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 pp. 103-119, No. 1 (whole No. 65), for April, 1865. 
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SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
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SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 487 
 
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 " Examiner, The," London, fol. : " Buckle's History of Civilization." 
 
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 Fischer, E. L. : " Ueber das Gesetz der Entwickelung auf psychisch- 
 ethischem Gebiete auf naturwissenschaftlicher Grundlager mit 
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 "Henry Thomas Buckle." In the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," 
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 "Mill on Liberty," by Henry Thomas Buckle. Vol. lix., pp. 509- 
 
 542, No. 353, for May, 1859. 
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488 SPECIAL BIBLIOGEAPHY. 
 
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 Bird, H. E. : Chess Masterpieces, etc., etc. London, 8vo, 1875. 
 Game No. Pages Played in Between 
 
 62 59, 60 1857 Buckle and Boden. 
 
 67 63, 64 1851 " Loewenthal. 
 
 68 64, 65 1851 " Loewenthal. 
 
 69 65, 66 1851 " Schulder. 
 
 70 66, 67 1849 " Williams. 
 
 " Chess Player, The," edited by Kling and Horwitz, London, 1851 -'53, 
 12mo. 
 
 Vol. i., p. 112, No. xiv., for October 18, 1851. 
 Vol. in., pp. 2, 3, No. lii., for July 10, 1852. 
 
 " i. (sic) p. 34, No. iii., for August 28, 1852. 
 
 " Chess Player's Chronicle," edited by Howard Staunton, etc. Lon- 
 don, 8vo, 1841-'61. 
 First Series : 
 
 Vol. iv., 1843, pp. 195, 196, 198, 201, 266. 
 " vi., 1846, " 130, 198, 235, 236, 331-335, 360, 362. 
 " vii., 1846, " 46, 53, 54, 55, 213, 214, 349, 407, 408, 410. 
 " viii., 1847, " 50, 97, 257, 353, 368. 
 " ix., 1849, " 46, 260, 303, 327. 
 " x., 1849, " 65, 67, 68, 113, 115, 143, 145, 184, 186, 228, 
 
 230. 
 
 " xi., 1850, " 76, 112, 174, 347. 
 " xii., 1851, " 6, 266, and 30, 62, 81, 86, 88, 89, 91, 94, 247, 
 
 248, 281, 373. 
 " xiii., 1852, " 278. 
 New Series : 
 
 Vol. ii., 1854, pp. 212, 240, and 155, 180. 
 " iii., 1855, " 353, and 102, 204, 236. 
 " iv., 1856, " 20, and 93, 94, 125. 
 
494 SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Third Series : 
 
 Vol. i., 1859, p. 180. 
 "Chess Player's Magazine, The," London, 8vo: "Mr. Henry Thomas 
 
 Buckle." Vol. ii., pp. 1-45, No. 8, for February, 1864. 
 City of London "Chess Magazine, The," London, 8vo; edit, by W. 
 
 N. Potter. Vol. i., 1875, pp. 165-168, 288. 
 "Field, The," London, fol. : 
 
 No. 4, for Jan. 22, 1853, vol. i., p. 61, between Buckle and Bird. 
 " 5, " Jan. 29, 1853, " i., p. 77, " " 
 
 " 30, " July 23, 1853, " ii., p. 82, " Barnes (2). 
 
 " 32, " Aug. 6, 1853, " ii., p. 140, " (2). 
 
 " 37, " Sept. 10, 1853, " ii., p. 261, " " 
 
 " 48, " Nov. 26, 1853, " ii., p. 524, " " 
 
 " 65, " Mar. 25, 1854, " iii., p. 275, " " 
 
 "Illustrated London News, The," London, fol. : 
 No. 148, for Mar. 1, 1845, vol. vi., p. 144, between Buckle and 
 
 Kennedy. 
 
 " 182, " Oct. 25, 1845, " vii., p. 267, " " 
 
 " 220, " July 18, 1846, " ix., p. 42, " Anon. 
 " 287, " Oct. 30, 1847, " xi., p. 283, " Medley. 
 " 368, " Apr. 28, 1849, " xiv., p. 274, " 0. F. Smith. 
 " 371, " May 19, 1849, " xiv., p. 323, " Kieseritzky. 
 " 436, " July 13, 1850, " xvii., p. 52, " C. F. Smith. 
 " 464, " Jan. 11, 1851, " xviii., p. 32, Committee of Chess 
 
 Tournament. 
 
