X71 NOTICE OF 



to opinions whicli I do liold ; but I object to have added tlic 

 odium attacliing to opinions which I do not hold. If, by publish- 

 ing this letter in your forthcoming number, you will allow me to 

 Bet myself right with the American public on this matter, you will 

 greatly oblige me. I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 



Herbert Spencer. 



We take the liberty of making an extract from a private lettei 

 of Mr. Spencer, which contains some further observations in the 

 same connection : 



" There appears to have got abroad in the United States, a 

 very erroneous impression respecting the influence of Comte's 

 writings in England. I suppose that the currency obtained by 

 the words 'Positivism' and ' Positivist,' is to blame for this. 

 Comte having designated by the term Positive Philosophy aU 

 that body of definitely-established knowledge which men of 

 science have been gi-adually organizing into a coherent body of 

 doctrine, and having habitually placed this in opposition to the 

 incoherent body of doctrine defended by theologians, it has be- 

 come the habit of the theological party to think of the antagonist 

 scientific party under this title of Positivists applied to them by 

 Comte. And thus, from the habit of calling them Positivists 

 there has grown up the assumption that they call themselves Posi- 

 tivists, and that they are the disciples of Comte. The truth is 

 that Comte and his doctrines receive here scarcely any attention. 

 I know something of the scientific world in England, and I camiot 

 name a single man of science who acknowledges himself a fol- 

 lower of Comte, or accepts the title of Positivist. Lest, however, 

 there should be some such who were unknown to me, I have re- 

 cently made inquiries into the matter. To Professor Tyndall I 

 put the question whether Comte had exerted any appreciable in- 

 fluence on his own course of thought : and he replied, ' So far as 

 I know, my own course of thought would have been exactly the 

 same had Comte never existed.' I then asked, ' Do you know 

 any men of science whose views have been afiected by Comte's 

 writings?' and his answer was: 'His influence on scientific 

 thought in England is absolutely niV To the same questions 

 Prof, Huxley returned, in other words, the same answers. Profe& 



