260 
SYNTHETIC PHILOSOPHY. 
Nov.. 18S9. 
Collins lias prepared for us with infinite patience, skill, and 
labour. He lias gone through the ten published volumes 
of the“ Synthetic Philosophy,” part by part, chapter by chapter, 
section by section, paragraph by paragraph, and has given us 
the gist and kernel of each, at the uniform rate of three lines 
to each page of the original, with a success that really sur¬ 
passes belief. To say that any man has epitomized another 
with such mathematical regularity sounds at first hearing as 
if he must have taken all the life and colour out of his 
author’s work—as if the result must be a purely dull and 
mechanical copy of a living whole. Nothing could really be 
further from the truth. Mr. Collins’s summarv is both truth- 
ful and readable ; it contains in brief every leading thought 
or argument of the original, but it contains it in a form 
scarcely less vivid than Mr. Spencer's , first presentment. 
Only a reader who thoroughly entered into his author’s mean¬ 
ing could so impartially represent in brief so vast a body of 
propositions on so many varied subjects. Mr. Collins is to be, 
congratulated on having succeeded so well, and in having 
obtained from Mr. Spencer himself the high commendation 
of an introductory imprimatur. 
For the student, the great value of the summary now set 
forth will be its use as an aid to the anticipatory reading of the 
“ Synthetic Philosophy.” Before tackling any particular one of 
those wonderful volumes, he will do well to read over carefully 
at full length the whole of Mr. Collins’s epitome of its contents 
bv gradual stages. He should then begin, chapter by chapter ; 
and, before reading each, should peruse the corresponding 
portion of the epitome. In the same way, each paragraph should 
be looked up in the epitome beforehand, so that the train of 
thought and the tendency of the argument mav be clearlv 
appreciated. Finally, at the end of each part, the whole 
corresponding portion of the epitome should be re-read in a 
lump, so as to recall to the mind vividiv the course of the 
*/ 
thread of thought through the entire distance just traversed. 
This may seem to lazy people a painfully serious way of going 
to work ; but, then, the “ Synthetic Philosophy ” is a serious 
undertaking, and if ever a book was worth reading with care, 
many times over, surely it is this highest and widest product 
of the human scientific and philosophical intelligence. A 
great thinker has been born among us. Let us accept with, 
gratitude the work he has done himself, and all the aids that 
others have given us in understanding and elucidating his 
orderly arrangement of the vast chaos of materials Nature 
presents to the observing intellect. 