 " 471, " Feb. 22, 1851, " xviii., p. 163, " 
 
 " 488, " May 31, 1851, " xviii., p. 481, " 
 
 " 510, " Aug. 16, 1851, " xix., p. 219, between Buckle and 
 
 Loewental. 
 
 " 513, " Aug. 30, 1851, " xix., p. 267, " " 
 
 " 531, " Nov. 29,1851, " xix., p. 643, Anglo-French Match. 
 " 535, " Dec. 13, 1851, " xix., p. 707, Games with 
 
 Loewental. 
 " 538, " Dec. 27, 1851, ". xix., p. 771, between Buckle and 
 
 Loewental. 
 
 " 558, " May 8, 1852, " xx., p. 383, Eeview on Staunton's 
 
 Tournament. 
 " 579, " Sept. 28, 1852, " xxi., p. 210, between Buckle and 
 
 Schulder. 
 
 Kennedy, Captain H. A. : " Mr. Buckle as a Chess Player." In the 
 "Westminster Chess Club Papers," vol. vi., pp. 23-25, No. 62, 
 for June, 1873, London, 4to. 
 
SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 495 
 
 Lasa v. Heydebrandt u. d. : " Henry Thomas Buckle." In the 
 " Schachzeitung." Leipzig, 8vo. Pp. 194, 195, Nos. 7 and 8, 
 for July and August, 1862. 
 
 " A Letter on the Chess Play of Henry Thomas Buckle." In the 
 " City of London Chess Magazine." London, 8vo. Vol. i., p. 
 288. 1875. 
 Ibid. : In the " Athena3um." London, 4to. P. 262, No. 2469, for 
 
 20th February, 1875. 
 La Re"gence, "Journal des Echecs." Paris, 8vo. (Successor to La 
 
 Palamede). 
 First Series : 
 No. 1, for Jan., 1849, pp. 28- 30, Game between Buckle and 
 
 Kieseritzky. 
 
 " 2, " Feb., 1849, pp. 50- 53, " (2). 
 
 " 3, " Mar., 1849, pp. 80- 84, " (2). 
 
 " 4, " April,1849, pp. 109-111, " 
 
 11 5, " Aug., 1851, pp. 241-246, " (2). 
 
 Second Series : 
 
 No. 2, for February, 1856, pp. 53, 54, 328, between Buckle and 
 
 Tassinari. 
 " Schachalmanach," Erste (and only) Jahrgang. Leipzig, 12mo, 1846. 
 
 Pp. 172, 173, Game between Buckle and Captain Kennedy. 
 "Schachzeitung," in Monatlichen Heften herausgegeben von der 
 
 Berliner Schachgesellsch aft. Berlin, 8vo: 
 
 No. 3, for Sept., 1846, pp. 87-89, Game bet. Buckle and v. d. Lasa. 
 " 6, " Dec., 1846, p. 183, Letter from Kieseritzky. 
 " 8, " Aug., 1848, p. 305, Bledow on Buckle in Berlin, and 
 
 game with Carisien. 
 " 11, " Nov., 1855, pp. 348, 349, game between Buckle and 
 
 Tassinari. 
 " Schachzeitung," Geriindet von der Berliner Schachgesellschaft, 
 
 Organ fur das gesammte Schachleben. Leipzig, 8vo : 
 Nos. 7 and 8, July and August, 1862, pp. 194, 195, Notice of 
 
 Buckle's death, by v. d. Lasa. 
 Ditto, pp. 237, 238, Games with Kieseritzky, Smith, and Loew- 
 
 enthal. 
 Staunton, Howard : " The Chess Player's Handbook." London, 
 
 12mo, 1875 : 
 Game between Buckle and Captain Kennedy, pp. 74, 75. 
 
 " Harrwitz, pp. 125, 126. 
 
 " The Chess Player's Companion." London, 12mo, 1875 : 
 Two games between Buckle and Staunton, pp. 167-169. 
 
496 SPECIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 " The Chess Tournament," a Collection of Games played at this 
 
 celebrated assemblage, etc. London, 12mo, 1873 : 
 Match between Buckle and Loewenthal, pp. 225-242. 
 Williams, Elijah : " Horss Divamanse," a selection of one hundred 
 and fifty Original Games at Chess, by leading Masters, princi- 
 pally played at the Grand Divan, etc., etc. London, 12mo, 1852 : 
 Between Buckle and Brown, Games No. 2, 7, 10-13, 24. 
 " Simons, " 32-54, 64, 68. 
 
