168 Second Essay, preliminary to the Series of' Reports 



defend the objects of such a Society as ours from the charge of 

 being inimical to the welfare of the producer. I shall now 

 proceed to consider of the classification of the arts, or rather, I 

 should say, of the total want of classification among them. 



The first business, in attempting the classification of any set 

 of phenomena, is to look out for some prominent characters 

 which may serve to separate them into large groups ; and again, 

 in each of these groups, for other minor marks of distinction. 

 Such a classification, be it remembered, is one of the utmost im- 

 portance, as well for the purpose of treating of the arts, as for 

 that of attaching the features of them to the memory. 



When we seek to classify those objects which Nature pre- 

 sents to us, we experience no difficulty in detecting marks of 

 distinction, but are rather at a loss to which class of distinctions 

 to attach the greatest importance. The objects which surround 

 us are at once classified under two heads, the Inorganic and the 

 Organic, giving rise to the sciences of Physics and Zoology. 

 The inorganic bodies again readily separate into three classes, 

 the Solids, the Fluids, the Gases ; while the organic bodies 

 range themselves in two kingdoms, the Vegetable and the Ani- 

 mal. Such distinctions, ramified in every direction, enable the 

 student of Nature, with a given exertion, to compass an im- 

 mense field of knowledge ; put him in possession of a memory 

 that seldom deceives ; and extend, as it were, the duration of 

 his vigour. Similar advantages would accrue to the polytechnist 

 from the extension of this method to the arts. The processes 

 of the arts, however, are continually changing ; nor do they ex- 

 hibit that infinite Wisdom which is conspicuous, at every turn, 

 in the natural phenomena of the universe : they are the pro- 

 ducts of the finite and irregular wisdom of man, and far from 

 oflPeriiig facilities to, rather oppose the introduction of, arrange- 

 ment. 



Many lines of distinction, indeed, can be drawn between the 

 different arts ; and each one can be sufficiently separated from 

 its neighbours ; but then the principle of this separation varies 

 Avith each art, and with each boundary, so to speak, of that art. 

 When we attempt to apply any principle, we find that in some 

 cases it answers to admiration, while in others it leads to inex- 

 tricable confusion. The simplest, indeed the only sure method. 



