EDITOR'S TABLE. 



845 



majority of consumers from being heavi- 

 ly taxed by a protective tariff for the 

 benefit of a small minority of manufact- 

 urers and artisans." So-called political 

 rights may be used for the maintenance 

 of liberties; but "they may fail to be 

 so used, and may even be used for the 

 maintenance of tyrannies." 



In his discussion of the Nature of 

 the State we see an illustration of the 

 vast superiority of Mr. Spencer's method 

 over that employed by writers of a sim- 

 ply historical or literary school. Sir 

 Frederick Pollock, in his Introduction 

 to the Science of Politics, says that, to 

 arrive at a true idea of the nature and 

 functions of the state, he can give no 

 better advice than " Back to Aristotle ! " 

 Mr. Spencer, on the other hand, shows 

 clearly why Aristotle, advanced thinker 

 as he was for the age in which he lived, 

 can not serve us here, the state, in its 

 essential constitution, being no longer 

 what it was in his day. Very instruct- 

 ive indeed is the contrast which our au- 

 thor draws between the state in a period 

 of perpetual warfare and the state in an 

 era of peaceful industry. In the former 

 case it is obliged to tyrannize over its 

 own citizens ; in the latter, it has nothing 

 to do but to see that they do not unduly 

 interfere with one another. Justice in all 

 matters, civil as well as criminal, ought, 

 in the present day, the author holds, 

 to be a right of the individual citizen, 

 to be enforced without cost on applica- 

 tion to the proper tribunal. In answer 

 to the objection that, if justice in civil 

 cases could be had without cost, there 

 would be a perfect blockade in the 

 courts, Mr. Spencer declares that, if jus- 

 tice were thus obtainable, the number 

 of offenses would be enormously re- 

 duced, which doubtless is true. There 

 are some very interesting chapters in 

 the book on The Limits of State-Duties, 

 which we can not too strongly recom- 

 mend to the attention of our readers. 

 Mr. Spencer effectually disposes of the 

 notion, so common in our days, that 

 majorities can do no wrong, and that 



men can not be slaves under a republic. 

 There is a strong temptation to repro- 

 duce some of his vigorous and manly 

 utterances on this topic, but we must 

 refrain. It is a great satisfaction to find 

 that Mr. Spencer is again at work, and 

 that there is a prospect that his vast 

 philosophical undertaking will be ad- 

 vanced yet further toward completion, 

 or may even be fully accomplished be- 

 fore he lays down the pen. The volume 

 before us shows a mind as vigorous and 

 as fertile as ever, and the same high, un- 

 flinching purpose to effect a great and 

 enduring work of intellectual emancipa- 

 tion and moral regeneration for man- 

 kind. 



DUTY AS A SCIENCE. 



Amono the most noteworthy of the 

 summer schools of 1891 was the School 

 of Applied Ethics at Plymouth, Mass. 

 Its formation was due to some of the 

 most successful teachers in America, 

 who had become convinced that, were 

 right conduct cultivated as a science, it 

 would be better practiced as an art ; that 

 with due adaptation it should form a 

 part of all education with, indeed, the 

 aim that schools in every department 

 should be pervaded and vitalized by an 

 ethical atmosphere. From this school's 

 foundation we feel sure will date a new 

 impulse freighted with good to individ- 

 ual character and national life. Since 

 conduct has been so much under the 

 sway of religion, it was fitting that the 

 great faiths of the world should receive 

 extended study. With all the resources 

 of modern scholarship Prof. Toy, of 

 Harvard, set forth the rise and progress 

 of religions ideas, the transformation 

 from faith in many gods to belief in 

 one, the slow crystallization of oral tra- 

 ditions into scriptural canons, the emer- 

 gence of ethical codes from associations 

 of mythology and ritual. Of his mas- 

 terly lectures the best lesson lay in their 

 calm scientific spirit. While crediting 

 religions with having given authority to 