 Smith, 69, 77, 78. 
 
 " Maude, " 75. 
 
 " Williams, " 99-102. 
 
 " Kepping, 116. 
 
INDEX 
 
 AARON'S tomb, 424. 
 Abydos, 885. 
 
 Achmet's divorce, 423. 
 
 Adoption, 328. 
 
 'Ain el Haramiyeh, 439. 
 
 'Am Musa, 409. 
 
 Akaba, 418. 
 
 Akka, 444. 
 
 Alexandria, 358. 
 
 Alexandroschene, 444. 
 
 Alison's "History," 398, 399. 
 
 Allatt, death of Robert, 291. 
 
 Ambition, 10, 25, 41, 290. 
 
 America, proposed visit to, 135, 401 ; 
 the state of, 174, 175, 281, 394, 
 400 ; copyright law of, 403 ; the 
 "History of Civilization" in, 124, 
 134, 337, 338. 
 
 Ancestry of Buckle, 10, 11. 
 
 Animals, kindness to, 326, 417, 418. 
 
 Antiquities, collection of, 366, 381, 
 ct seq., 391. 
 
 Arab vengeance, 414. 
 
 Arts, relative idealization of the, 21, 
 22 ; advance of the, 303. 
 
 Assouan, 378-381. 
 
 Athengeura, election to the, 214, 215. 
 
 Austrian customs, 35. 
 
 Avarice, charge of, 46 ; difference be- 
 tween, and parsimony, 46, 47, 364. 
 
 BETHEL, 439. 
 Bethlehem, 426, 437. 
 32 
 
 Beyrout, 446 ; prosecution of Hassan 
 at, 448, 449. 
 
 Biography is not history, 206. 
 
 Birmingham, manners in, 347. 
 
 Birth of Buckle, 11. 
 
 Blackheath, stay at, 280, et seq. 
 
 Blasphemy, punishment for, 252, 253, 
 263. 
 
 Blind, happiness of the, 81. 
 
 Bodin and the " History of Civiliza- 
 tion," 202, 204, 205. 
 
 Books, purchases of, 31, 45 ; Buckle's 
 rate of reading, 24, 39 ; the method 
 of reading, 39, 40 ; the love of, 110. 
 
 Bossuet and the " History of Civiliza- 
 tion," 203. 
 
 Boulogne, illness at, 33; stays at, 
 111, 290. 
 
 Bowyear, correspondence with Mrs., 
 121, 234, 239, 249, 287, 288, 290, 
 297, 334, 351, 373. 
 
 Brighton, stays at, 17, 259, et seq. ; 
 278, 279, 294, et seq. ; 322. 
 
 Buckle, Sir Cuthbert, 10. 
 
 Buckle, Mrs., her Calvinistic views, 
 16 ; character of, 74 ; eagerness to 
 see her son's book, 113, 114; the 
 dedication to, ibid. ; ill health of, 
 38, 53, 63, 86-88, 90, 91, 94, 108, 
 110, 113, 118, 121, 123, 223,225, 
 229, 233, 234 ; approaching death 
 of, 239, 245; death of, 245; her 
 son's grief, 246, et scq., 290, 291, 
 330, 342-344, 350. 
 
498 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Buclde, Thomas H., 10, 14, 16. 
 Buddhism a necessary study for theo- 
 logians, 346. 
 
 CAIRO, stay at, 363, 386, et seq. 
 Camel-riding, 412. 
 
 Capel, correspondence with Mr., 124, 
 132, 134, 268, 277, 286, 297, 323, 
 330, 331. 
 
 Carolside, stay at, 333, 336, 353. 
 Carshalton, stay at, 294, et seq., 323, 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Catholic, Roman, Church, Comte's es- 
 timate of the, 192, 194; compared 
 with the Protestant, 420, 421. 
 Charity of Buckle, 46, 47, 212, 288, 
 
 322. 
 Charles I., fragment on, not extant, 
 
 3], 32. 
 
 Chess, Buckle's skill in, 20, 28-30, 
 
 34, 35, 95 ; great tournament of 
 
 1851, 55, et seq.', championship, 
 
 59 ; at Dublin, 65. 
 
