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552, who modestly signed "Outsider," had not been able to find that mathematical specialists thought very highly of Mr. Spencer as a mathematician, or that specialists in biology ranked him high as a biologist, or that men eminent for their historical knowledge regarded him as an authority in their special department, and so on and so on. Evidently this writer had somewhat singular notions as to what was required to make a philosopher. Not only is it impossible that Mr. Spencer should be a specialist in all the branches of knowledge upon which his system has a bearing, but it is quite unnecessary that he should be such in even one branch. His specialty consists in his power of co-ordinating the general results of different lines of inquiry; and his claim to rank as a philosopher depends on the success with which he has accomplished this task. All that can properly be demanded of Mr. Spencer, or any philosopher, is that he shall not misunderstand or misstate the results of the special sciences with which he may have to deal. If "Outsider" had been in a position to declare that mathematicians had examined Mr. Spencer's work, and found it very faulty on the mathematical side; that biologists, in like manner, had found it weak on the biological side; and that in general his system was, to a serious extent, based upon erroneous conceptions of special facts and laws, he would have made a very damaging criticism. He did not pretend, however, to be in a position to do anything of the kind; but simply attacked Mr. Spencer for not being, what no one man could possibly be, a specialist in half a dozen sciences at once.

The principal result of "Outsider's" attack was that a number of persons came forward, many over their own signatures, to vindicate Mr. Spencer; and so effectually was the work done, and such a revelation did the whole controversy afford of the hold Mr. Spencer had upon the thinking men of this country, that a very suspicious person might have conjectured that "Outsider's" secret object had been to get as much good said of Spencer as possible, and bring him and his works into greater prominence than ever. The personal interest which we have for years felt in the great English philosopher—an interest which the sketch of the late Prof. Youmans, published a couple of months ago in this magazine, will in some measure explain—led us to attempt in the columns of the Times a concise yet comprehensive statement of the testimonies that had been borne to the value of his scientific and philosophical work by the very highest authorities. "Outsider" had asked what the specialists thought of Mr. Spencer; we had no difficulty in showing what the men who commanded the widest view of the fields of philosophy and science, and who in that sense were the specialists by whom his work should be tried, thought of him. In philosophy, the names cited were such as Lewes, McCosh, J. S. Mill, Morell, and Ribot; in biology, such as Mivart, Ray Lankester, Huxley, Darwin; and in general science and history, Masson, Proctor, Tyndall, Grant Allen, Leslie Stephen, and Tylor. All of these, at one time or another, have in the amplest manner borne testimony to Spencer's philosophic genius, to the acuteness of his thought, the depth of his insight, the fertility of his methods, the sagacity of his judgment, the keenness and truth of his scientific perceptions—one remarking upon this quality or group of qualities, and another upon that. As further evidence of the impression Mr. Spencer has made upon his age, we gave the leading facts relating to the reproduction of his works in foreign countries and their translation into foreign tongues. In Russia, in Italy, in France, in Germany, Spencer's works may be read in the national tongue, and have powerfully molded philosophical opinion. The facts thus brought forward were not far to seek: