ON THE STATISTICAL VIEW OF NATURE. 557 



the Pastor Slissmilch in Prussia, in a celebrated book 

 bearing the title ' On the Divine Order,' with a tendency 

 towards optimism, and as a proof of an overruling 

 Providence. 1 



Although it is generally admitted by writers on stat- 

 istics that in the narrower sense of the word they have 

 existed ever since the existence of governments which re- 

 quired to know the number of their population, the nat- 

 ural resources of the country, and its means of subsist- 

 ence or defence, there is a general opinion current that 

 what we now call the statistical methods in science and 

 in practice were introduced, or at least expressly recom- 

 mended, by Lord Bacon under the name of the " Method 7. 



Bacon's 



of Instances." This method, which consisted in a kind "Method of 



Instances." 



of tabulating of numbers of facts referring to any 

 special subject under investigation, has been criticised 



1 The difference seems to narrow 

 itself down to this, that one class 

 of writers refers everything to a 

 physical, the other to a moral, 

 order. M. Maurice Block, an 

 eminent writer on statistics, dis- 

 cusses this question, passing a num- 

 ber of modern authors under 

 review in the fifth chapter, 3, 

 of his excellent 'Traite theorique 

 et pratique de Statistique,' (2 me 

 ed., Paris, 1886). Referring to 

 the theological statistician, A. von 

 Oettingen, and comparing him with 

 Quetelet, he says (p. 146) : " Sous 

 certains rapports, 1'opinion de M. 

 le professeur de the"ologie Alex- 

 andra d'CEttingen, pourra paraitre 

 1'oppos^e de celle de Quetelet, 

 mais elle nous semble en differer 

 beaucoup moins que le savant pro- 

 fesseur ne le croit. . . . Nous 

 pouvons caracteYiser en peu de 

 mots ce que MM. d'CEttingen et 

 Quetelet ont de coimnun et com- 



ment ils different : ils ont de 

 cominun le fond de la science ; ils 

 constatent 1'un et 1'autre la re"- 

 gularite" du mouvement des faits ; 

 ils ne different que par 1'inter- 

 pretation : Quetelet voit des lois 

 naturelles la ou M. le professeur 

 d'CEttingen voit des lois morales 

 institutes par Dieu. Aussi 1'un 

 nomine- t-il son livre Physique 

 sociale, et 1'autre Ethique sociale. 

 M. d'CEttingen est un croyant qui 

 aime a s'appuyer sur la science. 

 II dit, page 13 de la premiere 

 Edition : ' Dans les sciences comme 

 dans la religion, ce que 1'homme 

 invente ne peut etre que faux, 

 tandis que les ve'rite's qu'il de- 

 couvre, sont uniquement des faits 

 ou des lois qui rayonnent du 

 Createur.'" The reconciliation of 

 either physical or moral order with 

 the existence of freewill is not 

 a statistical but a philosophical 

 problem. 