 Children, love of, 283-285, 309, 324, 
 
 327, 348 ; adoption of, 328. 
 Clairvoyance, 347. 
 Cobras in the desert, 418, 425. 
 Coleridge, Judge, and Pooley's case, 
 
 254-278, 285. 
 
 Coleridge, the answer of Mr. J. D., 
 260, 268, 269, 271, 276; publica- 
 tion of Buckle's reply to, 277. 
 Color and form, 36. 
 Comte, Augt., how to read, 76 ; his 
 want of practical knowledge, 49 ; 
 his belief in phrenology, 63 ; igno- 
 rance of political economy, 151, 
 197; compared with Buckle, 191- 
 199, 209, 211, note. 
 Condorcct on morals and civilization, 
 
 211, note. 
 
 Conversational powers of Buckle, 66, 
 67, 302, 309, et seq., 322, 349, et 
 seq., 409, 419. 
 Copyright in America, 403. 
 
 Cornwall, tour in, 131. 
 Corporal punishment, 326, 348. 
 Correspondence of Buckle with Mrs. 
 Bowyear, 121, 234, 239, 249, 287, 
 288,290,297,334,351,373; with Mr. 
 Capel, 124, 132, 134, 268, 277, 286, 
 297, 323, 330, 331 ; with Mr. Grey, 
 222 ; with Mrs. Grey, 75, 77, 90, 94, 
 95, 98, 99, 106, 111, 119, 122, 222, 
 237, 242, 249, 272, 278, 284, 295, 
 333; with Mrs. Grote, 320, 322, 
 352; with Lord Hatherley, 125, 
 127; with Mrs. Hutchinson, 292; 
 with Mr. Huth, 293, 294, 387, 392, 
 416; with Mrs. Huth, 307, 315, 
 336, 352, 354, 360, 363, 367, 379, 
 386, 416, 427, 446 ; with the sons 
 of Mr. Huth, 294; with Mr. Ch. 
 Kingsley, 258 ; with Mrs. Mitchell, 
 292, 317-319, 322, 331 ; with Mr. 
 Parker, 100, 102, 104, 106, 114, 
 116, 117, 131, 216, 218, 230, 231, 
 240, 241, 257, 259, 268, 271, 272, 
 274-276, 285, 286 ; with Mr. Theo- 
 dore Parker, 135, 280; with Miss 
 Shirreff, 76, 78, 80-83, 85-87, 91, 
 93, 95-98, 107, 108, 110, 111, 117, 
 118, 124, 219, 221, 223, 225-227, 
 229, 232-236, 261, 264, 280, 296, 
 317; with Mr. Thackeray, 292; 
 with Sir Ch. Wheatstone, 130 ; with 
 Major Woodhead, 63; with Mrs. 
 Woodhead, 244, 291, 332. 
 
 Country and town, comparison be- 
 tween the, 53, 63, 64, 77, 90, 106, 
 333. 
 
 Cousins, marriage between, 52. 
 
 Crime, sameness in, 145, 146, 347. 
 
 Critics and criticism, 139, etseq., 183, 
 184, 286. 
 
 Crystal Palace, visit to the, 72, 73. 
 
 DAMASCUS, first view of, 451; 
 death of Buckle at, 456. 
 Darwin's " Origin of Species," 292. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 499 
 
 Dead Sea, 438. 
 
 Death of Buckle, 456. 
 
 Deduction and induction, 120, 133. 
 
 Descartes not persecuted, 122,123. 
 
 Diary, the first entry in Buckle's, 24 ; 
 a part lost, 52, note. 
 
 Draughts, Buckle's skill in, 20, 358. 
 
 Dress, carelessness as to, 313, 357, 
 411; attention should be paid to, 
 by women, 313, 329, 357; impor- 
 tance of warm, in the desert, 410. 
 
 Dublin, chess at, 65. 
 
 ), 381. 
 
 Education, Buckle's, 12, et seq., 
 23, 24 ; views on, 51, 79, 80, 84, 
 85, 91, 300, 301, 311, 312, 324-326, 
 341, 357, 361, 366, et seq., 388, 418, 
 431. 
 
 Egypt, idea of visiting, 351, et seq. ; 
 departure for, 354, landing in, 358 ; 
 the ancient civilization of, 376, 396, 
 398 ; departure from, 408. 
 
 Emotions, the truth of the, 248. 
 
