40 INTRODUCTION. 



appeared ; the second half of our century does not 

 expect to find the essence of knowledge condensed in 

 any philosophical formula, any more than it expects to 

 find the real unity and integrity of thought preserved in 

 the fragmentary articles of an alphabetical dictionary. 

 The purpose of the latter is purely practical ; it is a 

 popular and handy instrument for the diffusion of 

 knowledge, whilst philosophical divisions are merely 

 formal, and at best are applicable only to a narrow 

 and limited sphere of research.^ 



The age of encyclopaedic representation of learning 

 and the short period of philosophical formalism seem 

 both to belong to the past; but the desire of bringing 

 together what is scattered, of focussing knowledge and 

 learning, and of realising the organic continuity and unity 

 of thought and progress, is as great as, perhaps greater 

 than ever. Neither the shapelessness of a huge dictionary 

 nor the barrenness of a concise formula will satisfy the 



^ It is interesting to observe the i of encycloppcdism has done least for 

 development and spread of encyclo- 

 pajdic learning in the three coun- 

 tries. En cyclopedias in the modern 



encyclopaedic learning. This has 

 now its home in Germany, where 

 encycloptedic labours have been 

 sense have their origin, like so many I specialised, and where every science 

 other modern institutions and ideas, : is represented by some compilation 

 in England. They were there com- I or annual register aiming at collect- 

 piled mainly for practical purposes. ing and sj'stematically arranging the 



France took up the scheme in a 

 philosophical spirit, and carried it 

 as far as it is capable of being 

 carried under this aspect. At- 

 tempts to improve and amplify 

 the plan proved impracticable ; and 

 when subjected to the vast eru- 

 dition of Germany, it became evi- 



scattered contributions of the whole 

 world. But it would be ungrateful 

 not to mention the Royal Society's 

 catalogue of scientific papers, and 

 the services which America has ren- 

 dered in summarising the literary 

 productions of the English-speaking 

 nations in such works as Poole's 



dent that unity, depth, and breadth I 'Index to Periodical Literature.' 



of view could not be maintained, j Without the aid of such laborious 



In course of this century the coun- j compilations the present work could 



try which produced the classical era ! not liave been undertaken. 



