446 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



friends or republication by your friends, with the implication that I 

 was averse to it." And Mr. Spencer was here substantially right. 

 Although there may have been no apprehension that Mr. Harrison's 

 avowed friends would move in reprinting the book, yet, if it had been 

 done by anybody but the Appletons, the inevitable inference would 

 have been that their author had been so badly handled that they de- 

 clined to back him. The book was looked for from Mr. Spencer's 

 publishers, they had printed it in their magazine, they issued all his 

 works, there was a demand for the volume which was certain to make 

 it a safe business venture, and it represented two sides or schools of 

 thought : if, under all these circumstances, D. Appleton & Co. had left 

 the work for others to publish, the certain construction would have been 

 that the book was abandoned to the party opposed to Mr. Spencer. 

 This is the aspect of the case which he had to meet, and it is not at all 

 affected by Mr. Harrison's statement that his friends had no idea of 

 printing the controversy. 



Another explanation seems here called for. Those who will refer 

 to the second paragraph of my letter, quoted by Mr. Sjiencer, will 

 observe both an indecision and a confusion in the statement. This 

 was due, not only to hasty writing, but to some perplexity in my own 

 mind. I said, " If I thought no one else would print the correspond- 

 ence " (conti'oversy), " I should be in favor of our not doing it " ; and I 

 then go on to give reasons for this conclusion, ending with the remark, 

 " On the whole, it may be politic to reprint." Apparently this indif- 

 ference to publication is inconsistent with the various reasons I have 

 given for strongly desiring it. But there was a consideration not men- 

 tioned in the letter which weighed much with me at the time. I was 

 in very bad health, and was urged by physicians and friends to go 

 South without delay. It seemed therefore to be impracticable, if not 

 impossible, for me to give that attention to the editing and publication 

 of the volume which were prompted by my interest in it. But it will 

 be noticed that, under this conflict of inclinations, though I gave some 

 trivial reasons for non-publication, the conclusion favors reprinting. 

 This shows the predominant feeling, even in a time of depression ; 

 and I must say, as a matter of fact that, though referring the matter 

 as I did in a hurried note to Mr. Spencer, I had not for a moment 

 really relinquished the purpose of bringing out the book. This ex- 

 planation is necessary, that the responsibility may rest where it prop- 

 erly belongs. Mr. Harrison lays stress upon Spencer's agency in 

 " promoting and assisting " in the production of " a volume for which 

 you are responsible, and which you have authorized and adopt." But 

 though Mr. Spencer chose to take the responsibility because he had 

 assented to it, and furnished some notes for it, yet it was neither by his 

 suggestion, procurement, nor desire that the book was issued ; and truth 

 requires me here to say that, if he had discouraged or even opposed 

 it, the book would probably have been reprinted by D. Appleton & 