 English civilization, why placed first, 
 170 ; richness of the, language, 316. 
 
 Epochs in literature, 318. 
 
 Esdraelon, the plain of, 440. 
 
 Esneh, 375. 
 
 Evolution, 93, 292. 
 
 Extravagance, charge of, 363, 389, 
 390, 393. 
 
 FILEY, stay at, 331. 
 Fire-arms, little skill in the use 
 of, 369. 
 
 Food and civilization, 125, 141, 142, 
 152, 206. 
 
 Form and color, 36, 374. 
 
 Free trade, 15. 
 
 Free will, 143, et seq. 
 
 French history, 133, 173, 174; pov- 
 erty of the, language, 316 ; under 
 Napoleon III., 328; taste, 329; 
 
 translation of the " History of 
 Civilization," 334. 
 Fiileh, el, 440. 
 
 AMES, Buckle's skill in, 20, 362, 
 
 Gebel Musa, 415, 416. 
 
 Gerizim, Mount, 440. 
 
 Germany, history of, 174, 175, 329 ; 
 the "History of Civilization" in, 
 334. 
 
 Gethsemane, the garden of, 432. 
 
 Ghost, a, at Munich, 36, 37. 
 
 Gibraltar, 358. 
 
 Greek fire, miracle of the, 434, 435. 
 
 Grey, correspondence with Mr., 222 ; 
 with Mrs., 75, 77, 90, 94, 95, 98, 
 99, 106, 111, 119, 122, 222, 237, 
 242, 249, 272, 278, 284, 295, 333. 
 
 Grotc, correspondence with Mrs., 320, 
 322, 352. 
 
 HALLAM, acquaintance with, 19, 
 26. 
 
 Hassan, prosecution of, 448, 449. 
 
 Hatherley, correspondence with Lord, 
 125, 127. 
 
 Health of Buckle, as a boy, 11, 13- 
 15, 17; as a youth, 36, 37 ; as a 
 man, 93, 94, 97, 99, 111-113, 118, 
 220, 225, 234, 244, 261, 278, 279, 
 280, 284, 287, 290, 294, 296, 297, 
 308, 309, 320-322, 330, 332, 340, 
 344, 353, 362, 364, 432; the last 
 illness, 440, 441, 449, et seq. 
 
 Health, the compatibility of, with 
 delicacy of feeling, 90, 317. 
 
 Hebrew quotations, 399. 
 
 Hebron, 426. 
 
 Herne Bay, stay at, 223. 
 
 " History of Civilization," the early 
 plans concerning, 18, 24, 26, 61, 
 62; progress of vol. one, 92, 94, 
 100; publication of vol. one, 96, 
 
500 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 101, 102, 104-118, 123; dedication 
 of, 114 ; reception of vol. one, 124, 
 135, 213, ct seq., 224, 225, 240, 334, 
 335; criticism on vol. one, 107, 
 108, 122, 123, et seq., 139, et seq., 
 230, 231, 287 ; progress of vol. two, 
 133, 135, 282, 285, 287, 292, 293, 
 294, 296, 298 ; publication of vol. 
 two, 298, 317, 320; reception of 
 vol. two, 332, 334, 335, et seq. ; 
 analysis and plan of, 139-181; 
 prospect of its completion, 112, 
 1S2; curtailment of, 184; origi- 
 nality of, 187-212 ; the place of, 
 in history, 212, 213. 
 
 Holyoake, interview with Mr., 297. 
 
 Ilor, ascent of Mount, 423, 424. 
 
 Hull, stay at, 331. 
 
 Hutchinson, correspondence with 
 Mrs., 292. 
 
 Huth, correspondence with Mr., 293, 
 294, 387, 392 ; with Mrs., 307, 315, 
 336, 352, 354, 360, 363, 367, 379, 
 386, 416, 427, 446 ; with the sons 
 of Mr., 294. 
 
 Huth, correspondence of the sons of 
 Mr., concerning Buckle, 294, 370, 
 371, 407, 408. 
 
 IMAGINATION, want of, in crimi- 
 
 -L nals, 347. 
 
 Immortality, the proof of, 246-248, 
 
 304, 305. 
 
 Income of Buckle, 47. 
 Individual and mass, difference of 
 
 laws for the, 126, 127, 133, 207. 
 Induction and deduction, 120, 133. 
 Inheritance of genius, 156, 215, 216. 
 Ireland, tour in, 64. 
 Italy, stay in, 19, 35, 36. 
 
