242 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



by Mr. Spencer in 1859/ he thus states 

 them : 



That which constitutes History, proper- 

 ly so called, is in great part omitted from 

 works on the subject. Only of late years 

 have historiaus commenced giving us, in 

 any considerable quantity, the truly valu- 

 able information. As in past ages the king 

 was every thing and the people nothing, 

 so, in past histories, the doings of the king 

 fill the entire picture, to which the national 

 life forms but an obscure background. "While 

 only now, when the welfare of nations rath- 

 er than of rulers is becoming the dominant 

 idea, are historians beginning to occupy 

 themselves with the' phenomena of social 

 progress. The thing it really concerns us 

 to know is, the natural history of society. 

 "We want all facts which belp us to under- 

 stand how a nation has grown and organ- 

 ized itself. Among these, let us of course 

 have an account of its government ; with as 

 little as may be of gossip about the men 

 who officered it, and as much as possible 

 about the structure, principles, methods, 

 prejudices, corruptions, etc., which it ex- 

 hibited : and let this account include not 

 only the nature and actions of the central 

 government, but also those of local govern- 

 ments, down to their minutest ramifications. 

 Let us of course also have a parallel descrip- 

 tion of the ecclesiastical government its 

 organization, its conduct, its power, its rela- 

 tions to the State ; and, accompanying this, 

 the ceremonial, creed, and religious ideas 

 -not only those nominally believed, but those 

 really believed and acted upon. Let us at 

 the same time be informed of the control 

 exercised by class over class, as displayed in 

 social observances in titles, salutations, 

 and forms of address. Let us know, too, 

 what were all the other customs which regu- 

 lated the popular life out-of-doors and in- 

 doors, including those concerning the rela- 

 tions of the sexes, and the relations of 

 parents to children. The superstitions, also, 

 from the more important myths down to the 

 charms in common use,- should be indicated. 

 Next should come a delineation of the indus- 

 trial system: showing to what extent the 

 division of labor was carried ; bow trades 

 were regulated, whether by caste, guilds, or 

 otherwise; what was the connection be- 

 tween employers and employed ; what were 

 the agencies for distributing commodities ; 

 what were the means of communication; 

 what was the circulating medium. Aecom- 



i"What Knowledge is most worth" (West- 

 minster Review). 



pariying all which should be given an ac- 

 count of the industrial arts technically con- 

 sidered : stating the processes in use, and 

 the quality of the products. ' Further, the 

 intellectual condition of the nation in its 

 various grades should be depicted ; not only 

 with respect to the kind and amount of ed- 

 ucation, but with respect to the progress 

 made in science, and the prevailing manner 

 of thinking. The degree of {Esthetic cul- 

 ture, as displayed in architecture, sculpture, 

 punting, dress, music, poetry, and fiction, 

 should be described. Nor should there be 

 omitted a sketch of the daily lives of the 

 people their food, their homes, and their 

 amusements. And, lastly, to connect the 

 whole, should be exhibited the morals, 

 theoretical and practical, of all classes, as 

 indicated in their laws, habits, proverbs, 

 deeds. These facts, given with as muck 

 brevity as consists with clearness and ac- 

 curacy, should be so grouped and arranged 

 that they may be comprehended in their en- 

 semble, and contemplated as mutually-de- 

 pendent parts of one great whole. The aim 

 should be so to present them that men may 

 readily trace the consensus subsisting among 

 them, witb the view of learning what social 

 phenomena coexist with what others. And 

 then the corresponding delineations of suc- 

 ceeding ages should be so managed as to 

 show how each belief, institution, custom, 

 and arrangement, was modified, and how 

 the consensus of preceding structures and 

 functions was developed into the consensus 

 of succeeding ones. Such alone is the kind 

 of information, respecting past times, which 

 can be of service to the citizen for the reg- 

 ulation of his conduct. The only history 

 that is of practical value is, what may be 

 called Descriptive Sociology. And the 

 highest office which the historian can dis- 

 charge is that of so narrating the lives of 

 nations as to furnisb materials for a Com- 

 parative Sociology, and for the subsequent 

 determination of the ultimate laws to which 

 social phenomena conform. 



In this statement of the missing ele- 

 ments of history, Mr. Spencer has out- 

 lined just that body of facts which are 

 indispensable as the foundation of a 

 valid social philosophy; and he fore- 

 saw that, before any such philosophy 

 can be constructed, these facts must be 

 systematically and exhaustively sup- 

 plied. The labor of their careful col- 

 lection could not fail to be enormous, 

 and its expense, together with their 