 JENlN, 440. 
 Jerusalem, stay at, 426, et seq. 
 Jordan, 438. 
 
 KANT, and the " History of Civ- 
 ilization," 207-209. 
 Kent, anecdote of the Duchess of, 
 
 311; death, ibid. 
 Kingsley, correspondence with Mr. 
 
 Ch., 258. 
 Kintore, plan of the History written 
 
 for Lord, 61, 62. 
 Knowledge immortal, 64. 
 
 T EGISLATORS not reformers, 
 
 JLj 167, 168, 201. 
 
 Leonard's, stay at St., 307-314. 
 
 Leontes, the river, 445. 
 
 Library, description of Buckle's, 38, 
 
 126. 
 Linguistical knowledge, 19, 36, 37, 
 
 399. 
 Literature, and progress, 166 ; should 
 
 punish as well as persuade, 257 ; 
 
 epochs in, 318. 
 
 Literature, Royal Society of, 66. 
 Longmore, Mr., conversations with, 
 
 375, 376, 378, 409. 
 Love, a proof of immortality, 246- 
 
 248. 
 
 Loves, early, 51, 52, 350. 
 LyelPs " Geology," 89, 93 
 
 MACAULAY, Lord, death of, 
 292, 338 ; memory of, 407. 
 
 Macdonald, reception by Major, 413, 
 414. 
 
 Machiavelli and the " History of Civ- 
 ilization," 202. 
 
 Malta, 360. 
 
 Man not the center of the universe, 
 208. 
 
 Margate, stay at, 284, et seq., 320. 
 
 Mar Saba, 437. 
 
 Mass and individual, difference of 
 laws for the, 126, 133, 208. 
 
 Mazetta, trial of the, 405. 
 
 Memory, powerful, of Buckle, 67-71, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 501 
 
 212, 399, 436; use of, in teaching, 
 92. 
 
 Merj, el, 449. 
 
 Mill, John Stuart, "Logic," 93, 318; 
 " Political Economy," 89, 93, 387, 
 388 ; " Essays," 290 ; " Utilitarian- 
 ism," 345 ; " On Liberty," 240, 241, 
 245 ; compared with Buckle, 360 ; 
 on Buckle, 438. 
 
 Miracles, conversation on, 436. 
 
 Mitchell, correspondence with Mrs., 
 292, 317, 318, 319, 322, 331. 
 
 Montesquieu and the " History of "Civ- 
 ilization," 204-207. 
 
 Moral knowledge not a factor in the 
 progress of civilization, 126-129, 
 156, et seq., 211, 264, 287, 288, 289, 
 341, 342, 439. 
 
 Mourning, refusal to go into, for the 
 Duchess of Kent, 311 ; a sham 
 without sorrow, 326. 
 
 Munich, stay at, 36, 37. 
 
 Music, no knowledge of, 21, 22 ; acute- 
 ness of Buckle's ear to tone, 309, 
 324. 
 
 A-TABULUS, 440. 
 
 J-N Nahr el Kasimiyeh, 445. 
 
 Natural science, study of, by Buckle, 
 
 53, 63. 
 
 Nazareth, 441, 444. 
 Normandy, tour in, 53, 54. 
 Novels, the value of, 96, 97. 
 Nubia, journey in, 379, 380. 
 Nukb Badereh, 413. 
 
 ORIGINALITY defined, 187-191 ; 
 want of, in crime, 145, 146, 
 347, 348 ; in social life, 411. 
 
 PAINTINGS, views on, 36. 
 Parker, correspondence with 
 Mr., 100, 102, 104, 106, 114, 116, 
 117, 131, 216, 218, 230, 231, 240, 
 
 241, 257, 259, 268, 271, 272, 274, 
 
 275, 276, 285, 286. 
 Parker, correspondence with Mr. The- 
 odore, 135, 280/281. 
 Parsimony and avarice, the difference 
 
 between, 46, 47, 364. 
 Petra, stay at, 424, et seq., 428, 429. 
 Petrified forest, visit to the, 405, et 
 
 seq. 
 
 Phrenology, 63. 
 
 Pleasure, the importance of, 306. 
 Political economy, views on, 15, 84, 
 
 89, 93, 313. 
 Political Economy Club, election to 
 
 the, 215. 
 
 Political views, 15, 23. 
 Pooley's case, 241, 250-278, 285. 
 Practicality, 47, et seq., 98, 230, 231, 
 
 236, 237 ; little, of genius, 47. 
 Profession, ideas of taking a, 15, 17- 
 
 19, 37. 
 Pyramids, the, 385. 
 
 RAS el 'Ain, 445. 
 Reading, Buckle's course of, 
 as a child, 11 ; great power of, 24, 
 25, 39; method in, 39, 40; while 
 traveling, 54 ; not in public libra- 
 ries, 136. 
 
 Religion of Buckle, 14, 23, 198 ; effect 
 of, on progress, 162, 166, 198. 
 
 Residence of Buckle, 11, 24, 38. 
 
 Royal Institution, lecture at the, 216 
 -218. 
 
 Royal Society of Literature, 66. 
 
 Ruge, Dr., 295. 
 
 Russia, the " History of Civilization " 
 in, 124, 334, 335. 
 
 QIAMARITANS, the, 440. 
 
 O Skepticism, in what sense used 
 
 by Buckle, 141. 
 Schooling of Buckle, 12, 13. 
 Schools, girls', 312, 313. 
 
502 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Scotch history, 135, 174, 239, 240. 
 
 Sculpture, views on, 36. 
 
 Shirreff, Miss, acquaintance with, 75 ; 
 correspondence with, 76, 78, 80, 81, 
 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 91, 93, 95, 96, 97, 
 98, 107, 108, 110, 111, 117, 118, 124, 
 219, 221, 223, 225, 226, 227, 229, 
 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 261, 264, 
 280, 296, 317. 
 
 Sidon, 446. 
 
 Sinai, convent of, 415 ; ascent of, 415, 
 416. 
 
 "Skye,"336, 340. 
 
 Smoking, love of, 45, 46. 
 
 Sociability, 65, 66. 
 
 Spanish history, 135, 136, 174 ; Trans- 
 iation of the " History of Civiliza- 
 tion," 332, 334, 397. 
 
 Species, the origin of, 93, 292. 
 
 Spencer's " First Principles," 306. 
 
 Spirit rapping, 346, 347, 377, 380. 
 
 Stanley, opinion of Dean, 346, 454. 
 
 Style, study given to, 41, 42 ; beauty 
 of Buckle's, 42, 43 ; advice on, 80, 
 81. 
 
 Suez, 408. 
 
 Suez canal, the, 421. 
 
 Suicide, the sinfulness of, 305. 
 
 Sutton, stay at, 336-351. 
 
 TEA, how to make, 48. 
 Thackeray, correspondence with 
 Mr., 292. 
 Thebes, 372, 385. 
 Three states, Comte's law of the, 193, 
 
 210. 
 
 Tiberias, 443, 444. 
 
 Town and country, comparison be- 
 tween, 63, 63, 64, 77, 90, 106, 333. 
 
 Transcendentalism, 119, et seq., 154, 
 
 199. 
 Translations, place of, in literature, 
 
 109. 
 
 Travel, the importance of, 351. 
 Tunbridge Wells, stay at, 64, 107, et 
 
 seq., 230, 292. 
 Turquoise mines, 414. 
 Tyre, 445. 
 
 U 
 
 TILITARIANISM, 288, 345,365. 
 
 ~T~T~AXITY worse than greediness, 
 
 V 313. 
 Vico and the " History of Civilization," 
 
 200-205. 
 
 Vinci, Leonardo da, 303. 
 Voltaire and freedom, 253, 254. 
 
 WADY FEIRlN, 415. 
 Wady Ghurundel, 412. 
 
 Wady Magharah, 413. 
 
 Wady Mukatteb, 415. 
 
 Wady Taiyibeh, 412. 
 
 War, views on, 73. 
 
 Wheatstone, correspondence with Sir 
 Ch., 130. 
 
 Whitby, stay at, 332. 
 
 Women, and education, 78, 79, 92, 
 216, 229, 300, 312, 313, 324, et seq. ; 
 lecture on the influence of, 216 ; the 
 rights of, 242-244. 
 
 Woodhead, correspondence with Ma- 
 jor, 63; concerning Major, 119; 
 with Mrs., 244, 291, 332. 
 
 Work, power of, 212. 
 
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 Berkeley 
 
YC 7304 
 
 '3S3K. 1KW3 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY